
The main reason I read
Team of Rivals was because journalists and Barak Obama himself asserted the history book was a touchstone for his thinking in organizing a presidential cabinet. Reading
Team of Rivals, I ended up shoehorning recent 2008 campaign events into a comparison with events surrounding Lincoln. There are some striking similarities. As for Lincoln and Obama,
- Both are lawyers who began their political careers in Springfield, IL.
- Both rose to national awareness due to exceptionally eloquent speeches that resonated with moderate public opinion.
- Both were perceived as inexperienced, Washington outsiders with an outside chance at a nomination.
- Both employed a successful strategy of gaining grass roots support among a diverse group of delegates to ensure that where he was not the first choice of delegates he was a second choice. (Particularly, a comparison of the 1860 Republican convention to the 2008 Iowa caucus, reveals both employed the same strategy of making sure that where he could not be the first choice among delegates/caucus goers he would be their second choice should their first choice candidate not garner enough support.)
Two of Lincoln's chief competitors for the nomination were William Henry Seward and Salmon Chase. Hillary shares some striking similarities with these men.
- Seward and Hillary were well acquainted with the Washington elite and had been familiar to the public for decades.
- Seward and Hillary had the support of a well seasoned, well known political machine/political bosses.
- Seward and Hillary saw their nomination as inevitable.
- Chase did and Hillary appeared to have a personal, desperate and at times blinding desire to be president.
- Chase and Hillary and Seward underestimated the consequences of the enemies they'd made along the way in previous political campaigns.
Once elected, Lincoln wanted both Seward and Chase in his cabinet because they were bright and talented. He honestly wanted their counsel. He also wanted to achieve balance and party unity. Each man represented a faction of the young Republican Party. Seward and Chase entered the cabinet each believing he was more deserving than Lincoln. Each perceived Lincoln as weak, and each initially planned to influence Lincoln's decisions and govern through the cabinet as a de facto president. Seward, eventually put aside his personal ambition to be president and became Lincoln's closest friend and supporter in the cabinet sharing a rapport and affection with him. Seward provided invaluable counsel and played an instrumental and heroic role as Secretary of State in using diplomacy to keep Europe from recognizing Confederate sovereignty. Chase, while he eventually came to admire Lincoln's kindness and capability, always thought himself better than the president. Chase also did a heroic job in financing the Union as Secretary of the Treasury. Chase, however, worked against Lincoln, spreading political unrest behind Lincoln's back and pursuing a presidential nomination.
So my question, is which will Hillary be? Will she be Seward and grow to be Obama's most devoted admirer and supporter, providing counsel and advising him honestly? Will she be Chase, working effectively and tirelessly, but never relinquishing the feeling that it should have been her job, and working to spread unrest within the party and behind Obama's back. Which one will she be?
1 comment:
Hillary will become who you want her to be!
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