Goodreads Monday is a weekly meme hosted by Lauren’s Page Turners. To take part, you simply choose a random book from your TBR and show it off. Don’t forget to check out Lauren’s Goodreads Monday blog post to share your Monday selections.

I am currently in Washington, D.C. to attend the 2018 SHRM Employment Law & Legislative Conference (for work) and feeling a bit historical. I thought it would be fun to share books – including a children’s book – about my  favorite president: Abraham Lincoln.

At the same conference a few years back, our keynote speaker was historian Doris Kearns Goodwin. She wrote a book called Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln that I obviously purchased (but, that is still sitting on my TBR…I will get to it this year!).

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin
Published: October 25, 2005 by Simon Schuster
Purchase: Amazon, Barnes & Noble
Category: History, Nonfiction, Biography, Politics
Winner of the Lincoln Prize, 2016

Goodreads Synopsis:
Acclaimed historian Doris Kearns Goodwin illuminates Lincoln’s political genius in this highly original work, as the one-term congressman and prairie lawyer rises from obscurity to prevail over three gifted rivals of national reputation to become president.

On May 18, 1860, William H. Seward, Salmon P. Chase, Edward Bates, and Abraham Lincoln waited in their hometowns for the results from the Republican National Convention in Chicago. When Lincoln emerged as the victor, his rivals were dismayed and angry.

Throughout the turbulent 1850s, each had energetically sought the presidency as the conflict over slavery was leading inexorably to secession and civil war. That Lincoln succeeded, Goodwin demonstrates, was the result of a character that had been forged by experiences that raised him above his more privileged and accomplished rivals. He won because he possessed an extraordinary ability to put himself in the place of other men, to experience what they were feeling, to understand their motives and desires.

It was this capacity that enabled Lincoln as president to bring his disgruntled opponents together, create the most unusual cabinet in history, and marshal their talents to the task of preserving the Union and winning the war.

We view the long, horrifying struggle from the vantage of the White House as Lincoln copes with incompetent generals, hostile congressmen, and his raucous cabinet. He overcomes these obstacles by winning the respect of his former competitors, and in the case of Seward, finds a loyal and crucial friend to see him through.

This brilliant multiple biography is centered on Lincoln’s mastery of men and how it shaped the most significant presidency in the nation’s history.

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And for the little one in your life:

I am Abraham Lincoln (Ordinary People Save the World) by Brad Metzler, Illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulos
Published: January 14, 2014 by Dial Books
Purchase: Amazon, Barnes & Noble
Category: Childrens, History, Picture Books, Biography

Goodreads Synopsis:
We can all be heroes. That’s the inspiring message of this lively, collectible picture book biography series from New York Times bestselling author Brad Meltzer.

“Kids always search for heroes, so we might as well have a say in it,” Brad Meltzer realized, and so he envisioned this friendly, fun approach to biography – for his own kids, and for yours. Each book tells the story of one of America’s icons in an entertaining, conversational way that works well for the youngest nonfiction readers, those who aren’t quite ready for the Who Was series. Each book focuses on a particular character trait that made that role model heroic. For example, Abraham Lincoln always spoke up about fairness, and thus he led the country to abolish slavery. This book follows him from childhood to the presidency, including the Civil War and his legendary Gettysburg Address.

This engaging series is the perfect way to bring American history to life for young children, and to inspire them to strive and dream.