The “team of rivals” was the term historian Doris Kearns Goodwin used to describe United States President Abraham Lincoln’s cabinet. It included three men who had run against Lincoln for the Republican nomination for president in 1860: William Seward (secretary of state), Salmon Chase (treasury secretary) and Edward Bates (attorney general).
Appointing these strong-willed figures could have been disastrous were it not for Lincoln’s personal qualities.
Goodwin describes how Lincoln was willing to acknowledge when policies failed and change direction. He gathered facts on which to base decisions. He sought compromise but took full responsibility for his decisions, respected his colleagues and set an example of dignity. (In all these, he sounds like the antithesis of Donald Trump.)
United States President-elect Joe Biden has taken a different approach to fill out his cabinet so far. Aside from choosing Kamala Harris as his vice president, he is looked past his main…