Doris Kearns Goodwin says Obama should take tip from Lincoln
If he wants to succeed as president, Barack Obama would do well to follow the lead of Abraham Lincoln and surround himself with people with opposing viewpoints, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian said Tuesday night in Wichita.
Doris Kearns Goodwin, author of "Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln," Goodwin was the keynote speaker at the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce's annual meeting at Century II.
Goodwin said Obama should see his political rivals -- Democrats and Republicans alike -- as potential assets when filling out his cabinet.
"It's one of the more difficult times in our country's history," she said. "He's going to need the strongest, most able men in the country" as advisers.
She told the audience that Lincoln was far less experienced and less educated than his opponents when he decided to run for president in 1860. She said his formal education amounted to less than a year in the classroom.
But during the campaign, she said, while his opponents shunned the campaign trail, Lincoln went state-to-state delivering memorable speeches.
"He simply worked harder than all his rivals combined," she said.
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Doris Kearns Goodwin, author of "Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln," Goodwin was the keynote speaker at the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce's annual meeting at Century II.
Goodwin said Obama should see his political rivals -- Democrats and Republicans alike -- as potential assets when filling out his cabinet.
"It's one of the more difficult times in our country's history," she said. "He's going to need the strongest, most able men in the country" as advisers.
She told the audience that Lincoln was far less experienced and less educated than his opponents when he decided to run for president in 1860. She said his formal education amounted to less than a year in the classroom.
But during the campaign, she said, while his opponents shunned the campaign trail, Lincoln went state-to-state delivering memorable speeches.
"He simply worked harder than all his rivals combined," she said.