How Abraham Lincoln built his team

At the 1860 Republican National Convention, a lawyer who had served only one term in Congress beat three prominent politicians to win the nomination for president.

After Abraham Lincoln took office, he asked his former rivals to join his administration. That decision is at the heart of Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln (Simon & Schuster).

Fortune interviewed Goodwin who says Lincoln chose William Seward for Secretary of State, Salmon Chase for Treasury Secretary, and Edward Bates as Attorney General because the country needed their services. He thought it was worth hiring them to have the best talent on his team.