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please join me in welcoming our distinguished and very timely guest
doris kearns goodwin
and as i say i'd like to believe that studying the past provides insight into
the present
so tonight i thought i'd focus on two of these guys that i lived with both of whom
led us during periods of great crises abraham lincoln and franklin roosevelt
they both were willing to surround themselves with rivals and people who
would criticize them who would question their assumptions they're inner circles
felt free to disagree without the fear of consequence
the night of lincoln's election as president he could not sleep
he made the decision that would define his presidency to put each of these chief
rivals into his cabinet
a less confident man might have surrounded himself with personal
supporters who would've not of questioned his authority
he was asked why are you doing this
he said it's simple these are the strongest and most able men in the
country
i need them by my side the country is in peril
similarly franklin roosevelt created a coalition cabinet on the eve of world
war two bringing in unsparing critics of the new deal into key positions as his
secretaries of war and navy
recognizing that agreement on the central issue of the day how to defeat
adolf hitler was far more important than their domestic disagreements
it's harder today to reach across those party lines when our two parties are so
polarized when joining the opposition party's cabinet may seem like a traitorous
act
but in that day and age it proved absolutely critical