Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln - Doris Kearns Goodwin
Goodwin gives a lengthy, but enjoyable, retelling of the lives of Abraham Lincoln, William Seward, Salmon Chase, and Edward Bates, the four nominees for the Republican party in 1860, up to and through Lincoln's two terms. Despite the fact that none of his rivals had very much respect for him and all essentially believed that they should have been nominated over him, Lincoln was able to convince and retain all of them in his cabinet. Before reading the book, I already had immense respect for Lincoln. After, it has at least doubled.