The first chapter of '' Team of Rivals '' portrays four major contenders for the 1860 Republican presidential nomination on May 18 , 1860 , awaiting the results of the national convention by telegraph : New York Senator and former governor William H. Seward , widely considered the frontrunner ; Ohio Governor Salmon P. Chase , a favorite of the party 's more radical wing ; former Missouri Attorney General Edward Bates , preferred by more conservative elements of the party ; and Abraham Lincoln , a former U.S. Representative from Illinois . Goodwin then describes how each candidate rose to national political prominence : Seward through a long alliance with New York political boss Thurlow Weed , Chase through his early advocacy of the abolition of slavery , Bates through a speech opposing President James K. Polk at the 1847 River and Harbor Convention , and Lincoln through a series of debates with Democratic rival Stephen A. Douglas in the 1858 Illinois Senate election
national convention
1860 Republican National Convention
Team of Rivals