Team of Rivals, Doris Kearns Goodwin's book about the"political genius of Abraham Lincoln," has been at the bottom of a stack ofbooks that have now so increased in number as to create a nightstand alongsidemy bed. I've been meaning to read Team of Rivals for years but I'velacked the energy to tackle a 750-page tome on Lincoln'scompetitors for the 1860 Republican presidential nomination – Edward Bates,Salmon Chase, and William Seward – and President Lincoln's decision to includethe also-rans in his cabinet. Barack Obama's recent cabinet selectionspropelled Goodwin's book back onto the best-seller lists and motivated me toreduce the height of my literary nightstand by taking it from the stack and tobegin reading it.

I'm a slow reader who manages to get through only a fewpages a night before turning out the light. At this pace, Team of Rivals maybe the only book I read this year. And, if I continue to discover quotes in thebook that take me out of the 1800s and remind me of the current state ofpolitical affairs, Goodwin may be writing about Obama's two-term presidencybefore I finish her epic work on Lincoln.

The other night, while reading about Seward's failed bid tobecome governor of New York andthe strain his political ambitions put on his relationship with his wife, aquote yanked me from Goodwin's description of 1834 Americaand brought me right back to Minnesotapolitics in 2009. The temporarily defeated William Seward said: "It is seldomthat persons who enjoy intervals of public life are happy in their periods ofseclusion."

How little has changed in 175 years.

I'm not an advocate for term limits on elected office (thatdecision should ultimately rest with the voters), but I want to see politicians"who enjoy intervals of public life" balance that with "periods of seclusion."

While I admired Paul Wellstone, I hoped that he would notseek a third term. I found his pledge to serve two terms in the Senaterefreshing. I thought Wellstone could model a new style of leadership by leavingthe Senate and finding other ways to contribute to society, perhaps by returningto teaching, or maybe by becoming president of a college. I have similarfeelings about Norm Coleman and Al Franken.

If Coleman's bid to return to the U.S. Senate doesn't workout, maybe he should work in the private sector for a few years – a "period ofseclusion" if you will. While doing so, he could bring his skills andconnections to volunteer positions on non-profit boards and consider ways tocontinue to make a contribution outside of the Senate. Regarding Al Franken, wouldit be so awful if he didn't make it to Washington, D.C.? After all, here is a guy who arguablycould make an even greater impact on issues through his mastery of the mediathan he can as just one of 100 U.S.senators.

Public life comes down to a central question for me: Is itabout power and politics or is it about service and leadership?

If it's about power and politics, then let Minnesota'scontested Senate race go on and on.

If it's about service and leadership, then public officialsneed to embrace "their periods of seclusion" and find ways to contribute to thecommon good that oftentimes are less visible and come with less perks thanmembership in august institutions like the U.S. Senate. As Team of Rivals illustrates,history is always kind to those who put service and leadership first.