Presidential historian tells CNN the most important part of the midterms is who may emerge as the next leader to watch

Presidential historian Doris Kearns Godwin said the most important part of the 2018 midterm elections is seeing which leaders may emerge, citing several of the country's most well-known presidents, all of who got their start winning, and sometimes losing, midterm elections.

"Think about 1858, a midterm, and Abraham Lincoln, not known much in the nation at large indulges in debates with Steven Douglas," she pointed out. "He then becomes Abraham Lincoln the historic candidate, even though he loses that Senate race to Steven Douglas."

She also noted that Teddy Roosevelt was catapulted to the White House two years after his gubernatorial victory in the midterm election of 1898, just like his cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the 1930s.

"So there's someone out there somewhere that may emerge, and history will regard that is the most important part of the midterm," she said. "Maybe we don't know it yet."

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