pt. 1. The education of a politician. A beautiful frame: The seed and the soil ; Groton: education for what? ; Harvard: the gold coast --
Albany: the young lion: Uncle Ted and Cousin Eleanor ; The race for the Senate ; The college kid and the Tammany beast ; Farmer-labor representative --
Washington: the politician as bureaucrat: A Roosevelt on the job ; Tammany wins again ; War leader --
Crusade for the League: Challenge and response ; 1920, the solemn referendum ; The rising politician --
pt. 2. The rise to power. Interlude: the politician as businessman: Ordeal ; Dear Al and Dear Frank ; Summons to action --
Apprenticeship in Albany: The politics of the empire state ; The anatomy of stalemate ; The power of party --
Nomination by a hairbreadth: The political uses of corruption ; Battle at the grass roots ; The magic two-thirds --
The curious campaign: The fox and the elephant ; The stage is set ; Roosevelt on the eve --
pt. 3. Rendezvous with destiny. A leader in the White House: "A day of consecration" ; "Action, and action now" ; "A leadership of frankness and vigor" ; America first --
President of all the people?: An artist in government ; The broker state at work ; The politics of broker leadership ; Rupture on the right --
The grapes of wrath: The little foxes ; Labor: new millions and new leaders ; Left! Right! Left! --
Thunder on the right: Thunderbolts from the bench ; Roosevelt as a conservative ; Roosevelt and the radicals --
Foreign policy by makeshift: Good neighbors and good fences ; Storm clouds and storm cellars ; The law of the jungle ; The politician as foreign policy maker --
1936: the grand coalition: The politics of the deed ; "I accept the commission" ; "We have only just begun to fight" ; Roosevelt as a political tactician --
pt. 4. The lion at bay. Court packing: the miscalculated risk: Bombshell ; Guerrilla warfare ; Breaches in the grand coalition ; Not with a bang but a whimper --
The Roosevelt recession: Cloudburst ; Palace struggle for a program ; Roosevelt as an economist --
Deadlock on the Potomac: Squalls on Capitol Hill ; The broken spell ; Too little, too late --
Fissures in the party: The donkey and the stick ; The struggle for power ; Roosevelt as a party leader --
Diplomacy: pinpricks and protest: Munich: no risks, no commitments ; The storm breaks ; Roosevelt as a political leader --
pt. 5. Through the traps. The soundless struggle: The sphinx ; The hurricane of events ; "We want Roosevelt!" --
An old campaigner, a new campaign: The hoarse and strident voice ; Lion versus sea lion ; The two-week blitz ; The future in balance --
Epilogue. The culmination: Roosevelt as war lord ; Roosevelt as peace leader ; Democracy's aristocrat ; Warrior's home-coming.

This book is a portrait of the only man in history to win election to a third and fourth term as president of the United States. The symbol of strength and power to a nation besieged by war and depression, Roosevelt is described as one of the greatest players in the game of politics. This book is one man's view of his many facets.