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.

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.