Part 1. Ambition and the recognition of leadership
Abraham: "Every man is said to have his peculiar ambition"
Theodore: "I rose like a rocket"
Franklin: "No, call me Franklin"
Lyndon: "A steam engine in pants"
Part 2. Adversity and growth
Abraham Lincoln: "I must die or be better"
Theodore Roosevelt: "The light has gone out of my life"
Franklin Roosevelt: "Above all, try something"
Lyndon Johnson: "The most miserable period of my life"
Part 3. How they led: man and the times
Transformational leadership: Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation
Crisis management: Theodore Roosevelt and the Coal Strike
Turnaround leadership: Franklin Roosevelt and the Hundred Days
Visionary leadership: Lyndon Johnson and Civil Rights
Epilogue: Of death and legacy.