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