When I read part one of City of Ambition, I was intrigued to notice the blatant similarities in political agenda between two men of very different backgrounds. Franklin D. Roosevelt grew up with an elite social status with advanced education and other invaluable resources at his disposal, while Fiorello La Guardia struggled to emerge from a stodgy, stagnant life as a clerk in an American consulate in Budapest. But both had the relentless drive to overcome obstacles such as the onset of polio or the death of loved ones to fight for the welfare of the country. Although Roosevelt was loyal to the Democratic Party and La Guardia dared not abandon his allegiance to the Grand Old Party, both both believed in the ideology that society could be improved through human action and that the task of government was to adapt to new technological age. Their similarities in ideology as only further highlighted during the Great Depression, as they promoted the development of public power and claimed that the inadequacy of existing relief efforts should be addressed by using spending resources of higher government. It’s remarkable to observe how two men of different political backgrounds were able to convene upon the solution of the issue of a failing nation.