During this first section of City of Ambition, I found it remarkable that two men—La Guardia and Roosevelt—with such markedly different histories and upbringings could arrive at the same place in politics. These men epitomize Progressive politics of the early 20^th century, yet their rise to that pedestal and their reasons for their politics are quite different. La Guardia symbolizes the American Dream, the Carnegie-esque rags to riches tale of hard work, charisma, and belief in oneself, while Roosevelt illustrates an incredible thirst to live up to a name and a reputation, to do anything to be the best. The differences between these two giants seem to symbolize the incredible variation within the Democratic party, which Roosevelt very successfully united. Both men enjoyed tremendous political success and began to redefine the role of government: no longer was the American government something that should be arbitrarily limited; rather it became a tool to better the lives of the people, an extension of the community. The interactions with political corruption, particularly Tammany Hall and the Democratic machine in New York City, are quite interesting as well. Systematic attacks by Roosevelt and La Guardia on the machine played a major role in cleaning up 20^th century politics.