Introduction: a different senate -- The Mansfield-Dirksen way -- Butte and Pekin-political roots -- Apprentice to leadership -- Elements of leadership: eloquence, cornpone, substance, and humor -- Highest aspirations-Moving to Senate Leadership -- Elements of leadership: care and Feeding of the Press -- One brief shining moment -- Camelot's end. -- An idea whose time has come -- A great society and a bitch of a war -- End of an era -- Epilogue: The senate, Mansfield, and Dirksen

""The excavation of a cross-party political relationship that sheds light on the workings of the U.S. Senate during the 1960s. From divergent backgrounds and ideologies, Mike Mansfield of Montana and Everett Dirksen of Illinois were responsible for making the Senate work amid political upheaval. Their efforts resulted in a spate of surprisingly durable legislation around civil rights, voting rights, the environment, and social welfare"-Provided by publisher"--