At twenty, Roosevelt had already traveled through Europe and the Middle East when he arrived in Aroostook County, Maine, but it was in Maine where he was tested-and tested himself. This historical fiction novel follows the three journeys he made to northern Maine in 1878-9. His father had died six months before his first visit, and on these trips, he hoped to simply "get away," but he finds much more. Under the guidance of two Mainers, William Sewall and Wilmot Dow, the frail but strong-willed New Yorker becomes a worthy outdoorsman, an experience that significantly shaped the world view of the man poised to become the 26th President of the United States thirteen years later.

Life in these woods-and the woodsmen that inhabit them-have a significant impact on Roosevelt as he continues to develop into a young man. It is there that he determines to battle his feeble physique. When he goes to a place called The Oxbow, he is exposed to hardened and uneducated men who take a strong liking to him. He later claims that this experience gave him the confidence to pull together the Rough Riders. Between trips to Maine, he returns to Harvard to study and soon meets his first wife, Alice Hathaway Lee, with whom he falls madly in love. Through it all, the future president discovers that it's not just about learning to "stand on your feet" that makes you strong, but integrity and the ability to overcome strife and personal challenges.