This insightful biography covers the life and career of Edmund "Ed" Muskie, from his childhood in Rumford, Maine, to his years as the governor of Maine.

Born in a paper mill town in Maine's western foothills, Muskie was one of six children of a Polish immigrant and a Polish-American mother whose English was worse than her husband's. His arc through his formative years was singular and unpredictable, an American story that looks plausible only in hindsight.

Commemorating the centenary of his birth, this biography of Ed Muskie through his two terms as Maine's governor tells how the son of an immigrant tailor grew up to become one of the most consequential politicians in American history.