When newly elected Illinois State Representative Abraham Lincoln first saw 5''4" Stephen A. Douglas, he sized him up as "the least man I ever saw." With the introduction of Douglas''s first bill in 1834, Lincoln soon thought differently. The General Assembly not only passed the bill, it appointed the 21-year-old Douglas State''s Attorney of Illinois'' largest judicial district, replacing John J. Hardin, one of Lincoln''s most powerful political allies.

It was the first of many Douglas-Lincoln contests in the decade ahead. Struggles over banking, internal improvements, party organizations, the seat of government and slavery--even romantic rivalry--put them on opposing sides long before the 1860 presidential election. These battles were Douglas''s political apprenticeship and he would use what he learned to obstruct Lincoln--his friend and nemesis--while becoming the most powerful Democrat in the nation.