Justinian II, Charles II, Napoleon, Gladstone, Churchill, Menzies, de Gaulle, Nixon, Wilson, Howard, Clinton, Rudd — what do these figures have in common? Having been badly defeated and widely written off (including sometimes by themselves), they made remarkable comebacks. Call it the Arnold J. Toynbee theory of ‘departure and return’, the idea that certain legendary leaders must endure time in the political wilderness before returning to power.