by Allen Drury
First published 1959
Senator Robert Leffingwell faces the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as President's nominee for Secretary of State. His liberal views on foreign policy ignite fierce opposition from conservative senators who question his past associations and political judgment. Committee Chairman Tom August must navigate the treacherous waters of partisan politics while Senator Seab Cooley leads the charge against confirmation. As the hearings unfold, personal scandals emerge that threaten to destroy careers and marriages. Senator Brigham Anderson finds himself caught between party loyalty and personal conviction when damaging information about Leffingwell surfaces. The confirmation battle exposes the hidden machinery of Washington power, where private ambitions clash with public duty. Senators forge unlikely alliances and bitter enemies as they wrestle with questions that will shape America's role in the world. The fight becomes personal when blackmail and political revenge enter the equation, forcing each man to choose between political survival and moral principle.
Genres: american-fiction, 20th-century, political-science, political-thriller
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, political-intrigue
Setting: United States, Washington D.C.
Period: 20th Century
760 pages · Paperback · Doubleday