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==Plot==
During the [[Cold War]], the unpopular U.S. President Jordan Lyman has signed a [[nuclear disarmament]] treaty with the Soviet Union, and ratification by the
▲During the [[Cold War]], the unpopular U.S. President Jordan Lyman has signed a [[nuclear disarmament]] treaty with the Soviet Union, and ratification by the U.S. Senate produced a wave of dissatisfaction, especially among Lyman's political opposition and the military, who believe that the Russians cannot be trusted. His popularity reaches an all-time low of 29%, and rioting about the treaty occurs right outside the White House. The presidential physician warns him of a dangerous cardiac condition which he blithely disregards, too busy to take a prescribed two-week vacation.
[[United States Marine Corps]] colonel "Jiggs" Casey is the [[Director of the Joint Staff|director]] of the [[Joint Chiefs of Staff]]. He serves its [[Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff|chairman]], [[Four-star rank|four-star]] [[United States Air Force]] [[General (United States)|general]] James Mattoon Scott, a highly-decorated former [[air ace]].
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Still somewhat skeptical, Lyman gathers a circle of trusted advisors to investigate: [[United States Secret Service|Secret Service]] White House detail chief Art Corwin, [[Treasury Secretary]] Christopher Todd, longtime advisor Paul Girard and Raymond Clark, the senior [[U.S. senator]] from [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] and a close friend of 21 years.
Casey has deduced that the heads of all U.S. military branches but the Navy support Scott's coup scheme, with Vice Admiral Barnswell, then aboard an aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean, apparently the only invited officer to decline. Lyman cancels a previous commitment to participate in Scott's alert, pretending
Girard successfully secures Barnswell's confession in writing, but it disappears during a plane crash in Spain. Clark is taken captive when he reaches the secret base and held incommunicado
Knowing he cannot prove Scott's guilt, Lyman nevertheless calls Scott to the White House to demand that he and the other conspirators resign. Scott refuses and denies the existence of any plot. Lyman argues that a coup would prompt the Soviets to launch a [[preemptive nuclear strike]]. Scott maintains that the American people are behind him. Lyman challenges him to resign and run for office in order to seek power legitimately, but Scott is unmoved. Lyman restrains himself from confronting Scott with damning letters that Casey had obtained from Scott's old mistress Eleanor Holbrook. Casey, who has his own romantic interest in Holbrook, eventually returns them to
Scott meets the other three Joint Chiefs and reasserts his intention to execute the coup. He plans a nighttime network broadcast, but Lyman holds an afternoon press conference to announce he has fired the four men. As he speaks, Barnswell's confession, recovered from the plane crash, is handed to him and he delays the conference. In the interim, copies of the confession are delivered to Scott and the other plotters. As the conference resumes, Scott abandons the plan and, devastated, returns home when Lyman announces that the other three conspirators have resigned.
Lyman delivers a speech on the state of the nation and its values, declaring that the nation gains strength through peace rather than by conflict. The press corps applauds.
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