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As the novel (which was written before the adoption of the 25th Amendment) opens, the Vice-Presidency is vacant, due to the earlier death of the Vice-President. Then, on an overseas trip, the President and Speaker of the House are in a freak accident; the President is killed immediately and the Speaker Of The House dies during resultant surgery. The Presidency then falls upon the President Pro Tempore Of The Senate , Douglass Dilman, a black man who had earlier been elected to the position in a nod to tokenism.

Dilman's presidency is marked by white racists, black activists and an assassination attempt. He is impeached on several trumped-up charges after firing the United States Secretary Of State . One of his children, who had been " Passing " as white, is also targeted.

His impeachment trial closely parallels that of President Andrew Johnson .

The title of the book comes from a slang usage.

The book was made into a movie in 1972 , starring James Earl Jones in the title role, though many of the key plot points were changed drastically, including the whole-scale replacement of the impeachment storyline with Dilman's bid for the party's nomination at the national convention.