It's 1947. The postwar world is in crisis. The Soviet Union seeks to gain control of a world whose cities lie in ruins, its people starving. Civil war rages in China. A Middle Eastern war seems inevitable.

The United States is the only nation able to counter Communist advances if one man, the president of the United States, stands firm. But the president is dead, and there is no vice president to replace him.

Next in line is a man who belongs to no party. He is universally recognized as a person of unimpeachable integrity. Beholden to no one, he is the most trusted man in Washington--a leader admired by our allies, feared by our enemies, and respected by both. Many consider him to be the greatest American of his era. Retirement with his wife after nearly fifty years of government service is finally in sight.

Secretary of State, General George C. Marshall does not want to be president.

But now, reluctantly, he is the president, a nonpartisan person occupying the most political of positions. Fortunately, his many years in Washington have prepared him for this test. Marshall understands how to get things done in DC. He knows people of ability who share his sense of duty to his country. The new president must build a team to face the myriad challenges at home and abroad.

A covert team is sent to Palestine to find the Jewish extremists who killed the president. Marshall must answer calls from home for justice while forestalling a war between Jews and Arabs. To prevent another world war, he must find a solution to Communist threats that America and Congress will support. Europe must be fed and rebuilt while rogue government agencies attempt to undermine his presidency. Will a reluctant president survive?

Most intriguingly, this almost really happened.