Peter Cutler is a respected Princeton professor living a quiet life when an old college friend offers him the position of foreign policy advisor for Democratic presidential candidate Wayne Kent. Cutler takes the job and jumps into the political fray. When Kent wins the election, Cutler is thrilled to find himself Under-Secretary of State. But he soon discovers that the power politics of Washington are a far cry from the comforts of university life. In order to survive, he must participate in a ruthless tug of war in which everyone struggles to promote his own agenda.