When the President and Speaker of the House are killed in a building collapse, and the Vice-President declines the office due to age and ill-health, Senate President pro tempore Douglas Dilman (James Earl Jones) suddenly becomes the first black man to occupy the Oval Office. The events from that day to the next election when he must decide if he will actually run challenge his skills as a politician and leader.
James Earl Jones | Douglass Dilman |
Martin Balsam | Jim Talley |
Burgess Meredith | Senator Watson |
Lew Ayres | Noah Calvin |
William Windom | Arthur Eaton |
Barbara Rush | Kay Eaton |
Georg Stanford Brown | Robert Wheeler |
Janet MacLachlan | Wanda |
Martin E. Brooks | Wheeler's Lawyer |
Simon Scott | Hugh Gaynor |
Patric Knowles | South African Consul |
Robert DoQui | Webson |