The Man is a 1964 novel by Irving Wallace that explored what might have happened had a black man become President of the United States. The title of the book comes from the slang "The Man".
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Plot introduction
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.
Plot summary
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.
Allusions/references to actual history, geography and current science
His impeachment trial closely parallels that of President Andrew Johnson.
Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
The book was made into a motion picture 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.
