The story starts out in the main character introducing himself as Tom Rath. Tom was also a recruit in World War II. Tom Rath is a minor assistant to Ralph Hopkins, the president of the United Broadcasting Company in Rockefeller Center, New York. Tom Rath's job was preparing speeches on mental health, education, and Ralph Hopkins theories on the role of mass communication.

On a cold Friday afternoon in September of 1863, Ralph Hopkins called Tom Rath into his office. He told Tom he was asked to serve as chairman of a White House Conference on Mental Health. Ralph Hopkins asked Tom to be his right hand man. Tom accepted, he liked the job and would also get higher pay. The one problem was he would have to mostly live in Washington D.C. On his way home to South Bay Connecticut, Tom worried about not having a job...