Senator Hays Stowe accepts an invitation to speak at Garbury College despite a threat on his life. Topic of his speech: ""The Practical Uses of Dissent in the 1970's""
Senator Hays Stowe questions the mental abilities of powerful committee chairman Homer Wydell and his ability to conduct good public policy. His wife Jean and Majority Leader Thad Brown prefer to ignore his decline for reasons of their own.
The Senator wants to secure the passage of important welfare-type bills, but must also cater to the desires of those who hold the key to his re-election.
Fictional drama based on the National Guard shootings at Kent State University. Sen. Stowe chairs a commission that is investigating the shooting deaths of two college students by National Guard troops during an anti-war protest at a university. His task is complicated by the fact that the students, the administrators and the National Guardsmen all give different versions of what happened.
When a memo by Jordan Boyle, Stowe's chief aide, get released and misinterpreted Hays pays for it. A columnist for a tabloid accuses the Senator of taking money from the syndicate.
A project Stowe sponsored is about to force Indians from their homes.
Senator Stowe has a bill that would increase welfare to the black community, but there is a worry that the funds will be controlled by black radical Isaac Johnson. At the same time government bureaucrat Frank Dixon develops a computer program to track the money.
Hal Holbrook discusses the cancellation of The Bold Ones: The Senator with Dick Cavett.
Hal Holbrook PSA regarding strict drug laws in foreign countries.