The events of this novel unfold in the twenties and thirties of our century in the United States of America. The narration is on behalf of Jack Burden. Born in a wealthy family in the south of the country, Bearden graduated from a prestigious school, studied US history at a state university, and later became the right-hand man of Willie Stark. Jack Bearden met Willy Stark in 1922 in Mason City on behalf of the newspaper’s editor-in-chief to write an article about him. He was born into a poor peasant family, worked on the land, independently read books on jurisprudence, and then passed the necessary exams and received the title of lawyer. Some time passes, the Chronicle newspaper publishes a series of articles on state corruption, and the name Willy Stark appears on its pages as a defender of the rights of honest citizens.
Initially, Stark works as treasurer of the state. He is involved in the issuance of bonds to build a school in Mason City. But he is opposed to giving the order for its construction D.-H. Muru, since he knows that this is an unscrupulous person and can very well use a batch of defective bricks that he has in his warehouse to build a school. But no one wants to listen to his words, and still D.-X. Muru. The state treasurer chooses another, and everyone forgets about this story. And two years later trouble comes to the city. During a school alarm at this school, children climb fire ladders, the masonry cannot stand it, and the building collapses, scattering children in all directions. Three die on the spot, ten or twelve are very broken, so some of them remain crippled for life. For Willy Stark, this tragic event may serve as a springboard in his political career, but he is not trying to speculate on it. People themselves understand what’s what. They believe in his honesty, in his sincere desire to prove useful to his fellow citizens. In Mason County, he becomes a famous person. All the metropolitan newspapers print his photographs. But he still tries to stay in the shadows for a long time.
Nevertheless, one fine morning, Willy Stark suddenly wakes up as a candidate for governor, without making any effort to do so. The fact is that in its state there are two main democratic factions. One is led by Joe Garrison, and the other by McMurphy. Joe Garrison is the former governor, and McMurphy is the current governor and is running for re-election. Someone from the Garison team comes up with the idea of nominating a third candidate, who, according to their plans, should have taken part of the votes from McMurphy. This requires a popular person, and the choice falls on Willy Stark. Willie is courted, they say that he can become the governor, and drag him into the election race. But one day, before his public appearance, Willie learns that he is simply being manipulated, used as a pawn in a political game. Having figured out what’s what, he urges voters to vote for McMurphy, and as a result, not without the help of Stark, he again becomes governor.
The next meeting of Jack Burden and Willy Stark takes place in 1930, when Willy is already on the post of governor. He offers Jack to work in his team. Jack Bearden agrees, and from that moment on, Willy Stark becomes the Master for him. The Master’s team has several more interesting personalities: Baby Duffy, who previously helped Joe Garrison, secretary Sadie Burke and bodyguard driver Rafinad.
Having become the governor, Willy Stark gets a taste, begins to play a big political game and now thinks not only about the benefits and good of his fellow citizens, but also about his own political career. Adored by the crowd, he develops his oratory abilities, trying to preserve the image of a “people's defender,” goes to the goal uncontrollably and assertively, using blackmail and corruption. For example, it helps to avoid criminal liability to the state auditor Bayram B. White. But he does this not because of friendship with him, but because he needs to “wipe his nose” McMurphy, who is now a political rival to him. As a trump card in his next election campaign, he promises to build a state-of-the-art clinic in the state and does everything possible to realize his plan, while making personal enemies.
One day, Stark, with his wife and team, comes to the farm to his father, where reporters want to take some pictures of the governor for newspapers. There he learns that Judge Irwin, who is an authority in the city, supports Kelahan, the man of McMurphy who is running for the Senate, and not Masters, Stark’s protege. That night, Willy, with his driver and Jack Byrden, drives off to Beardens Land, where Judge Irwin lives, to speak with him. They cannot get a conversation because the judge does not want to change his mind. Then the Boss gives Jack the task of finding in the biography of the judge any facts that compromise him so that you can put pressure on him.
Jack Bearden begins to delve seriously into Judge Irwin's past and learns that once, as a state attorney and in a difficult position, trying to save his mortgaged house from selling, Irwin took a bribe. He discovers the relevant documents confirming this fact. Among the documents is a letter from which it appears that the crime was covered by his friend Senator Stanton, the father of Adam and Anna Stanton, Jack's childhood friends. Before giving the documents to the Master, Jack decides to first speak with the judge. Judge Irwin bravely accepts this news and refuses to help Willy Stark, despite documents compromising him in the eyes of society and law. He ignores Jack’s personal request. But when Jack Bearden leaves, the judge shoots himself and dies. After the death of Judge Irwin, Jack learns from his mother that he was his father.
Around the same time, Willy Stark's troubles began. The people of McMurphy, who, like Stark, is about to run for the Senate, start a campaign against the governor's son, Tom Stark, a rising American football star. Under their pressure, one girl’s dad comes to Willy Stark and declares that his daughter is expecting a baby from Tom. The father understands that the blow of the competitors is directed primarily against him, and the son, by his behavior, gives rise to this. Father is trying to solve this problem in his own way, that is, he is going to pay off, but does not have time to do it. A new disaster strikes his head. During the match, Tom receives a serious spinal injury. The question is about his life and death. Adam Stanton, who became a famous surgeon and agreed to become the director of the medical complex that Willy Stark is planning to build, operates on Tom Stark. He wrests Tom from the arms of death, but he fails to save him from paralysis.
Sadie Burke, the host’s devoted secretary and long-time mistress, discovers that Anna Stanton, Adam’s doctor’s sister, childhood friend and youthful love for Jack Burden, is Willy’s mistress. The anger of the impulsive and energetic Sadie knows no bounds, and she tells Adam Stanton via Little Duffy, who secretly hates the Boss, that Governor Stark invited him to become the director of the future clinic solely because of his sister, that now he wants to remove him from this post because Adam made his son a cripple and because Willie would now want to get rid of Anna, break up with her. Adam Stanton, always referring to Willy Stark as an upstart, looking at him from the height of his idealistic moral position, believes what he heard on the phone. Having lost control over himself, he insults his sister and claims that he will forever break with her. Having stolen Willy Stark in the Capitol, he shoots him and mortally wounds. Well, Rafinad, the governor's bodyguard, kills Adam Stanton.
After Willy Stark’s death, Little Duffy takes over as governor. He offers Jack Burden to work for him, but he refuses and even tries to scare Duffy, telling him that he knows the story of the phone call to Adam and that he can make it public. In fact, at first he intends to avenge Dafi in this way for Stark's death, but, upon reflection, he does not dare to take this step.
After the Host’s funeral, Jack Bearden leaves for Beards Land, where Anna Stanton lives. Jack settles in the house of Judge Irwin, who he bequeathed to him. Anna Stanton, who became his wife, moved to him, as did his mother’s ex-husband, now an old man whom Jack had long considered his father. But doctors say that the old man will not last long. Jack and Anna want to leave this house after his death and go somewhere far away from Beardens Landing. Anna Stanton gives her estate to an orphanage, because she can no longer live in it after her brother’s death. Willie Stark's wife, Tom Stark's mother, finds the meaning of life in raising a boy, his grandson, born out of wedlock after the death of her son.
