Instrumental in getting Dwight D. Eisenhower to run for office and wielding considerable influence over many of the president's decisions, Brownell had to make many tough and controversial recommendations. In his memoirs he recalls his relationship with the president and provides firsthand insight into an administration that faced not only the wrath of segregationists and Communist witch-hunters but also the resolution of an increasingly unpopular war in Korea and a new definition of American-Soviet relations following Joseph Stalin's death. Particularly notable for Brownell were the gains made in civil rights. Despite personal attacks by the opposition on his integrity, he tenaciously supported and enforced the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. the Board of Education and Little Rock desegregation.

Going beyond the years he spent on Eisenhower's cabinet, Brownell describes the events and people that have influenced his colorful life, including his stints as chairman of the Republican party and manager of Thomas Dewey's two unsuccessful presidential campaigns and his 62-year private law career.