Newly elected independent party leader Mitchell Harding, a long shot beating the two-party candidates for the Presidency, is facing a mounting economic crisis and threats from key business and congressional leaders viewing him as a risk to their power and the nation's future. Events spiral out of control as these powerbrokers seek Harding's removal anyway they deem necessary. Compounding President Harding's efforts protecting the nation from domestic threats, he learns of a discovery by a noted plasma physicist that can alter the balance of world power if his invention is diverted for military use. As foreign powers learn of the device and attempt to control it and its creator, several single-minded forces collide as the power struggle to gain control of the scientist and his device leads to extreme consequences.