Jefferson Smith est très aimé des Boys Rangers, un club de jeunes garçons qu'il dirige. Cet homme populaire et naïf est une affaire pour le gouverneur Hopper et son chef politique Jim Taylor, qui en font un sénateur idéal pour couvrir leurs sombres histoires. Mr. Smith devient alors vite la risée du Congrès et est, malgré lui, compromis dans une affaire louche. Après un moment de découragement et grâce à sa secrétaire, il prend la parole au Sénat et la garde vingt-trois heures durant.

A young lawyer is elected mayor of the city and promises to rid it of the corruption it's famous for. The problem is that most of the corruption he's vowed to eliminate is caused by the crooked political machine that helped elect him.

An investigative documentary that focuses on political activities in the 47th Ward of Chicago and on the relationship between party politics and the park district. Originally aired on local Chicago news station WBBM-TV in 1979, the documentary details machine politics, patronage, clientelism and bribery that ran rife in Chicago's 47th Ward under the helm of Democratic Party Committeeman Ed Kelly. The digitization of this program was made possible by a grant from The Brinson Foundation.