It was a pivotal time in American history: the Brown v. Board of Education decision had been reached, yet segregation still reigned, particularly in Southern schools and public facilities. At this key moment, a young World War II veteran decided to run for governor of North Carolina, got elected, and then proceeded to change the face of North Carolina and the South. The film tells the tale of a white Southern politician who aligned himself with the goals of the civil rights movement. At the very moment when populists like Alabama Gov. George Wallace were making political hay by promising their voters “segregation forever,” Terry Sanford navigated a very different path, and managed to avoid political martyrdom as he did so. A tough, bare-knuckle politician who blended lofty ideals with ground-level cunning, Sanford was informed by an optimistic vision of the New South: progressive, prosperous, and re-integrated into the main currents of American life.