In the mob-controlled town of Phenix City, Alabama in the 1950s, a crusading lawyer is assassinated after he is elected attorney general on a platform of 'Man Against Crime'. His son reluctantly takes his place, vowing to clean up Phenix City and find his father's killers. Later he uses the race issue to be elected governor so that he can continue his fight against the mob. But his stand as a segregationist leads to tragic results.