Tyler Spotswood, an alcoholic campaign manager, helps elect a corrupt Southern politician to the U.S. Senate. When his boss, Chuck Crawford aka “Number One,” pins a scandal on Spotswood, Tyler is too drunk to blow the whistle.
Number One
draws many comparisons to Robert Penn Warren’s
All the King’s Men
. Crawford reminds many of Louisiana politician Huey Long, a figure studied in person by Dos Passos.