The camera follows newly-elected President John F. Kennedy around the White House as he conducts his daily business| meeting with various people in the Oval Office to discuss matters of government. Flashbacks to the 1960 campaign and footage from his 1961 Inauguration show how Kennedy rose to take on "the free world's most awesome responsibility". To supplement the President's discussions on policy| the camera shows viewers the economic hardships of a West Virginia mining town and takes them along on a diplomatic trip to Ethiopia.