 The original edition was published at the height of Gravel's national visibility following his actions against the Nixon administration regarding the Pentagon papers and the Vietnam War.It discussed not just Nixon and Vietnam, but also issues such as the environment, energy policy, taxation policy, governmental reform, and health care and other socio-economic matters, and Gravel's proposed solutions to them.The book's focus was on the benefits that would come with greater citizen participation in government, and its proposal for a constitutional amendment to permit enactment of federal laws by public referendum would presage much of Gravel's future political efforting.