Skip over navigation  All the King's Men  Robert Penn Warren
Chapter 2  Chapter 1  Chapter 3   Jack Burden remembers the
years during which Willie Stark rose to power. While Willie was
Mason County Treasurer, he became embroiled in a controversy
over the building contract for the new school. The head of the
city council awarded the contract to the business partner of one
of his relatives, no doubt receiving a healthy kickback for
doing so. The political machine attempted to run this contract
over Willie, but Willie insisted that the contract be awarded to
the lowest bidder. The local big-shots responded by spreading
the story that the lowest bidder would import black labor to
construct the building, and, Mason County being redneck country,
the people sided against Willie, who was trounced in the next
election. Jack Burden covered all this in the Chronicle, which
sided with Willie.  After he was beaten out of office, Willie
worked on his father's farm, hit the law books at night, and
eventually passed the sta