Samuel Lewis, the youngest of seven children born to African American working class parents and Hamilton Armstrong III, the only son of a wealthy white family and whose father is the local leader of the Ku Klux Klan, grow up in the same small Virginia town, but live worlds apart. They meet through mischief and despite the racial barriers of the pre-Civil Rights era, a life-long friendship is formed. Both driven by a passion for writing, they begin journalism careers at different New York newspapers, experience dangerous, as well as raunchy times in Vietnam and enter the sunset years of their careers at the same Atlanta newspaper where they are dueling political columnists: Sam provides the conservative viewpoint and Ham pens the liberal perspective. Unexpected excitement enters their lives as a bomb meant for Sam kills his mentor in the midst of their coverage of Barack Obama’s rise to the presidency.