"7 Days in May"

""Seven Days in May' is a political thriller novel written by Fletcher Knebel and Charles W. Bailey II and published in 1962. The novel was made into a motion picture in 1964, with screenplay by Rod Serling, directed by John Frankenheimer, and starring Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas. The story is said to have been influenced by the right-wing anti-Communist political activities of General Edwin A. Walker after he retired from the military. The author, Knebel, got the idea for the book after interviewing then Air Force Chief of Staff Curtis LeMay.

The novel and film tell the story of fictitious U.S. President Jordan Lyman. As the story begins, Lyman faces a wave of public dissatisfaction with his decision to sign a treaty with the Soviet Union, an agreement that will supposedly result in both nations simultaneously destroying their nuclear weapons under mutual international inspection. This is extremely unpopular with both the President's opposition and the military, who believe the Soviets cannot be trusted. As the debate over the treaty rages on, an alert and well-positioned Pentagon insider, United States Marine Corps Colonel Martin "Jiggs" Casey becomes aware of a conspiracy among the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) led by his own superior officer, the charismatic head of the JCS, Air Force General James Mattoon Scott. As he digs deeper, he uncovers the conspiracy's shocking goal: Scott and his cohorts, Colonel Broderick, Colonel Murdock, Gen. Hardesty (Tyler McVey), along with allies in the United States Congress led by Sen. Frederick Prentice and influential members of the news media led by Harold McPherson, are plotting to stage a coup d'etat to remove President Lyman and his cabinet seven days hence.

The plot itself, called ECOMCON (for "Emergency Communications Control"), entails the seizure of the nation's telephone, radio and television network infrastructure by a secret United States Army combat unit created and controlled by Scott's conspiracy and based in Texas near Fort Bliss. Once this is done, General Scott and his conspirators will control the nation's communications assets; then, from their headquarters within a vast underground nuclear shelter called "Mount Thunder" (based on the actual continuity of government facility maintained by the U.S. at Mount Weather in Berryville, Virginia), they will use the power of the media and the military to prevent the implementation of the treaty.

Although personally opposed to President Lyman and to the treaty, Casey is appalled by the unconstitutional cabal and alerts Lyman and his inner circle: Art Corwin (Bart Burns), Christopher Todd, Paul Girard, Sen. Raymond Clark. As the countdown begins, both sides maneuver behind the scenes: Lyman sends Casey to New York to ferret out secrets that can be used against Scott, forcing Casey to cruelly deceive the general's former mistress, the vulnerable Ellie Holbrook. He then sends the aging, alcoholic Georgia senator Clark to El Paso, Texas to see if he can locate the base.

Lyman also sends White House aide Paul Girard to the Mediterranean to get the confession of Vice Admiral Farley C. Barnswell, an admiral who knows of the plot but decided not to participate in it (responding through a code involving the Preakness horse race). Girard gains the admiral's confession, but is killed when his plane crashes into a mountain in Spain on its way back to Washington.

Clark finds the secret base, meanwhile, but is taken captive. He ultimately persuades Colonel William "Mutt" Henderson, a friend of Casey's stationed there, to help him escape. Clark makes it back safely to Washington, but his ally Henderson mysteriously vanishes at the airport. President Lyman finds out about secret Air Force transports being flown to various cities from General Bernard "Barney" Rutkowski. He orders them grounded.

Lyman confronts Scott in the Oval Office, demanding that Scott submit his immediate resignation. Scott refuses, saying that everything that happened and is going to happen is the President's own fault:

Lyman elects not to use the letters that incriminate the general. Scott's plan is to appear on all television and radio networks simultaneously to denounce the President, but Lyman holds a press conference where he demands the resignation of Scott and all members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Scott demands everyone stay in line. Lyman, however, discovers the confession that Girard obtained has survived the crash. A copy is given to Scott and the other officers who were in on the plot. Scott's cohorts resign, and the plot of a military takeover is impossible now. The film ends with Lyman addressing the American people on the country's future.”

- Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Days_in_May