"Reporting the highlights of seven crucial days in the life of President Lyndon Johnson -- in the White House, at the Johnson ranch, and Camp David -- the film reveals the dynamic nature of the American Presidency. In his efforts to shape his domestic dream, The Great Society, President Johnson assumes great personal control over the apparatus of government. Seeing himself as "a child of Congress," he also applies the special knowledge and skills derived from his legislative experience. Like most professionals, he makes a few wasted efforts; he knows that even the seemingly routine and ceremonial duties that fill his day can help to reinforce the prestige of his office.

Edited from the film "Seven Days in the Life of the President" by David L. Wolper.

Beyond the complex problems involved in implementing his domestic program, the President is plagued by a foreign war "which he dares not leave nor cannot end." During a week of routine duties, ceremonial obligations, and legislative problems, the President also faces a major crisis in Vietnam. The process by which he formulates a new policy in Vietnam is a classic example of presidential decision-making. In the final analysis, as the film describes it, the responsibility is the President's alone: "He has absorbed fact, advice, information, subjected them to the force of his emotions and intellect, and produced a decision -- because he holds a lonely mandate freely given. He is President and he must decide. And when it is over, he reaches out for support in the way of all men."" - Summary from the teaching guide.