Interviews with John L. Lewis and Governor Averell Harriman during the 1956 Democratic National Convention.

The film begins as John L. Lewis, President of the United Mine Workers, engages with a press conference on August 15, 1956 just outside of Harry Truman’s Presidential Suite at the Blackstone Hotel in Chicago. Reporter Charles E. Shutt interviews Lewis about his support for New York Governor Averell Harriman’s presidential campaign, and Lewis jokes that, “Hopefully I can only speak in my capacity as a member of the Joseph A. Holmes Safety Association,” while he vigorously shakes hands with Truman. When questioned if he would still vote Democratic if Governor Adlai Stevenson wins the nomination, Lewis replies, “Naturally.” This scene is followed by a brief shot of a film crew member holding a light meter to the camera outside New York Governor Averell Harriman’s hotel room, and then transitions to an interview with the governor concerning the Democratic Party’s civil rights platform.