Content Warning: This section of the guide contains references to racism, sexual violence, enslavement, suicide, and abuse.

Jack Burden remembers a trip to Mason City three years ago with Governor Willie “the Boss” Stark, his wife Lucy, and their son Tom, a talented football player. Accompanying them are Tiny Duffy, Willie’s lieutenant governor, and Sugar-Boy, his driver. When they stop at the pharmacy in town, Willie is instantly swarmed by constituents. Willie’s popularity is not only clear from the fervor of the people around him but also by the picture of him on the wall, six times his own size. As Willie leaves, the people demand a speech, and though Willie initially resists, he launches into a speech saying he is not a “gimme” politician here to campaign, but merely here for a visit. As Willie’s group passes the local schoolhouse, Jack remembers meeting Willie back in 1922, when he held the much less powerful position of county treasurer for Mason County. Jack was a reporter, and they met in the back of a pool hall with Mr. Duffy, the Tax Assessor, and Alex Michel, the Mason County Deputy Sheriff, to discuss the bond issue for building a local school.