The governor of an unnamed western state, Hubert "Happy" Hopper, has to pick a replacement for the recently deceased U.S. Senator Sam Foley. His corrupt political boss, Jim Taylor, pressures Hopper to choose his handpicked stooge, Horace M…
The governor of an unnamed western state, Hubert "Happy" Hopper, has to pick a replacement for the recently deceased U.S. Senator Sam Foley. His corrupt political boss, Jim Taylor, pressures Hopper to choose his handpicked stooge, Horace Miller, while popular committees want a reformer, Henry Hill. The governor's children want him to select Jefferson Smith, the head of the Boy Rangers. Unable to make up his mind between Taylor's stooge and the reformer, Hopper decides to flip a coin. When it lands on edge – and next to a newspaper story on one of Smith's accomplishments – he chooses Smith, calculating that his wholesome image will please the people. At the same time, his naivety will make him easy to manipulate. ---
Although all hope seems lost, the senators begin to pay attention as Smith approaches utter exhaustion. Paine has one last card up his sleeve: he brings in bins of letters and telegrams from Smith's home state, purportedly from average people demanding his expulsion. Nearly broken by the news, Smith finds a small ray of hope in a friendly smile from the President of the Senate. Smith vows to press on until people believe him but immediately collapses in a faint. Overcome with the pangs of remorse, Paine leaves the Senate chamber and attempts to commit suicide by gunshot but is stopped by onlooking senators. He then bursts back into the Senate chamber, shouting a confession to the whole scheme; the reformed Paine further insists that he must be expelled from the Senate and affirms Smith's innocence to Clarissa's delight. The President of the Senate observes the ensuing chaos with amusement.
