When Mildred Smith, a smart but shy woman, is suddenly widowed by the death of her Republican congressman husband in the apartment of his mistress, she is approached by his top staffers to run for his seat in a special election. They want to retain their power in Congress and plan to control her vote.

Mildred wins the election and is excited about the prospect of using the opportunity in Congress to make a positive difference. But she soon realizes she has been summarily dismissed as a lightweight by other members of Congress. Instead of making her own decisions, she is expected to vote the way her husband did. When she proposes her own bill instead of one her husband sponsored, she is opposed even by her own staff, especially when she finds a Democratic co-sponsor to work with.

Mrs. Smith Goes to Washington is the story of a political novice who discovers her own moral strength as she is manipulated by her staff, bullied by party leaders, and even abandoned by her own friends when she is accused of complicity in a political scandal. Will Mildred be able to keep her integrity and establish her own identity in Washington?

This book is about politics, Congress, and Washington, but it is primarily about the courage of a single woman fighting low expectations, her husband's shadow, and her own self-doubt.