The film begins with Colby's service in World War II as an officer and paratrooper with the OSS, and follows his rise through the Central Intelligence Agency, where his roles included political covert action to oppose the Communist Party in Italy, later counterinsurgency actions and involvement in the 1963 coup in South Vietnam (in concert with President John F. Kennedy) during the Vietnam War, and later as Director of Central Intelligence in the 1970s. During his brief, tumultuous tenure leading the agency, Colby revealed the existence of documents describing illegal activities by the CIA, known as the "Family Jewels," in an effort to reform the agency. The film concludes with Colby's disappearance and death in April 1996.