The Governor's Mansion is a candid, revealing novel about a family caught up in alien territory. Out of this struggle emerges a book richly original and rare in its intimate view of American politics. Leon becomes governor of Nevada during the 1960s. An able lawyer in his own right, he is a neophyte when it comes to dealing with the political ploys of the entrenched officeholders who dominate in Nevada. The two faces of Nevada, traditional cowboy country and glitzy Las Vegas where anything goes, make for striking contrast. The author portrays the Las Vegas of shocking mores, its hoodlums, hit men, and hookers with affectionate humor. Leon faces the crisis of his budding political career when he is caught between J. Edgar Hoover's FBI, bent on cleaning out the Mafia, and his own need to protect the autonomy of his native state.

An unexpected ally appears when the only man rich enough to solve the governor's dilemma comes to Nevada - reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes. The Governor's Mansion neatly concludes,the journey from Old World to New World that was begun in the first two books of Robert Laxalt's trilogy: The Basque Hotel and Child of the Holy Ghost.