Eventually he becomes a follower of Gamal Abdel Nasser (John Rhys-Davies) as the latter begins his ascent to political supremacy in Egypt.
Nasser enjoys widespread popularity once he nationalizes the Suez Canal, but suffers a fatal downfall in the wake of Egypt's crushing defeat in the Six-Day War.
Ultimately, Sadat realizes the futility of war, and seeks a peaceful dialog with Israel, leading up to his meetings with Menachem Begin (Barry Morse).
While the resulting Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty normalizes relations between Egypt and the west, in the midst of the Israeli occupation of Palestine greatly alienates Sadat from the rest of the Arab world.
The film was negatively received in Egypt and was accused there of distorting history and slandering the Egyptian people, and was also criticized for the casting of a black actor, Lou Gossett, Jr., as Sadat.