(Author's Note: First two sentences are to be read in a 1940's announcer's voice. You are free to yell "News…… On the March" beforehand if you so choose).
The 1948 primaries. America is uneasy as the Democrats have been in the White House for sixteen years, the Cold War is beginning, and President Truman has been labeled ineffective by the press. The Republicans (and Frank Capra) need a nominee that will appeal to the masses while maintaining their conservative ideology. In the midst of party machinations and press conspiracies, self-made industrialist Grant Matthews (Spencer Tracy) is talked into running for President. Despite his distrust of politicians, he is persuaded by scheming kingmaker wannabe Jim Conover (Adolphe Menjou) and press magnate/mistress Kay Thorndyke (Angela Lansbury *). While Thorndyke wants Matthews for her own purposes, his estranged wife Mary (Katharine Hepburn) also vies for his affections and demands that he speak for the common folk of America. So, the film becomes a romantic and ideological struggle.