In 1976, Senator Henry M. Jackson announces he will run for president in that year's election, setting up a confrontation between him and Senator Edward M. Kennedy, whose vice-presidential running-mate he had been in 1972.

Jackson makes no secret of his belief that Kennedy is "soft" on the Soviets, and the Washington senator also insinuates that his Massachusetts counterpart is unfriendly to 'America's only real friend in the Middle East,' Israel. By the time of the convention, personal feelings between the two men - never really warm - will have badly deteriorated.