In 1959, Vice-President Richard M. Nixon announces that he intends to run for the White House. In his announcement he manages to imply, without actually saying so, that he has the endorsement of President Eisenhower. The President, who has never been on the best of terms with Nixon, is privately angry at this maneuver. However, with Joseph P. McCarthy again in the running, he allows Nixon's insinuation to go unchallenged: Ike's dislike for the Wisconsin senator, whom he considers a reckless demagogue, has steadily grown.