The film retraces George McGovern's bold and grassroots presidential campaign of 1972 - a campaign that fought to the bitter end for peace and justice... a campaign that positioned ideas and people first... and, for a myriad of reasons, it was a campaign crushed in workmanlike fashion by the Butcher from Whittier, Richard Nixon. The tragedy of the '72 campaign is this: George McGovern might have been the only candidate to run for President in the 20th Century who truly understood what an incredible monument America could be to the human race.