Gore Vidal's The Best Man is set at the 1960 Republican National Convention in Philadelphia. William Russell, the ex-Secretary of State, is locked in a nomination battle with Senator Joseph Cantwell – with neither of them having the number of delegates needed to win their party’s nomination. When each rival gets a hold of personal information he believes disqualifies his opponent, the former President, Arthur Hockstader, steps in with an agenda all his own: to ensure the best man is chosen.