What to read, watch, and listen to if you lovedThe Front Runner
Jason Reitman · Film · 2018
If you loved The Front Runner, start with The Front Runner (Patricia Nell Warren, 1974) — a book from the same story. Below: 4 books, 4 series and 2 podcasts, each matched to The Front Runner across media.
If you were captivated by The Front Runner, you will appreciate these explorations of how public ambition collides with private morality.
Start with the source
Books on the same thread
A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership
James Comey · Book · 2018
Explores: Leadership, Ethics, Integrity.
Much like the intense scrutiny faced by Gary Hart in The Front Runner, this memoir examines the burden of integrity when political leadership faces a public crisis.
American Prometheus
Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin · Book
Shares a thread with The Front Runner: Moral ambiguity.
This biography mirrors the moral ambiguity of The Front Runner by showing how a brilliant individual is forced to confront the public consequences of their private decisions.
Young Man in a Hurry
Gavin Newsom · Book
Explores: Public service, Generational legacy, Political ambition.
If the political ambition portrayed in The Front Runner kept you hooked, you will value this candid reflection on the personal legacy and drive behind a political career.
Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime
John Heilemann, Mark Halperin · Book · 2010
Explores: 2008 Presidential Election, Political Campaigns, Presidential Politics.
This account provides the behind-the-scenes reality of presidential campaigns that shaped the high-stakes environment Gary Hart navigated throughout the events depicted in The Front Runner.
Series on the same thread
The Newsroom
Aaron Sorkin · Series · 2012
Shares a thread with The Front Runner: Political Drama.
This series captures the same tension between media ethics and professional idealism that defined the newsroom culture surrounding the scandal dramatized in The Front Runner.
Scandal
Shonda Rhimes · Series · 2012
Shares 2 threads with The Front Runner: Moral ambiguity, Political drama.
You will recognize the high-stakes management of reputation and secrets found in The Front Runner as Olivia Pope navigates the intersection of power and personal betrayal.
Frontline
David Fanning · Series · 1983
Explores: Social Issues, Political Analysis, In-depth Reporting.
This series offers the same investigative rigor that fueled the media frenzy in The Front Runner, focusing on the complex human experiences behind major political narratives.
The Good Wife
Michelle King · Series · 2009
Shares 2 threads with The Front Runner: Moral Ambiguity, Political Drama.
The Front Runner highlights the fallout of a candidate’s scandal, and this show explores the subsequent struggle for redemption and personal identity after a public political collapse.
Podcasts on the same thread
FiveThirtyEight Politics
Podcast
Explores: polling data, political forecasting, policy analysis.
If you enjoyed the analytical look at campaign strategy in The Front Runner, this podcast provides the modern data-driven perspective on the political game-changers affecting elections.
Infamous
Podcast
Shares a thread with The Front Runner: political scandal.
Much like the media scrutiny that derailed the campaign in The Front Runner, this podcast investigates how journalists hold powerful figures accountable for their most explosive scandals.
Keep exploring
Common questions
Is The Front Runner based on a true story?
Yes, The Front Runner is based on real political events from 1987. It follows the campaign of Gary Hart, a former Senator of Colorado who was the leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination before his bid ended due to a reported extramarital affair.
Is The Front Runner adapted from a book?
The 2018 movie The Front Runner was inspired by historical events, but it is not a direct adaptation of the 1974 book titled The Front Runner. The film focuses on the 1987 presidential campaign and the media scandal that derailed Gary Hart's political career.
Who directed the movie The Front Runner?
The Front Runner was directed by Jason Reitman. Released in 2018, the film explores the intersection of politics and media scrutiny by dramatizing the 1987 presidential campaign of Gary Hart and the events surrounding the scandal that forced him to withdraw from the race.
What is the plot of The Front Runner?
The Front Runner depicts the 1987 presidential campaign of Gary Hart. Although he was the front-runner for the Democratic nomination, his path to the White House was destroyed when allegations of an extramarital affair surfaced in the media, forcing the candidate to address the scandal publicly.