User:El cid, el campeador/All the King's Men

All the King's Men follows the political career of Willie Stark (Crawford), through the point of view of Jack Burden (Ireland). At the beginning of the film, Burden, at that time a newspaper journalist, is sent by his editor to a small town to see Stark, an "honest man", who is running for treasurer of a rural county. Burden meets with Stark and his family and observes the efforts of the corrupt local politicians to dissuade Stark from running, including brutalizing Stark's adopted son Tommy and smashing the front window of the Stark house.

Burden returns home and writes several pieces on Stark, highlighting his honesty and dedication to eliminating corruption in his county. Ultimately, however, Stark loses the race. Stark then focuses his efforts on obtaining a law degree; he eventually does, and opens his own law firm.

A turning point comes when during a fire drill at a local school, a fire escape collapses and injuries and kills dozens of children. During his run for treasurer, Stark had pointed out that the lowest bid on the school had not been taken due to corruption, and that the bid had instead been given to a construction company with connections to politicians. Following the collapse of the fire escape, Stark brought a lawsuit against the government and began to go around the state giving speeches.

At this point, Burden's editor sends him back to have another interview with Stark, whose popularity was growing, especially among the lower classes of the state. Stark insists that despite his speeches and growing profile, he was done with politics. This is quickly put to the test.

It is revealed that the "establishment" candidate for governor is struggling against his opponent, especially in rural areas. The governor's camp then looks for a stooge who can be convinced to run for governor, in order to split the rural and lower class vote so that the establishment candidate can win. They realize that Stark was in and ideal position, due to his growing popularity among the lower classes. However, it is realized that Stark has no real chance of winning the governorship.

Burden is shown following the campaign of Stark, and he eventually realizes why Stark was brought into the race and that he had no real shot at winning. However, a drunk Stark, after realizing he was being used to split the vote, is shown at a fundraiser abandoning his prepared speech to speak to the crowd about how the rural, lower-class "hicks" were being taken advantage of by the establishment. From then on, Stark, running on a populist platform, gains popularity, and develops a real chance to win the race. At that point, Burden's newspaper, which had been supporting Stark, switched its endorsement to the establishment candidate, causing Burden to quit. Ultimately, Stark narrowly loses the race.