How Gary Hart's Presidential Campaign Scandal Changed Politics Forever (2024)

Cultural mores change gradually, but there are still flash points along the way. Gary Hart's presidential run was one of them—a cultural watershed that changed forever how we think about politics, privacy, and the campaign trail.

Over 30 years later, we're still trying to process what happened. Jason Reitman's new film The Front Runner, based on journalist Matt Bai's book about Hart, is the latest attempt to revisit the events of 1987.

Hugh Jackman plays the former senator in the new movie, which promises to introduce a whole new generation to a moment that profoundly shaped the world in which they live.

Gary Hart was a well-established politician.

After flirting with the idea of entering the ministry—ironic, given what Hart would eventually become known for—Hart entered politics. He first gained notoriety for managing Senator George McGovern's 1972 presidential campaign. Hart lead his candidate to victory in the primaries, though McGovern ultimately lost to Richard Nixon in the general election.

A Democrat, Hart was elected to represent Colorado in the Senate in 1975. He would serve in the senate until 1987, and ran unsuccessfully in 1984 for the Democratic presidential nomination. Undeterred, he tried again for the nomination in 1988.

Everything fell apart during his presidential primary run in 1987.

Once in the lead to cinch the Democratic nomination, Hart was derailed after allegations of an affair with actress Donna Rice surfaced in The Miami Herald. It's a familiar story today, when politicians seem to be constantly felled by scandal—but the salacious attention paid to a politician's private life wasn't the norm back then.

The story originated from an anonymous tipster (eventually revealed to be clothing designer Dana Weems), who called Herald reporter Tom Fiedler just two weeks after Hart officially announced his presidential run. Weems told Fiedler that her friend had begun an affair with Hart during an overnight cruise to the Bahamas. She mentioned that her friend would be flying to visit him in Washington that Friday. Her "friend" would turn out to be actress and model Donna Rice.

The Herald decided to follow up on the claim. The team sent investigative reporter Jim McGee to Washington in the hopes that he could catch Hart in the act. McGee staked out Hart's home, and saw a blonde woman leave with him around 9:30 p.m., and return with her a couple hours later. The following night, McGee saw her leave with Hart again.

Photos from the stakeout were published in the Herald on May 3, 1987. Hart evaded journalists' questions about the alleged affair, and Rice said they were just friends. Hart continued campaigning, but when a Washington Post reporter started looking into allegations of another extramarital affair, he suspended his campaign. The Post's story was never published.

A little over two weeks after Hart bowed out of the race, the National Enquirer published an image of Rice sitting on Hart's lap, and any lingering doubt about Hart's adultery was largely erased in the public's mind.

Hart did try to re-enter the race later, but his second try didn't last long.

That December, Hart announced that he was once again running for president. "There is no shame in losing, only in quitting," he said in a New Hampshire speech, just before filing in the state's primary. "I intend to resume my presidential campaign and let the people decide."

After a disappointing performance in that primary, he once again dropped out of the race—this time, for good. The Democratic nomination eventually went to Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis, who lost to George H.W. Bush in the general election.

Hart left politics for good after bowing out of the campaign.

On his personal blog, 'Matters of Principle" (make of that title what you will), Hart describes a fairly typical post-political life. The former senator lectured at University of Colorado, Oxford University, Yale University, and other prestigious institutions; he co-chaired several commissions for the U.S. government. He even blogged for The Huffington Post for a time. Today he lives in Colorado.

After Hart's scandal, journalistic boundaries shifted.

Before the story broke, Hart didn't see a reason to worry about rumors of extramarital affairs, even after Washington columnist Jack Germond told him that the press was well aware of his "zipper problem." Until Hart, the sex lives of politicians, including Presidents like Kennedy and Johnson, were largely considered off-limits to journalists at the time.

The Herald's coverage of Hart and Rice changed how reporters were expected to cover (or not cover) politicians. "Once the door was opened, it became much easier and much more attractive for journalists who, in the past, might have looked the other way, and whose publications might have said, 'Well, we don’t really go there,'" Washington Post columnist Margaret Sullivan explained to The Ringer.

Historians have highlighted the connection between Hart's watershed moment and today's tabloid-like coverage of politics.

It's no secret that we're living in a world where politics and celebrity have converged. Look no further than President Trump, who rode the success of his reality TV show all the way to the White House.

As Matt Bai argues in his book, All the Truth Is Out: The Week Politics Went Tabloid, that all started in 1987: "The finest political journalists of a generation surrendered all at once to the idea that politics had become another form of celebrity-driven entertainment, while simultaneously disdaining the kind of reporting that such a thirst for entertainment made necessary."

Hart himself seems convinced that this is the case. "The media has become more intrusive in people’s private lives and the loss of privacy on the part of candidates has caused an awful lot of people of quality to choose not to seek public office," he told Vanity Fair last year. "And that is reflected in the decline in the caliber and quality of people in public service, unfortunately."

Others argue that there is a positive side to this kind of reporting, especially in light of #MeToo.

Yes, journalists did used to give politicians more privacy. But behind the scenes, some men were using that as cover to sexually harass women.

JFK's behavior on this point is well-documented, as is that of many other pre-Hart politicians.. In Richard Ben Cramer's book What It Takes, reporter Patricia O’Brien revealed that Hart agreed to meet her in his hotel room for an interview. When she arrived, he answered the door in a short robe and, O'Brien believed, nothing else. She said she asked him to put on clothes and he became angry.

Recently, journalists have lifted the curtain on many long-rumored sexual predators—and the resulting fall of Harvey Weinstein, Matt Lauer, Roger Ailes, and many others is an inarguable good.

As with most historical events, the only certain conclusion is that academics will be revisiting Hart's story for some time to come.