U.S. President Andrew Shepherd wants to pass a crime control bill through Congress in advance of his re-election campaign. Although he lacks support from Republicans, and many of his fellow Democrats find the bill too moderate, Shepherd decides to announce it as a key part of his agenda in his upcoming State of the Union address. Meanwhile, a group called the Global Defense Council hires lobbyist Sydney Ellen Wade to garner support for an environmental bill that will reduce carbon dioxide emissions. President Shepherd stumbles upon a meeting in which Sydney Wade is criticizing him, and, despite their differences, the two are drawn to each other. Shepherd, a widower and single father to twelve-year-old Lucy, invites Sydney to be his date to a state dinner with the President of France. He continues to court her and they fall in love. Senator Bob Rumson, a Republican who plans to run against Shepherd in the next election, denounces the relationship and Sydney’s past exploits as a political activist. Shepherd ignores Rumson’s attacks on his and Sydney’s characters, and refuses to acknowledge that Sydney could hurt his chances for re-election. Shepherd ultimately rejects Sydney’s environmental bill in order to procure the votes he needs for his crime bill. She loses her job and breaks up with him, admonishing his actions and warning that he has lost her vote. That night, Shepherd talks with his friend and Chief of Staff, A. J. MacInerney. He questions his own character, but MacInerney insists that, instead of lacking character, the president has shown political savvy in his quest to help the country. The following morning, hours before he is set to deliver the State of the Union, Shepherd gives an impromptu speech to the press, in which he vows to send the environmental bill to Congress with even stricter regulations. He announces the abandonment of his crime bill, as it is too weak on firearm control to address the country’s gun violence problems. He promises to write a new one that will better protect the American people. Afterward, he is about to go to Sydney’s house when she appears in the Oval Office. The two are reunited, and, after he buys her flowers, they go together to the House of Representatives for his State of the Union address.