Joe Gresham is a hard-working but reticent congressman from Massachusetts. Reporter Alice Kingsley arrives in Washington, DC hired by Gilbert Nunnally, a tabloid columnist and cynic who wants Alice to uncover a ripe political scandal. They target "No Comment Joe" Gresham, and she begins developing a story on him, telling him it will be a benign "profile." Gresham is struggling with a genuine legislative dilemma, weighing the funding of a ship building facility which would favor his own district against broader national defense requirements. To get to know him better-and to dig up some appropriate dirt, Alice agrees to travel with Joe to his home district, where she meets his mother and observes him in his local context. She finds Gresham's wholesome image appears unfeigned and becomes torn between her commission to write a "tell-all" story and her growing attraction to Joe.