Set in the Midwest in 1937, Meet John Doe tells the story of Ann Mitchell, a recently fired newspaper columnist who earns her job back by writing a fictitious letter to the editor. The fabricated tale of a man driven to suicide on Christmas Eve by the heartlessness of society ignites a cultural and political frenzy. Ann and publisher D.B. Norton hire John Willoughby, a hobo, to take on the persona of "Doe." The invented premise starts the fire of a public movement, and soon Ann, D.B. Norton and John Willoughby truly begin to believe in what "John Doe" stands for. But true inspiration could turn tragic in the hands of a self-serving publisher with money on his mind.

(Transcription)
"Dear Miss Mitchell, Four years ago I was fired out of my job. Since then I haven't been able to get another one. At first I was sore at the state administration. Because of the dirty politics here we have all this unemployment. But in looking aroud, it seems the whole world is going to pot. So, in protest, I'm going to commit suicide by jumping off the City Hall roof on Christmas Eve. Signed, a disgusted American citizen, John Doe"