Mike Gravel, a former U.S. senator from Alaska, began his 2020 presidential campaign on March 19, 2019, with the formation of an exploratory committee.

[8] The campaign was also notable for its young leadership; manager David Oks and chief of staff Henry Williams were only 18 years old.

He garnered significant media attention by reading previously unreleased segments of the Pentagon Papers into the Congressional Record given to him by prominent socialists Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, making them public knowledge via a loophole discovered by Daniel Ellsberg.

"[18] Three days later, David Oks, a high school senior, and Henry Williams, a college freshman, both avid listeners of Chapo Trap House, persuaded the former senator to run for president through a phone call and assured him he would not travel too much.

[22][23][better source needed] Gravel first entered the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries on March 19, 2019 by forming an exploratory committee.

[20] On April 2, 2019, Gravel's exploratory committee filed paperwork with the Federal Elections Commission to officially run for the presidency.

"[7] In June 2019, Gravel touted the endorsement of Muntadher al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who, in December 2008, made headlines after he threw his shoes at President George W. Bush in protest of the U.S. war in Iraq.

Al-Zaidi endorsed Gravel based on his promise to improve White House policies regarding Iraq and the Middle East.

Gravel was one of the four who were excluded (the others were Montana Governor Steve Bullock, U.S. Representative Seth Moulton, and Miramar, Florida, Mayor Wayne Messam).

[38] In response to the Black Socialists in America, Gravel self-described as someone who supports "us moving towards a society where the workers control the means of production in a democratic and decentralized fashion".

Whistleblowers Chelsea Manning, Edward Snowden, John C. Kiriakou, Julian Assange, Reality Winner, and Terry Albury would be given pardons and some would receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

This included an amendment to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the addition of a ban on discrimination due to "sexual orientation and/or gender identity in employment, housing, public accommodations, public education, federal funding, and credit", honoring transgender rights activist Marsha P. Johnson and author James Baldwin with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, banning conversion therapy nationwide and making the operation of a conversion therapy clinic a crime.

[46] Articles regarding the campaign appeared in Splinter News,[47] Vox,[48] Rolling Stone,[49] Current Affairs,[50] Jezebel[51] and Politico,[52] among other outlets.