Upon his return from
Vietnam, Groom worked as a reporter for the
Washington Star, a
Washington, D. C. newspaper, covering the
Department of Justice and the
federal courts. Groom resigned and moved to New York to pursue a career in writing novels. The book was about a rifle company in the Vietnam War whose patriotism and lives are shattered. According to
P. J. O'Rourke, a journalist and political satirist, and a friend of Groom,
Better Times Than These was "the best novel written about the Vietnam War." In 1985, Groom moved back to
Mobile, Alabama, where he began to work on the novel
Forrest Gump. Years before, Groom's elderly father had told him about a mentally disabled boy he had known as a child. Groom wrote the novel in six weeks; it was published in 1986. Several years later, it was adapted by screenwriter
Eric Roth as a
1994 film of the same name, starring
Tom Hanks in the title role of
Forrest Gump. The film received six Academy Awards and numerous others; its popularity propelled the novel to best-seller status, and it sold 1.7 million copies worldwide. Groom was paid $350,000 for the movie rights to the book, but disputed accounting by
Paramount Pictures related to profits from the film. He contended the company used
Hollywood accounting methods to deflate profitability numbers; as a result,
Groom received no share of the profits, although he held a three percent net profit share. He eventually settled with Paramount in 1995 in an agreement that included a seven-figure sum for the film rights to
Gump and Co., plus a percentage of the gross profits. As of 2025 the film has not been made, and no release date has been announced; the film is said to be in "
development hell". In November 2011, Groom published ''Kearny's March: The Epic Creation of the American West, 1846–1847'', which describes how Brigadier General
Stephen W. Kearny's quest for westward adventure coincided with the expansionist desires of U.S. President
James K. Polk. The book opens in mid-summer 1846, in the period of the
Texas Annexation, the
Mexican–American War, and brewing issues related to the
American Civil War fifteen years in the future. Groom weaves into ''Kearny's March'' mountain man and guide
Kit Carson,
Brigham Young and his
Mormon followers, and members of the
Donner Party. In 2016, Groom published
El Paso, his first novel in nearly 20years. At the time of his death in 2020, Groom was waiting for publication of
The Patriots, his biography of American leaders
John Adams,
Alexander Hamilton, and
Thomas Jefferson. ==Personal life==