David Palmer is a fictional Democratic President of the United States of America played by Dennis Haysbert as part of the television series, 24. Palmer's ex-wife Sherry and brother Wayne were both key figures in his administration. He has two children, son Keith and daughter Nicole.
Life in politics
David Palmer was a United States Senator from Maryland who ran for President. He was elected after the assassination attempts made on him were foiled by Jack Bauer. Although he initially sought a second term, he bowed out of the race after the opposing candidate learned that David lied to the chief of police in order to protect his ex-wife, Sherry Palmer, who was under suspicion for involvement in a man's death.
Throughout the series, Palmer's role as president is often vital to the successful foiling of terrorist plots. Palmer is seen as a good leader who makes difficult decisions without much hesitation. On several occasions, his intervention as president and the execution of his presidential powers helped the Counter Terrorist Unit.
Day 1
David Palmer has had many difficulties due to his political life. In the first season, Palmer was the leading candidate for the nomination for President of the United States. His life was threatened during the course of Day 1. His political life was threatened on other fronts. His son, Keith, was shown to be a viable suspect in the murder of the man who raped his daughter. Palmer did an investigation, but found that telling the truth was preferable to covering it up with lies, and took a stand in favor of his son. However, he found out his wife, Sherry, was trying to manipulate him, both in that potential scandal, and the one Sherry tried to create. David was furious with Sherry, and divorced her.
David Palmer also confronted Jack Bauer in person over the events of the first 10 hours of 24. He was no-nonsense, demanding a private, unrecorded interview with Bauer. Palmer, believing that Bauer wanted payback for the deaths of his covert operations team, started by demanding Jack to tell him of the other people involved in the assassination attempt on his life. Jack said he was trying to protect Palmer's life, which ultimately led Palmer to realize he was wrong about Jack and his motives. Jack had lead the covert operation which ultimately had cost him his team, but Jack had never known of Senator Palmer's authorization of the mission. Jack in fact had carried the guilt over the loss of his team into his personal life, leading to a separation from his wife and affair with Nina Myers (which admittedly he had recently ended). Senator Palmer realized through this that Jack had been through a bad day. He authorized Jack's reinstatement on Day 1. Palmer goes on to defeat his Democratic primary opponent Governor Hodges and incumbent President Harold Barnes in the general election.
Day 2
Over a year later, in Day 2, David Palmer is the President. He is alerted to the threat of a nuclear bomb detonating in the U.S. He also is informed that Bauer, now an inactive agent, has contacts with people who could lead them to the bomb. Jack ignored calls from CTU, but responded to the call from President Palmer. Jack became an active agent again and eventually caught the bomb and detonated it in a remote area. Palmer orders attacks on the three nations responsible, as revealed by an audio known as the Cyprus Recording. Palmer then reverses course, stating that he believes the recordings to be fake, as advised by Jack, but Mike Novick, his Chief of Staff, and the Vice President, Jim Prescott deem this sudden reluctance to attack as an incapability to hold the office. Prescott gathers the Cabinet members, and by one vote, David Palmer is removed from office under the provisions of the 25th Amendment. He sits in a room as a prisoner for the rest of the day, until Jack provides CTU with the evidence that the Cyprus Recording is a forgery, and the attacks are called off by Prescott. Palmer is reinstated as President, and although Prescott and the Cabinet members who voted against Palmer offer to resign, he does not accept their resignations. Such a gesture is indicative of why Palmer was popular among those close to him and among the general population alike. Palmer does, however, immediately relieve Mike Novick of his post as Chief of Staff. Palmer then goes out to make a statement to the press, deeming that the threat is over. He shakes hands with many of the onlookers, one of whom happens to be Mandy, a woman hired in Day 1 to assassinate Palmer. She slips a deadly virus into his hand, and he collapses to the ground, panting. (The alternate ending presented in the 24 Season 2 boxset has him get up and say he's all right.)
Six months after Day 2, Palmer is recovering from his assassination attempt. Although he makes televised appearances to make it appear as if he is strong, healthy, and running the nation, in actuality, Jim Prescott is acting President. The reality is that Palmer is confined to a wheelchair and is heavily medicated. However, terrorists attempt to assassinate Prescott, leaving the Vice-President in critical condition. Palmer decides at this point that he is strong enough to take over the responsibilities of being President of United States once again.
A few months later (In the comic, 24: Midnight Sun), after the events of Day 2 and 24: The Game, President Palmer allows the opening to the ANWR near Fairbanks, Alaska. His reasoning behind this controversial decision was so that the nation would no longer be manipulated by the men behind the oil companies (a reference to Max and Peter Kingsley).
Day 3
In Day 3, Palmer is faced with re-election. However, he is still the President, and is faced with many problems during the day. His lover Anne is implicated in a scandal, and although she is innocent, she leaves him. Palmer's brother admits his affair with the wife of one of his biggest supporters, and Palmer is forced to choose life or death for Jack. Palmer chooses death, but eventually is informed of a huge terrorist threat where Jack had to go undercover. He doesn't like it, but his faith in Jack prevails. However, Palmer falters in the end. He brought Sherry Palmer back into his life to help. She does, but in the end David can't agree to her terms (i.e. re-marrying her). After she is killed as a result of a political scandal, he ultimately decides not to run for re-election, again preferring his principles over everything else.
At the end of Season 3, after a presidential debate, he decided to cancel his re-election campaign. His opponent in the election, United States Senator John Keeler, became president in Season 4.
Day 4
In Day 4, President Keeler was incapacitated when Air Force One (forced to remain in flight during the current attacks, even though just returning from Mexico) was shot down by terrorists.
Much to his initial hesitation, Vice President Charles Logan, under the 25th Amendment, became Acting President, due to President Keeler's current state of condition (he was in a coma). From the very beginning, Logan showed poor judgement abilities. He demanded the arrest of Jack Bauer, which deterred a potential opportunity to arrest the wanted terrorists. When that raid failed, Logan finally realized he had failed, and sought Mike Novick for council.
Mike Novick, Palmer's former Chief of Staff, recommended that former President David Palmer be brought in to assist the Acting President. Palmer effectively led the events in the last part of Day 4, but realized that Logan was a weak-willed commander in chief unable to demonstrate presidential leadership. He blamed Palmer when things went wrong, but took full credit when things went his way. After the terrorists were finally brought down, Logan infamously told Palmer, he "played a role" in the season finale.
David Palmer was one of the four people who knew Jack Bauer was alive. He paid his debt to Jack by warning him about the Secret Service agent who was being sent to kill him and the Chinese demanded the man who killed their consul.
Assassination
In the opening moments of Day 5, Palmer was discussing his memoir with his brother Wayne, when a sniper from the adjacent building shot him in the throat. It was later revealed that the assassin responsible had received his orders from Christopher Henderson, who, in secretly working for President Charles Logan, also ordered the deaths of Michelle Dessler, Tony Almeida and Chloe O'Brian, although the planned assassinations of Chloe and Tony were unsuccessful (Tony was killed later in the day by Henderson himself).
At the close of the day, David Palmer was given a state procession, as his body was flown back to Washington, watched on by many distinguished guests, such as The President, First Lady and many others.
Family and personal life
Although not much is known about Palmer's family and personal life, he was married to Sherry Palmer, also an African-American, whom he divorced after losing trust in her, even with a total of 25 years behind them (Some remember that they even knew each other back in grade school, according to Sherry herself). However, he maintained contact with her, using her as an informal special assistant during both Season 2 and Season 3's terrorism crises. He was horrified when she was killed by a woman Sherry had implicated in a murder. He also has a daughter named Nicole (a rape survivor) and a son named Keith, who was accused of murdering Nicole's rapist during his campaign for the presidency.
Around the time he was running for re-election, he dated his personal physician, Dr. Anne Packard, a divorcee. On the day of the first debate with his opponent, that debate was complicated when his opponent brought up charges that Packard had conspired with her husband to 'cook the books' at a pharmaceutical company they were previously involved with. She was innocent and Palmer supported her. She sometimes came between Palmer and his chief of staff and brother, Wayne, who disliked her. On that same day (shortly after her ex-husband committed suicide right in front of her), Packard broke up with him because his life was too complicated for her to continue the relationship .
It is rumored that in Season 6, Regina King will be playing the role of Palmer's sister. [1]
Experience
- President of the United States
- United States Congress, Senator (D-Maryland)
- Senate Appropriations Committee, Member
- Senate Special Defense Appropriations Committee Chairman
- Senate Commerce Subcommittee, Member
- United States Congress, Representative (D-Maryland)
- House Ethics Committee, Chairman
- House Ways and Means Committee, Member
- House National Security Subcommittee, Member
- Maryland State Congress, Representative (D-Baltimore)
- Fidley, Barrow & Bain, Attorneys at Law
Education
- Juris Doctorate, University of Maryland School of Law
- Bachelor of Arts, Political Economy, Georgetown University
Honors
- NCAA All-American, Men's Basketball
- Big East Conference Defensive Player of the Year
- Attended Georgetown
- Sporting News College Player of the Year
- Wooden Award for Player of the Year
Published papers
- The New York Times, Op-Ed Page, "Serb Intransigence and European Destabilization"
Voting history (pre-season 1)
Major legislation
- Defense Appropriations Bill (sometime between Season 1 and Season 2)
- Social Security Bill (sometime between Season 1 and Season 2)
- Job Creation and worker Assistance Act (sometime between Season 2 and Season 3)
- A bill to improve health care for Americans (Palmer's biggest contributor, Alan Miliken, threatened to stop this bill, and it is unknown whether the bill was passed) (Season 3)
Palmer's Cabinet and Staff
- Vice President: Jim Prescott (Season 2-3)
- Secretary of State: Unnamed (Season 2)
- Secretary of Defense: William Nolan (24: Stories)
- Chief of Staff: Mike Novick (Season 1-2), Wayne Palmer (Season 3)
- Director of the National Security Agency: Roger Stanton (Season 2)
- Deputy Director of the National Security Agency: Eric Rayburn (Season 2)
- Counselor to the President: Lynne Kresge (Season 2)
- Press Secretary: Jenny Dodge (Season 2), Gerry Whitehorn (Season 3)
- Secretary of Homeland Security: Joseph O'Laughin (Season 3)
Controversial Decisions & Actions
- Secretly authorized an operation to take out Balkan war criminal Victor Drazen (2 years before Day 1). Enlisted Robert Ellis to set up the operation.
- Took reporter Ron Weiland into custody against his will. (Day 2)
- Ordered the torture of NSA Director Roger Stanton. (Day 2)
- Enlisted ex-wife Sherry Palmer's help (Days 2 & 3)
- Granted Nina a full pardon for working with the Drazens and for the murder of Teri Bauer, allowing her to take exile in North Africa, in exchange for her information which led to the stoppage of the nuclear bomb exploding in LA. (Day 2 and pre-Day 3)
- Pardoned Nina Myers for the future murder of Jack Bauer (Day 2). Nina had Jack hostage. This murder was never committed, as Palmer helped rescue Jack from Nina.
- Allowed Experimental drilling to begin in Alaska's ANWR (Arctic National Wildlife Refuge) in an attempt to counterattack the veiled threats of America's oil suppliers as seen in Day 2 and 24: The Game. This led to an outrage by several Environmentalists. (24: Midnight Sun)
- Authorized a prison break-in to covertly release terrorist Ramon Salazar, as per terrorist demands (Day 3)
- Lied to Los Angeles police chief to provide an alibi for Sherry Palmer. (Day 3)
- Gave in to demands of terrorist Stephen Saunders several times, including the murder of Ryan Chappelle. (Day 3)
- Authorized a covert operation to extract a vital witness who was a Chinese national from the Chinese consulate in Los Angeles. During this operation the consul was killed (by friendly fire, however), and it was considered by China as an act of war. (Day 4)
Assassination
David Palmer was the victim of several assassination attempts before he was successfully killed in Day 5. During a campaign speech on Day 1 around 7:55 AM a man posing as photographer Martin Belkin planned to shoot Palmer, but Jack Bauer created a disturbance to get Palmer out of the room. Later into Day 1 (around 10:55 PM) the Drazen family attempted to kill the presidential candidate with a bomb in a cell phone Bauer had brought to Palmer. Finally, in the closing moments of Day 2 (around 7:59 AM) Palmer was exposed to an unknown toxic material by an assailant known only as "Mandy".
Moments into the opening of the Season 5 premiere, at about 7:03 AM, David Palmer was killed by a sniper from another nearby building with a .308 (NATO 7.62x51mm) round to the throat in order to prevent him from informing Martha Logan, the wife of President Logan, about an impending attack. He had called her some time prior to his assassination with the intent of talking to her about a "matter of national security". It was later revealed that he was attempting to approach Martha because he knew that her husband was in on the plot.
At the time of his assassination, David was working on his memoirs with his brother, Wayne. David was 55. He was mourned by the nation and by politicians, Democrat and Republican alike. In the words of Vice President Hal Gardner to Wayne Palmer, "Your brother was one of the greatest men ever to hold the office."
Body flown to Washington D.C.
David Palmer's body was given a 21-gun salute before being placed on a plane and flown from Los Angeles to Washington D.C. President Charles Logan delivered a eulogy to Palmer, saying that Palmer "was one of the greatest Americans you'll ever see." Moments later, Logan was taken into custody by his own secret service agents for his role as a conspirator in Palmer's assassination. The flight departed from a U.S. Military Air Base at 7:00 AM. Palmer was buried in Arlington National Cemetery, making him the third president in U.S. history--after William Howard Taft and John F. Kennedy--to receive such an honor (assuming that President Keeler did not die after the attack on Air Force One in Season Four).
Trivia
- It was Sherry Palmer, in Hour 19 of Day 1 (6:00 PM - 7:00 PM), who revealed to the audience that David Palmer was about to become the Democratic nominee for the upcoming general election, just before he was about to expose the truth of his family's scandal seven years earlier.
- The only time President David Palmer was actually seen on television inside the White House, was when he was, in fact, a former president. Even so, his scenes to the "known" White House were basically a total of a hallway and an elevator. Palmer spent most of his six hours that season in a bunker with President Charles Logan, Mike Novick, and Walt Cummings.
- All but one of David Palmer's assassination attempts, successful and unsuccessful, took place in the city of Los Angeles between the times of 7:00 AM & 8:00 AM. The only assassination outside that time was between 10 PM and 11 PM on Day 1.
- The assassination of David Palmer mirrors Martin Luther King, Jr.'s, in that both were shot by a sniper rifle though the throat.
- The friendship between David Palmer and Aaron Pierce was most popular, and though never brought to the screen, was unique as it consisted of an African American and a Southerner. The very fact that it was never fully brought to the attention of the viewers is perhaps why it was so "unique," for lack of a better word. Actor Glenn Morshower considered this an interesting and subtle dynamic of their relationship as well.
- Despite the close relationship between Jack Bauer and David Palmer, they did not meet each other face-to-face until after Day 1.