The President of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the military.
The incumbent president is Tom Kirkman, who is the 46th holder of that office. Kirkman is a registered independent.
Presidents on the show[]
Cornelius Moss, a Republican from Texas, was the 44th president. Moss was president before the show started and decided not to seek a second term in 2012 because of his wife's death. During the series, Moss was Secretary of State, but he was fired in season two after it was discovered that he was leaking classified information to the press. As of Target, Moss is running for a second non-consecutive term.
Robert Richmond, a Democrat from Louisiana, was the 45th president. While giving the State of the Union address, Richmond, along with the rest of the federal government, was killed when the Capitol was bombed by Patrick Lloyd. Richmond was president only in the first few minutes of Pilot.
Tom Kirkman, an independent from New York, is the 46th and current president, as well as the main character of the show. In the first minutes of the pilot episode, Kirkman is HUD secretary under Robert Richmond and was the designated survivor on the night of the Capitol bombing, which is why he became president. Kirkman goes through a lot throughout the show, including hunting down the perpetrator of the Capitol bombing, an assassination attempt, the death of his wife Alex, international disputes, and being tried for his fitness for office and his potential involvement in a criminal conspiracy. As of Run, Kirkman is running for president as an independent.
In Warriors, Peter MacLeish was acting president while Kirkman was in surgery after he'd been shot by Nestor Lozano in an assassination attempt. It was later revealed that MacLeish had been working behind the assassination attempt so that he'd become president.
In Kirkman Agonistes, Ellenor Darby meets with the Cabinet in an attempt to remove Kirkman from the presidency by invoking Section 4 of the 25th Amendment after Kirkman's confidential therapy tapes are leaked to the public, leading many to believe that Kirkman is mentally unfit for office. This leads to a hearing in Capacity, after which the Cabinet decides that Kirkman is fit for office.
List of Presidents of the United States[]
Fifteen presidents have been mentioned in Designated Survivor; of those, three are fictional and two have served throughout the course of the series.
| # | President | Term | Prior office | Party | Episodes | Status | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 
|
George Washington | 1789
to 1797 |
Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army | Unaffiliated | Warriors, and Misalliance | Dead (Real Life) | |
| 3 | 
|
Thomas Jefferson | 1801
to 1809 |
Vice President of the United States | Democratic-Republican | The Oath | Dead (Real Life) | |
| 16 | 
|
Abraham Lincoln
(Died in office)(Assassinated) |
1861
to 1865 |
U.S. Representative for Illinois' 7th district | Republican | Dead
(Real Life) | ||
| 26 | 
|
Theodore Roosevelt | 1901
to 1909 |
Vice President of the United States | Republican | The Traitor, and Party Lines | Dead (Real Life) | |
| 31 | 
|
Herbert Hoover | 1929
to 1933 |
United States Secretary of Commerce (No prior elected office) |
Republican | Party Lines, and Misalliance | Dead (Real Life) | |
| 32 | 
|
Franklin D. Roosevelt
(Died in office) |
1933
to 1945 |
Governor of New York | Democratic | Deceased
(Real Life) | ||
| 33 | 
|
Harry S. Truman | 1945
to 1953 |
Vice President of the United States | Democratic | The Results | Dead (Real Life) | |
| 34 | 
|
Dwight D. Eisenhower
|
1953
to 1961 |
Supreme Allied Commander Europe (No prior elected office) |
Republican | Dead
(Real Life) | ||
| 35 | 
|
John F. Kennedy
(Died in office)(Assassinated) |
1961
to 1963 |
U.S. Senator from Massachusetts | Democratic | Dead
(Real Life) | ||
| 39 | 
|
Jimmy Carter | 1977
to 1981 |
Governor of Georgia | Democratic | The Mission | Alive (Real Life) | |
| 40 | 
|
Ronald Reagan
|
1981
to 1989 |
Governor of California | Republican | Dead
(Real Life) | ||
| 43 | 
|
George W. Bush
|
2001
to 2009 |
Governor of Texas | Republican | The First Day, and Warriors
|
Alive
(Real Life) | |
| 44 | 
|
2009
to 2013 |
Unknown | Republican | Since Commander-in-Chief
|
Alive
| ||
| 45 | 
|
2013
to 2017 |
Unknown | Democratic | Dead
| |||
| 46 | 
|
2017
to present |
United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (No prior elected office) |
Unaffiliated
(independent) |
Since Pilot
|
Alive
| ||
It should be assumed that Tom Kirkman assumes the presidency in 2017. In a conversation between Kirkman and Kimble Hookstraten in The Confession, Hookstraten says that the next presidential election is only three years away; this means that she is probably talking about the 2020 election and that Kirkman assumes the presidency a short time after Richmond is sworn in for a second term. President Tom Kirkman won the 2020 Presidential Election as his first election to win as President who succeeded President Richmond after the attack that gave him chance to lead the country from that attack that killed everyone in Richmond's Cabinet.