President Jeffrey "Jeff" Michener (died 2014) was the 47th President of the United States and formerly the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Immune to the Red Flu, Michener is the sole surviving member of the Cabinet of the United States, which makes him next in the Presidential line of succession. In "A More Perfect Union", he was officially sworn in as President in St. Louis, Missouri, by a surviving judge.
Biography
Before the Red Flu
Prior to the outbreak of the Red Flu, Michener served as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. When the outbreak began, the president sent Michener to Tallahassee, Florida to set up a safe zone in Doak Campbell Stadium. During this time, he had his son, Brian, flown in from Michigan to be with the family. Unbeknownst to Michener, his son had contracted the virus while in Michigan, thus creating an outbreak of the virus in the stadium. After his son's death, his wife Rebecca begged him to smother their two daughters before the virus fully incapacitated them. Michener obliged to his wife's demand, and he successfully killed his daughters by smothering them with a pillow while they slept despite one named Hollie waking up in the middle of it.
With the Immunes
After the death of his family, Michener wandered around Florida for weeks, exposing himself to sick people in the hopes of catching a different strand of the virus. Eventually, he ran into a group of Immunes who welcomed him into their group. It was around this time that he was introduced to the Ramsey brothers, who planned to use him as a political puppet in order to gain control of the United States. Michener was rescued from the Ramsey compound in Florida during the episode "Alone and Unafraid" by Burk, Bivas, and CDR Chandler.
As President of the United States
One of Michener's first official acts as President is to issue pardons to the Immunes who got swept up in the Ramsey brothers' campaign, as well as to Dr. Rachel Scott, who intentionally killed Niels Sørenson in order to create a contagious cure; he also promoted CDR Chandler to Chief of Naval Operations while the Nathan James is in drydock
In St. Louis
At the beginning of the third season, a new government was established based at the Old Courthouse in St. Louis, Missouri.
In the episode "In the Dark," reporter Jacob Barnes reveals to the public that President Michener flew his infected son to his safe zone in Florida against protocols that resulted in an outbreak there. Consumed by grief and humiliation, it is believed that he committed suicide in his hotel room and is found by Kara Green and two Secret Service agents. However, it is later revealed in a flashback during the episode "Legacy" that he was assassinated by Agent Costas who strangled him on the order of Alison Shaw.
Legacy
In 2018, four years after his death, a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship of the new United States Fleet was named after him.
Trivia
- It can be assumed that Jeffrey Michener was Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Obama due to Barack Obama's portrait being present in the show. It was also stated that Michener was close friends with Ray Mabus who was the real-life United States Secretary of the Navy under President Obama.