President of the United States
The President of the United States is a character in several Transformers stories.
Generation 1
Marvel Comics
Optimus Prime met with the President on the lawn of the White House to ask for peace, sort out an understanding, and perhaps form an alliance. Their handshake was cut short by an attack from the Insecticons, who attempted to sabotage the union by claiming to be Autobots. The Autobots forced the Insecticons into retreat but left immediately themselves, deciding that the President wouldn't believe they were framed. To the contrary, the President did give the Autobots the benefit of the doubt — until, that is, they left without an explanation. Plague of the Insecticons!
The same President was unaware of the Intelligence and Information Institute's Centurion project. After the robot damaged part of Portland, the Institute became worried that the President would have them all arrested if he found out they were involved. In the National Interest
Years later, the next President was alarmed when a Decepticon civil war erupted near New York City and threatened to hurt innocents. He asked G.B. Blackrock to call his Neo-Knights into action. ...All This and Civil War 2
Colorforms Books
The 40th President of the United States awarded Dr. Heath Blaisedale the The President's Award for Outstanding Scientific Breakthrough for her work on the solar reactor.Sun Raid
Dreamwave Comics
The President flew to the Pentagon, where he was greeted by "Defense Minister" Dawson. Dawson briefed him on the Decepticon assault on San Francisco, and suggested an air strike. But before a military solution could be devised, Dawson was informed that a nuclear launch had been authorized (by General Robert Hallo, unbeknownst to either man). The President tried to abort the launch, to no avail. During this crisis, he displayed a level of concern that could only be adequately portrayed by his unique command of facial expressions. Prime Directive issue 6
Keepers Trilogy
Associated Characters
The Vice-President
The Vice-President is the President's attack dog. He goes to pick up Allister Greaves in person after his spy in the Executive office is revealed.
Greaves isn't much impressed by the Vice-President, he has too many skeletons in his closet. Greaves threatens to release documentation of the Vice-President's tryst with a minor girl in Topeka to the media. The Vice-President dis-involves himself from further direct contact with Greaves. Keepers Trilogy
John
John is the Secretary of State. He is one of the President's confidantes in his plan to kidnap General Michelle Grajkowski and frame her for the attack on the Autobots.
Bill
Bill is the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. He, along with John, are the President's confidantes in his plan to frame General Michelle Grajkowski.
Elisa
Elisa is the President of the United State's secretary. She speaks several languages, and always answers the phone with a different accent. A member of the Followers, she secretly gives Edmund Greaves information about goings-on in the Executive Office.
When Greaves requested information about the Keepers, Elisa promised to send him a synopsis of the upcoming cabinet meeting about them, and then requested Greaves try to remove the Followers agents from Las Vegas, which she felt had become too dangerous. He agreed to try.
The President became aware of Elisa's 'second job,' and when she called Greaves to warn him that the attack on Las Vegas had been pushed up, she was killed. A CIA agent informed Greaves the President very much wanted to speak with him, and a car was being sent.
Elisa's death shook Greaves badly, and was one of his prime motivations to go public with the Followers.
Elisa is probably the source of at least some of the blackmail material Greaves has on the President and the Vice President.
Susan
Susan replaced Elisa as the President of the United State's secretary. An unattractive woman with a tough-as-nails attitude, she takes her job as the President's gatekeeper very seriously, once refusing to let the Secretary of State through because he hadn't phoned ahead for an appointment.
Susan may be based on the character Deborah Fiderer from the TV show The West Wing.
IDW comics
After the Decepticons had established an infiltration team on Earth, Republican Senator Alexander Holt unwittingly talked to a facsimile construct of a politically powerful military general about concerns that stability in the Middle East would cause problems for his Big Oil backers. The false general assured Holt that the military and the government were in the region for the long haul. This would presumably include the current President. Nine months later, shortly after Megatron took command of the infiltration team, the Decepticon leader sent Thundercracker and Skywarp to attack the El-Jira nuclear power plant in the Middle East to inflame global tensions. By this time, Holt had become the favourite for the Republican presidential candidate and was recommending more direct intervention in the region. Escalation issue 2
Over a year later, during the full-scale Decepticon attack on the United States, Air Force One crashed into the Lincoln Memorial, courtesy of Starscream. All Hail Megatron issue 3
Generation 2
During the Decepticon onslaught on America, the current President was not seen. Rumours abounded that he was hiding in a bunker and refusing to come out. The Gathering Darkness
Unicron Trilogy
Cybertron cartoon
- Voice actor: ? (US), Mariko Takigawa (Japan)
The President knew about the Transformers during Colonel Franklin's investigation of them. Shortly before the landslide at Boulder, Colorado, Six-Speed was pulled over by the police, he used a hologram of the President to disguise his lack of a driver. Naturally, seeing the leader of the free world at the wheel of a tiny green race car totally freaked the cops out, and the Mini-Con was able to drive off in the confusion. Collapse
Much later, the President officially named Franklin as Earth's ambassador to Cybertron. Beginning
Transformers (2007)
The President seems almost insignificant during the Decepticon invasion, with Secretary of Defense John Keller pretty much running the show. Mostly, he wears red socks, has a penchant for Ding Dongs and speaks with a cheesy southwestern accent and stereotypical dialect ("Can you wrangle me up some Ding Dongs, darlin'?"). He also seems unconcerned with tiny, crazy robots hacking into the computers of his ride—that is, until he's thrown in a bunker somewhere after the resulting emergency landing. He ordered Sector 7 to be terminated and the remains of the dead Decepticons disposed of into the Laurentian Abyss. Transformers
Titan Magazines
Following Decepticon occupation, the President was dead and John Keller was nowhere to be found. The hawkish Vice President, Theodore F. Allen, became the new President following the liberation of America. Allen distrusts both Autobot and Decepticon, viewing them both as hostile alien invaders using Earth as a battleground for their war, so it would probably piss him off considerably to know Starscream's Insecticons have planted a mind-controlling cerebro-strip in his head. Aftermath Part 1 Aftermath Part 2
While he was allowed to act autonomously during Earth's technorganic crisis Dark Spark Return To Cybertron, Part: 1, Starscream eventually trigged him. One of his last acts was to get the US government to order the Autobots off American soil - and then nuke their ship as they left. Revolution Part 1
Revenge of the Fallen
Viral marketing campaign
While President Barack Obama was still running for office he was asked in an interview[1] if he found out that aliens visited Earth, would he let the public know. Obama's answer was, "it depends." The Real Effing Deal
Revenge of the Fallen movie
Trivia
- The President never appeared in the original animated series, but he did have a cameo in Inhumanoids, one of Transformers "sister series" produced by Sunbow and arguably set in the same continuity. Appearing only as a voice from offscreen speaking to his aides in The Surma Plan in 1986, the President of the United States was a soft-spoken man concerned about the future but full of faith in the better nature of humanity. He was portrayed by voice actor Neil Ross, also a great communicator.
- Optimus Prime's Holomatter avatar is modeled after Ulysses S. Grant, the 18th President of United States.[1]
- While unnamed, Marvel's presidents are clearly meant to be Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. Dreamwave's Prez doesn't appear to be meant as George W. Bush, but since this is Pat Lee drawing it could simply be a bad drawing of Dubya.
