Elizabeth McCord (character)


Elizabeth "Bess" Adams McCord is a fictional character and the protagonist of the CBS TV series Madam Secretary portrayed by Téa Leoni. Elizabeth is the President of the United States and former United States Secretary of State.

Biography

Born in Virginia, Elizabeth attended Houghton Hall Boarding School, where she was co-captain of the debate team alongside Bahrainian Crown Prince Yousif Obaid. She attended the University of Virginia, studying mathematics, and one of her professors was future Chief Justice of the United States Frawley. It was also where she met her future husband.
In 1990, Elizabeth married Henry McCord. They have two daughters, Stephanie "Stevie" and Alison, and a son, Jason. She also has a brother, Dr. Will Adams, who is married to Sophie Adams, and with whom he has a 5-year-old daughter, Annie; both of her parents died when she was young, in a car accident. She speaks fluent French, German, Arabic, Persian and "a year of high school Spanish".

Career

Elizabeth worked for the CIA as an analyst for 20 years until she resigned from her position due to an ethical dilemma, just as she was being considered for promotion to Station Chief, Baghdad. She then taught at the University of Virginia as a Political Science Professor. After the death of Vincent Marsh in a plane crash, President Conrad Dalton asked her to serve as secretary of state. Not a natural politician, Elizabeth frequently clashes with White House Chief of Staff Russell Jackson.
As secretary of state, her first year in office was spent investigating her predecessor's death.
In "Tamerlane", Elizabeth is in the home of Iranian Foreign Minister Zahed Javani when a coup d'état orchestrated by Secretary of State Marsh, CIA Director Andrew Munsey, and CIA analyst Juliet Humphrey, is attempted; during the attack, both Minister Javani and her personal bodyguard, DS Agent Fred Cole, were killed. In the aftermath, Elizabeth was left with some post-traumatic stress and has been seeing Russell Jackson's personal therapist.
In "The Show Must Go On", during a communications blackout on Air Force One with both the president and the speaker of the House on board, and with the vice president in surgery and president pro tempore of the Senate found to be incompetent after a series of mini-strokes earlier in the year, Elizabeth is sworn in as acting president for a number of hours.
In "You Say You Want a Revolution", Elizabeth and her Cuban counterpart are instrumental in the restoration of Cuba–United States relations, including the opening of the Cuban embassy in Washington and the U.S. embassy in Havana and the repeal of the embargo against Cuba. This has been viewed as a significant milestone in the Dalton presidency.
During the first half of the second season, McCord was instrumental in preventing a potential United States-Russia War.
In "Vartius", due to the failing health and impending resignation of Vice President Mark Delgado, President Dalton offered the vice presidency to McCord. She initially accepted, but when President Dalton lost his party's primary, she advised him to run as an independent candidate and to ask the popular Senator Teresa Hurst, from Pennsylvania to be his running mate instead, as winning Pennsylvania would increase his chances of ensuring neither major party candidate would achieve a majority in the Electoral College. On election night, Dalton won several key states, including Pennsylvania, guaranteeing that neither major-party candidate would secure a majority. Thanks to the efforts of Russell Jackson, Dalton was re-elected by the House of Representatives in a contingent election.
In season 4, McCord is considered to be a favorite to run for president, even over Vice President Hurst. Russell Jackson even tells her that President Dalton would prefer to leave the presidency to her, instead of Hurst, who has her own presidential ambitions. In the last episode of season 4, Elizabeth stated that she would indeed run for president.
In season 5, McCord offered her resignation to President Dalton, and he accepted. In the season 5 episode "Better Angels", Elizabeth was holding a public gathering at her family farm, during which she announced her candidacy for the presidency of the United States.
The first episode of season 6, "Hail to the Chief", reveals that McCord won her bid to become the nation's first female president. The sixth season opens with accusations that the McCord campaign conspired with Iran to win the election. The second episode, "The Strike Zone", features former campaign manager turned Senior Counselor to the President Mike B. testifying in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee. The following episodes portray two of McCord's staffers, Blake Moran and Daisy Grant, testifying to the Senate Intelligence Committee. Later, Henry and Stephanie McCord are forced to testify. In the semi-finale, President Elizabeth McCord testifies, against the counsel of multiple advisors. She is aquitted later in the episode.

Staff

With the exception of her personal assistant, Blake Moran, and new policy advisor Kat Sandoval Elizabeth inherited her entire senior staff from her predecessor, Vincent Marsh.
Her personal staff while Secretary of State consists of:
In "Blame Canada", she fired Allen Bollings, the chief negotiator responsible for peace talks with Iran for threatening military action rather than the trade ban relaxations she authorized, and then lying to herself and to the president about it.
Starting in "Whisper of the Ax", Elizabeth recruited veteran political operative Michael "Mike B." Barnow as a special advisor to help her politically strategize; another politician once referred to Mike B. as her "personal hatchet man".
In "The Essentials", Nadine retires from the State Department upon learning that she's about to become a grandmother in order to spend time with her family in San Francisco. After her departure, Elizabeth names Jay her new Chief of Staff.

Reception

The character is likely to have been inspired by Hillary Clinton. She has been analyzed in the context of the media representation of female political figures.