Walt Cummings

Walt Cummings was the White House Chief of Staff for President Charles Logan.

Day 4
Cummings first appeared on Day 4 when Logan took over the acting duties of President after President John Keeler was no longer able to perform his duties after Air Force One was shot down. Cummings became increasingly concerned with Jack Bauer after Bauer led a raid on the Chinese consulate in Los Angeles to track down Chinese national Lee Jong, who had extensive information about the terrorist plots of Habib Marwan. During the raid, the Chinese Consul was killed as a result of friendly fire which outraged the Chinese and resulted in a serious diplomatic problem. China wanted to extradite Bauer and hold him responsible for the death of the Chinese Consul. The United States initially resisted this idea but eventually capitulated to the demands of the Chinese and agreed to hand over Bauer.

Cummings was worried that the Chinese would be able to extract important National security information from Bauer that could one day end up harming the United States. Cummings ordered Secret Service Agent Dale Spalding to kill Jack Bauer once he was in CTU custody. However, Cummings' plan was foiled when Presidential advisor Mike Novick overheard Cummings' phone conversation with Spalding. As a result, Novick went to former President David Palmer, a long time friend of Bauer's, to figure out a way to save Bauer's life. Palmer immediately went to President Charles Logan's office and warned him about Cummings' plot to kill Bauer. Logan refused to intervene because he believed that it wasn't his problem and that Cummings was doing the right thing. Palmer called Jack and warned him that he was a target for assasination.

Palmer's warning allowed Jack to fake his own death with the help of his fellow CTU colleagues Tony Almeida, Michelle Dessler, and Chloe O'Brian.

After Day 4
During the events of Day 5, it was discovered that Cummings had a one-time affair with Audrey Raines.

Day 5
Cummings eventually discovered that Bauer was not dead. During Day 5, Cummings played a crucial role in the assassinations of David Palmer and Michelle Dessler in which Tony Almeida was severely injured. Chloe O'Brian was also targeted for assassination. In addition, Cummings also planted a mole at CTU. Cummings tried once more to assassinate Bauer with the help of his mole, but failed after Bauer killed the assassin. Cummings' plan backfired as his mole, Spenser Wolff, was captured by CTU. Wolff was led to believe that he was hired by Cummings to do an internal investigation at the behest of the White House.

When Bauer realized that Wolff was under the control of Cummings, he deduced that Cummings was behind Palmer's assassination. Cummings eventually discovered that Jack knew of his role in the day's events, and attempted to save himself by putting a spin on the events. He revealed that he leaked information to a group of Central Asian nationalists to help them acquire a shipment of Sentox nerve gas. He changed the arming codes of the shipment, so it would dispense the gas once the terrorists had reached their homeland. This would have provided evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Central Asia, justifying a stronger U.S. military presence and increase the flow of oil. Cummings insisted that it was too late to stop the operation, and he had not known where the gas shipment was. However, Cummings was assaulted by Jack, in front of Logan, and it was revealed that much of his confession was a lie. Angered, Logan had Cummings placed under arrest.

At 1:54pm, Novick asked President Logan to meet him in the hallway, only to discover that Cummings had hung himself. After Logan was revealed to be complicit in the day's plot, he and Christopher Henderson had a conversation in which Logan admitted to actually having Cummings killed. Later in the day, Henderson revealed that Graham and his cabal influenced Logan's decision to kill Cummings.

Memorable Quotes

 * Walt Cummings: (his last lines) I don't want this weapon deployed on US soil any more than you do, but Nathanson cannot help you now and neither can I. These terrorists are operating on their own.

Day 4

 * Day 4 11:00pm-12:00am
 * Day 4 12:00am-1:00am
 * Day 4 1:00am-2:00am
 * Day 4 2:00am-3:00am
 * Day 4 6:00am-7:00am

Day 5

 * Day 5 7:00am-8:00am
 * Day 5 8:00am-9:00am
 * Day 5 9:00am-10:00am
 * Day 5 10:00am-11:00am
 * Day 5 11:00am-12:00pm
 * Day 5 12:00pm-1:00pm
 * Day 5 1:00pm-2:00pm