Bill Buchanan

Bill Buchanan is the former Special Agent in Charge of CTU Los Angeles. Before taking command of the LA CTU, he was a Regional Division Director at CTU. He was initially sent to CTU Los Angeles by Division Command to oversee the exchange of Jack Bauer for Behrooz Araz in Day 4. He was forced to step down in Day 6.

Background

 * Pardoned by Vice President Noah Daniels

Personal

 * Wife: Karen Hayes

Education

 * Bachelor of Arts, English - Brown University

Work Experience

 * CTU - Special Agent in Charge, Los Angeles Domestic Unit (fired by Karen Hayes)
 * Division - Associate Special Agent in Charge, Los Angeles Office
 * Division - Senior Agent, Seattle Office
 * Division - Intelligence Analyst, Seattle Office
 * CTU - Field Agent, New York Domestic Unit

Before Day 4


Bill Buchanan worked closely with Michelle Dessler in Homeland Security restructuring, CTU Seattle, and Division. Bill and Michelle worked well together, but were unable to connect outside of work because she still had feelings for her ex-husband Tony Almeida.

After transferring from CTU Seattle to Division, Buchanan earned a position in Los Angeles as the Regional District Director, replacing Ryan Chappelle.

Day 4


During the events of Day 4, Bill Buchanan was sent to CTU Los Angeles, to oversee the ongoing crisis. Buchanan was put in charge of running the exchange of Jack Bauer and Behrooz Araz. However, due to both Michelle Dessler and Tony Almeida working at the Los Angeles office during the day, tension was constantly erupting.

Buchanan wasn't willing to just give up Behrooz, as he believed Behrooz might have sensitive information that Habib Marwan may not want to become public. Curtis Manning interrogated Behrooz and Tony did a basic questioning. When it was revealed that Behrooz didn't have any information, Buchanan decided to go forward with the trade, as it may be the best chance in finding Marwan. Buchanan had trackers placed on Behrooz, and one implanted in the back of his neck.

Marwan's men initially planned on taking out Jack and the TAC team, but their attempts failed. Buchanan became furious when Chloe O'Brian reported that all the trackers have been destroyed, including the one implanted in Behrooz's neck. Buchanan however became relieved when Jack told him he short circuited wires in the place he was being held. Jack lead a team over to the location, after Chloe tracked it down, but Marwan was able to escape and the hostiles destroyed Marwan's hard drive.



Jack brought in terrorist collaborator Joe Prado and both he and Bill agreed that Prado would only break through a physical or medical interrogation. Prado's attorney David Weiss arrived and took legal action to prevent Prado's rights from being broken. Prado was also guarded by a US Marshal, and Buchanan decided to take the case to the Justice Department. Buchanan wasn't able to find a judge to sign-off on torturing Prado, and he called the recently sworn in President Charles Logan for authorization.

President Logan refused to let Prado be tortured and Jack continued to push Prado, while Bill expressed his belief they would both be fired if they tortured Prado. Jack suggested to resign and for Bill to release Prado, so they would both be private citizens. When Prado was released, Jack knocked out the US marshal and physically attacked her. Prado eventually gave in and both Mike Novick and Audrey Raines disapproved of Bill's complicity in the event.

While on the phone with Mike, Bill suggested to have Mike get the president to sign-off on Prado's torture, so they can cheat the timeline. Bill then expressed his concern for Logan's leadership skills, and Mike agreed to help. Mike wasn't able to get the president to sign-off on Prado's torture and he told Bill that Logan wanted Jack in custody. Secret Service agents sent to apprehend Jack caused the operation to blow, and Marwan managed to escape. Afterwards, Logan realized he was wrong and decided to drop the charges against Jack.

Buchanan later learned that Jack and Tony worked together to raid the Chinese consulate, under the authority of President David Palmer. Jack needed to question Lee Jong, who was under China's protection. During the raiding, friendly fire caused Consul Koo Yin to get killed. Cheng Zhi blamed the US government for his death, and wanted someone to be brought to justice.

Though Bill was first angered at Tony and Jack for keeping the operation from him and Michelle, Bill agreed to help create an alibi for Jack's team. When Cheng Zhi came to CTU to question Bauer, Buchanan was able to help obfuscate Zhi's investigation. When it was learned that Howard Bern was identified at the consulate, Bill distracted Zhi, will Jack helped Bern escape from the building.



When Secretary of Defense James Heller got information out of his son Richard, CTU got a new lead on Marwan. Jack, Tony, and Lee Castle lead a TAC team to apprehend a female suspect. During the midst of the operation, Castle was killed and Tony disappeared. Jack called CTU and told them about the situation.

The hostile Mandy called Michelle and told her that she knows about Tony committing treason in the past in order to save her. Mandy decided to test Michelle's love for Tony, by threatening to kill him if Michelle doesn't clear an exit for her. Originally, Michelle was willing to go forward with it, but she broke down and told Bill about Mandy calling her. Bill told Michelle she would act like she was going along with Mandy's plan, in order to trap her. Buchanan assured Michelle he would do everything in his power to save Tony, but capturing the hostile was the priority.

When Mandy learned Michelle double-crossed her, she self-destructed the car she and Tony entered. Michelle was devastated over Tony's death and Bill comforted her. Bill told her it would be best to go home, and Michelle stepped down as the Special Agent in Charge. Jack later discovered the hostile sent in body doubles, and he eventually found Tony and the hostile. With help from Curtis, Jack was able to save Tony and apprehend the hostile. Jack called Buchanan to tell him Tony was alive, and he patched Tony over to Michelle.



Buchanan was later informed that the US government was handing over Jack to the Chinese, as Zhi captured Howard Bern and he confessed to Jack leading the operation. Dale Spalding arrived at CTU to pick up Jack, and Buchanan defended Jack's actions earlier in the day. While waiting for Jack, Buchanan and Spalding heard the lockdown alarm go off.

Chloe managed to track down Jack's location and Buchanan discovered Michelle and Tony hovering over Jack's body. Jack was dead and Buchanan broke the news to Audrey, who had a hard-time getting over Jack's death. After Michelle and Tony left CTU together, Buchanan decided to replace Michelle's position.

Day 5


During Day 5, Bill Buchanan was serving as the Special Agent in Charge of CTU Los Angeles. When President David Palmer was assassinated in LA, CTU was put in charge of the investigation. Shortly after Palmer's hit, Michelle Dessler and Tony Almeida were targeted. Michelle was killed in the blast, and Tony was wounded, and transported to CTU medical. Bill had Curtis Manning try to find a connection, while he briefed DOD liaison Audrey Raines on the situation.

After briefing President Logan, Walt Cummings, and Mike Novick on the Palmer investigation, Buchanan suggested for Logan to postpone the Anti-terrorism treaty signing with the Russians, but Logan refused. Later, Curtis informed Buchanan that the last time Tony and Palmer talked was the day Jack Bauer died. Edgar Stiles then informed Buchanan he pulled some footage off a security camera and in any given time, it would reveal the assassin who shot Palmer. Bill and Audrey were shocked when the footage showed Jack being behind the hit.

Buchanan came to the conclusion that Jack was still alive and Palmer, Michelle, and Tony conspired with him to fake his death. He put out a warrant for Jack's arrest and informed President Logan about the situation. Buchanan then came to the assumption that Jack was forcing Chloe O'Brian to aid him. After FBI agents detained Chloe, Buchanan demanded for Jack's location. Chloe refused and claimed Jack was being set up; Buchanan had her brought back to CTU.

When Chloe arrived at CTU, she told Buchanan that a man named Conrad Haas confessed to killing Palmer. Haas claimed that Palmer was the primary target and the other assassinations were to set Jack up. After claiming his body and bodies of hostiles were at an oil refinery, Buchanan decided to send Curtis to the location. Buchanan was then contacted by Jack, who claimed terrorists had seized the Ontario Airport and had hostages.



When Buchanan was notified about the crisis, he decided to put the Palmer issue aside, as Jack's intelligence may have been what saved the hostages lives. Jack provided CTU with intelligence on the terrorists, and Buchanan had Curtis Manning lead the TAC team. Lynn McGill from Division Command arrived at CTU, and decided to take control of the situation.

McGill insisted on using Buchanan's office, and Bill met his request. When Bill felt McGill was doing his job, he offered to leave, but Lynn reported that he was only supervising the situation. CTU then lost contact with Bauer, but Jack eventually called and told them that the TAC team would have to break into the airport through an emergency exit.

Curtis and his team re-positioned, but McGill demanded for the TAC team to stand down. McGill found a distress signal in a transcript, which shows that Jack is under the watch of the terrorists. Curtis and the team went back to the original plan, which turned out to be a success. All of the hostiles were killed, but Jack informed Curtis that one of the terrorists was posing as a hostage. Jack wanted to follow up on the lead, but McGill demanded for him to be brought into custody.

CTU learned that the hostile, Ivan Erwich, went to Hangar BB, to use the key card Anton Beresch passed on over to him. They learned that Erwich stole and smuggled Sentox VX nerve gas out of the airport. When President Logan learned about this, he demanded for Bill and CTU to find the 20 canisters of nerve gas, or the bodies will start piling up.

Chloe later proved that Spenser Wolff was performing unauthorized tasks with a higher security clearance. He also let a man named Hank into the building, who killed Dr. Paulson and attempted to kill Jack. Buchanan, Jack, and McGill interrogated Spenser and he revealed he was investigating CTU and Jack, under the authority of Walt Cummings. When Cummings finds out he may of been exposed, he has CTU taken of the nerve gas investigation. Buchanan wants to disregard the order, while McGill insists on following it. Eventually Buchanan is informed by the president to disregard it when Bauer and Aaron Pierce exposed Cummings role in the day's events.

CTU soon figured out that the canisters couldn't be set off without the detonation codes, as Cummings and James Nathanson double-crossed the Russian separatists. Edgar was able to intercept a call between Erwich and Jacob Rossler. Buchanan had Jack and Curtis lead a team into Rossler's apartment. When Rossler agreed to cooperate with immunity, signed by the Attorney General, Bauer tells him he won't get immunity. With not a huge time frame, Bill and Lynn tell Jack to accept Rossler's proposal.

When Rossler was killed, Jack was forced to pose as Rossler in order to meet up with Erwich's men. CTU soon learned that Erwich's men wanted to release a canister of nerve gas in the Sunrise Hills Shopping Mall. Buchanan and Audrey debated whether they should have sacrificed the lives of the innocent people in the mall, while McGill was convinced releasing the gas would help lead them to the other canisters. Logan agreed with McGill's assessment, and Jack was ordered to release it. Jack refused and though the terrorists still released it, only 11 people were killed. Despite this, McGill ordered for Curtis to bring Jack in.

When Jack escaped from custody, McGill started to become suspicious that Audrey may of helped him. McGill went to Bill, who admitted Audrey and Jack were once romantically involved. When Audrey revealed to Buchanan that Nathanson contacted her and was willing to cooperate, but only with Jack, he decided to help her and Audrey aid Jack. When McGill started to get a sense that people are going above his command, he had Bill placed in holding.

When Lynn started to lose control of CTU, Curtis activated Section 112 and had Lynn removed of duty. Curtis had security release Bill from holding, who took control of the situation again. When Bill learned that chatter indicated their would be an attack on President Yuri Suvarov's motorcade, Buchanan warned Secret Service and alarmed Logan about the situation, who was lost for words as First Lady Martha Logan is in the limousine.

Luckily Aaron Pierce was able to kill all of the hostiles attacking the motorcade, and Curtis found a blueprint on one of the corpses. Edgar tracked down the blueprint to the Thomas Memorial Hospital, and Buchanan ordered for the hospital to be evacuated. Curtis and the TAC team were able to find the canister of Sentox, and have it released in a contained area. No lives were lost in the attack, besides Viktor Grigorin.

Dr. Marc Besson contacted Buchanan and informed him that Tony Almeida had woken up and was asking for Michelle. Buchanan wanted to tell Tony about Michelle's death, but Besson was convinced it would've cause Tony to have a setback. Buchanan told Tony that Michelle survived the attack and was at a local hospital. Buchanan also revealed that terrorists were in possession of nerve gas. When Tony asked who was responsible for the attack, Buchanan revealed it was Christopher Henderson, who was being brought back to CTU by Jack.



Eventually Tony became suspicious that he was being lied to and he learned from a computer that Michelle was deceased. Bill was then informed that Jenny McGill and Dwayne Thompkins were killed, and it looked like it was done by a professional. Buchanan broke the terrible news to Lynn, who told Bill that his sister had his CTU key card. When Chloe confirmed that someone used Lynn's key card to get into the building in the last hour, he orders a lockdown.

When Jack discovered a timing device on hostile Ostroff, he realized that Ostroff has released nerve gas in the building. Buchanan ordered a Code 6, and had everybody evacuate the building. Chloe was able to use her computer to seal off the Situation Room, Medical, Holding Room 4, and Buchanan's office. Over 40% of CTU's personnel died from the attack, including Edgar Stiles.

While Buchanan worked in his office, Chloe continued to work on hacking into Christopher Henderson's computer files. Buchanan then learned that the gas would break the seals, and Curtis wouldn't be able to get the chemical responses team to CTU in time. Buchanan informed Jack and the rest of the survivors that if they didn't find a way to flourish the gas away, they would all die. Luckily, Lynn and Harry Swinton served as sacrifices and accessed the air conditioning system, preventing the gas from breaking through.

Buchanan was then contacted by Karen Hayes, from the Department of Homeland Security. Hayes revealed that she was bringing a team over to CTU. Karen arrived at CTU and decided to work out of Bill's office. Buchanan questioned why she was here, and she revealed that the Department of Homeland Security would be absorbing CTU, under the authority of Vice President Hal Gardner. Despite their difference in opinion on CTU's autonomy, Buchanan didn't reveal Karen and Miles Papazian's plan to take control.

Miles soon discovered that Chloe hacked into the NSA server, and he brought this discovery to Karen and Bill. Buchanan and Hayes demanded for Chloe to reveal what she uploaded from the NSA sever, and she revealed she uploaded the WET list to Jack. Karen and Buchanan called Jack and demand for the list, but Jack insisted it is the only way to get Collette Stenger, as German Intelligence Agent Theo Stoller agreed to give Stenger up for the list.

When Stenger implicated Audrey, Jack and Buchanan were convinced it is a set up, but Hayes insisted on having Rick Burke perform a medical interrogation on her. However, Buchanan and Jack were able to convince Hayes to allow Jack to interrogate her first. After the interrogation, Jack was convinced Audrey was being set up, but Hayes went forward with the interrogation. Jack was eventually able to prove Stenger set Audrey up, breaking her presidential pardon. CTU then learned Vladimir Bierko planned on releasing the Sentox through a gas company.

Shari Rothenberg discovered that Bierko planned on releasing the gas through the Wilshire Gas Company, and Jack and Curtis lead a team there. Jack is forced to blow up the gas company when Bierko released the gas, and the explosion causes all of the Sentox to be destroyed. After Jack took Bierko into custody, he handed him over to Curtis to be taken back to CTU. Karen and Miles then worked on their plan to take control of CTU.

Karen and Miles confronted Audrey and asked her to sign a document that blamed Buchanan and CTU for everything that went wrong during the day. Believing Buchanan's actions caused a chain of successful events, Audrey initially refused it, but signed in exchange for having Chloe stay at CTU. When Buchanan learned that Audrey signed the document, he felt betrayed and he decided to go home. Buchanan had no idea that Audrey only signed it to help Jack prove who is behind the day's events.

Buchanan met up with Jack, who handed over Wayne Palmer to him. Jack revealed that President Logan was responsible for President Palmer's assassination and the selling of the Sentox nerve gas. Chloe O'Brian later showed up at Bill's house, after escaping from CTU custody. She remotely logs onto CTU's server through Bill's system and helped Jack prove Logan was behind the day's events. After Jack captured Henderson, Bill and Chloe learned that Henderon's men were following Secretary James Heller. Heller acted as a sacrifice, driving his car into a lake, and Bill witnessed from satellite footage.

Buchanan and Chloe then learned that Henderson passed the audio recording implicating Logan to someone, who was boarding Flight 520, a diplomatic flight. With help from Chloe and Bill, Jack was able to gain intelligene on the passengers and who had connections to Henderson. After interrogating Hans Meyer and after Chloe voached for him, Jack realized he didn't have the recording. Chloe soon learned that Henderson passed the conversation off on Scott Evans, the last minute co-pilot.

Bill then got a call from Karen Hayes, who told him he had less than seven minutes to get Chloe out of his house, as a TAC team was on there way. Bill asked why Karen was helping him, and she revealed she has reason to believe Logan is behind the day's events. Karen and Bill both agreed that he should be brought into CTU, and covertly work with Karen in helping Chloe and Jack get the evidence.

Buchanan sent Chloe off to a hotel, and the TAC team arrived. Buchanan refused to give up Chloe's location, and a field agent called Karen. Karen told the agent to bring Buchanan in for furthering questioning. When Miles began setting up an interrogation for Buchanan, she told him it was necessary. Karen decided that she wanted to talk to Bill on her own. Miles soon became suspicious and shared these suspicions with Mike Novick.

Jack managed to get the recording, but Logan's partner Graem Bauer had a distress signal sent out. Admiral Kirkland informed the president that Bauer would use the plane as a weapon. Logan demanded for the plane to be shot down, and Karen and Bill informed Jack about Logan's order. They provided Jack with the location of a Los Angles highway and Jack had the plane landed there. With help from Curtis Manning and fellow CTU agents, Jack was able to escape from Logan's perimeter and return to CTU with the evidence.

Karen, Bill, and Jack all agreed that access to the recording should be limited, and that only Chloe should have access to it. Buchanan and Karen set up a meeting with the Attorney General, while Chloe cleaned up the recording. However, Miles became aware of the situation after asking Karen about all of the secretivity that was going on. He remained loyal to Logan and had the recording erased. Without any evidence, Buchanan was forced to tell the Attorney General they were having technical difficulties and would have to reschedule the meeting.

Without any evidence against him, Logan decided to drop the charges against Bauer, informing Karen that the evidence he saw wasn't reliable enough. Buchanan was then informed that Vladimir Bierko escaped from custody. Agent Davis informed CTU that Bierko's men attacked the transport van and were discussing a canister of nerve gas, and a bigger attack. Buchanan and Hayes both agreed Henderson was their only lead in finding Bierko.

Buchanan instructed Jack that they would have to give Henderson immunity, but Jack refused, do to Henderson being responsible for Palmer, Tony, and Michelle's deaths. After talking to Henderson, Jack agreed to help Henderson by staging his death.

Eventually CTU learned that Bierko planned on taking control of the Russian ship the Natalia, which was part of the treaty agreement between Logan and Suvarov. Bierko managed to storm the ship and kill all of the crew with a canister of nerve gas. Buchanan informed Jack that Bierko would most likely launch one of the missiles before Kirkland's jets arrived to destroy the ship. It was up to Jack, Henderson, and Agent McCullough to stop Bierko.

After Henderson disarmed the missiles, Jack called Buchanan and told him that Bierko and his men were killed, and he was forced to kill Henderson. Buchanan asked if he was heading back to CTU, and Jack said he was. Buchanan and Hayes were later interrupted by Chloe, who asked to get clearance for someone. Bill was shocked when he learned it was Morris O'Brian, Chloe's ex-husband. Chloe told Bill that Morris was the only one who could resurrect the audio recording.

During the time President Logan was giving David Palmer's eulogy, Bill and Karen learned that Chloe set up a meeting with the Attorney General. Buchanan and Hayes tried to cancel it, but Chloe insisted and revealed they had to be kept out of the loop, in case things went wrong. Chloe revealed Jack placed a transmitter device on Logan's pen, and she played a conversation between Logan and his wife. When the Attorney General learned Logan was complicit in Palmer's death and the Sentox conspiracy, he executed a warrant for Logan's arrest.

Buchanan decided to say his good-byes to CTU, but Karen informed him she would put a good word in for him, and he would be back in charge in no time. Buchanan then asked if Karen wanted to have a cup of coffee, but she turned it down. She asked for a raincheck, as she had to go to a meeting at Division. After Karen left, Bill gave Chloe a photo he found in Edgar's possessions.

After Day 5


Between Day 5 and Day 6, Karen Hayes helped get Buchanan's job back as CTU's Special Agent in Charge. Realizing they had a great friendship, Bill and Karen began to spend more time together and they eventually started to become romantically involved. They then decided to commit to wedding vows. 14 months prior to Day 6, CTU Seattle detained Abu Fayed and 19 other known terrorists. Seeing there wasn't enough evidence to put Fayed behind bars, Bill signed for his release.

Day 6
During Day 6, Buchanan was involved in stopping terrorist attacks allegedly originating from Hamri Al-Assad. In an arrangement with the United States government, one of Assad's lieutenant's, Abu Fayed made an agreement to trade Jack Bauer for Assad's location. Buchanan made a prior exchange with Bauer's captors, the Chinese government, in order to deliver him to Fayed.

Buchanan would later continue to work at CTU throughout the day, preventing a series of terrorist attacks within the United States. His efforts would go unawarded, however, when his wife, National Security Advisor Karen Hayes, was coerced into firing him. Later, Bill aids Jack in the field, helping to rescue Josh Bauer from an aerial strike.


 * For more information, please see Bill Buchanan on Day 6.

Background information and notes

 * Bill introduces himself as the "Regional Director of Division, Los Angeles" in Day 4 6:00am-7:00am, and as the "Director of Operations" in Day 6 1:00pm-2:00pm.
 * During Day 5 his home address is 5 Villa Vista Circle, Studio City 91604.