Bill Buchanan

Bill Buchanan was Special Agent in Charge of the Los Angeles Domestic Unit of the Counter Terrorist Unit.

He previously was an Associate Special Agent in Charge at the Los Angeles Office's Division headquarters.

Before joining the Los Angeles office, he was a Senior Agent in the Seattle Office's Division headquarters and before that, an intelligence analyst at that same office. It was there that he met Michelle Dessler

Buchanan has a B.A. in English from Brown University. He began his career in CTU as an agent with CTU New York.

Day Four
Buchanan took over as Special Agent in Charge of CTU for Michelle Dessler on Day 4.

Tony Almeida initially disliked Buchanan because he thought that Buchanan was having a relationship with Michelle, who was his ex-wife

Later, Buchanan explains that he had romantic feelings Michelle, but that a relationship between the two of them "never got off the ground" because Buchanan realized that Michelle was still in love with Tony

It is unclear how strongly Buchanan was affected by Dessler's sudden death at the start of Season 5 as he puts his personal feelings aside to address the current crisis.

Day Five
During Day 5, an upper-level administrator from CTU's Regional Division named Lynn McGill was appointed by the White House to supervise Buchanan and the rest of CTU Los Angeles. Although the two characters appear to have a history together, it is still unknown how they know each other before Day 5.

Buchanan grew frustrated with McGill's rigid adherence to protocol and his attempts to restrict informality. Crisis after crisis rattled the relatively inexperienced McGill - notably, he was unable to control the actions of agent Jack Bauer and the CTU staffers that rallied to Bauer's aid, most of whom defied his orders. In retaliation, the increasingly paranoid McGill relieved Buchanan from command and had him removed to a CTU holding cell. Buchanan was later reinstated when Curtis Manning invoked a rule called Article 112, allowing a ranking agent to remove a mentally unfit director.

Shortly before 10:00 pm, Buchanan politely tapped Shari Rothenberg, a young woman sent in to replace deceased analyst Edgar Stiles, on the shoulder in a congratulatory manner for performing well. Concern arose that Rothenberg might file a meritless sexual harassment claim against Buchanan, based upon her past conduct and her comments to Chloe O'Brian.

A more pressing threat to Buchanan's position as CTU director emerged after 10:00 pm when the Department of Homeland Security was ordered to absorb the duties and functions of CTU, following orders from Vice President Hal Gardner. Buchanan intended to challenge the Vice President's order by demonstrating his successes in Day 5 with the total support of his staff.

Homeland Security bureaucrat, Miles Papazian, suggested that a formal statement discrediting Buchanan may simplify takeover of CTU. He drafted a document that blamed Buchanan for the day's death toll and for allowing CTU to be compromised. He approached Audrey Raines, a liazon from the Department of Defense, to coerce her to sign the statement. Fully supportive of Buchanan, she initially declined.

As CTU staffers were being relieved from duty by Homeland personnel, Raines received a phone call from Jack Bauer. He needed immediate assistance that only Chloe O'Brian could provide, but O'Brian was slated for replacement. Seeing no other alternative, Raines negotiated a deal to sign Papazian's statement on the condition that O'Brian be retained. As a result, Bauer got the help he needed, but it appeared that Homeland Security was successful in their takeover of CTU. Buchanan, and most of the CTU staff, were let go shortly after 10:00 pm.

Buchanan met with Jack and Wayne Palmer at midnight and was apprised that President Charles Logan was responsible for the death of David Palmer. Buchanan then took Wayne back to his home to hide him during the current crisis. Upon being caught helping Audrey, Chloe snuck out of CTU and went into hiding at Buchanan's place as well. However, Miles Papazian tracks Chloe's access of the CTU server to Buchanan's home and sends a team to arrest her. Bill receives a call from Karen Hayes telling him that Chloe has seven minutes to get out before the team arrives.

Day 4

 * Day 4 9:00pm-10:00pm
 * Day 4 10:00pm-11:00pm
 * 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 3:00am-4:00am
 * Day 4 4:00am-5:00am
 * Day 4 5:00am-6:00am
 * 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
 * Day 5 2:00pm-3:00pm
 * Day 5 3:00pm-4:00pm
 * Day 5 4:00pm-5:00pm
 * Day 5 5:00pm-6:00pm
 * Day 5 6:00pm-7:00pm
 * Day 5 7:00pm-8:00pm
 * Day 5 8:00pm-9:00pm
 * Day 5 9:00pm-10:00pm
 * Day 5 10:00pm-11:00pm
 * Day 5 12:00am-1:00am
 * Day 5 1:00am-2:00am
 * Day 5 2:00am-3:00am
 * Day 5 3:00am-4:00am
 * Day 5 4:00am-5:00am

Memorable Quotes

 * Bill Buchanan You have no idea what you're dealing with you little asskisser!


 * Bill Buchanan: We're in an active code, Chloe. We don't have time for your personality disorder.


 * Lynn McGill: But I'm not about to start considering disobeying a direct order from the White House!
 * Bill Buchanan: That's because you don't have the experience to know any better.


 * McGill: Sit down, Mr. Buchanan.
 * Buchanan: Would you stop with the "Mr. Buchanan"?


 * Buchanan: You called for me, Tony?
 * Tony: Yeah.
 * Buchanan: What's goin' on?
 * Tony: That's what I wanted to ask you.
 * Buchanan: What do you mean?
 * Tony: What do you think I mean, Bill? My wife was killed this morning right in front of my eyes, and nobody here has told me who did it or why.
 * Buchanan: The investigation is ongoing, Tony.
 * Tony: Come on, Bill. I used to work here. I know that's what you say to people when you don't wanna tell 'em the truth.
 * Buchanan: The truth is you're not an agent anymore. What you're asking me is classified. Tony, it doesn't matter what I tell you, there's nothing you can do.
 * Tony: I know there's nothing I can do, look at me for God's sake! I just wanna know who did it. I think for the sake of all the years I've given this place and all the sacrifices I've made, I think I deserve to know, don't you?
 * Buchanan: All I can tell you is Michelle's murder was part of bigger plan to supply terrorists with Sentox nerve gas.
 * Tony: Who's behind it? Who's responsible, Bill?
 * Buchanan: The highest we've been able to get up the chain of command is someone you might know from when he worked here. Christopher Henderson.
 * Tony: What? Why??
 * Buchanan: We're working on it, Tony.
 * Tony: Don't let him get away with this, Bill. Don't you let him cut a deal.
 * Buchanan: I won't.