John Keeler

John Keeler was elected as President of the United States after David Palmer dropped out of the election. He was succeeded by his Vice President, Charles Logan, when an assassination attempt left him incapacitated on Day 4. He had one son, Kevin Keeler, who died from the attack on Air Force One.

Day 3
Senator John Keeler stood against incumbent President David Palmer during Palmer's bid for a second term in office. Keeler had early success in the campaign, closing the gap between Palmer and himself in the time up to the Presidential debates. Keeler attempted to use information regarding Palmer's partner, Anne Packard, to discredit the President, but Palmer, having had prior information about this tactic, was not fazed by it. However, when Palmer was forced to cancel the debate at a crucial moment, Keeler seized this opportunity and tried to show the President as unable to cope. When Palmer raised the nation's terror alert level, proving there was a national emergency, Keeler's campaign appeared to be in tatters before a timely visit from Sherry Palmer, who gave Keeler information regarding Palmer's role in the death of Alan Milliken. Keeler went to Palmer with this information, demanding the President's withdrawal from the race, which would guarantee Keeler a win in the election. Palmer stood his ground, but after learning of the death of Sherry, he withdrew from the race anyway.

Palmer's Vice President Jim Prescott became the Democratic Party's nominee for the presidency against Keeler in the general election.

After Day 3
After President Palmer withdrew from the race, Keeler became the frontrunner for the presidency. He chose Senator Charles Logan as his running mate, and won the general election, becoming the new President, with Charles Logan as his Vice President, James Heller as Secretary of Defense, a man named Taylor as Secretary of State and Mark Kanar, his former campaign manager, as one of his staffers.

Keeler was inaugurated as the 45th President of the United States on January 20, 2005, serving until his incapacitation on April 5, 2006

Day 4


Keeler was onboard Air Force One when Secretary of Defense James Heller and his daughter, Audrey Raines, were abducted by terrorists working for Habib Marwan. In order to save the country embarrassment from having its Secretary of Defense killed on a live broadcast, Keeler ordered an air strike that would presumably result in Secretary Heller's death, but at the same time kill the terrorists and stop the broadcast. However, when Jack Bauer managed to stop the broadcast himself, Keeler called off the air strike. He remained on board when Marwan's people subsequently sabotaged several nuclear reactors in order to create a meltdown.



Though control of the reactors was restored, the incident had the added effect of keeping Air Force One in the air much longer than intended, thus exposing the President to an air attack. Mitch Anderson, a disgraced former Air Force captain working for Marwan, stole a stealth fighter and fired on Air Force One. A nearby escort fighter exploded instead, damaging Air Force One at the same time. The craft crashed, killing most of its passengers, including the President's son, Kevin Keeler. Keeler himself survived, but was in critical condition. Another survivor was a Secret Service Agent named Patterson, with whom Jack Bauer made contact.

During President Keeler's incapacitation, the cabinet unanimously voted to invoke the 25th Amendment and Vice President Charles Logan was sworn in as President.

After Day 4
Keeler did not return to office. Charles Logan assumed the office of the Presidency after Day 4, with Hal Gardner as Vice President.

Memorable quotes

 * John Keeler: Once this crisis you're dealing with is over, you can resign with whatever face-saving reason you wanna give.
 * President Palmer: Get out of here!
 * John Keeler: I'm offering you the chance to leave office with honor, to control how your legacy is written. It's a good deal, David. You should take it. ("Day 3: 10:00am-11:00am")

Background information and notes

 * In an interview with the 24 Inside, writer Howard Gordon mentioned that John Keeler was not dead, but "convalescing in a home in Maryland." According to Gordon, the decision to leave Keeler's fate unclear was a result of a mandate from Fox forbidding the writers from outright killing a sitting President on-screen.  This mandate apparently did not apply to the killing of President Omar Hassan during Day 8, most likely because he was the President of a fictitious foreign nation.
 * Originally actor Powers Boothe was considered for the role of John Keeler. Powers Boothe was unavailable at the time, but later was cast as Vice President Noah Daniels in the sixth season of the series.
 * Seeing as Keeler ran against David Palmer, who was a Democrat, for presidency, it is likely that Keeler and his VP Charles Logan were Republicans.
 * Keeler was the only on-screen president not to be credited as part of the main cast.
 * Geoff Pierson plays the Vice-President in the 2008 movie Get Smart.
 * The only President to not have his name featured in the Previously on 24 segment.
 * In 24: The Official CTU Operations Manual, a picture of James Prescott is accidentally labeled with Keeler's name.