Charles Logan

Charles Logan was Vice-President of the United States of America under President John Keeler and became President under the 25th Amendment after Air Force One crashed during Day 4. Charles Logan is played by Gregory Itzin.

Day 4

During Day 4, President John Keeler called Logan from Air Force One, and told him that he believed the plane would be shot down. When the plane crashed, Logan was quickly sworn in as President under the 25th Amendment. He will be up for his own Presidential election in November, 2012.

One of Logan's first acts as President was to base himself, and his staff in the White House Bunker, to protect himself from a possible terrorist attack. Logan ignored his advisor, Mike Novick, when he suggested the President should work from the Oval Office. Logan's fear about such an attack was, at times, very public as he expressed his certainty that a nuclear missile would be heading for Washington, DC and that he would not leave the Bunker until the threat was neutralised.

Logan was frustrated by the fact that the CTU seem to have had little luck finding Habib Marwan but makes matters worse when he takes too long to decide on certain issues. When CTU wanted to use force whilst interrogating Joe Prado, Logan took too long authorising it so Jack Bauer was forced to take matters into his own hands.

When the CTU was close to capturing Marwan, Logan discovered that Bauer tortured Prado without his permission and sends the Secret Service to arrest him. The arrival of the Secret Service alerted Marwan and he was able to escape. Logan realised his mistake, released Bauer and asked David Palmer to come in and help him make decisions.

When David Palmer authorised the raid on the Chinese Consulate, Logan is furious that he wasn't asked and decided that, to stop an international incident, he would help the Chinese as much as possible in their investigations.

When the Chinese discovered that Jack Bauer was responsible for the raid on the consulate, Logan agreed to extradite him, even after everything he had done that day. One of Logan's advisors suggested that Bauer be killed to stop him releasing information to the Chinese and, although he didn't authorise it, Logan agreed that it should be done.

Day 5

Logan is still president at the start of Day 5 (Keeler's fate remains unknown). He is currently operating from the Presidential retreat near Los Angeles

Logan is meeting the Russian president to sign an anti-terrorism defense treaty. Logan, seeing the treaty as the highlight of his Presidency will not permit any delays. He is startled by news of the assassination of former President Palmer but insists the signing continue on schedule. The situation is further complicated when a group of east-European separatists attack a nearby airport and take several hostages. They demand the treaty be renounced or they will begin executing hostages. Logan immediately orders CTU to organize a rescue.

Another complication comes from Logan's wife, First Lady Martha Logan. Martha insists Palmer had tried to contact her to warn her of a possible attack. Logan is sympathetic but is skeptical given her history of mental illness. He eventually agrees to have her sent away to a mental health facility.

CTU is ultimately successful in rescuing the hostages and the treaty is signed on schedule, though one terrorist, a sleeper posing as one of the hostages, manages to escape with a large shipment of nerve gas.

Soon after, Walt Cummings (now Logan's Chief of Staff) comes to Logan and admits his involvement in everything that has happened but insists it to be for a greater good. He claims the nerve gas will be released before it can threaten any American or Russian targets. Cummings' claims the nerve gas threat will provide a justification for a stronger U.S. presence in Asia and promote a greater acquisition of oil from the region. Cummings tells him the American agent monitoring the nerve gas has gone dark and even Cummings cannot stop him now. Logan is appalled but does not see any way out of the situation.

Meanwhile, Jack Bauer, who had emerged from hiding to find who had ordered Palmer's assassination, has discovered Cummings was involved and knew more that he had told Logan. After Jack manages to convince Secret Service agent Aaron Pierce to let him speak with the President, he is able to reveal the truth to Logan. Logan promptly orders Cummings arrested. Unfortunately when government forces move in on the location of the nerve gas, they find it missing and the American agent dead. The terrorists had apparently discovered Cummings' plan.

Logan has Jack temporarily reinstated with CTU, though both men agreed he will have to go back into hiding once the crisis passed, as the Chinese would still likely demand his extradition.

Logan also manages to stop his wife before she left the retreat. She initially reacts coldly to him for not having trusted her, though the two would soon reconcile and set about drafting a public statement about Cummings' actions, though this is interrupted when Mike Novick informs them that Cummings had been found dead of an apparent suicide.

Later on, Logan grapples with how to handle Cummings' suicide. His wife encourages him to tell the truth to the American people, but his other aides, including Novick urged him not to reveal Cummings' role in the Nerve Gas crisis for fear of the political ramifications that would have ensued. He chose the latter. Later on, the terrorists, with Bauer undercover, had taken a canister of the nerve gas into a mall in Los Angeles. Lynn McGill and Bill Buchanan urged Logan to allow them to use the gas in the mall, potentially killing up to 900 people, hoping they could catch the terrorists and find the other 19 canisters of Nerve Gas. Despite Audrey Raines and his wife's insistence that he not allow the mall to be gassed, he decided to go with the recommendation. Due to intervention from Jack Bauer, many lives were saved in this incident and only 11 people were killed. Despite Logan's relief, he does not deny that he is responsible for those deaths.

Immediately thereafter, Logan is forced to make a decision involving the Russian terrorists; give up the Russian President's motorcade route or risk the launch of the 19 remaining nerve gas containers on US soil. After several minutes of discussion with his wife and advisors, Logan decides to provide the terrorists with the route. However, as the motorcade departs, Logan's wife decides to join the motorcade behind his back. Logan is shown agonizing over the decision to not turn back the motorcade, and prays with Mike Novick that the Russian President, his wife, and Mrs. Logan not be killed by the terrorists. His prayers are answered when CTU notifies the motorcade in the nick of time. However, the terrorists have broken off the deal and will now commence targeting civilians.

Experience

Before ascending to the vice-presidency, Logan was the Lieutenant Governor of California and before that a Representative in the California State Congress for Santa Barbara.

He previously was the Vice President of Western Energy Coal & Reserve and later CEO, where he gained the honor of being named Energy CEO of the Year. Before joining that company he had been the Director of Pacific Nuclear Energy.

Logan has a B.A. degree in History from Princeton University.

Memorable Quotes

David Palmer: It was a covert operation, not dissimilar to those carried out by countries on a routine basis around the world.
Charles Logan: Don't give me a social studies lesson, David. We marched onto Chinese soil, we kidnapped one of their nationals, and in the process the Chinese consul was killed.

Appearances

Preceded By:
James Prescott

Vice President of the United States

Succeeded By:
Hal Gardner

Preceded By:
John Keeler

President of the United States

Succeeded By:
INCUMBENT


Season(s):	4, 5
First Seen:	Day 4 10:00pm-11:00pm
Last Seen:	n/a
Status:	Alive
Wife:	Martha Logan
Played By:	Gregory Itzin