Nathan Templeton

Commander In Chief Character


name=Nathan Templeton
position=Speaker of the House of Representatives
Acting President of the United States
party=Republican
portrayer=Donald Sutherland

Nathan Everett Templeton, played by Donald Sutherland, is a fictional character on the television drama "Commander in Chief".

A Republican from Florida, Templeton is the primary antagonist of independent President Mackenzie Allen.

Templeton was born in 1940 and began his career in the House in 1969 as a conservative Southern Democrat but, like many Southern Democrats, eventually joined the Republican Party in 1981 as it became the more distinctively conservative party in the United States. Templeton went on to become Speaker in 1999.

Templeton was a close friend and collaborator of Republican former President Teddy Bridges. He was apparently Bridges' first choice for Vice President but refused to accept the invitation, citing that the office of Speaker of the House is of more importance. As of the first season of "Commander in Chief", Templeton has held the speaker's chair for at least eight years (assuming his tenure in the post was uninterrupted). President Bridges offered the Vice Presidency to Templeton again when he was already in the White House, but Templeton refused it, saying that "it was a demotion."

When President Bridges was struck by a brain aneurysm he asked his Vice-President, Mackenzie Allen, to resign so that Templeton could rise to the office of President. Yet, Bridges died before Allen resigned. At first, Allen was ready to sign a resignation letter, but after talking with Templeton, who would otherwise become president, and seeing his apparent prejudices against women and Muslims, Allen decided that she would assume the presidency.

Templeton is frequently at odds with Allen. He leaked to the press false information about Oklahoma governor Tucker Baynes being Allen's choice for Vice-president. Allen instead nominated a Democrat, Warren Keaton, for the job. Templeton remarked that Keaton would not be confirmed, but he easily passed confirmation in the House of Representatives, ironically with Templeton's help.

Several weeks into Allen's term as president, Templeton orchestrated the resignation of the National Security Advisor and the Secretary of the Interior simultaneous with a state visit by the President of Russia. In the episode "First Disaster", Templeton causes more havoc by siding with the Democratic Governor of Florida on whether or not to allow a leaking oil ship into Floridian waters. During the North Korean sub crisis, Templeton is brought in to help broker a deal with China to help out. The Speaker has committed himself to running for President in the upcoming election, and assumes that Allen will likewise run for a full term as an independent.

Templeton orchestrated a deal between the Chinese government and President Allen to rescue submariners trapped inside North Korean waters. He is friends with the Chinese ambassador to the United States, and is fluent in Chinese.

While on board Air Force One en route to negotiate a trade deal between protesting airline unions and managers, Allen suffered a ruptured appendix requiring several hours of surgery and at least a day of recovery. Prior to surgery she invoked the 25th amendment believing the Senate Pro-Tempore would temporarily assume the Presidency, however Speaker of the House Nathan Templeton surprisingly stepped up, costing his seat in Congress (though in reality, a special election would be scheduled to fill the vacancy and he could return to the House in 90 days). With his new position of power, he quickly forced an end to the airline labor strikes, undoing Allen's weeks of careful negotiations. He was officially Acting President for approximately one day during Allen's medical leave.

Although this was not clearly said, Templeton probably quickly retaken his seat and Speakership, because in the next episode after his temporary presidency, he was during talk on V.P. selection process (after Warren Keaton resigned) as still "first in line".

A Templeton family home was destroyed in the hurricane whose aftermath was featured in "First Disaster". He is married to a diabetic wife but it is unclear if he has children.