List of Madam Secretary characters

Elizabeth McCord

Henry McCord

Henry McCord
Madam Secretary character
Tim Daly portrays Henry McCord
First appearance	"Pilot" September 21, 2014
Created by	Barbara Hall
Portrayed by	Tim Daly
Information
Full name	Henry McCord
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Occupation	College professor Religious scholar Government employee US Marine Corps Aviator (former)
Affiliation	Central Intelligence Agency Special Activities Division (resigned) National War College
Title	Professor
Family	Patrick McCord† (father) Mrs. McCord† (mother) Maureen McCord-Ryan (sister) Shane McCord (brother) Erin McCord (sister)
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Adams McCord (m. 1990)
Children	Stephanie "Stevie" McCord Alison McCord Jason McCord
Relatives	Tom Ryan (brother-in-law) Sarah McCord (niece) John Ryan (nephew) Kenzie Ryan (niece) Kelly Ryan (niece) Mr. Adams† (father-in-law) Mrs. Adams† (mother-in-law) Dr. Will Adams (brother-in-law) Annie Adams (niece)
Religion	Catholic
Nationality	American
Military career
Service	United States Marine Corps
Rank	Captain

Professor (Dr.) Henry McCord is a Professor of Ethics at the National War College and the husband of United States Secretary of State Elizabeth McCord and father of Stevie, Alison, and Jason McCord. He is portrayed by Tim Daly.

Conrad Dalton

Conrad Dalton
President of the United States
Incumbent
Assumed office January 20, 2013
Vice President	Mark Delgado (Alex Fernandez) Teresa Hurst (Jayne Atkinson)
Personal details
Nationality	American
Political party	Independent (second term)
Spouse(s)	Lydia Dalton
Children	Harrison Dalton
Relatives	John Dalton (brother)
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Marine Corps
Rank	2nd Lieutenant
Battles/wars	Vietnam War
Awards	Bronze Star Purple Heart

Conrad Dalton is the President of the United States. He is portrayed by Keith Carradine.

A Marine Corps veteran, Conrad served as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Vietnam War, where he earned a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart. Before entering politics, Conrad was the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, where he served as the mentor and boss of then-CIA Analyst Elizabeth McCord. After the death of Secretary of State Vincent Marsh, President Dalton appointed Elizabeth to succeed him.^[2]

In 2008, Conrad ran an unsuccessful campaign to become Governor of California; after the loss, he met his future White House Chief of Staff Russell Jackson (Željko Ivanek).^[3]

In Season 3, Conrad failed to receive his party's nomination for a second term as President (the first President not to since Millard Fillmore in the 1850s); Elizabeth convinced him to run as an independent candidate, where he ultimately succeeded in winning a second term.

In "Sound and Fury", Conrad takes a medical leave of absence under Section 3 of the 25th Amendment, leaving Vice President Teresa Hurst serving as Acting President of the United States. He returned to the Presidency after two months.^[3]

Conrad is married to Lydia Dalton, with whom he has a son, Harrison, who is an on-again, off-again drug addict. He also has a brother, John Dalton.

Blake Moran

Blake Moran is the personal assistant to United States Secretary of State Elizabeth McCord. He is portrayed by Erich Bergen.

Daisy Grant

Daisy Grant is the press coordinator for United States Secretary of State Elizabeth McCord. She is portrayed by Patina Miller.

Matt Mahoney

Matthew Asad "Matt" Mahoney is the speechwriter for United States Secretary of State Elizabeth McCord. He is portrayed by Geoffrey Arend.

Born to an Irish-American Catholic father and a Pakistani-American Muslim mother in Illinois, Matt describes himself as agnostic, but is routinely profiled as a Muslim.

Jay Whitman

Jay Whitman is the senior policy advisor to United States Secretary of State Elizabeth McCord. After the retirement of Nadine Tolliver in Season 4, Jay becomes the new Chief of Staff.^[4] He is portrayed by Sebastian Arcelus.

Originally from Connecticut, Jay and his family moved to Dallas when he was a child. His first work in politics came when he helped future Texas Governor Lockwood run for Mayor of Galveston, Texas as a college student.^[5] Jay has aspirations of working for the White House someday.

Like most of Elizabeth's senior staff, Jay worked for her predecessor, Vincent Marsh, as his senior policy advisor, and remained with the State Department after his death.

At the start of the series, Jay was married to Abby Whitman, who gave birth to a daughter, Chloe Elizabeth Whitman, in Season 1. In Season 3, Abby left him and now share custody of Chloe.

Stevie McCord

Stephanie "Stevie" McCord is Henry and Elisabeth's oldest child. She is portrayed by Wallis Currie-Wood.

Stevie previously attended Lovell University until she dropped out halfway. After moving back in with her parents and working for some time, she eventually returned to her education at Georgetown University and is applying to Harvard Law school before changing her mind.

As of Season 3, Stevie serves as an intern to Russell Jackson; when Jackson suffered a heart attack, Stevie saved his life by performing CPR on him.

Alison McCord

Allison McCord is Henry and Elizabeth's middle child, her nickname is 'Noodle'. She is portrayed by Katherine Herzer.

Jason McCord

Jason McCord is Henry and Elizabeth's youngest child and only son. He is portrayed by Evan Roe.

Russell Jackson

Russell Jackson is the White House Chief of Staff and right-hand man to President Conrad Dalton. He is portrayed by Željko Ivanek.

Nadine Tolliver

Nadine Tolliver is the Chief of Staff to the United States Secretary of State Elizabeth McCord. She is portrayed by Bebe Neuwirth.

A law school graduate, Nadine is a veteran politician who worked for Secretary of State Vincent Marsh since he was a Senator, and the two of them carried on a six-year affair that ended with his death. Due to her closeness with Marsh, it took Nadine a while to warm up to his replacement, but Elizabeth eventually won her over. Nadine also served as an unofficial den-mother to the employees of the Seventh Floor.

In Season 4, Nadine retired from the State Department and moved to the San Francisco Bay Area to be closer to her son and his girlfriend, who were expecting their first child.^[6]

Vincent Marsh

The first United States Secretary of State in the Dalton administration, Vincent Marsh (portrayed by Brian Stokes Mitchell) is a former Senator who had ambitions of being President. He was killed in a plane crash over the Atlantic Ocean in 2014. He was succeeded by Elizabeth McCord, who investigated his death and learned that he was part of an attempted coup d'état against Iran, but was killed by his co-conspirators when he began having doubts about the plan.

Ellen Hill

The first female Chairwoman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Ellen Hill, USN (portrayed by Johanna Day) established a strong working friendship with the newly-appointed United States Secretary of State Elizabeth McCord, often bonding over the difficulties of being a woman in such high political positions. She retired from the Navy in 2015, and was succeeded as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs by GEN Kelsey Reeves.^[7]

Since "On the Clock", Ret. ADM Hill has been serving as the National Security Advisor, taking over for Craig Sterling.^[8]

ADM Hill's son, 1st Lieutenant Andrew Hill, USAF, is an Air Force Academy graduate who Prof. McCord helped file for conscientious objector status after he realized that he would never be able to take a life, no matter how justified the action or noble the cause.^[9]

Ed Parker

A flag officer in the United States Navy, Admiral Ed Parker (Tony Plana) is often found running military operations in the White House Situation Room.

Ming Chen

Elizabeth's Chinese counterpart, Ming Chen (Chinese: 陈明) (Francis Jue) serves as the Foreign Minister of the People's Republic of China. He and Elizabeth are frequently on opposite sides and consider each other worthy adversaries.

Mike Barnow

Mike Barnow (Kevin Rahm) is a political official who is said to drift between the United States Cabinet departments. It is mentioned that he is a Rhodes Scholar, who turned his brilliant legal career into a promising political career that was cut short by a scandalous divorce six years prior to his first appearance before settling into his current job. He is often seen assisting Secretary McCord.

Craig Sterling

The new National Security Advisor, Craig Sterling (Julian Acosta) is a former US Department of Defense official and old rival of Secretary McCord. She and Russell Jackson conspire to force Sterling to leave office.

Dmitri Petrov

Originally a Captain in the Russian Army, Dmitri Petrov (Chris Petrovski) was attending the National War College when his ethics professor, Henry McCord, recruited him on behalf of the Defense Intelligence Agency to become an American spy in exchange for getting his sick sister medical care in Stockholm, Sweden.

During the Russian conflict with the Ukraine, Dmitri served on the staff of General Vladimir Doroshevich, Russia's ranking officer, while spying for the Americans. As part of the peace negotiations, the United States agreed to give up their spy in the Russian Army in exchange for Russian withdrawal, leaving Dmitri captured and imprisoned for treason and espionage. At the end of Season 2, Dmitri was sent to America in a prisoner exchange and subsequently given a new identity in witness protection.

During Season 4, Dmitri began working for the Central Intelligence Agency as an analyst under Dr. McCord, now the head of the Special Activities Division; he also started dating Stevie McCord. After his identity was compromised, Dmitri was reassigned to Alaska.

Carlos Morejon

The junior Senator from Arizona, Carlos Morejon (José Zúñiga) is a political rival of both Secretary of State Elizabeth McCord and President Dalton. As of Season 4, Senator Morejon serves as the Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Teresa Hurst

Conrad Dalton's Vice President of the United States during his second term, Teresa Hurst (portrayed by Jan Maxwell in Season 3 and by Jayne Atkinson in Season 4) is the former senior Senator of Pennsylvania whose strong politically-moderate stances helped President Dalton win the election as an independent.

In "Sound and Fury", Vice President Hurst becomes Acting President of the United States under Section 3 of the 25th Amendment when President Dalton takes a medical leave of absence.

American politicians

• Executive branch
  • President of the United States: Conrad Dalton (2013–Present)
    • Acting President of the United States:
      • Elizabeth McCord (October 4, 2015)
      • Teresa Hurst (January 14, 2018 – March 25, 2018)
  • Vice President of the United States:
    • Mark Delgado (2013–2017)
    • Teresa Hurst (2017–Present)
  • White House Chief of Staff: Russell Jackson (2013–Present)
  • Secretary of State:
    • Vincent Marsh (2013–2014)
    • Elizabeth McCord (2014–Present)
  • Secretary of the Treasury: Max Quinn (2013–2014)
  • Secretary of Defense: Gordon Becker (2013–2018)
  • Attorney General:
    • Mary Campbell (2013–2015)
    • Louise Cronenberg (2015–2016)
    • Unknown (Shown in "French Revolution") (2016–2017)
    • Nolan (2017–Present)
  • Secretary of the Interior
  • Secretary of Agriculture
  • Secretary of Commerce
  • Secretary of Labor
  • Secretary of Health and Human Services
  • Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
  • Secretary of Transportation
  • Secretary of Energy
  • Secretary of Education
  • Secretary of Veterans Affairs
  • Secretary of Homeland Security
  • National Security Advisor:
    • Darren Kahn (2013–2015)
    • Craig Sterling (2015–2015)
    • ADM Ellen Hill, USN (Ret.) (2016–Present)
  • Director of National Intelligence:
• Legislative branch
  • United States Senators
    • Senator Beau Carpenter, Senate Majority Leader (–2017, incarcerated)
    • United States Senator from Arizona Carlos Morejon (2015–Present)
  • United States House of Representatives
• Judicial branch
  • Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court: Frawley
• Other political appointment(s)/official(s)
  • Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
    • ADM Ellen Hill, USN (Ret.) (2013–2015)
    • GEN Kelsey Reeves, US Army (2015–Present)
  • Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
    • Andrew Munsey (2013–2015)
    • Sean Williams (2015–2015)
    • Dennis Ellerman (2015–2016)
    • Hugh Haymond (2016–Present)
  • Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
    • Neil Hendricks (2013–2016)
    • Keith Doherty (2016–Present)
  • Deputy Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation: Marguerite Sanchez (2015–Present)

Foreign government officials

• Heads of State
  • President of the Russian Federation
    • Pavel Ostrov (2009–2015, deceased)
    • Maria Ostrov (2015–2015, killed)
    • Salnikov (2016–Present)
  • President of Iran Najid Shiraz (2014–Present)
  • President of Honduras Daphne Tejeda (2014–2018)
  • President of Ukraine Mikhail Bozek (2015–Present)
  • President of Vietnam Nguyen Van Lanh (2016–Present)
  • President of the Philippines Datu Andrada (2017–Present)
  • President of Mexico Mario Zaragoza (2017–Present)
  • President of Sri Lanka Tarindo Nandasiri (2018–Present)
• Foreign Ministers
  • Foreign Minister of the People’s Republic of China Ming Chen (2014–Present)
  • Foreign Minister of Russia Anton Gorev (2014–2015, assassinated)
  • Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran Zahed Javani (2014–2015, assassinated)
  • French Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development Jean-Claude Dubois (2014–Present)
  • Foreign Minister of Russia Konstantin Avdonin (2016–Present)
  • Secretary of Foreign Affairs for Mexico Pedro Gomez (2017–2017, arrested)
• Ambassadors
• Others
  • Education Minister of Afghanistan Amina Salah (2016–2017, stepped down)