Madam Secretary (TV Series)

''Madam Secretary'' (subtitled ''Madam President'' for its sixth and final season) is an American political drama television series created by Barbara Hall with Morgan Freeman and Lori McCreary as executive producers. It stars Téa Leoni as Elizabeth McCord, a former CIA analyst and political science professor who becomes the United States Secretary of State. It ran on CBS from September 21, 2014, to December 8, 2019, for a total of 120 episodes aired. The series was renewed for a final 10-episode sixth season in May 2019, which premiered October 6, 2019.

Premise

The first five seasons of ''Madam Secretary'' explore Elizabeth McCord's life as the determined United States Secretary of State. She drives international diplomacy, battles office politics, and circumvents protocol if needed as she negotiates worldwide issues. The show also focuses on the characters' personal lives. At the end of the fifth season, McCord announces that she will run for president. As the sixth season begins, the audience learns that she has won the election, and the remainder of the series follows her as America's first female president.

Cast and characters

Main

* Téa Leoni as Elizabeth "Bess" Adams McCord, the President of the United States and former Secretary of State. She spent twenty years as a CIA analyst before becoming a professor of political science at the University of Virginia. She was appointed by her old boss, Conrad Dalton, who was then the president of the United States, to replace Secretary of State Vincent Marsh, who died in a plane crash. She succeeded Dalton as president.
* Tim Daly as Henry McCord, Elizabeth's husband of 25 years and now First Gentleman of the United States. A theology professor and a former Marine captain/aviator during Operation Desert Storm, his unique blend of skills are sought by the National Security Agency, which engages him as an operative in combating religious extremism. At the end of the third season, Henry is named the head of the CIA Special Activities Division.
* Bebe Neuwirth as Nadine Tolliver (seasons 1–4), Elizabeth's chief of staff who had a six-year affair with the deceased Secretary of State, Vincent Marsh, beginning when he was a senator. Originally suspicious and resentful of the new Secretary of State, Nadine soon learns to trust Elizabeth, and the two cultivate a strong working relationship. In the first season, Nadine slowly begins to date again, romancing NASA Administrator Glenn, and later falls into a relationship with the recurring political consultant Mike Barnow. In the fourth season, Nadine's son Roman tells her she is going to be a grandmother and she retires from the State Department and moves to San Francisco to spend more time with her family.
* Željko Ivanek as Russell Jackson, White House Chief of Staff. His primary objective of keeping the President politically secure at home and abroad sets him up for occasional confrontations with Secretary McCord's unorthodox diplomatic maneuvering. Elizabeth then appoints him as her White House Chief of Staff 98 days into her presidency.
* Erich Bergen as Blake Moran, Elizabeth's personal assistant, and the only member of her staff that she hired rather than inherited. After college, he began a career in finance on Wall Street, but hated it. In the fifth season, Elizabeth made good on her promise to fire him, only to rehire him as her new assistant policy advisor.
* Patina Miller as Daisy Grant, Elizabeth's press coordinator. Daisy briefly dates Matt in the first season but goes on to date other men following their breakup. In the third season, she dates "Kevin" from Budget and Planning, who turns out to be an undercover operative for the CIA investigating the State Department. He is killed in a weapons-trafficking conspiracy, and Daisy subsequently finds herself pregnant with his child. (The storyline was used to incorporate Miller's real-life pregnancy.) In the fourth season, Daisy gives birth to her daughter Joanna Grant.
* Geoffrey Arend as Matt Mahoney, Elizabeth's speechwriter. Matt briefly dates Daisy in the first season.
* Wallis Currie-Wood as Stephanie "Stevie" McCord, Elizabeth and Henry's older daughter and first-born child. Stevie attended Lovell University and later Georgetown University and applied to Harvard Law School. Stevie serves as an intern to Russell Jackson and was, for a time, engaged to Jareth Glover. She has a secret relationship with Dmitri Petrov (then undercover) in the fourth season that puts her in peril.
* Kathrine Herzer as Alison McCord, Elizabeth and Henry's younger daughter.
* Evan Roe as Jason McCord, Elizabeth and Henry's teenage son and youngest child, a self-proclaimed anarchist. Jason is critical of political systems in general, but in the first season, he is expelled from his school for punching a student who insulted Elizabeth. He eventually dates Piper Boroumand.
* Keith Carradine as Conrad Dalton (seasons 2–6; recurring season 1), the President of the United States. Conrad served in the United States Marine Corps as a second lieutenant during the Vietnam War and was the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency during Elizabeth's time at the CIA. In the third season, Dalton secures reelection as an independent after failing to secure his party's nomination, partly due to a controversial change in policy championed by Elizabeth. He offers Elizabeth the role of Vice President during his campaign, but eventually names Teresa Hurst in order to further his campaign. Elizabeth remains the Secretary of State.
* Sebastian Arcelus as Jay Whitman (seasons 3–6; recurring seasons 1–2), Elizabeth's current chief of staff and previous senior policy advisor. In the third season, it is revealed that Jay's busy schedule working for the Secretary has strained his marriage. He separates from his wife Abby, who maintains custody of their daughter Chloe. Jay is promoted to chief of staff in the fourth season after Nadine Tolliver leaves. In the fifth season, while stuck at an airport with Elizabeth and her staff, Jay meets Annelies De Runnow ( Marissa Neitling), a world-famous chess player, and they develop an attraction to each other. After several hours stuck in the airport, Jay and Annelies agree to start a long-distance relationship. Although Elizabeth eventually decides to run for president (a campaign she eventually wins), Jay decides to leave her campaign and pass on the chance to become her chief of staff to start a life with Annelies. When Elizabeth becomes president, she hires Jay as her chief of staff after Russell Jackson retires.
* Sara Ramirez as Kat Sandoval (seasons 4–5), Elizabeth's policy advisor and a former chief of staff to the UN Ambassador.
* Kevin Rahm as Michael "Mike B." Barnow (season 6; recurring seasons 1–5), a political operator 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. His unofficial role as an adviser to Secretary McCord earned him a reputation as her ' hatchet man'. Elizabeth later appoints him as the campaign manager of her successful presidential campaign and, after her victory in the 2020 election, he serves as her White House Chief of Staff for her first 100 days. Although Elizabeth asks him to remain as chief of staff, he refuses but remains at the White House as a Counselor to the President. Mike was rarely seen without his dog Gordon before its death in latter half of Season 5.

Recurring

* Johanna Day as Ellen Hill, a retired admiral and the National Security Advisor. She was the first female Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff prior to being appointed National Security Advisor.
* Tony Plana as Ed Parker, an admiral and member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
* Francis Jue as Ming Chen, China's Foreign Minister and Elizabeth's Chinese counterpart
* Mandy Gonzalez

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