Francis Joseph "Frank" Underwood (born 5 November 1959) was President of the United States from 2014, succeeding Garrett Walker.
Biography[]
Francis Joseph Underwood was born on 5 November 1959 in Gaffney, South Carolina. His father was a drunk and died when he was 43, but Frank was remorseless because they had nothing in common. Underwood was raised in poverty, but he later began a government career when he attended "The Sentinel" military school in 1976. In the fall of 1980 he volunteered for a senate campaign, although this cost him his grades in school, leading to his near-expulsion. While at military school, he had several homosexual trysts with a fellow student, Tim Corbet, which brought his sexuality into question. In 1984 he graduated from Harvard Law School and met his future wife Claire Underwood while there, marrying her in 1987. Also in 1984, he became a member of the state senate of South Carolina, and in 1988 he was re-elected before being elected to congress. In 1990 he became the representative from the 5th congressional district of South Carolina, serving for 12 terms; in 2005 he became the House Majority Whip for the US Democratic Party. Underwood became an influential man in the Democratic Party in congress, giving future White House Chief-of-Staff Linda Vasquez a job and becoming friends with Governor of Colorado Garrett Walker. Walker initially promised Frank that he would make him Secretary of State, but in 2013 he reneged on this promise and instead nominated Michael Kern, saying that he needed Underwood in congress.
A vengeful Frank decided to fight his way to the top with various political intrigues, and he started with his plans against Minister of Education, Donald Blythe. He was supposed to oversee Blythe and the education reform bill, but he disagreed with it due to its tax-and-spend far leftist policies, "two steps left of Marx" according to him. Underwood pretended to put the document in the shredder, making it appear as if it was gone forever; however, he instead made friends with Washington Herald journalist Zoe Barnes and leaked the bill to her. This gave her a story and fame, while its release ruined Blythe's career as many people criticized his way-far-from-left views. Blythe resigned from his post and decided to let Underwood take over the bill, and Underwood feigned sympathy for him, saying that he would want to come to him for counsel.
At the same time, Underwood also made other plans. He gained congressman Peter Russo from Pennsylvania as a pawn after having him released from prison for DUI offenses, had Barnes as a weapon against those whom he wanted to depose, and had powerful allies such as Catherine Durant in congress. Underwood next focused on Michael Kern, who stole the title of Secretary of Defense from him. His chief-of-staff Doug Stamper found an article from the Williams Register that Kern edited back in 1978 while in college that had anti-Israel statements, so he leaked it to Barnes, giving some the idea that Kern may have partially written it. The Anti-Defamation League criticized him, and when he said that Palestine would not exist without Israel in a statement to ease the ADL, the ambassador from Jordan criticized him as racist. The media firestorm led to the withdrawal of his nomination, and he had Barnes publish a story suggesting that Durant might become the new Secretary of State. President Walker decided to appoint her, giving Underwood a powerful ally in the government.
Bill Birch
Underwood still had trouble in passing his education bill, with Speaker of the House Bill Birch opposing his bill and saying that it would die. Underwood convinced President Walker to let him try and stop Birch from gaining more power than Walker, and he decided that he would threaten a coup against Birch. He needed the support of the Black Caucus to pressure Birch, and he approached Majority Leader David Rasmussen, saying that he could become the next Speaker of the House. However, Rasmussen was not interested, so Underwood decided to go along with another plan. While the Brack Commission was closing down military bases to cut military expenditure, Underwood decided that Russo could let the Philadelphia Naval Yard close (although 12,000 people would be unemployed and Russo would be hated) so that McCudden military base - in the district of Black Caucus leader Terry Womack - would remain open. Russo reluctantly did so, and Underwood gained the necessary 13 votes to impeach Birch. He warned Birch of this, but offered him the chance to make Womack the first African-American House Majority Leader (which could help his career), and he needed him to back his bill. Birch and Underwood both ousted Rasmussen from being Majority Leader, with Womack replacing him - Underwood had control of more of the government.
Underwood made enemies with his former friend Marty Spinella, the head lobbyist for the teachers' unions in the country, as he lied to him about an amendment that was only meant as leverage. Spinella was angered by him and decided to use the unions to prevent Claire Underwood from holding a Clean Water Initiative gala at the Cotesworth Hotel, which was a personal attack instead of a business one. However, there were 41 congressmen there and the CWI poured money out of the country, so Spinella gathered 200 teachers and teamsters to protest against the gala. Underwood improvised by deciding to host a picnic outdoors with a DJ and hot dogs, pizza, and soul food, and he won over the rioters when he handed out food, ending the protests. Later, Spinella organized the largest teachers' strike in US history, and tensions culminated in a CNN debate between Underwood and Spinella about a person throwing a brick at Underwood's house (Stamper secretly did so to frame Spinella), with Underwood calling his people "disorganized labor". However, Spinella "schooled" Underwood in the debate, making it appear as if he would win. However, Underwood used the gangland murder of a third grader who was out of school due to the strikes as a weapon against Spinella, saying that he would not have been killed if he was in school. When he met Spinella in his office, Spinella punched him, and Frank threatened to press charges unless the strike ended.