Glen Allen Walken
Encyclopedia
Glen Allen Walken is a fictional character on The West Wing
played by John Goodman
.
Walken was, initially, the powerful and conservative
Speaker of the House
. He became Speaker in January 2001 after the previous Speaker, Jim Hohner of Illinois
, resigned. In his 2002 State of the Union Address, President Bartlet called him a man of fundamental decency and public servant of purpose. Walken was known as a strong supporter of gun rights (Josh Lyman
said about him: He's opposed to waiting periods for grenade launchers!) and supply-side economics
.
Walken became Acting President of the United States
in May 2003. Vice President of the United States
John Hoynes
had resigned just a few days before due to a sex scandal and President of the United States
Josiah Bartlet
then yielded power temporarily under the terms of the 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution
. Bartlet's daughter Zoey
had been kidnapped, seemingly by terrorists from Qumar, and he did not feel that he could objectively carry out the duties of his office, under the circumstances. Walken was Acting President
from approx 6:00 am on May 8, 2003 to around mid morning on May 10, 2003.
Walken resigned from his seat in the United States House of Representatives
in order to become Acting President. While in office, he ordered the bombing of terrorist training camps in Qumar, as well as a limited and temporary invasion of that nation. He also called the families of several soldiers that died in the invasion. After three days, when Zoey Bartlet was found and freed, President Bartlet then resumed his powers and duties under the 25th Amendment. Bartlet gratefully offered to campaign for Walken if he chose to run again for Congress, but Walken said, half-seriously, that the President would probably not be politically helpful in his Missouri
House district. It is not clear whether Walken returned to Congress. (The Speaker is required by the Presidential Succession Act
of 1947 to resign as he can act as President only "upon his resignation as Speaker and as Representative in Congress". Walken himself states that no one can serve in two branches of the government at once.)
Several months later, Walken attended the funeral of former President Owen Lassiter, another conservative Republican and, apparently, a personal hero. Bartlet and former President D. Wire Newman, a liberal Democrat
, also attended. In this episode Walken is referred to as President Walken, He was referred by staff during episodes as "President Walken", not "Acting President Walken" and was sworn-in as President, although law does not require this.
Due to his service as Acting President and his leadership during the crisis, Josh Lyman pointed out that Walken would probably become the presumptive Republican nominee for the 2006 election. At the beginning of the primary season, this prediction did seem to be at least partially correct. Although Josh and Leo both describe the 2006 Republican Primaries as "wide open", Walken is mentioned in multiple episodes as a key competitor in the primaries against the eventual winner, Arnold Vinick
, a U.S. Senator from California
. Walken was one of the candidates with a "bean jar" in a famous Iowa cafe for the leadoff caucuses there and had stronger support in the state than the more moderate, pro-choice
Vinick. Walken, along with Vinick and Democratic primary candidate, former Vice President John Hoynes
, took a tough stance against Iran after the Iranian Air Force shot down a British civilian passenger jet
prior to the New Hampshire
primary. By Super Tuesday, Vinick appeared to have overtaken Walken and become the front-runner, but Walken remained in the race for South Carolina
primary (which apparently took place after Super Tuesday) and noted for his hawkish stance on Cuba policy when that issue came up ahead of the Florida primary
. However, due to Vinick's continued successes, Walken was soon forced to drop out, leaving Reverend Don Butler
as the only remaining challenger to Vinick by the time of the final New Jersey
primary.
Glen Allen Walken's hometown is Liberty, Missouri
, a suburb of Kansas City
. Liberty sits in the Missouri 6th
, which is assumed to be the district Walken represented. He is also a great fan of Harry Truman. He has a pet pug
named Bess who is seen disrupting a meeting with her barking in one episode.
The West Wing (TV series)
The West Wing is an American television serial drama created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999 to May 14, 2006...
played by John Goodman
John Goodman
John Stephen Goodman is an American film, television, and stage actor. He is best known for his role as Dan Conner on the television series Roseanne for which he won a Best Actor Golden Globe Award in 1993, and for appearances in the films of the Coen brothers, with prominent roles in Raising...
.
Walken was, initially, the powerful and conservative
Conservatism
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
Speaker of the House
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, or Speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives...
. He became Speaker in January 2001 after the previous Speaker, Jim Hohner of Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, resigned. In his 2002 State of the Union Address, President Bartlet called him a man of fundamental decency and public servant of purpose. Walken was known as a strong supporter of gun rights (Josh Lyman
Josh Lyman
Joshua "Josh" Lyman is a fictional character played by Bradley Whitford on the television drama The West Wing. For the majority of the series, he was White House Deputy Chief of Staff in the Josiah Bartlet administration...
said about him: He's opposed to waiting periods for grenade launchers!) and supply-side economics
Supply-side economics
Supply-side economics is a school of macroeconomic thought that argues that economic growth can be most effectively created by lowering barriers for people to produce goods and services, such as lowering income tax and capital gains tax rates, and by allowing greater flexibility by reducing...
.
Walken became Acting President of the United States
Acting President of the United States
Acting President of the United States is a reference to a person who is legitimately exercising the Presidential powers even though that person does not hold the office of the President of the United States in his own right....
in May 2003. Vice President of the United States
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
John Hoynes
John Hoynes
John Hoynes is a fictional character played by Tim Matheson on the American television series The West Wing. Hoynes is Vice President of the United States during the first four seasons of the show....
had resigned just a few days before due to a sex scandal and President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Josiah Bartlet
Josiah Bartlet
Josiah Edward "Jed" Bartlet is a fictional character played by Martin Sheen on the television serial drama The West Wing. He is President of the United States for the entire series until the last episode, when his successor is inaugurated...
then yielded power temporarily under the terms of the 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
. Bartlet's daughter Zoey
Zoey Bartlet
Zoey Patricia Bartlet is a fictional character played by Elisabeth Moss on the television serial drama The West Wing. Zoey is the youngest of President Josiah Bartlet and Abbey Bartlet's three daughters, and is more prominently featured in the series than either of her sisters.Zoey and...
had been kidnapped, seemingly by terrorists from Qumar, and he did not feel that he could objectively carry out the duties of his office, under the circumstances. Walken was Acting President
Acting president
An Acting President is a person who temporarily fills the role of an organization's or country's president, either when the real president is unavailable or when the post is vacant .-See also:*Acting *Acting President of Pakistan*Acting President of Malta*Acting President of...
from approx 6:00 am on May 8, 2003 to around mid morning on May 10, 2003.
Walken resigned from his seat in the United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
in order to become Acting President. While in office, he ordered the bombing of terrorist training camps in Qumar, as well as a limited and temporary invasion of that nation. He also called the families of several soldiers that died in the invasion. After three days, when Zoey Bartlet was found and freed, President Bartlet then resumed his powers and duties under the 25th Amendment. Bartlet gratefully offered to campaign for Walken if he chose to run again for Congress, but Walken said, half-seriously, that the President would probably not be politically helpful in his Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
House district. It is not clear whether Walken returned to Congress. (The Speaker is required by the Presidential Succession Act
Presidential Succession Act
The Presidential Succession Act establishes the line of succession to the powers and duties of the office of President of the United States in the event that neither a President nor Vice President is able to "discharge the powers and duties of the office." The current Presidential Succession Act...
of 1947 to resign as he can act as President only "upon his resignation as Speaker and as Representative in Congress". Walken himself states that no one can serve in two branches of the government at once.)
Several months later, Walken attended the funeral of former President Owen Lassiter, another conservative Republican and, apparently, a personal hero. Bartlet and former President D. Wire Newman, a liberal Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
, also attended. In this episode Walken is referred to as President Walken, He was referred by staff during episodes as "President Walken", not "Acting President Walken" and was sworn-in as President, although law does not require this.
Due to his service as Acting President and his leadership during the crisis, Josh Lyman pointed out that Walken would probably become the presumptive Republican nominee for the 2006 election. At the beginning of the primary season, this prediction did seem to be at least partially correct. Although Josh and Leo both describe the 2006 Republican Primaries as "wide open", Walken is mentioned in multiple episodes as a key competitor in the primaries against the eventual winner, Arnold Vinick
Arnold Vinick
Arnold Vinick is a fictional character on the television series The West Wing played by Alan Alda.-Biography:A Republican senator from California and Republican presidential nominee, he is narrowly defeated by Democrat Matt Santos in the 2006 presidential election, with Vinick winning the popular...
, a U.S. Senator from California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Walken was one of the candidates with a "bean jar" in a famous Iowa cafe for the leadoff caucuses there and had stronger support in the state than the more moderate, pro-choice
Pro-choice
Support for the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-choice movement, a sociopolitical movement supporting the ethical view that a woman should have the legal right to elective abortion, meaning the right to terminate her pregnancy....
Vinick. Walken, along with Vinick and Democratic primary candidate, former Vice President John Hoynes
John Hoynes
John Hoynes is a fictional character played by Tim Matheson on the American television series The West Wing. Hoynes is Vice President of the United States during the first four seasons of the show....
, took a tough stance against Iran after the Iranian Air Force shot down a British civilian passenger jet
The Wake Up Call
-Plot:The episode opens with the President listening to opera in the Oval Office and C.J. tells the President to go to bed by 8:30pm and gets Margaret to move his morning wake up call to later in the morning....
prior to the New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
primary. By Super Tuesday, Vinick appeared to have overtaken Walken and become the front-runner, but Walken remained in the race for South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
primary (which apparently took place after Super Tuesday) and noted for his hawkish stance on Cuba policy when that issue came up ahead of the Florida primary
Ninety Miles Away
"Ninety Miles Away" is episode 129 of The West Wing. The title is a reference to the distance between United States and Cuban soil.-Plot:...
. However, due to Vinick's continued successes, Walken was soon forced to drop out, leaving Reverend Don Butler
Don Butler
Reverend Don Butler is a recurring character on the American television show The West Wing, a conservative televangelist from Virginia played by Don S. Davis. He was a candidate for the Republican Party's nomination for President of the United States in the 2006 election, but was defeated by...
as the only remaining challenger to Vinick by the time of the final New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
primary.
Glen Allen Walken's hometown is Liberty, Missouri
Liberty, Missouri
Liberty is a city in Clay County, Missouri and is a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. At the 2007 population estimate, the city population was 29,993...
, a suburb of Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
. Liberty sits in the Missouri 6th
Missouri's 6th congressional district
Missouri's 6th congressional district takes in a large swath of land in rural northwest Missouri. Its largest voting population is centered in the Kansas City metropolitan area and the town of St. Joseph. The district includes all of Kansas City north of the Missouri River...
, which is assumed to be the district Walken represented. He is also a great fan of Harry Truman. He has a pet pug
Pug
The pug is a "toy" breed of dog with a wrinkly, short-muzzled face, and curled tail. The breed has a fine, glossy coat that comes in a variety of colors, and a compact square body with well-developed muscle. They have been described as multum in parvo , referring to the pug's personality and...
named Bess who is seen disrupting a meeting with her barking in one episode.
Walken's positions
- House Majority Whip (1997–1999)
- House Majority Leader (1999–2001)
- Speaker of the House (2001–2003)
- Acting President of the United States (2003)