6 Things to Know About "Designated Survivor"1 of 7
Imagine if with no warning, you had to step up and become the Commander in Chief of the United States. This fall, Kiefer Sutherland find himself in this position when his character Tom Kirkman, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, is tasked with leading the country after the President and all members of the Cabinet are obliterated in a terrorist attack during the State of the Union address. Kirkman, the designated survivor – i.e. the only member of the Cabinet kept separate from the others in case of a national emergency – is immediately sworn in as president and asked to lead the nation. We talked to Sutherland and the show's producers about one man rising to the task of becoming President overnight and the challenges that lay ahead.