Hal Gardner

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24 character

Hal Gardner
Gender:	Male
Jobs held:	Vice President
Affiliation:	White House
Family:	NA
Spouse:	NA
Current status:	Active
Portrayed by:	Ray Wise
Seasons:	5

Hal Gardner is a fictional character from the TV series 24, played by Ray Wise.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

During the fifth season (first aired January to May 2006), he is Vice President to Charles Logan.

During the fourth season (aired January to May 2005), Logan became Acting President of the United States when President John Keeler fell into a coma. At the start of the fifth season, the show presents Logan as President and Gardner as Vice President. (Gardner must have been appointed to the office pursuant to section 2 of the 25th Amendment to the Constitution, but the show does not make that explicit.)

In stark contrast to the indecisive Logan, Gardner is a bold and assertive leader. Mike Novick and Martha Logan mistrust his motives, believing him to be grandstanding to secure his own bid for the Presidency.

Gardner is in Salt Lake City at the start of Day 5, until that evening when he makes a surprise visit to Logan's California retreat. He suggests that most of Los Angeles be put under martial law until the Sentox crisis is resolved, a move which troubles both Novick and Martha. At one point, he was suspected to be the manipulator behind the day's events. However, this suspicion is cleared when President Logan himself is revealed to be the manipulator.

When Logan issues a warrant for Jack Bauer's arrest without giving any justification, Gardner becomes suspicious of the President's conduct. His suspicions are further heightened when he learns the President was allegedly using the military rather than the CTU flank team to arrest Bauer. At 1:00 AM, he was summoned into Logan's office where the President told Gardner that he was forcing the resignation of Secretary of Defense James Heller for accusing Logan of being complicit in David Palmer's death.

After Logan has been detained near the end of the season finale, other characters speculate that Gardner will soon be sworn in as President. Although he might become President he isn't at the start of Season 6, which means he served the remainder of the term and either lost the election or did not seek another term.

[edit] Trivia

Gardner is one of the many red herrings that have been featured on the show over the years: a character whose suspicious behavior causes both the audience and other character to suspect him of working with the day's main villains, only to be exonerated when it is revealed another, seemingly innocent character is the real traitor. Other examples on the show include Martin Belkin, George Mason, Tony Almeida, and Reza Nayieer.

If Gardner becomes President, he would be 24's Fifth on-screen President (after David Palmer, Jim Prescott, John Keeler, and Charles Logan), and the third to take office under the 25th Amendment.
- Jim Prescott is included in the list above because he served as "The President of the United States". After the enaction of the 25th amendment he became the president when David Palmer's Cabinet removed him from office. He soon gave back the powers to David Palmer, but when he became infected with a biological agent he became the acting president under Article 2 in the Constitution which specifies that when a president is incompetent or unable to discharge his duties, the office falls to the vice president.

Because he was apparently appointed Vice President under the 25th Amendment, Gardner could become President without ever having been elected as either Vice President or President, just as Gerald Ford did in real life after the resignation of Richard Nixon in 1974.

Ray Wise has portrayed a fictional President before: President Michael Dugan in the computer game Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2.

Fans have speculated that Hal Gardner's name could be an homage to the Green Lantern superhero comics, where two of the main Green Lanterns have been named Hal Jordan and Guy Gardner.^[1]^[2]