FRANK UNDERWOOD’S CABINET

1 Index

1. Presentation letter 2. Introduction 3. Dynamics 4. Character brief summary

2 Presentation letter

It’s our pleasure to welcome all participants to the Frank Underwood’s Cabinet in the 2016 version of MUNUR. We are Santiago Del Castillo from the National University of Colombia and Philip Power from the University of Toronto from Canada. In this version of MUNUR we will be the directors inside the cabinet and we have great expectations from all of you. We want a challenging and fun cabinet. Its expected great creativity and quick reaction from all of the participants. From all the participants over all we want you to have an incredible experience and great capacities to react in crisis. Until the moment we met, farewell and welcome once again to the Frank Underwood’s Cabinet

For ANY additional information you can contact us at:

* Santiago Del Castillo o [email protected]

* Phillip Power o [email protected]

3 Introduction

It has been 6 months (today is June 8, 2015) since President Garett Walker stepped down as President of the United States and Francis Underwood succeeded him and took the Oath of Office. The public approved of his actions on day one, removing the Pacific fleet from being near Chinese waters and revoking and deporting to China one of the individuals who was found to be trying to buy American elections with foreign money. However, despite these early achievements which saw the American public’s trust in government rise from 8% to 38%, it has been eroding as of yet due to a variety of issues. Unemployment is up to 10%, the trade deficit with China has dramatically increased, and 8 out of every 10 Americans feels as though President Underwood lacks the necessary leadership skills and resolve to be President. President Underwood has already started a project aimed at curbing foreign dependence and unemployment. This project is named “America Works”. It is a comprehensive jobs program which seeks to reach full employment within 2 years, and would be the biggest overhaul of labour in the US since “The New Deal”. It seeks to erase as many entitlements (Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid) as needed to make $500 billion available. This money would be used to create jobs in the public sector specifically in the areas of infrastructure (building new & maintaining old) and defense. It will also be used to help subsidize the salaries/wages of anyone that the private sector hires through this job program. Despite Underwood’s insistence that they follow through with “America Works” some of his advisors hold reservations about its ability to be in-acted successfully and worry about depleting the social security net. On the international front, Washington is preparing itself to host actively-aggressive Russian President Viktor Petrov for a bilateral summit regarding Israeli troop deployment in the Jordan Valley. All interested parties, including Israel and Palestine are being briefed on these initial meetings. President Underwood hopes to have the Russian’s support in asking the Israeli government to remove their forces from the Jordan Valley. The ultimate end goal of these discussions, and later ones, is to put into place the foundation for a two-state solution (Israel & Palestine) with the capacity to be successful. One of the first acts for the Underwood administration that has yet to be undertaken is to nominate a capable Ambassador to the UN that will be confirmed by the senate.

This, if done successfully, will allow for the bilateral talks and dealings with Russia to go much more smoothly. This is clearly an uncertain time in America.

4 The combined elements of distrust in the government, rising unemployment, and combating an international strong-man in the Russian President leaves the future to be one for the taking. Times like this require someone who will act, who will do the unpleasant thing, the necessary thing. And if you are successful, there will be no more pain.

Objective:

To create stability in the United States most executive office and create confidence nation-wide in its, and the Democrats, ability to govern this great nation. *Please note that this goal is the de facto goal of the crisis, it may or may not complement character specific goals that will be on provided at the start of the crisis. *As caracters you could have many paths, as to destroy the government, change/ defend Frank as the president, replace some of the staff, etc… (Always according to your character)

5 DYNAMICS - The cabinet will consist of the members before mention and very briefly summarized. o All the members with a portfolio will make part of the meeting. o Because of the dynamic of House of Cards, the Secretary of Defence will not be performed by a delegate, but he will make itself present and hear by press communicates and reports from the crisis room.

o The time line identifies the contact of the Cabinet and will give the green light to the discussion.

- The method of debate in the Cabinet will be of Moderated Caucus (Informal Debate/Debate by placards) and Un moderated caucus (Lobby Time) - The objective is to deal with the context and any crisis that we could receive.

o For this the cabinet could express public actions or special actions for themselves.

- The cabinet will deal with everything is its reach and jurisdiction - A very specific description of the results of these actions from the Cabinet and from de Crisis team itself.

- There will be use of the portfolio powers and will be encourage the development of strategies around those powers o The portfolios will be pass to the participants at the beginning of the first session in the cabinet

6 CHARACTERS BRIEF SUMMARY

Francis J. “Frank” Underwood (President of the United States): Francis Underwood (Democrat) had been a member of Congress for over two decades, and held many positions such as House Majority Whip, before being tapped to be Vice-President to replace the outgoing Jim Matthews. Soon the Walker administration found itself exposed in secret dealings with Chinese nationals who were funnelling money in to the US for use in getting control over the President. This was horrible for his reputation and approval ratings, and soon he resigned as President, and Frank Underwood assumed the duties of President for the remainder of Walker’s term. Francis immediately began to reverse some of the mistakes of the Walker administration, including moving the Pacific fleet away from China and revoking the amnesty granted to the Chinese national who had been funnelling money into the US. Many private citizens and politicians- including some fellow Democrats- hold reservations about Underwood and see him as merely a placeholder President before the party chooses a new nominee prior to the 2016 election. Underwood has spent his first few months in office carefully repairing the governments’ relationship with China and rebuilding trust from the American people. He is married to the lovely Claire Underwood who has spent her adult life running various non-profits including the “Clear Water Initiative”, and helping to pass various environmental bills in congress. He selected Donald Blythe to be his Vice-President following his ascension and has a very good relationship with Secretary of State Catherine Durant, his new Secretary of the Treasury Michael Kern, and with his colleagues in Congress- especially House Majority Leader Terry Womack and House Majority Whip Jackie Sharp.

Donald Blythe (Vice-President of the United States): Donald acted as a Congressman for 30 years representing his home state of New Hampshire. During this time, he gained a reputation as being a “tax-and-spend” liberal who was quite left wing. He admits in private quarters to his friends that he has a much better grasp of policy drafting rather than the “wheeling-&-dealing” brand of politics required to get most of anything passed. Seen as being on the left-wing of Democrats he has spent his career in Washington fighting for, among other things, education reform. Strongly believing that the United States education system lives and dies but its teachers unions and believing that hundreds of

7 millions of new dollars need to be spent to revitalize the system as a whole, he is known as the lefts foremost authority on education reform. He was married for a very long time to the love of his life, Marjorie, who unfortunately developed Alzheimer’s and recently passed. In recent years, since his wife’s diagnosis, he has been also fighting to get more research dollars for Alzheimer’s in federal funding. The recent passing of his wife made him a very sympathetic choice for Vice-President and was easily appointed by the Republicans in Congress.

Catherine Durant (Secretary of State): Durant was a US Senator from Louisiana for 8 years, with experience in the Armed Services committee, before she was elected to be the new administrations Secretary of State. Although she was not Garett Walker’s first choice (that being Michael Kern), she was eventually was able to defeat Kern’s nomination by getting the majority of Democrats in Congress, and the Republicans who were looking to embarrass the new President, to vote for her. She has been in the spotlight recently with the State department’s role in the China dealings being questioned by the media. However, her office, and herself, have been cleared of any wrong doing. She is a very close ally of President Underwood, and was very anti-Walker during the nomination period. She is a graduate of Harvard law school and is very capable in her job. Her grasp of foreign relations has been called “second to none”.

Michael Kern (Secretary of the Treasury): Kern served as a Senator from Colorado for 3 terms before being nominated by the newly elected President Garett Walker to be Secretary of State. However, he ended up not being confirmed when a coalition of Republicans and Democrats in Congress opted to confirm the self-nominated Catherine Durant for the appointment. He was quite bitter against Walker for not fighting for him nor publicly shooting down Durant’s upstart campaign. For the remainder of the Walker administration he stayed active in the Senate representing his own values and his constituents, not Garett Walker’s. When the articles of impeachment were formally entered into, Kern joined a bi-partisan agreement with Republican Senators Hector Mendoza and Curtis Haas to topple the Walker administration. However, Walker resigned before

8 the impeachment was finalized and Underwood succeeded him as President of the United State. Underwood quickly made Kern Secretary of the Treasury and many pundits see this as Underwood attempting to reconcile the fractioned Democratic Party into one. Kern has been charged with being anti-Israeli, because he was the editor of his undergraduates’ newspaper where an article ran condemning the Jewish state. Kern agrees that the articles publishing was his fault as he was editor at the time, but he denies ever writing it or harbouring anti-Israel sentiments. His grasp of economics and fiscal policy is considered to be his greatest strength.

Martha Wilson (Attorney General): The Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice and is responsible for almost all legal matters of an administration. This includes but is not limited to acting as the administrations lawyer in Supreme Court cases, to provide legal oversight for the administration, and to provide legal advice to both the administration and the heads of the various departments when requested. Martha Wilson is a non- partisan moderate who has acted as Attorney General since the end of President Bush’s time in office. She has held her position through a Republican and multiple Democratic Presidents by simply being the best at her job and having a blind, prejudicial eye for justice. She is well respected and liked on both sides of the aisle and is seen by the public as being one of the best Attorney General’s the US has ever seen. She is very good friends with United States Solicitor General Heather Dunbar and gave Heather her first job in the Department of Justice. Martha tries to remain as impartial as possible and does the best job she can day in and day out.

Meredith Lee (Secretary of Health and Human Resources): Meredith Lee was a Democrat Congresswoman from New Jersey for 4 terms (8 years) before being tapped by President Walker to be the Secretary of Health and Human Resources. Although this Cabinet position started off as being one of the lesser- known or important positions the office has gained prominence in recent years due to a variety of reasons. Since the War on Terror began with the attacks of September 11, 2001, the office has been much concerned with the protection of the United States food supply, and protection against possible weaponized biological weapons. Indeed, as it relates to fighting terrorism here at home in the US, the Secretary is the administrator of all lines of defence against attacks that

9 do not involve conventional weapons or cyber threats. In addition, the office has faced increased duties from the passing of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (2010), which saw the department be charged with successfully implementing the provisions which saw millions of Americans who did not have access to health insurance previously suddenly have access to it. Meredith has done her job well and has no complaints by her colleagues.

Steven Travers (Secretary of Homeland Security): Steven completed his undergraduate degree at Yale University before opting to join the FBI as a field agent. He spent nearly 20 years at that position going up the ladder before he retired and sought elected office. He was a Democratic Congressman for Maryland from 1998 until 2006 when he opted to retire from elected politics and accept the offered role of Assistant Director of the FBI. He served in this role for another 5 years before announcing he would be running for governor of Maryland. Although he ended up losing that election, it put him in the national spotlight, and allowed him to publish a bestselling book “The Dark Side of Protecting the Heart Land”, which took him on a national book tour where he appeared publicly on “Real Time with Bill Maher” & “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart”. After the book tour he was asked by newly elected President Garett Walker to be the new Secretary of Homeland Security which he cordially accepted. The United States Secretary of Homeland Security is the head of the United States Department of Homeland Security, the body concerned with protecting the U.S. and the safety of U.S. citizens. The secretary is a member of the President’s Cabinet. The position was created by the Homeland Security Act following the attacks of September 11, 2001. The new department consisted primarily of components transferred from other cabinet departments because of their role in homeland security, such as the Coast Guard, Federal Protective Service, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (which includes the Border Patrol), Secret Service, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). It did not, however, include the FBI or the CIA.

Remy Danton (Chief of Staff to the President): Remy Danton is a graduate of Dartmouth University. Following his undergrad, he worked as an intern on Capital Hill before being offered the position of Press Secretary by then- congressman Frank Underwood. He served in that position for 8 years before deciding to leave Underwood and become a very-well paid lobbyist for SanCorp (a multi-national energy company primarily in oil and gas). He has maintained a very good relationship with both Frank Underwood and his wife Claire, preferring to work with them than any other Congressman or Senator. After Doug

10 Stamper’s accident immediately after Underwood’s swearing into the Office of the President, Frank offered Remy a position as Chief of Staff. Danton accepted the position quickly and is seen, with Seth Grayson (Communications Director), as being the President’s right-hand man while long-term Chief of Staff Doug Stamper is recovering. Remy is known as being very handsome and a shameless flirt around the office. He enjoys a good relationship with Frank and Claire and all others he works will, but has an especially close relationship with Whip Jackie Sharp, as they have worked together on a few projects. Remy values flexibility and earning potential in any job he accepts.

Claire H. Underwood (First Lady of the United States) Claire Hale Underwood before becoming the First Lady of the United States, was the Ambassador of the United States for the United Nations and the Chief Executive Officer of Clean Water Initiative. Was the democratic nominee for de Vice-President. She comes from a wealthy family and a complicated relationship with her father. She was sexually assaulted as a student. She married Francis J. Underwood at a young age. She has a bachelor’s degree in environment health and chemistry at Radcliff and a master degree in public health at Harvard. She has a record of abortions and affairs during her marriage with Frank. She went in career matters from student to the CEO of a Water Initiative and then to the White House; after this and as consequence of an idea of Frank Underwood as president with awful results, she became the democratic candidate for vice- president.

Terry Womack (House majority Leader) Terry Womack (Democrat) is a member of the House of Representatives for the 5th district. After some movements inside de house of representatives he became the first Afro-American to become. He is one of the democratic leaders alongside with Bob Birch. He became the House Majority Leader also because

11 the house was in majority democratic.

Jackie Sharp (House Majority Whip) Jacqueline A. Sharp is a veteran congresswoman for the 5th district and a war veteran. She became the House Majority Whip after Frank Underwood resign to become vice-president of the United States. She values her profession over many other aspects.

Bob Birch (Speaker of the House of Representatives) Bob Birch (Democratic) Is the Speaker of the House of Representatives and leader of de democratic representatives. He is a Democratic Party veteran who looks out for the interest of the party. It’s quite important to notice that the Speaker of the House of Representatives is the next in the line of succession of the precedence after the vice-president.

Seth Greyson (Director of Communications) Seth Greyson was hired by Raymond Tusk to find evidence of any secret or shadow activities of Frank Underwood while he was performing as vice-president. He became Frank Underwood’s Director of Communications. His personality can be compare in some occasions with the personality of Frank itself.

Heather Dunbar (Solicitor General) Heather Dunbar (Democratic) has over 20 years of experience, she was the Solicitor General while she was the special prosecutor that investigates the Walker Administration. Is the investigations of Heather Dunbar, the one who force former president Garrett Walker to resign. In a moment she was the presidential candidate for the Democratic Party in the elections.

*Please note that this is all publicly available information for each character at the start of the crisis. We are aware that the show this Crisis is based on has now gone past where this committee begins, and we are going to be disregarding everything that happens after the start of season three. Also please be advised that any secret details about a characters lives (i.e. NOT known to the US public at the start of season 3 of House of Cards) will not be formally known by anyone in Crisis and we will be on the outlook for delegates who are using “foreign” knowledge to their advantage.

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