Resident Evil Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Resident Evil Wiki
Prime universe
(Capcom's primary storyline)

For other Presidents, see President of the United States.
"No more questions at this time. Thank you very much.
「質問はここまでとします。 では失礼」
"
— President at the White House Press Briefing following the Sterilization Operation.

This unnamed man was the President of the United States from 1997 to 1998.[1] He was at the heart of a large scandal over his actions in the Raccoon City Destruction Incident, the deaths of 100,000 of its citizens, and his administration's links to Umbrella USA. Though many were successfully covered-up, he was pressed into resigning around October 1998.

Biography[]

While he won the 1996 Presidential election, the shadows of the Cold War continued to affect US foreign policy. With the emerging threat of countries like China following the demise of the Soviet Union, the President continued with previous administrations' commitment to purchasing bioweaponry from Umbrella USA.[2] It was believed by senior government officials such as Derek C. Simmons that a shift to bioweapons contrary to the 1972 Bioweapons Convention was a worldwide inevitability, and the US ought to lead the way rather than follow.[2] The government's relationship with Umbrella was not entirely cordial, it should be noted, and efforts were already underway to centralise bioweapons research with military projects.

Raccoon City[]

In 1998, a series of t-Virus outbreak occurred in the Midwest in and around Raccoon City, starting from an outbreak at Umbrella USA's Arklay Laboratory. The subsequent deaths drew nationwide attention, and over the next few months the t-Virus was identified by doctors, who blamed it for what was dubbed "Cannibal Disease". The link with Umbrella was destroyed when local police set-off a bomb in the laboratory, leaving the government safe from scandal.

In August, the t-Virus reached Raccoon City itself and began its spread. When the President became aware of this is uncertain, but the press continued to report on the Cannibal Disease. When Umbrella virologist Dr. William Birkin entered talks with the military to hand over the experimental Golgotha Virus for research, Delta Force was sent into the city the rescue him. At the same time, a strain of t-Virus contaminated Raccoon City's drinking water, leading to tens of thousands of people being infected and mutating. The President was alerted to the rise in violent crime by the FBI, and immediately ordered the city under martial law. To disguise their links to Umbrella, the Pentagon instead announced radioactive contamination in the city, and the military was ordered by Presidential decree to blockade the city and evacuate civilians to an exclusion zone for quarantine.[3][4][5] As the outbreak escalated, it finally became clear this was a virus responsible, and the CDC began isolations across the Midwest to verify the virus was not spreading beyond Arklay County.[6]

In the final days of the President's term, the Delta Force unit sent to rescue Birkin was massacred by Umbrella's own bio-weapons sent to kill them.[5] A Golgotha sample was however recovered from the doctor's daughter, Sherry, who was rescued by federal agents in the plains outside the city.[7][8] The city itself, however, could not be saved. Under intense pressure from Simmons and a bicameral Congressional committee,[1][2][9] the President agreed to an extreme solution to the epidemic which would also deny rival powers incriminating bio-weapons data: the destruction of Raccoon City and any biological material in it by way of an experimental thermobaric weapon fired by cruise missile.[2][9][10][11]

In the days following the bombing, the President's handling of the tragedy was brought into question by the press, who lacked a sufficient explanation for the bombing which ensured the demise of what remained of its population of 100,000, with hostile media reports linking the bombing alone to the total deaths.[9] Throughout this, the rumours of a link between the outbreak, Umbrella and the federal government continued.[1] At the White House Press Briefing, the President lost control of the situation and walked out of the room. Having lost the support of the public, he immediately announced his resignation.[1] His successors would then follow a path of disavowing biological weaponry, while continuing to cover-up the events leading up to the outbreak and pushing blame entirely onto Umbrella USA and its parent company.

Further notes[]

  • The original idea was for him to resemble a real-life President, distinguished only by a slightly different hair-style. Over time this idea was rejected in favour of an original character model.[12]

Gallery[]

Sources[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Resident Evil: Degeneration (2007).
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Resident Evil 6 (2012), file: "Scorched Earth".
  3. Resident Evil Outbreak (2003), scene: ""Outbreak" KEVIN: ENDING".
  4. Resident Evil Outbreak File #2 (2004), scene: "No Hope (Kevin)".
  5. 5.0 5.1 Famitsu interview with Yasuhisa Kawamura (1999).
  6. Resident Evil 3 (2020), scene: "A New Threat is Born".
  7. Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (1999), file: "Leon's Epilogue".
  8. Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (1999), file: "Sherry's Epilogue".
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (1999), scene: "Unfortunate Event".
  10. Resident Evil 3 (2020), scene: "Confirmation of the missile strike".
  11. Resident Evil 3 (2020), scene: "Waking up in the hospital".
  12. Resident Evil: Degeneration (2008), "Pop-Up Trivia Track".
Advertisement