--- title: The Real-Life History of the ‘Designated Survivor’ description: The designated survivor becomes president in the event of a disaster canonical: https://time.com/4501297/designated-survivor-abc-kiefer-sutherland/ author: Mahita Gajanan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-09-20T21:39:49.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T19:04:42.000Z og:title: The Real-Life History of the ‘Designated Survivor’ og:description: ABC's new show has a real inspiration og:url: https://time.com/4501297/designated-survivor-abc-kiefer-sutherland/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfe737cb123027359/6988a6d70a4a227e629cb578/kiefer-sutherland-designated-survivor.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: ABC's "Designated Survivor" - Season One og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Real-Life History of the ‘Designated Survivor’ twitter:description: ABC's new show has a real inspiration twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfe737cb123027359/6988a6d70a4a227e629cb578/kiefer-sutherland-designated-survivor.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Real-Life History of the ‘Designated Survivor’ by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Updated: Dec 13, 2023 7:04 PM UTCPublished: Sep 20, 2016 9:39 PM UTC  Kiefer Sutherland stars as Tom Kirkman, a lower-level cabinet member who is suddenly appointed President of the United States after a catastrophic attack on the U.S. Capitol during the State of the Union, on the highly anticipated ABC series Kiefer Sutherland stars as Tom Kirkman, a lower-level cabinet member who is suddenly appointed President of the United States after a catastrophic attack on the U.S. Capitol during the State of the Union, on the highly anticipated ABC seriesIan Watson—ABC via Getty Images by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Updated: Dec 13, 2023 7:04 PM UTCPublished: Sep 20, 2016 9:39 PM UTC In ABC’s new show [_Designated Survivor_](http://time.com/4148830/kiefer-sutherland-designated-survivor-president/), Kiefer Sutherland plays a U.S. Cabinet member who unexpectedly becomes president after an attack on the Capitol during the State of the Union wipes out everyone ahead of him in the presidential line of succession. Sutherland’s character, Tom Kirkman, is chosen as the so-called “designated survivor,” a low-level government official who sits in a secure, undisclosed location, ready to take charge in case an attack kills those in attendance at the State of the Union address, a presidential inauguration or another event that brings the country’s leaders together. But Sutherland’s role—the designated survivor—is a real one within the U.S. government. The tradition of selecting a designated survivor originated during the Cold War over fears of nuclear attacks killing the country’s leaders. Following the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, the role became more serious amid growing security concerns. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and [Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch](http://time.com/4178054/orrin-hatch-designated-survivor-state-of-the-union/) took on the role of designated survivor in January while the country’s top leaders gathered to watch [President Barack Obama’s final State of the Union Address](http://time.com/4176658/barack-obama-final-state-union-analysis/?xid=homepage). A seven-term senator who ran for president in 2000, Hatch became the highest-ranking designated survivor in more than a decade. In 2015, [Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx](http://time.com/3675673/state-union-designated-survivor/) sat out of the State of the Union as the designated survivor. Unlike their fictional counterpart in _Designated Survivor_, the real-life officials set to take over in case of an emergency have never actually had to carry out the task. ABC’s show, which [premieres Sept. 21](http://time.com/4341696/upfronts-2016-cbs-presentation/) at 10 p.m. ET, imagines what unfolds when the unthinkable happens, and examines how Kirkman grapples with suddenly becoming the president. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4501297/designated-survivor-abc-kiefer-sutherland/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4501297/designated-survivor-abc-kiefer-sutherland/"},"headline":"The Real-Life History of the ‘Designated Survivor’","datePublished":"2016-09-20T21:39:49.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T19:04:42.000Z","description":"ABC's new show has a real inspiration","url":"https://time.com/4501297/designated-survivor-abc-kiefer-sutherland/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Television"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfe737cb123027359/6988a6d70a4a227e629cb578/kiefer-sutherland-designated-survivor.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfe737cb123027359/6988a6d70a4a227e629cb578/kiefer-sutherland-designated-survivor.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"ABC's \"Designated Survivor\" - Season One","caption":"ABC's \"Designated Survivor\" - Season One","creditText":"Ian Watson—ABC via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4501297/designated-survivor-abc-kiefer-sutherland/","name":"The Real-Life History of the ‘Designated Survivor’"}}]}] ```