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Elizabeth Elliot is a character that appears in several Tom Clancy novels. In 1991, she served as the Nation Security Advisor to President Robert Fowler until her removal by the Twenty-fifth amendment.
Biography[]
Elizabeth Elliot is a former professor of political science at Bennington College. She later became a key advisor to President Fowler and was initially promised the position of National Security Advisor. This promotion was later denied to secure the aid of Vice President candidate Roger Durling. Durling is vital in securing California for the campaign, thus winning Fowler the White House. Elliot later achieves the position after sex scandal involving Dr. Charles Alden comes to light, the stress of which accelerates his death due to poorly managed blood pressure. It is revealed repeatedly that Elliot is a manipulative and superior woman who thinks little of those around her, especially 'servants' such as military service members, White House Staff, and Secret Service agents. She also is a coward, and an intensely selfish person, incapable of removing her personal feelings from professional situations. Such as her dislike of Jack Ryan for 'insulting' her during the campaign leading to her active attempts to dismiss both his input and him from the Fowler Administration, and when she is unable to find cause or manipulate Fowler to do so, she convinces him to allow her to direct an investigation into Jack.
Elliot then uses the previous SEC investigation into Jack's finances, and his current aid of the Zimmer family, as well a senior White House reporter, to paint Jack as financially and sexually untrustworthy. Though it is done without naming him specifically, it comes after some difficulty for Jack at home, and nearly destroys his marriage to Cathy.
John Clark, who has been driving Jack and serving as his SPO, along with Ding, has been aware of Jack's unhappiness and poor treatment by the majority of the Fowler admimistration, and sees the cracks in the marriage.
He and Ding contact Cathy, tell and show her the truth, resulting in her making up with Jack and gently forcing him to handle things better at home, soothing part of his troubles. And takes revenge by humilating Elliot at a Whitr House event, literally in front of two senior reporters, including the same White House reporter who had printed the erroneous stories about the senior CIA official.
Elliot attempts to manipulate Fowler into firing Jack for this event, but Fowler remains less petty than herself, though she does manage to convince him after Jack prevents Fowler from endangering agents by going to Congress, as required.
Mere days before the Superbowl, Jack is gently told by Arnie Van Damn that he is expected to resign, after a meeting with a unconcerned Fowler and a smugly victorious Elliot.
The weekend of the Superbowl, Fowler and Elliot fly out to Camp David after a massive winter storm has broken, resulting in severe damage to Marine 1, the President's personal helicopter.
Initially unconcerned, the couple and their protective personnel bunker down to enjoy both the weekend, and in Fowler's case the game. Elliot is pointedly uninterested in football.
When the nuclear device detonates, Elliot immediately ignores the deaths of her colleagues, the realities of the situation, or any views that oppose her own, having seized on one, possibly two points. She might have been at that game, with Fowler, and she too would have been killed.
This senda her into a wild spiral of panic, which she conceals poorly by feigning control over herself and the situation, despite her obvious lack of control.
She repeats this 'fact' that Fowler himself would have been killed near constantly throughout the crisis, and uses that as a basis to support her erronous beliefs in unsunstatied reports about Russia, the Russian nuclear program, the behavior of the Russian military, and the actions of the agent who originated thr reports. This results in Fowler and Elliot convincing themselves that there has been a military coup in Russia, and a complete distrust of Russian President Narmanov.
She and Jack repeatedly disagree, with her openly disrespecting, interrupting him, and trying to dismiss his conclusions, only hearing the support she believes she gets from others.
A prime example is that early in the crisis, CINC-SAC agrees with Fowler that emotion must be removed from this situation, but unknowingly fuels Elliot's panic by seemingly agreeing that she is right and the operational possibility that Fowler was a target cannot be ignored.
Elliot refuses to hear evidence or reports that might eliminate Russia as a suspect, namely because they come from Jack, but even military situations in which the Russians are merely reacting because the United States has acted are seen by her as preparations to attack.
She slowly convinces Fowler not to trust Jack, until Fowler begins to remove Jack from the discussion entirely, ultimately calling Jack a liar repeately, infuriating the DDI.
After Jack seized the Hot Line, Elliot is sedated, and takea no further part in the events, but is clearly not long for continued public service, especially once Fowler resigns in disgrace.
Template:Characters/Clear and Present Danger
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