Michael Dugan

"It's time to hit back... Make it happen."

- Dugan, before the Soviet invasion against the US

Michael Dugan was the President of the United States during the first and the second iterations of World War III.

Third World War
Dugan was elected president prior to the Third World War. When the Soviet Union attacked the USA, Dugan attempted to persuade Soviet Premier Alexander Romanov to call off the attack. When this failed the president ordered a nuclear counterstrike. The counterstrike failed to materialize due to Yuri's manipulation.

Early in the war Soviet forces captured Washington D.C. and built a Psychic Beacon near the White House. Most of the population in the area, including Dugan and General George Carville, were brought under Soviet control. During this time Dugan called upon Americans to accept Soviet rule. Unaffected Allied forces counterattacked quickly. The Washington D.C. Psychic Beacon was destroyed and a liberated Dugan was evacuated to Canada.

New Allies
The Europeans had been avoiding involvement in the war but the Soviet nuclear attack on Chicago gave Dugan the opening to secure European aid. The president agreed to dispatch Agent Tanya to neutralize the Soviet nuclear threat to Europe, and in so doing secured European support. He also authorised the development and deployment of Professor Einstein's Prism Towers in Allied strongholds in the US.

Dugan returned to the US with the recapture of the capital.

On the offensive
The Allies were in the process of liberating the rest of the continental United States from the Soviets. He pulled the Allied commander out of Hawaii and directed him to liberate St. Louis, the heart of the US mainland.

When General Carville was killed by a suicide bomber, Dugan promoted the same commander as head of the Allied military and charged him with the chrono invasion of Moscow to end the war. When Romanov was imprisoned Dugan invited the commander to a victory gala at the White House.

Yuri's revenge
Crisis continued to mar Dugan's presidency with victory over the Soviet Union being quickly usurped by the appearance of Psychic Dominators. Dugan offered Yuri a presidential pardon and leadership over the Soviet Union in return for peace. When this failed Dugan personally ordered an airstrike against the Psychic Dominator on Alcatraz Island. The strike managed only to disable the device's power supply but this gained enough time for an Allied team to travel back to the beginning of the Third World War and forestall Yuri's plans.

Dugan attended the summit in London, England to ratify the peace treaty with the Soviet Union.

It is unknown what became of Dugan after Anatoly Cherdenko used the time machine to erase Albert Einstein from history and re-initiate World War III. One can assume he never rose to the rank of President like he did in the original timeline.

Personality
Dugan's most outstanding characteristic was his sense of optimism. He was rarely known to jump to negative conclusions, even when the circumstances were dire. When General Benjamin Carville first informed him of the coming Soviet invasion, referring to it as a "situation," Dugan's first response was "how bad can it be, Ben?" Dugan then demonstrated the same optimism when he contacted Russian Premier Romanov, kindly asking him "what's going on over there, Alex?" It was only when Dugan received printed intel of the coming invasion that he finally showed anger, accusing Romanov (justly) of breaking their Alliance without provocation. Dugan showed similar patience and good feeling when Yuri announced his intent to enslave mankind, offering the madman a free pardon if he agreed to stop his Psychic Dominators from activating, even offering him a leadership role in the postwar Soviet government. He swiftly took action however when Yuri continued his plans, completely unfazed by Dugan's offers.

Dugan was not naive however. While he was slow to take violent action, this was due to peaceful character, not ignorance. He would take violent action if necessary, but only when all peaceful channels were rendered unusable.

Behind the scenes

 * Dugan was played by Ray Wise. Incidentally, he would later portray U.S. President Hal Gardner in the hit FOX TV series 24.
 * His first line in Yuri's Revenge is "What the Devil!?". He later went on to play the devil in the hit series Reaper.
 * Michael Dugan could be based on Richard Nixon, who was the 37th president of the United States in office from 1969-1974.

Glitch
His walking animation in Yuri's Revenge when spawned by something makes him "moonwalk" or spin around while moving.