Madam Secretary (TV series)

Premise

Cast and characters

Main

• Téa Leoni as Elizabeth "Bess" Adams McCord, the President of the United States and former Secretary of State. She spent twenty years as a CIA analyst before becoming a professor of political science at the University of Virginia. She was appointed by her old boss, Conrad Dalton, who was then the President of the United States, to replace Secretary of State Vincent Marsh, who died in a plane crash. She succeeded Dalton as President.
• Tim Daly as Henry McCord, Elizabeth's husband of 25 years and now First Gentleman of the United States. A theology professor and a former Marine captain/aviator during Operation Desert Storm, his unique blend of skills are sought by the National Security Agency, which engages him as an operative in combating religious extremism. At the end of season3, Henry is named the head of the CIA Special Activities Division.
• Bebe Neuwirth as Nadine Tolliver, Elizabeth's chief of staff who had a six-year affair with the deceased Secretary of State, Vincent Marsh, beginning when he was a senator. Originally suspicious and resentful of the new Secretary of State, Nadine soon learns to trust Elizabeth, and the two cultivate a strong working relationship. In season1, Nadine slowly begins to date again, romancing NASA Administrator Glenn, and later falls into a relationship with the recurring political consultant Mike Barnow. In season4, Nadine's son Roman tells her she is going to be a grandmother and she retires from the State Department and moves to San Francisco to spend more time with her family.
• Željko Ivanek as Russell Jackson, White House Chief of Staff. His primary objective of keeping the President politically secure at home and abroad sets him up for occasional confrontations with Secretary McCord's unorthodox diplomatic maneuvering. Elizabeth then appoints him as her White House Chief of Staff 98 days into her presidency.
• Erich Bergen as Blake Moran, Elizabeth's personal assistant, and the only member of her staff that she hired rather than inherited. After college, he began a career in finance on Wall Street, but hated it. In season5, Elizabeth made good on her promise to fire him, only to rehire him as her new assistant policy advisor.
• Patina Miller as Daisy Grant, Elizabeth's press coordinator. Daisy briefly dates Matt in season1, but goes on to date other men following their breakup. In season3, she dates "Kevin" from Budget and Planning, who turns out to be an undercover operative for the CIA investigating the State Department. He is killed in a weapons-trafficking conspiracy, and Daisy subsequently finds herself pregnant with his child. In the fourth season, Daisy gives birth to her daughter Joanna Grant.
• Geoffrey Arend as Matt Mahoney, Elizabeth's speechwriter. Matt briefly dates Daisy in season1.
• Wallis Currie-Wood as Stephanie "Stevie" McCord, Elizabeth and Henry's older daughter and first-born child. Stevie attended Lovell University and later Georgetown University and applied to Harvard Law school. Stevie serves as an intern to Russell Jackson and was, for a time, engaged to Jareth Glover. She has an affair with Dmitri Petrov in season4 that puts her in peril.
• Kathrine Herzer as Alison McCord, Elizabeth and Henry's younger daughter.
• Evan Roe as Jason McCord, Elizabeth and Henry's teenage son and youngest child, a self-proclaimed anarchist. Jason is critical of political systems in general, but in season1 he is expelled from his school for punching a student who insulted Elizabeth. He eventually dates Piper Boroumand.
• Keith Carradine as Conrad Dalton, the President of the United States. Conrad served in the United States Marine Corps as a second lieutenant during the Vietnam War and was the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency during Elizabeth's time at the CIA. In the third season, Dalton secures reelection as an independent after failing to secure the Democratic Party's nomination, partly due to a controversial change in policy championed by Elizabeth. He offers Elizabeth the role of Vice President during his campaign, but eventually names Teresa Hurst in order to further his campaign. Elizabeth remains the Secretary of State.
• Sebastian Arcelus as Jay Whitman, Elizabeth's current chief of staff and previous senior policy advisor. In season3, it is revealed that Jay's busy schedule working for the Secretary has strained his marriage. He is currently separated from his wife Abby, who maintains custody of their daughter Chloe. Jay is promoted to chief of staff in season4 after Nadine Tolliver leaves. In season 5, while stuck at an airport with Elizabeth and her staff, Jay meets Annelies De Runnow, a world-famous chess player, and they develop an attraction to each other. After several hours stuck in the airport, Jay and Annelies agree to start a long-distance relationship. Although Elizabeth eventually decides to run for president, Jay decides to leave her campaign and pass on the chance to become her chief of staff to start a life with Annelies.
• Sara Ramirez as Kat Sandoval, Elizabeth's policy advisor and a former chief of staff to the UN Ambassador.
• Kevin Rahm as Michael "Mike B." Barnow, a political operator who is said to drift between the United States Cabinet departments. It is mentioned that he is a Rhodes Scholar, who turned his brilliant legal career into a promising political career that was cut short by a scandalous divorce six years prior to his first appearance before settling into his current job. His unofficial role as an adviser to Secretary McCord earned him a reputation as her 'hatchet man'. Elizabeth later appoints him as the campaign manager of her successful presidential campaign and, after her victory in the 2020 election, he serves as her White House Chief of Staff for her first 100 days. Although Elizabeth asks him to remain as chief of staff, he refuses but remains at the White House as a Counselor to the President. Mike was rarely seen without his dog Gordon before its death in latter half of Season 5.

  Recurring

• Johanna Day as Ellen Hill, a retired admiral and the National Security Advisor. She was the first female Chairwoman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff prior to being appointed National Security Advisor.
• Tony Plana as Ed Parker, an admiral and member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
• Francis Jue as Ming Chen, China's Foreign Minister and Elizabeth's Chinese counterpart
• Mandy Gonzalez as Lucy Knox, President Dalton's aide
• Mike Pniewski as Gordon Becker, the United States Secretary of Defense
• Jason Ralph as Harrison Dalton, son of President Dalton and long-time friend of Stevie McCord. In season1, it is revealed Harrison has a drug addiction and is color blind. In season4 it is revealed that he is back in rehab.
• Cotter Smith as Darren Hahn, President Dalton's first known National Security Advisor
• Patrick Breen as Andrew Munsey, the Director of the CIA and a protégé of President Dalton.
• Nilaja Sun as Juliet Humphrey, a former CIA analyst, friend and colleague of Elizabeth and Isabelle.
• Usman Ally as Zahed Javani, Iran's Foreign Minister and Elizabeth's Iranian counterpart
• Dion Graham as Fred Cole, the Bureau of Diplomatic Security head agent who served as Elizabeth's principal bodyguard
• Josh Hamilton as Arthur Gilroy, Stevie's 39-year-old microloan employer and ex-boyfriend
• Anna Deavere Smith as Mary Campbell, the United States Attorney General
• Marin Hinkle as Isabelle Barnes, a CIA analyst and Elizabeth's close friend, who assists the McCords with the investigation of the death of Secretary of State Vincent Marsh
• Yorgo Constantine as Anton Gorev, Russia's Foreign Minister and a friend of both Secretary and Dr. McCord
• Clifton Davis as Ephraim Ware, Director of National Intelligence
• Julian Acosta as Craig Sterling, a former US Department of Defense official who becomes National Security Advisor in season2, much to Elizabeth and Russell's dismay, and a rival of Elizabeth's
• Alex Fernandez as Mark Delgado, the Vice President of the United States
• Angela Gots as Maria Ostrova, the President of Russia and widow of late Russian President Pavel Ostrov
• Leslie Hendrix as Louise Cronenberg, the United States Attorney General
• Jill Hennessy as Jane Fellows, Henry's DIA superior, and a member of Murphy Station; the first Ishbal Jahed task force
• Kobi Libii as Oliver Shaw, the Cybersecurity Coordinator. Shaw looked into the attack against Air Force One and is the love interest of Daisy Grant in the second season.
• Chris Petrovski as Dmitri Petrov, a 24-year-old Russian Army captain who studied at the National War College. He was recruited by Professor Henry McCord to become an American spy in exchange for getting his sick sister medical care in Stockholm, Sweden. Dmitri is captured by the Russians and eventually exchanged to the Americans for another traitor to the state. Following his capture Dmitri feels abandoned by Henry and is very angry and bitter toward him. He is placed into a witness protection program under the name Alexander Mehranov. In season4, he gets recruited by the CIA as an analyst.
• Masha King as Talia Petrov, Dmitri's sister who was placed into witness protection with her brother and is now his roommate
• Carlos Gómez as Jose Campos, an Ishbal Jahed task force member. Initially had a combative relationship with Henry McCord but they eventually became friends.
• Tonya Pinkins as Susan Thompson, Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of African Affairs and, as of the end of season5, Acting Secretary of State and later Secretary of State in the McCord Administration. Assistant Secretary Thompson is a key voice in bringing African issues to the leadership's attention, such as encouraging the Secretary to intervene in the Angolan election in season3.
• J. C. MacKenzie as Sam Evans, the governor of Pennsylvania and the presidential nominee for Dalton's party. Evans is particularly vindictive during the campaign and, following Dalton's victory through a vote in the House of Representatives, threatens to have the vote overturned due to little-known law he claims Elizabeth broke. However, he is manipulated into accepting the terms of the vote after Russel Jackson threatens to expose him for having a gene that makes him likely to develop early-onset Alzheimer's.
• René Auberjonois as Walter Novack, a State Department analyst with the Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation.
• Christopher O'Shea as Jareth Glover, Stevie's fiancé from England. He gave up a fellowship at Oxford to return to America to be with Stevie after she had trouble adjusting to life in England. His family is a member of the upper class and even nobility in England. Stevie and Jareth broke up in season4.
• Justine Lupe as Ronnie Baker, a United States Army captain seconded from United States Cyber Command who assists Elizabeth on several occasions
• Eric Stoltz as Will Adams, Secretary Elizabeth McCord's younger brother and a member of Doctors Without Borders
• Jordan Lage as Kohl, a United States Army general
• Sam Breslin Wright as Dylan Larson, an ex–Army Ranger who has been working for the CIA for seven years as of the start of season4
• Christine Garver as Molly Reid, a career CIA agent, starting her career as a field agent in Chechnya. She is pregnant and due in a couple months from the start of season4.
• Tracee Chimo as Nina Cummings, Secretary McCord's assistant who takes over after Blake vacating the position. In season six she moves to the White House as Russell's assistant.
• Wentworth Miller as Senator Hanson, who leads the congress investigation in poll fraud accusations on President McCord's campaign.

  Presidential Cabinets and principal advisors

Other officials

Episodes

Production

Development

Casting

Broadcast

Reception

Ratings

• Note: In seasons four through six during the fall, the series was scheduled to air at 10:30p.m. ET/9:30p.m. CT to allow for football and golf overruns. Since its move to the last hour of primetime, this resulted in several new episodes being delayed a week at the last minute due to a game's overrunning, to all CBS affiliate local newscasts to start as close to 11:00p.m. ET/ 10:00p.m. CT as possible; in this case, a repeat aired in the Mountain Time Zone westward instead, with Canadian broadcaster Global following CBS's scheduling in order to take advantage of simsub advertising opportunities.

  Critical reception

Criticism

Accolades