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Walken as Acting President
Rep. Glen Allen Walken of Independence Missouri was the powerful and very conservative Speaker of the House who became Acting President of the United States in May 2003.He had been orginally elected to Congress in 1990. Vice President of the United States John Hoynes had resigned just a few days before due to a sex scandal, and President of the United States Josiah Bartlet then yielded power temporarily under the terms of the 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution. Bartlet's daughter Zoey had been kidnapped by terrorists from Qumar, and he did not feel that he could objectively carry out the duties of his office, under the circumstances. Walken was Acting President from approx 6.00 am on May 8, 2003 to around mid morning on May 10, 2003.
Walken resigned from his seat in the United States House of Representatives in order to become Acting President. While in office, he ordered the bombing of terrorist training camps in Qumar, as well as a limited and temporary invasion of that nation. He also called the families of several soldiers that died in the invasion. After three days, when Zoey Bartlet was found and freed, President Bartlet then resumed his powers and duties under the 25th Amendment. Bartlet gratefully offered to campaign for Walken if he chose to run again for Congress, but Walken said, half-seriously, that the President would probably not be politically helpful in his Missouri House district. It is not clear whether Walken returned to Congress. (The Speaker is required by the Presidential Succession Act 1947 to resign as he can only act as president "upon his resignation as Speaker and as Representative in Congress". Walken himself states no-one can serve in two branches of the government at once.)
In January 2004 Walken attended the funeral of former President Owen Lassiter, another conservative Republican and, apparently, a personal hero. Bartlet and former President D. Wire Newman, a liberal Democrat, also attended. Walken is now often refered to as President Walken, however, the Presidential Succession Act 1947 states that no one other than the Vice President can actually become the President of the United States, rather they only serve as the Acting-President even though they can serve for a number of years. Therefore, Walken might actually never be considered a President.
Walken later ran for the Republican Party's presidential nomination in the 2006 election, but was unsuccessful, losing in the primaries to Arnold Vinick, a U.S. Senator from California.