President Waller

"With all due respect, Mister Mendez, screw the optics. Manhattan's in a crisis state and this is the one club I've got left in my bag. Hell if i'm not going to take a swing."

- President Waller to Vice President Mendez Lawrence Waller was the President of the United States in office when the Green Poison outbreak began in New York City. When the situation quickly got out of control, he was the one who formed the JTF and soon later used Presidential Directive 51 thereby activating the Strategic Homeland Division.

Soon after, the stress of the outbreak took its toll and President Waller collapsed and died of a massive heart attack. As per the 25th Amendment, his running mate and Vice President Thomas Mendez became President.

History
Waller was an academically gifted student, graduating from Harvard University. He went on to become a criminal defense lawyer and began a political career. He was widely criticized during his tenure as President of the United States, despite his good intentions.

Green Poison Outbreak
At the outbreak of the Green Poison epidemic, President Waller was clearly concerned with the situation and demanded an aide to tell him straight on how bad it had gotten in New York. He then assumed this was a deliberate attack by another country such as Russia or China. However, the President's aide advised him that it was probably not them, as they "had problems of their own", which was likely confirmed by the later reports that the Green Poison had spread to over hundred countries.

President Waller at some point soon after the outbreak declared a type of martial law and merged the NYPD, FDNY and National Guard units to form the Joint Task Force to set up and control the newly formed quarantine around central Manhattan.

Unfortunately, it had become clear that maintaining the quarantine required a monumental effort, so in council with his Vice President Thomas Mendez and the Speaker of the House Andrew Ellis, he used Directive 51 and activated the Strategic Homeland Division. This dispatched the First Wave of agents to New York City with orders to assist the JTF, enforce the quarantine in the Dark Zone, and protect the innocents trapped inside.

However, the President was soon briefed by a JTF General that sending a small team of Division agents to New York City had proved ineffective at keeping control of the Dark Zone, and they had to evacuate and that more was needed. He was also briefed that some First Wave had become the first Rogue Agents, including Aaron Keener. After hearing this, the President ordered the General to contact Louis Chang to dispatch the Second Wave to New York.

Shortly after this, President Waller was found dead of a heart attack. His Vice President Thomas Mendez, was quickly sworn in as President and was left to deal with the outbreak.

Trivia

 * President Waller never appears physically in any game. However, he is briefly shown in Agent Origins (Escape), being played by Glenn Ratcliffe.