Die Hard scenario Wiki
Register
Advertisement
"Never again will I allow our political self-interest to deter us from doing what we know to be morally right. Atrocity and terror are not political weapons. And to those who would use them, your day is over. We will never negotiate. We will no longer tolerate and we will no longer be afraid. It's your turn to be afraid."
―President James Marshall making his speech in Moscow [src]
James Marshall
President James Marshall
President James Marshall in Air Force One
Name: James Marshall
Gender: Male
Nationality: Flag of the United States American
Residence(s): Washington, D.C.
Alias(es): Jim

Dad/Daddy (by his daughter)

Affiliation: United States of America
Profession: President of the United States of America
Marital status: Married
Spouse(s): Grace
Children: Alice
Status: Alive
Played by: Harrison Ford
Film: Air Force One

President James Marshall is the President of the United States and the main protagonist in Air Force One. He is portrayed by Harrison Ford.

Character biography[]

Early Life[]

James Marshall was an Air Force helicopter aviator who fought in the Vietnam War. He flew a lot of helicopter rescue missions and received a Medal of Honor for his heroics in there. He had since been elected as President of the United States of America.

He is married to Grace and they a daughter named Alice.

Air Force One[]

  • This section is under construction*

Change of policy on terrorism[]

After an American-led raid on Kazakh dictator Ivan Radek's home results in the capture and imprisonment of the former tyrant, Marshall delivers a speech in Moscow where he doesn't read the speech written for him and instead improvises a speech detailing a dramatic change in foreign policy where the US refuses to negotiate with terrorists, citing that had America taken charge sooner, lives would have been saved. Only did America intervene when its own safety was jeopardized. He then impressively talks to the Russian president in Russian, later on complimenting his mother for persuading him to take Russian instead of French. The change upsets many higher ups in his cabinet, but Marshall has the best interest of the country at heart.

Onboard Air Force One[]

As President Marshall and his staff arrived in a Moscow airport, he smiles at reporters taking pictures of him. Then he went onboard Air Force One. He jokes to the pilots that the plane should fly to Barbados instead. He asks his Secret Service presidential guard Agent Gibbs where his family are. Gibbs replies that they are in a ballet and they will arriving in five minutes. Later on, he has a Budweiser while watching a football game with his daughter. His wife also kisses him during this. He is also a bit overprotective with Alice, as he and Grace discuss her future when she reached 13 or 15, while Marshall says 50.

Hijacking[]

United States Secret Service agent Gibbs, acting as a mole for a group of six Radek loyalists led by the sadistic Egor Korshunov, sneaks them onto the plane disguised as journalists. Once in flight, Gibbs kills several Secret Service agents guarding the plane's armory, allowing Korshunov and his men to seize control of the plane. When the attackers start a firefight, the pilots attempt to land the plane at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. However, the pilots are killed, and the terrorists take control, diverting the plane towards Kazakhstan. Secret Service agents take Marshall to an escape pod in the cargo hold, while the rest of the passengers are taken hostage by the hijackers. Believing the President has escaped, the hijackers plan to use his wife and daughter as leverage.

Element of surprise[]

The U.S. military locates the escape pod but finds it empty. Unbeknownst to the hijackers, President Marshall, a retired military aviator, veteran of the Vietnam War, and Medal of Honor recipient, stayed aboard the plane to rescue everybody. He contacts the White House via satellite phone, reminding Bennett not to negotiate with the terrorists, because "If you give a mouse a cookie, he'll want a glass of milk."

Missile Shockwave decoy[]

600px-AFO-MP5A3-4

Boris holds his MP5K on the president.

Marshall is ambushed by Boris Bazylev in the cargo deck while he is trying to get ahold of the White House. He then tells the fighter jets following Air Force One to fire on the aircraft, since the plane is built to withstand missile attacks. The fighters do so and the shockwave pushes Boris away from Marshall, allowing the two to fight and Marshall eventually strangling Boris.

Saving the hostages[]

The hijackers request mid-air refueling after Marshall forces a fuel dump by cutting the red, white and blue wires in the cargo hold, later securing the hostages. Marshall sends a fax to the White House, instructing the tanker to force the plane low enough for the hostages to parachute to safety. When Korshunov discovers the deception, he forces the plane away from the refueling tanker, causing the fuel to ignite and destroy the tanker. However, Korshunov captures Marshall and the remaining advisors before they escape.

Marshall vs. Korshunov[]

With Marshall and his family held hostage, Bennett is forced to contact Russian President Petrov to endorse Radek's release. Korshunov and his men celebrate as the event is broadcast over the plane's speakers, and Marshall escapes by using a shard of glass from an ashtray to cut through the tape binding his wrists. While Marshall's advisers deal with the remaining terrorists, Korshunov takes Grace to the plane's parachute ramp, and dumps the remaining parachutes. Marshall arrives, and the two fight. Korshunov loses his weapon, and is garrotted with the parachute chord. Marshall then belays his earlier request to release Radek, who is killed attempting to flee custody.

Flying Air Force One[]

Marshall directs Air Force One towards friendly airspace unaware that MiG-29s piloted by Radek loyalists follow them. Escorting U.S. F-15s counterattack, but the shrapnel from explosions, and machine gun rounds, destroys Air Force One's tail controls, rendering landing impossible. Marshall pilots Air Force One out toward the Caspian Sea to prevent civilian casualties, and a nearby patrolling Air Force Special Operations Command IMC-130E Combat Talon is called in to rescue Marshall and the others via zip-line.

Mid-air rescue[]

After his family and the injured Chief of Staff Lloyd Shepherd are evacuated, Marshall, Gibbs, and Major Caldwell remain on the plane, with time for only one to be rescued. Caldwell tells Marshall to go, but Gibbs, revealing that it was he who aided the terrorists in hijacking Air Force One, pulls a gun, kills Major Caldwell and a United States Air Force Pararescue, and attempts to save himself on the last remaining zip-line. Marshall overpowers him (having once trusted Gibbs with his life), attaches himself to the line, and unhooks it from the plane before it crashes into the water. The MC-130E crew reel in the President, and Marshall is reunited with his family.


Air Force One Characters
Heroes President James Marshall - Vice-President Kathryn Bennett
Villains Egor Korshunov - General Ivan Radek - Gibbs
Allies White House Chief of Staff Lloyd Shepard - National Security Advisor Jack Doherty - Deputy Press Secretary Melanie Mitchel - Major Norman Caldwell - Secretary of Defense Walter Dean - Attorney General Andrew Ward
Henchmen Andrei Kolchak - Sergei Lenski - Igor Nevsky - Boris Bazylev - Vladimir Krasin
First family Grace Marshall - Alice Marshall
Advertisement