Commander in Chief

1. S01E01Season's bestPilotSeptember 27, 2005 7.3Vice President Mackenzie Allen becomes the nation's first female president---and its first independent chief executive---when her predecesso
2. S01E02First ChoiceOctober 4, 2005 7.0Machiavellian House Speaker Templeton meddles in the new president's search for a vice president; Mac's press secretary, Kelly Ludlow, gets
3. S01E03First StrikeOctober 11, 2005 6.5As damaging information concerning her VP choice, Warren Keaton, is rumored to emerge, Mac faces her first foreign crisis: the execution-sty
4. S01E04First DanceOctober 18, 2005 6.0While Mac holds her very delicate first summit with a Russian leader (and First Gentleman Rod hosts his first state dinner), Templeton tries
5. S01E05First... Do No HarmOctober 25, 2005 6.5Mac faces her first terrorism crisis when a Saudi is stopped at the Canadian border with explosives in his car and a map outlining a Hallowe
6. S01E06First DisasterNovember 1, 2005 6.5When an oil spill threatens hurricane-ravaged Florida, Mac and Templeton (a Floridian, as it happens) differ on how to deal with it. Meanwhi
7. S01E07First ScandalNovember 8, 2005 6.5As the confirmation hearings for Gen. Keaton begin, the White House is rocked by a slash-and-burn book about Mac that reveals Bridges' death
8. S01E08Rubie Dubidoux and the Brown Bound ExpressNovember 15, 2005 6.5While Rod persuades Mac to give him an official role, Jim hears---from Jayne---that Templeton is aware of Vince's HIV status. Meanwhile, Kel
9. S01E09The Mom Who Came to DinnerNovember 29, 2005 6.0Polly Bergen guest stars as Mac's mother, who arrives for Thanksgiving. But first, Mac must deal with a commission's decision to close a Nav
10. S01E10Sub Enchanted Evening (1)January 10, 2006 6.5A U.S. sub runs into trouble in the eastern Pacific and drifts into North Korean waters, and the only way to save it will be with Chinese he
11. S01E11No Nukes is Good Nukes (2)January 17, 2006 6.5The sub crisis escalates rapidly once the North Koreans learn that the disabled U.S. craft has drifted into their waters, and the Koreans im
12. S01E12Wind Beneath My WingJanuary 24, 2006 6.5While Mac is enduring fund-raising events in Southern California, an unlikely terrorist hijacks Air Force One at the Orange County Airport.
13. S01E13State of the UnionsApril 13, 2006 6.5Rod finds himself in a compromising position with an intern, compromising Mac's standing as her first State of the Union address nears. And
14. S01E14The Price You PayApril 20, 2006 6.5Mac stands by her attorney-general nominee, longtime friend Carl Brantley, who's pummeled during his confirmation hearings for being soft on
15. S01E15Ties That BindApril 27, 2006 6.5While Templeton's forcing a harsh crime bill through Congress, an old friend of Jim Gardner's from their gritty suburban Washington home tow
16. S01E16The Elephant in the RoomMay 31, 2006 6.5Mac's appendix bursts mid-flight on Air Force One and, with Vice President Keaton having resigned, House Speaker Templeton becomes acting pr
17. S01E17Happy Birthday, Madam PresidentJune 7, 2006 5.5On Mac's birthday, Kurdish militants take Americans hostage in Turkey. Meanwhile, Mac interviews vice-presidential candidates, with Dickie's
18. S01E18Unfinished BusinessJune 14, 2006 4.7Mac makes a new push for passage of the Equal Rights Amendment when a longtime congressional ERA foe dies and his widow prepares to take his

Season 1 ranked & reviewed