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Villain Overview

There are two kinds of pain. The sort of pain that makes you strong, or useless pain. The sort of pain that's only suffering. I have no patience for useless things.
~ Francis Underwood in the series' premiere.
You are entitled to nothing.
~ Underwood's motto for his program American Works, which will destroy the traditional American welfare system in favor of ending unemployment.
Take a step back. Look at the bigger picture. That’s how you devour a whale -- one bite at a time.
~ Underwood plotting his rise to power.

Francis Joseph "Frank" Underwood is the main protagonist of the Netflix political drama series House of Cards.

He is a corrupt, ruthless politician who serves as the House Majority Whip, and later serves as the Vice President of the United States before eventually becoming the President of the United States. He is also the late husband of Claire Underwood, who succeeds him as President and continues his legacy.

He was portrayed by Kevin Spacey, who also played Albert Benton in Unsub, Buddy Ackerman in Swimming With Sharks, John Doe in Se7en, Keyser Söze in The Usual Suspects, Hopper in A Bug's Life, Lester Burnham in American Beauty, Lex Luthor in Superman Returns, Clyde Northcutt in Fred Claus, Micky Rosa in 21, David Harken in the Horrible Bosses duology, Dr. Nerse in The Cleveland Show, Jonathan Irons in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, and Doc in Baby Driver.

Biography[]

Early Life and Season 1[]

Francis Joseph "Frank" Underwood was born in Gaffney, South Carolina on November 5, 1959. His father, Calvin T. Underwood, was a poor peach farmer who died of a heart attack at the age of 43. Frank has stated on a few occasions that his late father was a weak, abusive alcoholic who put him and his mother through years of misery. When Frank was 13, he walked in on his father putting a shotgun in his mouth. Unable to pull the trigger, Calvin asked Frank to put him out of his misery, but Frank refused. Frank has said that his one regret in life is that he did not kill his father when had the chance.

Raised in impoverished circumstances, he found his hometown suffocating. He eventually left and attended a military college called "The Sentinel". He began attending this college just after Jimmy Carter had been elected 39th President of the United States in 1976. In his senior year, his grades suffered when he volunteered for a U.S. Senate campaign in the Autumn 1980 and was nearly expelled. Despite his poor grades, Underwood was accepted into Harvard Law School in 1984. During his time in military school, he had a sexual relationship with his roommate, Tim Corbet.

Frank met his wife Claire when they were both attending Harvard. Shortly after they graduated, Claire and Frank married. Claire wanted them to settle down and have a child, but Frank thought that bringing a child into their world of anguish would be cruel and pointless, so Claire gave up the idea of having children. During Frank's early political campaigns Claire became pregnant, but to assist Frank in furthering his political career she had the the baby aborted.

In 1986 Francis Underwood was elected to public office, as a member for the South Carolina State Senate. Frank at that time was one of the youngest state legislators in the state's entire history. He publicly professes to be a Christian, but privately holds God in total contempt.

Frank was elected in 1990 as the Representative from South Carolina's 5th congressional district. He was sworn into office in January 1991. Since then Frank has served for 12 consecutive terms, winning re-election for his 12th term in 2012. Frank became the House Majority Whip for the Democratic Party in 2005.

Secretary of State snub[]

During Garret Walker's early campaigns, Frank was promised the position of Secretary of State in return for his support. After Walker's election, Frank began to discuss his new ideas with the White House Chief of Staff Linda Vasquez, but she informs him that Walker has decided to promote Senator Michael Kern to the position. Furious, Frank begins plotting Walker's downfall, with help from Claire and his fanatically loyal Chief of Staff, Doug Stamper.

First, he connives to make sure Kern is passed over for the job in favor of his ally and friend Catherine Durant. To ensure that Kern is completely discredited, he has Pennsylvania Congressman Peter Russo manipulate the drug addicted editor of Kern's former college newspaper into forging an article, allegedly written by Kern, denouncing Israel. The following backlash directed at Kern forces Walker to endorse Durant to the position of Secretary of State.

Peter Russo for Governor of Pennsylvania[]

Frank takes Russo under his wing, seemingly grooming him to run for Governor of Pennsylvania. He helps Russo, an alcoholic, quit drinking and run what appears to be a promising campaign. Unbeknownst to Russo, however, he is merely a pawn in Frank's larger scheme. He has Stamper create enough pressure to get Russo to fall off the wagon by hiring a prostitute named Rachel Posner to get him drunk the night before an important interview. When he calls in obviously intoxicated, the bad publicity ruins his campaign and his career. Frank then kills an intoxicated Russo by flooding his car with carbon monoxide, making it look like suicide.

Vice Presidential attempt[]

After Frank kills Russo a spot in the Pennsylvania Governorship race opens, Frank then begins to influence the Vice President to run. Frank had previously gotten the Vice President to campaign with Russo, where he (the Vice President) was reintroduced to the love of a constituency that had once loved him. Frank suggests to the Vice President that he should run for Governor again, knowing that the Vice President is unhappy in his current position and that he and Walker dislike each other. The Vice President agrees, and resigns in order to run for Governor.

Frank and Vasquez create a fake list of Vice Presidential nominees, all of them well-known for their incompetence and unpopularity. This leads Walker to become desperate and be ready to say yes to anything. Linda, Frank and to a lesser extent Walker cross off every name on the list, as they attempt to build up to Frank becoming the Vice President.

Relationship with Zoe Barnes[]

Frank befriends reporter Zoe Barnes and uses her to plant damaging stories about his political rivals in the press. They soon begin a sexual relationship, with Claire's knowledge and approval. However, Barnes soon begins to suspect Frank was involved in Russo's death, and starts investigating him. When Stamper informs Frank of Zoe's betrayal, Frank decides to get rid of her. He meets with her in the subway and throws her in front of an oncoming train, killing her.

Vice Presidency[]

After being appraised by billionaire business magnate Raymond Tusk, who happens to be a confidant and old friend of Walker's, the President officially offers Frank the Vice Presidency, which Frank quickly accepts.

As Vice President, Frank first sets out to sever and destroy the close ties between Walker and Tusk. He does this by back channeling with China regarding the building of a Port Jefferson Bridge and successfully influences Walker go against Tusk's interests in the project.

Tusk starts funneling money to the Republicans, so Frank orders Press Secretary Seth Grayson to assist a reporter in revealing Chinese businessman's Xander Feng's illegal connections to the money. The subsequent investigation leads to Tusk's implication of Walker, whose popularity quickly plunges. Frank ensures that the new House Majority Whip, Jackie Sharp, gains enough votes for articles of impeachment in Congress by having Claire to rework her Military Sexual Assault prevention bill, and he convinces Kern to help him whip votes in the Senate by hinting at an eventual nomination as Secretary of the Treasury.

With his supposed connection to China exposed, Walker is trapped and resigns his presidency. Frank is promptly sworn in as President. His first act is to renounce the asylum of Xander Feng, resulting in his deportation back to China and almost certain execution.

Presidency[]

As President, Frank is unpopular with the public and can't get any of his legislation through Congress; he proves so unpopular that the Democratic leadership informs him that they won't support his re-election. Frank retaliates by publicly announcing that he will not seek re-election and calls on Congress to pass what he considers his mark on the presidency - an ambitious jobs bill called America Works, to be paid for by gutting social services such as Medicare and Social Security.

He fails to get the bill through Congress and uses that as a reason to renege on his promise to not run in 2016. Solicitor General Heather Dunbar announces that she will seek the presidential nomination, and actually gives Underwood a battle. Underwood convinces Sharp to get married so she can announce her candidacy, for the sole reason of sapping women's votes from Dunbar, at which point she will withdraw and accept the nomination for VP. After the presidential debate, in which Underwood publicly humiliates Sharp in order to go after Dunbar, Sharp retaliates by backing Dunbar's campaign. Ultimately, however, Underwood wins the Iowa caucuses.

Meanwhile, his marriage to Claire is faltering. Frank appoints her to an ambassador position, but she is forced to resign to solve a diplomatic crisis with Russia. She begins to doubt whether she still loves him, and they get into an ugly fight in which he tells her that she is nothing without him. She leaves him as he prepares to the New Hampshire primary. He persuades her to come back by promising to support her run for a congressional district in Texas, but sandbags her candidacy to keep her focused on the election. She retaliates by leaking an old photograph of Frank's father with a Klansman, and threatens to destroy his candidacy unless he makes her his running mate. He angrily refuses.

The next day at a rally, Zoe Barnes' former lover Lucas Goodwin shoots Frank in the liver, and Frank is forced to undergo a transplant. While he is unconscious during surgery, he has a nightmare about Zoe Barnes and Peter Russo torturing him. He eventually recovers, and decides to make Claire his running mate after all. The Underwoods scheme and manuever their way to the nomination, and face Republican candidate Will Conway. When the terrorist group ICO kidnaps an American citizen, Conway wins points with the public by negotiating successfully with the terrorists' leader. Meanwhile, journalist Tom Hammerschmidt publishes a story detailing Frank's crimes, and Frank faces possible impeachment. Frank and Claire decide to let the hostage die in order to create an atmosphere of fear they can exploit.

Frank advocates for greater surveillance powers, but still lags behind Conway in the polls. Frank has his cybersecurity expert Aidan Macallan tamper with polling stations in key states so that when Conway wins, the result is thrown into doubt; he then has campaign strategist LeAnn Harvey orchestrate an illegal spying operation to get dirt on Conway. He then releases a tape of Conway threatening a pilot, turning the public against him and thus winning the election.

His victory is short-lived, however; Congressman Alex Romero forms a committee to investigate Frank' ties to the money laundering. Frank tries to divert public attention by ordering troops into Syria under the pretense of preventing a terrorist attack. This provokes Durant to testify against him; before she can take the stand, however, Frank pushes her down a flight of stairs, incapacitating her. When Walker testifies about Frank's role in the Chinese money laundering, Frank takes the stand in his own defense and stuns the committee by resigning the presidency. When Claire demands an explanation, Frank reveals that his resignation is part of a plan to ensure that they control the country for years to come: Claire from the White House, he from the private sector. To tie up loose ends, he has Macallan and Harvey killed, and persuades Stamper to "confess" to murdering Barnes.

For Frank's plan to work, however, Claire has to pardon him and Stamper, which would damage her credibility with the public. Claire promises him that she will grant the pardons, but makes no mention of them during her first address to the nation as president. Angered, Frank calls her several times, but each time he gets her voicemail, causing him to worry that she has abandoned him. He breaks the fourth wall and says, "If she doesn't pardon me, I'll kill her."

Death[]

Frank later dies under unspecified circumstances and, in a final indignity, is buried next to his hated father. The series finale reveals that Doug poisoned him to prevent him from killing Claire and ruining the "Underwood legacy".

Personality[]

It doesn't matter what I say... it doesn't matter what I do... just as long as I am doing something, you are happy to be along for a ride. And, frankly, I don't blame you. With all the foolishness and indecision in your lives, why not a man like me? I don't apologize. In the end, I don't care whether you love me or you hate me, just as long as I win. The deck is stacked, the rules are rigged. Welcome to the death of the age of reason. There is no right or wrong, not anymore. There is only being in - and then being out.
~ Frank Underwood.

Frank Underwood is a patient, cold, duplicitous, authoritarian, cunning, sociopathic, ruthless, and exceptionally intelligent politician that rules USA with an iron fist and knows exactly how to take what he wants. Almost machine-like in his approach, he is known to be "extremely effective at what he sets his mind to" according to the likes of Raymond Tusk. Displayed as a power-hungry man with the skills and the resources to match, his quest for power and vengeance leads him to break old alliances and trample on and destroy those that stand in his way.

We later learn that he is even willing to kill those who become a threat, as shown through his murder of Peter Russo after he threatened to expose Frank along with himself and Zoe Barnes when she realises that Frank murdered Russo. He is a more than capable political maneuverer and can act warm, jolly and caring to people to gain their trust. He has no qualms of killing people or ruining their lives and careers if it serves his goals.

With fellow schemers and politicians who understand his game, he has a definite respect for, such as Catherine Durant or Raymond Tusk. However, they can very easily become his enemies if they interfere with his plans. With others who are oblivious to his intentions or less intelligent, he adopts a different façade, acting more caring and generous than he really is to mask his true personality.

However, despite these traits, Frank is not entirely evil—at least, not until the fifth season anyway. Initially, Frank could be warm and gentle to those he truly cared about, particularly towards his wife, Claire Underwood. He protects and takes care of those around him such as Doug and Steve and Edward Meechum, his bodyguards.

However, following his swearing in as President, Frank became abusively drunk on power and was more manipulative and remorseless around manipulating and deceiving those close to him. He was even willing to hurt Claire whenever she defied his demands, and the fact that he tried to kill her for betraying him simply proves that any good Frank had left in him had been completely erased at that point.

Quotes[]

The nature of promises, Linda, is that they remain immune to changing circumstances.
~ Frank learning that he had been betrayed.
I love that woman. I love her more than sharks love blood.
~ Frank about his wife Claire.
I almost pity him. He didn't choose to be put on my platter. When I carve him up and toss him to the dogs, only then will he confront that brutal, inescapable truth: "My God, all I ever amounted to was chitlins."
~ Frank talking about Michael Kern.
Power is a lot like real estate. It's all about location, location, location. The closer you are to the source, the higher your property value. Centuries from now, when people watch this footage, who will they see smiling just at the edge of the frame?
~ Frank during Garrett Walker's inauguration.
You might very well think that. I couldn't possibly comment.
~ Frank Underwood.
We're in the same boat now Ms. Barnes. Take care not to tip us over, I can only save one of us from drowning.
~ Frank to Zoe Barnes.
If you don't like how the table is set, turn over the table.
~ Frank Underwood.
Forward, that is the battle-cry. Leave ideology to the arm-chair generals, it does me no good.
~ Frank Underwood.
I have zero tolerance for betrayal which they will soon indelibly learn.
~ Frank Underwood.
I must not lose my resolve. I will march forward even if I have to do so alone.
~ Frank Underwood.
It only takes ten seconds to crush a man's ambitions.
~ Frank Underwood.
I pray to myself, for myself.
~ Frank Underwood.
For those of us climbing to the top of the food chain, there can be no mercy. There is but one rule: Hunt or be hunted.
~ Frank lamenting over killing Zoe.
If we didn't do the things we shouldn't do we'd never feel good about doing the things we should.
~ Frank Underwood.
That's right. We don't submit to terror. We make the terror.
~ Frank after having a terrorist killed.
If she doesn't pardon me, I'll kill her.
~ Frank vowing to kill his wife Claire if she doesn't pardon him.

Trivia[]

  • He is based on Francis Urquhart, the protagonist of the original BBC miniseries House of Cards.
  • Spacey reprised the role of Underwood in a clip presented at the White House Correspondent's Dinner in 2013.
  • Amid sexual harassment allegations against the actor Kevin Spacey, Netflix fired him from House of Cards. Thus, Frank Underwood was written out of the sixth and final season, which resulted in him dying off-screen between the seasons.
    • Spacey has reprised his role twice on his YouTube channel, however.

External Links[]

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