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| “ | I see. Oh well that’s okay… You two are an embarrassment from the 1970’s. …our country’s dirty little secret. You can’t be allowed to live. Well, the bombs will be dropping soon, and you two have a lot of catching up to do. Farewell. | „ |
| ~ Houseman to Solid Snake. |
Secretary Jim Houseman is one of the overarching antagonists of the 1998 stealth game Metal Gear Solid and its 2004 remake, Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes.
He is the United States Secretary of Defense during President George Sears' administration. Having authorized and overseen the construction of a Metal Gear on Shadow Moses Island, Houseman plans to call a nuclear strike on the base in an attempt to cover up his crimes after Liquid Snake's takeover.
He was voiced by Tomohisa Asō in the Japanese versions and by the late William Bassett in the English versions.
Biography[]
Shadow Moses Incident[]
Houseman was in charge of the infiltration operation to receive the test launch data for Metal Gear REX, but he also had worries because his friend, DARPA Chief Donald Anderson, had been taken hostage. He devised a plan to use the FOXDIE virus to eliminate individuals involved in the uprising on Shadow Moses Island (with the exception of Anderson) in order to safely return Metal Gear and the Genome Soldiers' corpses. He was concerned that word of REX and the Genome Soldiers' existence may get out. Additionally, Houseman had enough authority to launch a nuclear attack against Shadow Moses in the event that things got out of hand should the operation.
But when REX was obliterated, Houseman, who had lost faith in FOXDIE as a result of Naomi Hunter's treachery, authorized the nuclear attack on the disposal site to cover up the disaster. He hated the Les Enfants Terribles project and thought that both Solid Snake and his terrorist sibling Liquid Snake were an embarrassment to the United States. In addition, he had Colonel Roy Campbell arrested due to thinking that Campbell would try to sabotage the mission by aborting the launch and upsetting the chain of command. Houseman planned to deny the attack happened by saying the terrorists set off a nuclear weapon.
Although Snake had already lost the REX data to Revolver Ocelot, he was still eager to engage in negotiations to stop the nuclear strike. The planned nuclear attack was ultimately stopped when Houseman was forcibly removed of his duties by Richard Ames on orders from the Patriots after George Sears put him under arrest for acting out of line after Campbell managed to get in touch with the President. Instead, Campbell was cleared of all charges, and Houseman was given the blame in regards to what happened.
Post Shadow Moses Incident[]
Houseman apparently experienced an apparent nervous breakdown and died from a self-inflicted gunshot a few days after Shadow Moses. However, it is hinted by Nastasha Romanenko that his passing may have actually been a suicide cover up and was really assassinated by the Patriots because he refused to accept responsibility for the incident.
