Howard T. Ackerman
Actor: J.K. Simmons
Affiliation: United States / Allied Nations*Role:* President of the United States*Rank:* Commander of the US forces*Origin:* Idaho, United States*Status:* Killed in action during the Allied campaign Howard T. Ackerman is the President of the United States during the Third World War in Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3.
Born and raised on a farm in Idaho, he built his political career on an image as an energetic, forthright man of the people, deeply committed to American values.
A fervent anti-communist, Ackerman regarded the Soviet Union as an existential threat and pursued an aggressive policy aimed at massively bolstering the American war effort.
His impulsive temperament and radical rhetoric stood in stark contrast to the pragmatism of Field Marshal Robert Bingham, Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe.
When the Empire of the Rising Sun enters the war, however, the Allies are forced to conclude a truce with the Soviets in order to confront their new common enemy.
Ackerman rejects this alliance of convenience and remains convinced that Moscow will eventually betray the Allies.
He therefore decides to act alone and activates a secret military facility concealed at Mount Rushmore, equipped with a gigantic Laser Turret designed to strike Moscow.
When Bingham discovers his plan, the President refuses to obey and personally takes control of the base.
The Allied Commander and Warren Fuller are then ordered to stop Ackerman before he can fire his weapon. After the complex is neutralised, the presidential vehicle is destroyed and Ackerman is killed.
Ironically, his suspicions about the Soviets later prove to be partially well-founded, as they were indeed preparing an attack on their former allies following Japan’s defeat.
In the Imperial campaign, an alternative revelation goes much further: Ackerman is portrayed as a spy android created by Prince Tatsu, intended to infiltrate the United States and stir up war between the Allies and the Soviets.
As this revelation forms part of a campaign that contradicts the Allied campaign, it must nevertheless be regarded as an alternative version of events, rather than a confirmed fact in his main biography.
Howard T. Ackerman thus embodies anti-communism taken to its extreme in Red Alert 3: a president prepared to break a global alliance and launch an attack on Moscow himself rather than place the slightest trust in the Soviets.