Lawrence Nafe is the Vice President who assumes control when Air Force One goes down after a combination of solar eclipse and earth quake. Nafe is a former Yale student and an idealist who is well known for his open opposition to the President's coddling demeanor with the Chinese, preferring a hard line stance. He is also an opportunist, and when the President is killed, he sees it as an opportunity to bring about the kind of future he has always envisioned, which is one without communists. Using the accident as his starting point, Nafe begins by creating the illusion that the President's plane was brought down deliberately by the Chinese.