History Characters / ThePolitician

[[caption-width-right:221:"I'm gonna tell them everything. And then I'm gonna win.]]

[[quoteright:336:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/payton_hobart_season_1_portrait_6.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:336:"I'm not about enjoyment. I'm about winning."]]

* BrokenAce: Payton possesses a 4.3 GPA and is politically and academically savvy, though he is also an AcademicAlphaBitch who is deeply affected by [[spoiler: River's suicide]].
* TheChessmaster: Starting at a young age, everything Payton does is part of a life-long plan to get him in the Oval Office. He even [[SmartPeoplePlayChess plays chess!]]

* FatalFlaw: Ambition, but more deeply it's his need for validation.

* TheSociopath: Discussed. One of his biggest fears is that he can't feel anything. Especially when [[spoiler: he struggles to cry over River's death, but successfully does so to manipulate Infinity onto his campaign.]]

* GranolaGirl: Becomes this during the time skip from season one to two, aiming for a close to zero waste lifestyle

* ObfuscatingDisability: [[spoiler: Andrew tells Payton that she doesn't really have cancer, which is confirmed at the end of episode 2.]]

[[folder: Keaton Hobart]]
!!! '''Played By:''' Creator/BobBalaban
Payton's adoptive father, Georgina's husband.

* AbusiveParents: He's cold to Payton on a good day and while he does like him for a while, it seems only because [[spoiler: he's ''not'' the son(s) who attempted to kill him when he was in a coma.]] He also plays favorites with his three sons, though Payton typically has the short end of the stick.
* AwfulWeddedLife: Keaton is aware he's in a bad marriage to Georgina, but doesn't want her to divorce him.
* ConvenientComa: He throws himself out of a window after learning that Georgina wants a divorce, which leaves him in this state.
* DrivenToSuicide: After learning his wife wants to leave him, he throws himself out of a window. He survives, however.
* {{Jerkass}}: [[spoiler: He forces Georgina to stay in their failing marriage by threatening to cut her and their son Payton out of the will if she cheats again and eventually makes good on this promise. Additionally, he plays favorites with his three sons regularly.]]
* MayDecemberRomance: Downplayed. He's decades older than his wife, though the romance part has long died out (if there was ever any romance to begin with, that is).[[note]]Bob Balaban is 27 years older than Gwyneth Paltrow in real life.[[/note]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder: River Barkley]]
!!! '''Played By:''' David Corenswet
Astrid's boyfriend, Payton's tutor [[spoiler: and ex-lover]]
----

* [[spoiler: DrivenToSuicide]]: [[spoiler: River fatally shoots himself in front of Payton, and attempted suicide unsuccessfully a year prior to this.]]

* [[spoiler: PlotTriggeringDeath]]: [[spoiler: Somewhat. His girlfriend Astrid replaces him as Payton's rival in the student body president election in order to memorialize River. His ghost appears to Payton periodically after episode 1.]]
* [[spoiler: PosthumousCharacter]]: [[spoiler: He only appears in flashbacks and dream sequences after his death in the first episode.]]

* WalkingSpoiler: [[spoiler: It's kind of hard to describe parts of the show without mentioning that River dies by suicide halfway through the pilot episode.]]

* RunawayBride: [[spoiler: When Alice learns that Payton is running for New York State Senate, she runs away from the altar to look for him.]]

* SugarAndIcePersonality
* TrophyWife: Initially dreams of being this to Payton

[[folder: Andrew Cashman]]
!!! '''Played By:''' Ryan J. Haddad
A guy who has a crush on Infinity.

* CassandraTruth: [[spoiler: He tells the school principal and staff that Infinity is faking her disability, but is sent to detention for it.]]
* DisabledSnarker: Andrew's no less snarky than everyone else.
* DisabilityAsAnExcuseForJerkassery: Subverted. While he has cerebral palsy, he never seems to use his disability as an excuse. He's just generally a jerk to everyone but Infinity.
* StalkerWithACrush: On Infinity.
* TheStoner: Andrew smokes marijuana.

[[folder: Martin Hobart]]
!!! '''Played By:''' Trevor Mahlon Eason
Payton's adoptive older twin brother.

* YourCheatingHeart: Leaves the throttle after falling for Hadassah

Payton's girlfriend, member of his political team.

* LadyInAPowerSuit: Almost all of McAfee's clothes are trouser suits, but she also fits the character archetype to a tee, being a largely calm, aloof woman/teenage girl.

* BackstabbingTheAlphaBitch: [[spoiler: He pulls this on Payton after the latter finds out about his affair with Alice.]]
** Subverted when it's revealed this [[spoiler: was all an elaborate BatmanGambit to damage Astrid's campaign that Payton was in on.]]

!!Main Characters

** To Astrid from season one. Both are popular candidates whose path pits them against Payton and co. Both are ruthless competitors who will look for the way to win. Where Astrid [[spoiler: withdrew to delegitimise and demoralise Payton’s win]] Dede [[spoiler: does so out of what appears to be interest in what’s best for her constituency]]
** Her own relationship is this to Payton’s with Alice and [[spoiler: Astrid]]. Where her relationship with her husband and their lover is borne from love and genuine care, Payton’s relationship with Alice and [[spoiler: Astrid]] is all about power, control and mistrust.
* {{Polyamory}}: is in a throuple (a three way relationship) with her husband and a lover, where all three love each other equally.

!!Recurring Characters
[[folder: Andrew Cashman]]
!!! '''Played By:''' Ryan J. Haddad
A guy who has a crush on Infinity.

* CassandraTruth: [[spoiler: He tells the school principal and staff that Infinity is faking her disability, but is sent to detention for it.]]
* DisabledSnarker: Andrew's no less snarky than everyone else.
* DisabilityAsAnExcuseForJerkassery: Subverted. While he has cerebral palsy, he never seems to use his disability as an excuse. He's just generally a jerk to everyone but Infinity.
* StalkerWithACrush: On Infinity.
* TheStoner: Andrew smokes marijuana.

[[folder: Martin Hobart]]
!!! '''Played By:''' Trevor Mahlon Eason
Payton's adoptive older twin brother.

* JourneyForSelfDiscovery: [[spoiler: She's leaves for one in the penultimate episode of season 1. Last heard, she's in the Bhutanese Himalayas.]]

* {{Foil}}: To Astrid from season one. Both are popular candidates whose path pits them against Payton and co. Both are ruthless competitors who will look for the way to win. Where Astrid [[spoiler: withdrew to delegitimise and demoralise Payton’s win]] Dede [[spoiler: does so out of what appears to be interest in what’s best for her constituency]]

** [[spoiler: In Season 2, it is shown that in college, she dated and slept with both men and women, likely making her bisexual. She even gets the show's most gratuitous sex scene, with a man she met on Tinder, in this season.]]

* BrainyBrunette: McAfee has brown hair that borders on being dark blonde, and she is very smart.

* BiTheWay: His girlfriend was Alice Charles, but [[spoiler: he also had an affair with River Barkley, whose death deeply affects him]].

* BiTheWay: His girlfriend is Astrid, [[spoiler: but he had feelings for Payton, whom he also had a sexual relationship at some point before River committed suicide]].

* BiTheWay: She's married to a man, and has an affair with Brigitte, the family horse trainer.

* ConvenientComa: He throws himself off out of a window after learning that Georgina wants a divorce, which leaves

* MayDecemberRomance: She married to Keaton, who is significantly older than she is.

* HesBack: In the last moments of S1 after his friends tells him YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre and he [[spoiler: declares his campaign for state senate]].

* FakingTheDead: [[spoiler: Or rather, her disappearance. She briefly runs away to New York with the help with Ricardo]].
* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler: The first season finale has her work with Payton in his campaign to become State Senate Leader of New York.]]

* YourCheatingHeart: She fakes doing this to Payton in order to get him sympathy points during the presidential election. [[spoiler: Except she ''isn't'' fake-cheating on him - she's been sleeping with Theo for several months.]]

* [[spoiler: {{Blackmail}}]]: [[spoiler: Infinity accuses her grandmother Dusty of poisoning her deceased mother, and uses this as blackmail in order to get away from her.]]

* [[spoiler: MunchausenSyndrome]]: [[spoiler: Pulls this on her granddaughter.]]

* EvilMatriarch: Of the Jackson family. [[spoiler: She poisoned Infinity and likely killed her mother.]]

* SecondYearProtagonist: Averted, he's explicitly in his senior year of high school in season 1.

* TheCincinnatus: She's offered [[spoiler: the vice-presidency by Skye but refuses and turns her in, as she still believes in Payton.]]

* BigBadEnsemble: She's Payton's main opponent in S1 along with Dusty. Though she pulls a [[HazyFeelTurn]] in the back half of the season and becomes less interested in the race meanwhile Dusty proves a much more despicable character.

* YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame: His last words to his daughter after [[spoiler: she called the FBI on him]] are how proud he is of her. Given his ManipulativeBastard tendencies, this could just be him getting under Astrid's skin one last time or possibly both.

** First he shows immediate familiarity with Sondheim's ''Theatre/{Assassins}'' when Infinity tells him about her casting. Then he auditions himself and treats it as SeriousBusiness

** First he shows immediate familiarity with Sondheim's ''Theatre/Assassins'' when Infinity tells him about her casting. Then he auditions himself and treats it as SeriousBusiness

* EasilyForgiven: [[spoiler: Serves minimal jail-time for trying to 'kill' Payton, who actually seems happy about her light sentence and becomes friends with her.]]

** First he shows immediate familiarity with Sondheim's Theatre/Assassins when Infinity tells him about her casting. Then he auditions himself and treats it as SeriousBusiness

** First he shows immediate familiarity with Sondheim's Theater/Assassins when Infinity tells him about her casting. Then he auditions himself and treats it as SeriousBusiness