President Madeline Parsons Wright is the first female president of the United States. The authors portray her as a savvy political operator who is willing to play “hard ball” to garner support for her key legislative initiative, the Grand Bargain. She couples this tenacity with personal attention to detail to make her political interlocutors feel understood. For instance, she convinces Congressman Trent to support her legislation by agreeing to send his political rival to France. Then, she ends the conversation on a personal note by telling the congressman that the secret to making scones is to “make sure the butter is cold when you mix it into the dough”—a metaphor that epitomizes her political and professional approach (355). President Wright cares deeply about the country and believes her legislation is key to ensuring its future. She loves and supports her husband despite the allegations against him. The two have a close, affectionate relationship.

Burton Pearce, the president’s chief of staff and the primary antagonist of the novel, embodies The Corruptive Power of Jealousy, Resentment, and Insecurity. He attended Dartmouth with President Wright and Cole, where they lived in the same off-campus student residence. Pearce fashions himself as deeply loyal to President Wright, and they have been close since their student days, yet he attempts to sabotage her husband’s reputation and her political goals.

Pearce’s nickname is “The Gray Ghost,” a reference to his cold and calculating personality and tendency to manipulate a situation from behind the scenes. Just how cold and calculating he is becomes clear when the extent of his crimes, from rape to murder to political backstabbing, is revealed at the end of the novel.

Vice President Ransom Faulkner is a former US senator from Pennsylvania who was once the chief of police of the Philadelphia Police Department. He ran against President Wright for the presidential nomination before becoming her running mate. There had been a contested convention for the nomination, and Faulkner had “yielded to party pressure at the last minute” and agreed to let Madeline have the nomination in exchange for the vice-presidential position and Madeline’s support in eight years for his presidential run (58). Despite this loss, he is supportive of Madeline and her administration.

Vice President Faulkner is very sick with colon cancer. While he does his best to remain positive and involved in White House politics, he is sidelined by his illness for the majority of the plot.

Brea Cooke is the point-of-view protagonist of The First Gentleman, who is investigating Cole’s background and his involvement in Suzanne’s death. She is a Black woman from Brooklyn whose father worked for the Metropolitan Transport Agency. She comes from a middle-class background, and she’s worked hard for the success she has had in life. Her regular job is as a criminal law professor at Yale University.

Brea is in a long-term, committed relationship with Garrett Wilson, an investigative reporter with whom she does research. She’s devastated by his murder during their investigation, and the loss motivates her to find his killer—a search that highlights The Challenges of Pursuing Truth and Justice across the novel.

Garrett Wilson is an investigative journalist who has written two bestselling nonfiction books about “a mole in the CIA” and “an American hero being screwed over by her superior officers and not getting the Medal of Honor she deserved” (18). He previously worked at the Boston Globe. Alongside  Brea, he investigates Cole’s role in the murder of Suzanne Bonanno. The authors characterize him as a fearless, dedicated researcher who loves Brea deeply and enjoys playing guitar.

Detective Marie Gagnon is the primary investigator in the murder of Suzanne. She is called to the scene when Suzanne’s skeleton is found in the back of a car. She is daunted when the original case files about Suzanne’s disappearance cannot be found and she has to “start from scratch” (195), but she continues to investigate. She initially thinks the evidence points toward Cole being responsible for the crime, but when she learns new evidence from Brea, she acts quickly to arrest the real culprit.

Tony Romero is an operative in the Providence Mob who is an antagonist with a “vendetta” against Cole. Through the testimonies of those involved in Suzanne’s life, the authors characterize him as a shady figure with a long criminal record who works out of a bar called Raymond’s Tavern, named for former Providence Mob boss Raymond L. S. Patriarca. The climax of the novel reveals Tony as Suzanne’s killer—a crime motivated by jealousy that she wanted to raise their child with Cole instead of him. He has connections to Pearce, who attended Brown University in Providence, and they work together to frame Cole for the crime.

Felicia and Teresa Bonanno, the mother and sister of Suzanne, live in a trailer in Seabrook, New Hampshire. Felicia is devastated by the death of her daughter. Teresa has a substance abuse problem, which the authors suggest positions her as an unreliable witness. She eventually tells Brea that Suzanne was pregnant with Tony’s baby at the time of Suzanne’s death.

Suzanne Bonanno, a former cheerleader for the New England Patriots, is killed 17 years before the events of the novel. According to the friends and acquaintances interviewed by Garrett and Brea, she loved using her role as cheerleader to help people at community events. She was secretly dating Cole at the time of her disappearance, which implicates him in her murder when her body is discovered.

Rachel Bernstein is the vice president’s chief of staff. She feels resentful of President Wright because she believes that “Ransom Faulkner was cheated out of his rightful destiny” (61). She wants Faulkner to be president and secretly writes anti-Wright blog posts in an attempt to bring down the administration. She is sent to Berlin to keep her away from her boss while Pearce attempts to take her job.

Dr. Cameron Graham is Brea’s law professor from Columbia Law School. He worked for the FBI and as a judge before becoming a professor. He is a Black man who works with the FBI to infiltrate “radical groups.” He is concerned that Brea’s investigation into Cole Wright might get her into trouble, and he tries to scare her off the investigation with anonymous texts signed “Brother.” He dies of a heart attack.

Seymour Washington is a private investigator who helps Brea and Garrett with their investigation. He used to be a Boston city council member before becoming an investigator. He is “wired into the underbelly of Boston and beyond” (142). He has connections both to the Providence Mob and academics like Dr. Graham. He used to be a Black radical, as suggested by the photograph of him in his office with a “huge ‘fro, multicolored dashiki, and a raised clenched fist” (158).

Daryna is a mysterious Ukrainian hacker/researcher who provides important information to Brea about the death of Suzanne Bonanno.

Marcia Dillon is Garrett and Brea’s longtime editor. She champions their investigative research project even after she is fired from her publishing house for supporting it.

Tess Hardy is Cole Wright’s defense attorney. She is “one of the country’s most powerful and influential defense attorneys” (282). She is a regular guest on CNN and “Sunday-morning news shows” (282). She unsuccessfully argues in court that the evidence against Cole Wright is not enough to meet the burden of “guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Eddie O’Halloran is a retired Boston police detective who contributed to the investigation into Suzanne Bonanno’s disappearance. He gives Garrett Wilson a lot of information about the case, including pointing him to an inmate who confessed to Suzanne’s murder, until someone, or something, causes him to stop talking.