The First Gentleman

The First Gentleman (2025) is a political thriller written collaboratively by former president Bill Clinton and best-selling author James Patterson. It is the third of their collaborations after The President is Missing (2018) and The President’s Daughter (2021). Like the other two stand-alone political thrillers, The First Gentleman centers on a high-stakes mystery and conspiracy set in the White House, loosely inspired by Bill Clinton’s experience in office. President Madeline Wright, the first female president of the United States, is negotiating a critical government reform bill to save the United States from financial ruin and turmoil. Meanwhile, investigative journalist couple Brea Cooke and Garrett Wilson are digging into her husband’s past. They believe the first gentleman, Cole Wright, is responsible for the murder of a New England Patriots cheerleader 17 years ago, and they are determined to prove it. Their investigation leads them to uncover conspiracies to bring down the Wright administration.

This guide references the 2025 Penguin Random House Kindle eBook edition of The First Gentleman.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of racism, rape, substance abuse, cursing, violence, and death.

Plot Summary

The First Gentleman opens with First Gentleman Cole Wright pulling up to the courthouse in Brentwood, New Hampshire, where he will stand trial for murder. He walks up the courthouse steps with his wife, President Wright, who makes a public statement emphasizing his innocence. In the crowd outside the courthouse, Brea Cooke angrily watches the display. She believes Cole is guilty of homicide.

The narrative moves backward chronologically to events eight months prior. Brea Cooke and her partner, investigative reporter Garrett Wilson, are meeting with their editor. Garrett tells her they have a source who claims Cole raped a girl while he was attending Dartmouth College. Their source also alleges Cole was involved in the disappearance of a Patriots cheerleader, Suzanne Bonanno, whom he was secretly dating while playing for the football team. Their editor approves the project. Meanwhile, President Wright is busy negotiating a legislative package called the Grand Bargain. She believes vast government reform is necessary to prevent the federal debt from spiraling out of control. The negotiations are being kept secret so that lobbyists and other outside influences will not hamper the needed reforms.

Brea and Garrett meet with Suzanne Bonanno’s family, who claim the police did not do a thorough investigation of Suzanne’s disappearance. Suzanne’s sister, Teresa, believes Cole is involved, but she cannot prove it. Meanwhile, President Wright meets with her vice president, Ransom Faulkner, who is in the hospital receiving treatment for colon cancer. He warns President Wright that someone from within the administration might be trying to sabotage her administration. She suspects Rachel Bernstein, the vice president’s chief of staff.

Brea and Garrett go to Dartmouth College, their alma mater. They interview a janitor who tells them that there were rumors Cole had raped a girl when he attended Dartmouth. The student newspaper had intended to run a story about it, but the reporter had been threatened into silence. The janitor also tells them his cousin heard Cole was involved in Suzanne’s disappearance. He tells them Suzanne had been dating a man named Tony Romero, but they broke up when she started dating Cole. They contact the manager of the off-campus residence where Cole and Madeline Wright lived while they were at Dartmouth to learn who else lived there at the time. They also contact an online hacker to help with their investigation. While Garrett investigates, he is being surveilled by a mysterious, dangerous man named Jack Doohan.

Brea contacts a reporter from the Dartmouth student newspaper, who tells her the reporter who was working on the rape story was killed in action in Afghanistan, but that the reporter believed Cole was guilty of rape. Meanwhile, Garrett meets with a retired Boston police detective who worked on Suzanne’s case 17 years ago. The detective tells him Cole was cleared of any responsibility for her disappearance. However, the original case files have gone missing. Garrett interviews Suzanne’s ex-boyfriend, Tony Romero, who tells him Cole was involved in her disappearance. He beats Garrett up and warns him to stop investigating.

Brea interviews Suzanne’s former roommate, Amber, who agrees that Cole was involved in Suzanne’s disappearance. That evening, Amber is killed. The next day, the retired Boston detective tells Brea and Garrett that Amber is dead and an inmate, John DeMarco, confessed to Suzanne’s murder. Garrett meets with DeMarco, who admits he lied about committing the murder, but says he knows where Suzanne’s body is buried and who killed her. DeMarco’s private investigator tells them where Suzanne is buried, but he refuses to reveal the name of the murderer. As he leaves the prison, Garrett’s car is run off the road. Two men fire a warning shot and tell him to stop investigating.

Burton Pearce, the president’s chief of staff, calls Brea and Garrett. He tells them there is a conspiracy to make President Wright look bad and to bring down the administration. He says Cole is innocent of Suzanne’s murder.

Brea and Garrett go to where DeMarco claims Suzanne’s body is buried. They do not find her body, but they find a bracelet that belonged to her.

Meanwhile, a New Hampshire cop pulls over a drunk driver. Suzanne’s remains are found in the trunk. Detective Gagnon begins to investigate the case. The drunk driver was set up by the same people who employ Brea and Garrett’s mysterious stalker, Jack. Detective Gagnon learns Suzanne died by strangulation and that she was pregnant at the time of her death.

That evening, Brea and Garrett hear from their publishing house that their book project has been canceled. They decide to continue with the investigation anyway. Brea gets a text from an anonymous number signed “Brother” warning her to stop investigating.

Cole meets with Garrett for two hours. After the meeting, Garrett goes to a cabin in Vermont to meet with Brea. Before she arrives, he is murdered by two men. Jack steals his laptop and plants cocaine to make it look like a drug deal gone wrong.

Brea sends an anonymous tip to Gagnon about the location of Suzanne’s grave and sets a meeting with the anonymous “Brother,” who turns out to be her former law school professor. He warns her that there are multiple conspiracies at work. He tells her to meet with a Providence mobster who has information about the case. The mobster tells Brea that a man in the White House—whom Brea assumes to be Cole—is involved in Garrett’s death, but he dies before he can say more.

Detective Gagnon links the blue sheet Suzanne was buried in to the Walmart where she was last seen. She finds CCTV showing that Cole was with Suzanne when she bought the sheet. The district attorney charges Cole with the murder of Suzanne, and he is arrested.

During Cole’s trial, a photograph surfaces of Cole “strangling” a cheerleader, but it turns out to be a joke where he was posing with a male equipment manager dressed as a cheerleader. Cole is found guilty of Suzanne’s murder.

After the trial, Brea’s Ukrainian hacker sends her a dossier showing that Suzanne’s ex-boyfriend Tony has connections to President Wright’s chief of staff, Burton Pearce. Teresa Bonanno admits that Suzanne was pregnant with Tony’s child at the time of her death. She also learns that Pearce was in love with Madeline and resented Cole when they attended Dartmouth together. Finally, Brea learns the identity of the woman who was allegedly raped by Cole. Brea interviews the woman and learns it was Pearce who raped her, not Cole.

Brea meets with Pearce in Washington, DC. He admits to the rape and framing Cole for Suzanne’s murder. He plans to take down President Wright and work as the chief of staff for Faulkner. While they talk, Jack, a sniper working for Pearce, trains his sights on Brea. Before he can kill her, he is arrested.

Tony is arrested for Suzanne’s murder. He killed her because she wanted to raise their child with Cole, not him. He worked with Pearce to frame Cole for the murder. Pearce is also arrested for ordering Garrett’s murder. Cole is exonerated. President Wright passes her Grand Bargain legislation and is elected to a second term. Brea finds a publisher for her book. She makes sure Garrett’s name is on the cover.