The First Gentleman

Like their real-life counterparts, Cole and President Wright hold positions of power and influence, and their success engenders jealousy in a variety of people in their lives who serve as antagonists across the novel—Tony, Pearce, and Rachel. Each antagonist allows these feelings of jealousy and resentment to fuel their insecurity, pushing them to commit a series of crimes in an attempt to frame Cole for murder, destroy his reputation, sabotage President Wright’s political career, and reinforce their own sense of power and control. 

As a character, Cole embodies a privileged archetype: a wealthy, white man who has achieved personal and professional success and is in a loving marriage to a powerful political leader. Through flashbacks and reflections from various characters, the authors emphasize Cole as the target of jealousy and resentment when he was in college. He was a “star player” at Dartmouth and, as Pearce notes, “stars generate heat. And heat generates jealousy” (154). No one was more jealous of Cole than Pearce, who was “head over heels in love with Maddy Parson” (413). Pearce’s jealousy of Cole pushes him to cross moral lines, spreading the rumor that Cole had raped a girl at a homecoming party.