Martha Logan

Martha Logan
24 character
Jean Smart as Martha Logan
First appearance	Day 5 – Episode 1
Last appearance	Day 6 – Episode 13
Portrayed by	Jean Smart
Days	5, 6
Information
Spouse(s)	Charles Logan (Divorced)

Martha Logan is a fictional character played by Jean Smart in the television series 24. As the first lady of the United States within the 24 universe, she is the capable yet mercurial wife of President Charles Logan. Critics praised Martha Logan as the breakout character of the show's 2005-2006 season.

In developing Martha Logan's character, the show's writers drew upon the historic example of a prominent whistleblower in the Watergate scandal, Martha Beall Mitchell. Similar to the real-life model, Martha Logan becomes contemptuous of her husband's conduct in office and decides to go public and end his career. Martha Logan takes part in a plot to get her husband to confess that he conspired with terrorists. Yet her mental health problems undermine her credibility and raise the possibility that she may be forced into treatment at an inpatient facility. After the events of the fifth season she was committed to a mental health facility.

The inspiration for Martha Logan was Martha Beall Mitchell, the wife of John N. Mitchell, Attorney General during the Nixon administration. Mrs. Mitchell was a key whistleblower who contacted the press to disclose facts about the Watergate scandal, and for a time her statements were discredited because people believed she had a mental illness. Nixon said that "Watergate would have not occurred without Martha Mitchell."

Howard Gordon, the executive producer of 24, said that, during character development, they "wanted an actress that had the strength and intelligence to be a first lady, yet have the unpredictability of never knowing when she might snap." Jean Smart was their first choice. Smart later told The New York Times that she decided she was eager to play the role after reading the character's introductory scene, and commented that in her almost 30 years of acting she had come across few roles that offered the possibilities that this one did: a character that is sexy, mysterious, and powerful, yet is mentally unstable and has lost her trust and respect for her husband.