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Greetings, commander. You're ready to send those commies running back to their mommies?
- President Howard T. Ackerman to the Allied commander(src)

Howard T. Ackerman is the President of the United States in Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3.

Biography[]

Howard T. Ackerman is an ambitious American politician whose political ideology is anticommunism. Born and raised on a farm in Idaho, Ackerman later led a successful Presidential campaign to energize his nation with grass-roots, roll-up-his-sleeves style.[1]

He is convinced the Soviet Union hates everything the United States stands for: freedom, liberty, the pursuit of happiness and apple pie. He ridicules the Soviets as "godless commies" and is willing to push the invading Soviet army from Europe (if not off the earth altogether). Ackerman is an enthusiastic and energetic leader, loyal to the American people. His brash and self-righteous political tactics are a stark contrast to the British Field Marshal Robert Bingham, who has calm and stoic mannerisms.

Allied Campaign[]

In the Allied perspective, all of mainland Europe, except for Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium and Western Germany are occupied by the Soviet Union and the British Isles are under attack by General Krukov's armada. However, the Allied commander defends the English coast and Ackerman sends Special Agent Tanya to support the commander in his mission to liberate captured Allied leaders in Cannes, France. Emperor Yoshiro delivers his ultimatum to Allied leaders and blocks all naval traffic in the Atlantic Ocean by the massive Floating Fortresses.

None of you have the guts on what needs to be done, so I am going to wipe those Soviets off the Earth myself! And you can't stop me! Should my heart stop beating, the weapon fires!
- President Ackerman threatening to fire his superweapon at Mount Rushmore(src)

Field Marshal Bingham allies with Premier Cherdenko to defeat the Empire of the Rising Sun, but Ackerman is angered to the brink of insanity, because the pact between the Allies and Soviets mocks his anticommunist policies. Believing the Soviets are plotting to betray the Allies, the president decides to destroy the Soviet Union by levelling Moscow with his so-called "Super Secret Weapon", located and controlled in Mount Rushmore. Premier Cherdenko threatens to dissolve the pact and attack the United States if Moscow is obliterated, forcing the Allied commander to destroy Ackerman's base in the operation "A Monument to Madness". In this mission, Ackerman attempts to initially transmit the launch code via a communications tower to fire the superweapon but the Allied Commander destroys the communications tower, forcing the mad president to hurry to his superweapon's control center by his limo. During three points of this mission, Ackerman activates the other three presidential heads' ability to fire a powerful laser that destroys almost anything on the ground. The Allied Commander has the option to capture the heads' control centers with an engineer each if they wish to prevent the heads from firing. Eventually, the Allied Commander has built enough forces (along with the co-commander) to bring down Ackerman's base along with the superweapon's control centre. 

With the destruction of the base, the superweapon is deactivated, but the president attempts to escape. Bingham instructs the commander to eliminate Ackerman, because the president has endangered world peace. Ackerman's limo/chopper (if the President escaped into the latter) is shot down by the commander, killing him instantly. However, his belief that the Soviets plot to betray the Allies came true when the USSR abandoned the Allied assault on Tokyo and instead was prepared to strike at the Allies in the undefended Allied cities from Havana in Cuba. Ackerman is succeeded by his Vice President, who admits that Ackerman had betrayed us and was willing to kill millions of innocent civilians, but "only because he was trying to protect us".

Soviet Campaign[]

RA3 Soviet logo The following is based on the Soviet campaign of Red Alert 3 and might contradict canon.

In the Soviet perspective, Howard T. Ackerman is the newly-elected President of the United States. In his inauguration speech, Ackerman introduces a bill that will quintuple the American war effort to assist their allies in Europe. Premier Cherdenko dislikes the new American president, considering Ackerman as "an ignorant fanatic who wants to wipe us [the Soviets] off the face of the Earth".

In the last operation, "Blight on the Big Apple", the remaining Allied forces have retreated to the United States. With the death of Robert Bingham, Europe occupied by the Soviet army and the fall of the Empire of the Rising Sun, Ackerman is the last notable Allied leader and has deployed his forces to defend New York. However, the Soviet commander defeats President Ackerman and topples the Statue of Liberty. In the end, the United States is conquered by the Soviet Union and the Statue of Liberty is rebuilt as V. I. Lenin's statue.

Imperial Campaign[]

EotRS logo The following is based on the Imperial campaign of Red Alert 3 and might contradict canon.

In the Japanese perspective, it is revealed that Howard T. Ackerman was, in fact, a sophisticated android spy developed by Crown Prince Tatsu to monitor the United States and encourage the Allied nations to attack the Soviets. The president is controlled from Tatsu's command center in Japan. Emperor Yoshiro admits that Tatsu's android spy has "proven very useful".

The Emperor and Tatsu use Ackerman to watch a conversation between Field Marshal Bingham and the Soviet scientist Gregor Zelinsky. Zelinsky explains that the existence of the Empire of the Rising Sun was the result of a Soviet time machine, used to travel back in time to change the past and the future. The shocking revelation enrages Yoshiro, causing him to damage the equipment used to control Ackerman's actions. As the result, Ackerman malfunctions and the Japanese lose contact with the president. Ackerman is never mentioned or seen again, suggesting the android went offline and was permanently shut down.

Quotes[]

Greetings commander. You ready to send those commies running back to their mommies? I sure hope so, because if you can't stop them over there, the only thing that's gonna stand between those godless Reds and the U, S of A is gonna be one little ocean.
A little word of advice. Don't get on her bad side.
- About Tanya
Good luck saying 'no' to this face!
GameStop: Can you sum up your foreign policy for us?
Ackerman: Do it to them before they do it to us.
Gamestop: "What about the problem with illegal immigrants??"
"When people ask about my position on illegal immigration, I've got two words. Attack dogs! No walls. No permits. Just Dogs. ATTACK DOGS!! It's time people learn that this freedom doesn't come for free.

- Ackerman to GameStop
Political attack ads; I don't think we need them. Sure you can attack me on T.V. but would you attack me in person? I say 'bring it on'. I got a steel cage in my basement and we can go toe to toe whenever. You can twist my words but I'll twist that knee until it POPS! Vote for me if you want to live.
My fellow Americans. Many of you have concerns about healthcare. I've never been sick or injured. My blood is incredibly strong and pure. So I will be donating a pint of blood a week to the uninsured. Just a little bit of my blood and your immune system will be indestructible.
I'm President Ackerman and I endorse this message.
These commies go against everything we stand for. Freedom, Liberty, Apple Pie... did I mention freedom? Well it's worth saying again!
Not me, not the U,S of by god A. You're making a *very* big mistake my friend, you mark my words
Those reds are playing you for a fool, my friend and as long as I'm the President of these United States, I can't allow them to lead this dance. Bingham, you can thank me later when this is all over.
Presidential advert: Yes we can. We can hope. We can dream. But when we wake up, the only candidate ready for the future is me. And the future is coming. It's coming, and it's bringing with it armored Kodiak Bears, attack blimps, and enough weaponized robots to turn hope into a 4 letter word. You want hope? Keep dreaming. You want change? Put out your cup. You want freedom? Vote for me.
I'm serving the commies a steaming platter of shame with a side order of "suck it"!
None of you have the guts on what needs to be done, so I am going to wipe the commies off the Earth myself! And you can't stop me! Should my heart stop beating, the weapon fires!
Why, you little.. That's it! I'm kicking the alert level!!
Don't congratulate yourself! I'm kicking the alert level again! Now, you'll get a real fight!
Welcome to my party. Vote for me if you wanna live.

RA3 Soviet logo The following is based on the Soviet campaign of Red Alert 3 and might contradict canon.
I am humbled to be your new President, and I am honored to lead our nation during these dark and dangerous times. The Soviet Union's recent push into Europe threatens our very existence as a nation. We have deployed troops and equipment to our European allies but we haven't yet fully committed to this fight, until now. I have introduced a bill that will quintuple the resources that we are putting towards this conflict. Today, I say that it is time for America to take a stand against the scourge that is godless communism. For if we don't, if we wait soon, very soon it will be too late.
Stop attacking at once! That's an order!

Trivia[]

  • According to his presidential ads, Ackerman's unnamed party uses an Allied dolphin as the party symbol.
  • While never explicitly confirmed, it is heavily implied that Ackerman is also an Imperial android in the Allied perspective, this would explain why he tried to attack Moscow from the Mount Rushmore base, as a breakdown in their alliance would have helped the Empire greatly. This is supported by the fact that the President's Chopper carrying him explodes in green flames when destroyed, just like Imperial vehicles.
  • Howard T. Ackerman was played by J.K. Simmons. He is best known for his roles as neo-Nazi Vernon Schillinger in the television series Oz, J. Jonah Jameson in the Spider-Man film series, Dr. Emil Skoda in Law & Order, and Aperture CEO Cave Johnson in the video game Portal 2. He is also known for his role as Terence Fletcher from the 2014 film Whiplash which he won an Academy Award for.
  • During the 2008 United States presidential elections, Electronic Arts published several comical video clips, in which Ackerman promotes himself to become the next President of the United States in his fictional "Screw 'Em All" campaign. His political slogan was "Vote for me, if you want to live". In fact, 43 people voted for Ackerman during the 2008 presidential elections.[3]

Gallery[]

Videos[]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Electronic Arts Los Angeles, Red Alert 3 official site: Factions, Units & Characters - President Ackerman (archived).
  2. Electronic Arts Los Angeles, Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3. Allied mission 6: "A Monument to Madness".
  3. Electronic Arts Los Angeles, Red Alert 3 official site: Ackerman's Concession (archived).
Red Alert 3 Characters
RA3 Emblem Allies Allied Personnel RA3 Emblem Allies
EotRS logo Empire of the Rising Sun characters EotRS logo
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