- Tom Kirkman: Do you really believe I should step down?
- Seth Wright: I do.
- Tom Kirkman: You may be right. But for now, I'm all you got, and you have exactly... fifty-two minutes to write a speech convincing the American people that that's a good thing.
- [first lines]
- President Richmond: There are times when we make history, and there are times when history makes us. This is a crucial moment for our nation, and America's colors burn brightest when we meet challenges head on.
- Tom Kirkman: I'm as mad as hell, but at the end of the day, I'm not the President of the United States. We should remember that.
- Tom Kirkman: On a scale of one to ten, how much do I embarrass you?
- Leo Kirkman: 11
- Tom Kirkman: Excellent!
- Tom Kirkman: Mr. Ambassador, you may not know much about me, but what you should know is that I'm about as straight a shooter as you're gonna find in Washington.
- Mike Ritter: [listening to his Secret Service headset] It's confirmed. Eagle is gone. Congress, the Cabinet.
- Tom Kirkman: You can't make promises that you won't be able to keep.
- Alex Kirkman: We're in Washington. They're the only promises we're allowed to make.
- On Screen Text: [first lines, the text that appears on screen] During the State of the Union, one cabinet member is taken to an undisclosed location.
- On Screen Text: In the event of a catastrophic attack on our government, that cabinet member becomes our new President.
- On Screen Text: They are known as the Designated Survivor.
- Harris Cochrane: If the country's gonna survive, we need to act swiftly and definitively. Tom Kirkman will not get us through this.
- Aaron Shore: And let me guess... you can?
- Harris Cochrane: We're in a state of war. Who would you rather have leading us?