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| family = Betty Draper
| family = Betty Draper
| episode = 24
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| children = Sally, Robert
| children = Sally, Robert
| relatives = Adam (half-brother) - deceased, Archibald (father) - deceased; Elizabeth "Betty" T. Draper (wife)
| relatives = Adam (half-brother) - deceased, Archibald (father) - deceased; Elizabeth "Betty" T. Draper (wife)

Revision as of 23:49, 22 December 2008

Donald "Don" Draper
First appearanceSmoke Gets in Your Eyes
Created byMatthew Weiner
In-universe information
GenderMale
OccupationCreative director (advertising)
FamilyBetty Draper
ChildrenSally, Robert
RelativesAdam (half-brother) - deceased, Archibald (father) - deceased; Elizabeth "Betty" T. Draper (wife)

Donald "Don" Draper is a fictional character and the protagonist of AMC's television series Mad Men. He is portrayed by Jon Hamm. On the show, Don is seen as the creative director of the Sterling Cooper Advertising Agency. He's married to Betty Draper, with whom he has two children, Sally and Bobby. In, "Three Sundays," Don cheats on Betty with Bobbie Barrett, wife of Jimmy Barrett, a comedian and TV personality. Betty kicks Don out of the house two episodes later. However, she lets him back in in the season 2 finale, upon learning that she is pregnant.

Biography

Little is known of Draper’s past, his history and true identity being a running mystery of the series' first season. Clues are given through flashbacks and confessions to one of his mistresses. His real name is not, in fact, “Donald Draper”, but rather he was born in 1925 as "Richard (Dick) Whitman", the result of an encounter between his father, Archibald Whitman, and a prostitute. Following his mother's death in childbirth, he was raised by his abusive father and his father’s wife. When Dick was ten years old, Archibald was killed, having been kicked by a horse. Dick's stepmother, who was pregnant when her husband died, subsequently began a relationship with a man known as “Uncle Mack” prior to giving birth to Adam, Dick's half-brother. Though the two boys developed a close relationship, Dick's step-parents were resentful and even abusive. Flashbacks in the first season episode “The Hobo Code” provide a glimpse into his family life.

When Whitman was 18 years old, he enlisted in the United States Army. He was eventually sent overseas during the Korean War and wound up being put under the command of Second Lieutenant Donald Draper, an engineer who had joined the army years before to earn money for his education. Lieutenant Draper had been given the task of establishing a field hospital, with only Whitman to assist him. Soon after, while digging fighting positions, the two men were fired upon, the commotion ultimately resulting in an explosion. Lieutenant Draper died and was burned beyond recognition. In a split-second decision, Whitman switched his dog tags with those of his commanding officer before he himself passed out. The body of Lieutenant Draper (believed to be the corpse of Dick Whitman) was given to the Whitman family—-though the young Adam was suspicious, certain he had spotted Dick on the train which had delivered the body—-and Dick, now "Don", began a new life. In the show's second season, it is revealed that Don's identity change had not gone completely unnoticed, having been tracked down by the wife of his late commanding officer. Eventually the two become friends, with the late Don Draper's wife becoming the one person who apparently knows the entire truth about Dick Whitman.

Though not many details have been provided as to how Don Draper became the creative director at Sterling Cooper, some details have been given. For some time Draper was a used car salesman before writing copy for a fur company. It was at this job that he met his future wife, Betty, who was then a professional model. Though she at first refused his advances, he eventually won her over by buying her the blue fur coat she had modeled and been reluctant to return. They soon married and had two children, Sally and Bobby. Though Draper cares for his family and strongly desires to be a good husband and father, he has had numerous affairs. It is implied that he is unsatisfied with his life and marriage to the point that he questions whether or not he loves his wife.

Draper is the creative director and a junior partner at the fictitious advertising agency, Sterling Cooper. He is considered an asset to the company as he has considerable talent for understanding the desires of others and selling ideas to them. He has occasionally been courted by other advertising firms, but up until the end of the second season he remains loyal to Sterling Cooper. There is a division among the employees at Sterling Cooper in terms of their opinion of Don Draper. Most everyone respects his talent, but his true character remains mysterious and heavily guarded from them. This is most true for account executive Pete Campbell, who has coveted Draper’s job for some time and even went as far as to try to blackmail him at the end of the first season. Campbell stole a package sent to Draper from his long-lost step-brother Adam, which revealed Draper’s true identity. To both Pete and Don’s surprise, the senior partner Bert Cooper could not have cared less and it is presumed that Draper’s past remains unknown to the rest of the employees. Equally complex is Draper’s relationship with Peggy Olson, who began as his secretary but with his support eventually became a copywriter. In the show's second season, the relationship between Peggy and Don is revealed to be more complex than it first appears, each having helped the other while in trouble. Later in the series when Duck Phillips attempts to become the new president of Sterling Cooper, Pete warns Don of Duck's power play, validating Bert Cooper's season 1 statement to Don that he should not fire Pete as "one never knows how loyalty is born."

It becomes clear during the second season that many of Draper's less admirable actions (infidelity, etc.) are his way of dealing with his internal conflict (Dick Whitman vs. Don Draper). More specifically, he feels that he is still Dick Whitman and thus Don Draper's "life" is not really his. This conflict comes to a head when Betty forces him out of the house after learning about his affair with Bobbie Barrett. While on business in California he reunites with the real Mrs. Draper who helps him realize that he is not alone and that regardless of his name, 'Don Draper's' life and family are indeed his. Draper, having resolved his identity crisis, then returns to New York to attempt to make amends with Betty. The season ends with Betty asking Don to come home and revealing that she is pregnant. In the final scene he reaches across the kitchen table and, after a brief pause, she takes his hand.

References