Wayne Palmer

Wayne Palmer is a fictional character on the television series 24. He is played by D. B. Woodside. He was a recurring character in the third and fifth seasons and will be a regular in the sixth.

The brother of former President David Palmer, Wayne came in to replace Mike Novick as the President's Chief of Staff, after Palmer had relieved Novick of his duties at the end of Season Two. He is a former Marine. He also has a sister named Sandra Palmer.

Before being employed by the President, Palmer was a member of the United States Marine Corps, though he did not see combat. At some point after being discharged, Palmer worked for Alan Milliken, a high powered businessman backer of his brother. While Milliken was hospitalized, recovering from a stroke, Wayne embarked upon an affair with Milliken's wife, Julia.

Day 3

During Day Three, Milliken finds out about Wayne's affair with his wife, Julia, and presents the information to President Palmer, demanding that he fire his brother as Chief of Staff.

Instead of allowing Wayne to resign, Palmer called in his ex-wife, Sherry, to dig up the dirt on Milliken. When she failed in her attempt to counter-blackmail Milliken, Sherry seized the opportunity to prevent Milliken from reaching his medication during a heart attack and convinced Julia not to help him. Milliken died from a heart attack in front of Julia and Sherry. President Palmer provided an alibi for Sherry to the police. She then attempted to expose the truth. Wayne had brought in a specialist to obtain evidence linking Sherry to Milliken's death. As they did so and the evidence was obtained, Milliken's wife, Julia, facing jail time, arrived at Sherry's house with the intent to kill her. Wayne attempted to stop the murder, but failed to do so. Julia later committed suicide. The events of this day led to President Palmer deciding not to seek his second term.

Day 5

At the start of Day Five, Wayne is helping his brother, former President David Palmer, to write his memoirs at Wayne's apartment. It is then that David Palmer is shot in the neck and killed by a sniper. Later, as the FBI comb the crime scene, Jack Bauer quietly infiltrates the apartment but is surprised by Wayne, who is under the assumption that Bauer was responsible for carrying out the assassination. After Bauer manages to convince him otherwise, Wayne helps to uncover information about his brother's death and a plot within the administration.

Shortly after martial law is declared by President Charles Logan, Wayne contacts Secret Service Agent Aaron Pierce to discuss new information concerning David Palmer and the events of the day. As he approaches Logan's retreat, a van of armed commandos working for Christopher Henderson attack his car. He survives and manages to flee his assailants. Wayne escapes with the help of Pierce.

Wayne and Aaron walk into the Presidential retreat and confront Martha Logan's personal assistant, Evelyn Martin, then talk to her regarding e-mails that she exchanged with his brother, David Palmer. Evelyn reveals that she told David who was behind the plot in the government, and that a kidnapper (later revealed to be Henderson) has her eight-year-old daughter. Wayne calls Jack Bauer to assist him, and they rendezvous outside the retreat. Jack allows Wayne to come along to the exchange, where the both of them rescue Evelyn's daughter and kill Henderson's thugs, but fail to capture Henderson himself.

Wayne later helps Jack to break into a bank in order to retrieve evidence that demonstrates President Logan's involvement in his brother's death. After recovering the evidence, Jack takes Wayne to meet with Bill Buchanan, who leads him to a safe house as per Jack's advice. Wayne is not seen throughout the remainder of the season; later, according to President Logan, his whereabouts are still unknown. Wayne is also not seen at his brother's ceremony, which takes place in the final episode of the season, 6AM-7AM, but it is likely that he attended the funeral service in Washington DC.

Day 6

According to Variety, Wayne will return as the "newly elected president of the United States". This was confirmed in the Season 6 trailer that was released on October 24th, when he is seen in the Oval Office being addressed as "Mr. President". [1]