The new Secretary Of State Elizabeth McCord finds herself immediately faced with a maelstrom of difficult political challenges with an international hostage situation being her most important challenge.

Elizabeth has to deal with a crisis in Yemen and there's trouble on the home front for her as well after her oldest daughter Stevie manages to make the headlines for protesting a new policy at her university.

A Chinese student comes between a peace treaty between Japan and China. Stevie and Alison continue to clash.

The President’s plane is declared missing and Elizabeth is thrust into a situation of power she never imagined possible. Also, Henry butts heads with his new Defense Intelligence Agency handler, Jane Fellows, when he’s asked to recruit one of his Russian students for the NSA.

When a storm destroys a naval base in Bahrain, Elizabeth urges President Dalton to reexamine his approach to climate change and his overall foreign policy, something that could jeopardize his re-election campaign. Also, the McCords worry that their family is being stalked when they discover Jason’s laptop may have been hacked.

When the Mongolian government sends Elizabeth a horse as a gift, she thinks accepting it could upset other Asian countries, but she stirs up more controversy when she considers returning it to Mongolia.

Elizabeth heads to Brussels to seek NATO’s support against Russia when it threatens to invade Bulgaria, but when France refuses to cooperate, it could threaten the alliance’s very existence. Also, Henry’s new government role has him dive into the Russia issue and turn to his former operative, Dmitri Petrov for help, and as Nadine and Mike B’s relationship heats up, Elizabeth finds out information about her old friend that makes her question his loyalties.

When the assistant vice minister of Timor-Leste suddenly dies during a meeting with Elizabeth on the first day of the U.N General Assembly, she becomes suspicious after the president of Timor-Leste ships the body back without a proper investigation. Also, a “fake news” story surfaces claiming Elizabeth is responsible for the minister’s death, and Dmitri returns to work with Henry.

After President Dalton hears about a sonic attack at the U.S. Embassy in Bulgaria, he thinks Russia is to blame and uncharacteristically threatens them with military force, leaving his cabinet concerned about his mental status.

In the aftermath of a deadly attack on the White House, Elizabeth tries to keep a major nuclear disarmament deal from falling apart while a manhunt for the attackers brings D.C. to a halt. For advice, Elizabeth turns to former secretaries of state Madeleine Albright, Hillary Clinton and Colin Powell.

Elizabeth goes head to head with a U.S. governor over the state’s new policy of separating unauthorized immigrants from their children.

Elizabeth goes head to head with a U.S. governor over the state's new policy of separating unauthorized immigrants from their children. Also, she and Henry plan to renew their wedding vows.

Elizabeth must fend off a baseless investigation into her past that threatens to derail the first major legislation of her presidency. Also, First Gentleman Henry squirms after his appearance on THE LATE SHOW with STEPHEN COLBERT results in heightened scrutiny of the romance in the First Couple’s marriage.

President Elizabeth McCord kicks off a new landmark political initiative with help from members of the World Cup Champion U.S. Women’s Soccer team. Also, the McCords overcome last-minute obstacles to pull off a spectacular family celebration.