- "Fear can create monsters where none existed before. Remind the world that there is still goodness here. Be that beacon of hope that we still need."
- —Olivia Marsdin to Supergirl[src]
Olivia Marsdin is the former president of the United States on Earth Thirty-Eight. She is an alien of the species Durlan. Her secret as an alien was exposed by Mercy Graves, forcing her to resign from office.
Biography
Early life
Olivia was born on the peaceful world of Durla and lived there until invaders came. Her people had hoped for the best, but within a year, they were enslaved. However, Olivia managed to escape and found refuge on Earth. She posed as a human and tried to live a peaceful life.[1]
In college, Olivia had been the R.A. for Cat Grant.[1]
Eventually Olivia achieved a great political career, and then managed to become president of the United States, triumphing against an unknown male candidate.[2]
Presidential pardon to J'onn J'onzz
When J'onn J'onzz (turned into a fugitive after he was forced to reveal his true identity as a Green Martian who has pretend to be Hank Henshaw for over fifteen years) helped to defeat Non and Indigo, Marsdin granted him a full presidential pardon and re-instated him as D.E.O.'s director.[3]
Signing the decree on the rights of aliens
President Marsdin at the D.E.O.
Marsdin arrived in National City to sign a decree on granting aliens the rights of U.S. citizens. However, as soon as she got off the plane, she was attacked and nearly killed if not for the intervention of Supergirl. Later the president was taken to D.E.O. for her safety until they felt that the offender was caught; then she gave her speech and was about to sign the decree, when she was attacked again and the culprit turned out to be Scorcher. Supergirl saved again the situation and, the next day, at the D.E.O., Marsdin thanked again the heroine for having save her life. As she walked away, her face briefly morphed, showing she's an alien.[2]
Marsdin contacted J'onn after Supergirl fended off an alien attack in National City as a result of a bounty being placed on her. She asked about the Daxamite ship and J'onn told her that it was stationary for the moment but they could become hostile later. She told J'onn to not engage the Daxam King and Queen as it could lead to an intergalactic incident and J'onn told her that he understood. When J'onn, Supergirl and Winn engaged the ship to rescue Mon-El, Olivia quickly contacted J'onn and angrily asked why he defied her orders. He claimed that they had to rescue Mon-El who had their amnesty and everything worked out well in the end and he took full responsibility. She then asked if the ship had left and he told her it did and she informed him that there would be consequences. After the communication finished, she privately assumed her full alien form and smiled.[4]
Identity exposed to the public
Members of an unknown group somehow managed to expose her as an alien through what appeared to be an assassination attempt at Camp David. Following being exposed, she resigned from office, leaving vice president Baker to replace her.
Personality
Olivia is proven to be progressive, positive, encouraging, modest, humble and polite, as well as extremely charismatic and optimistic. According to Kara Danvers, almost everything Olivia says is quotation material and will pass on to become history.[2]
Despite not being human herself, Olivia has no prejudice towards humans, as she believes that someday most humans and aliens will be able to co-exist in peace.
Olivia is incredibly intelligent, calculating and patient, as she waited for a unknown number of years to initiate the alien amnesty act that allows aliens to come to Earth whenever they want to and gives them the same equal rights as humans, as seen when she uses Kara Danvers and J'onn J'onzz's heroic acts from defeating Non and Indigo as an excuse to initiate the alien amnesty act. She also supported J'onn when he was wrongfully accused of attempting to destroy the D.E.O. after his identity as the "Martian Manhunter" was revealed due to alien prejudice, as Olivia knows full well that if the latter was trying to sabotage the D.E.O., he would've done it by now, as J'onn had years to destroy the organization.
Powers and abilities
Powers
- Super strength: Marsdin has a degree of strength well-above normal humans; as she was able to easily push the plane rubble off her.
- Super durability: Marsdin is very resilient; as she was able to survive a plane crash unscathed.
- Shapeshifting: Marsdin has the power to appear human.[2]
Abilities
- High-level intellect/Expert tactician/Leader: Marsdin is highly intelligent, enough that she became the President of the United States as well as a capable tactician as she managed to keep her alien identity a secret, even from the government itself.[2]
Appearances
Supergirl
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3
Season 4
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Trivia
- Olivia is a member of the Democratic Party.[5]
- Due to the Natural Born Citizen Clause of the U.S. Constitution, Olivia is technically ineligible to serve in the first place (having been born on another planet, and thus outside of the United States) as stated by Olivia herself in "The American Alien".
- As of "The American Alien", the public is now aware that Olivia is an alien.
Behind the scenes
- In the original draft of the DC's Legends of Tomorrow episode "Invasion!", Lynda Carter was intended to play the new President of the United States of Earth One; acting as a doppelgänger of the Olivia Marsdin of Earth Thirty-Eight. At the suggestion of the studio, the role was changed, as they thought it would be too confusing.[6] Eventually, Lucia Walters got the role, and an original character was created.