Robert Wakefield

Grew Up… around powerful people. When he wife asks about Washington, he says, “What's Washington like? Well, it’s like Calcutta, surrounded by beggars. The only difference is the beggars in Washington wear fifteen-hundred-dollar suits and they don't say ‘please’ or ‘thank you.’”

Living… in Ohio, and also Washington, D.C. Recently promoted to serve as the nation’s “drug czar,” Robert is faced with the most challenging and complex mission of his life. Every top official warns him that the so-called “war on drugs” is an unwinnable battle. But Robert is determined to send a message by taking down “either Juarez or Tijuana,” the two biggest cartels in Mexico, which are supplying drugs in the United States. 

Profession… drug czar. The former judge from Ohio now oversees the President’s Office of National Drug Control Policy. Robert is a conservative, but the things he sees in his new position – including the pervasiveness of and destructiveness caused by drugs even in his own backyard – may change his politics forever.

Interests… his job, his family, and sending threatening symbolic messages to the cartels.

Relationship Status… married. His wife Barbara is supportive of his political endeavors. They have a teenage daughter, Caroline, an honors student in high school – who also develops an addiction to hard drugs.

Challenge… winning the war on drugs, both in Washington and at home. When Robert finds out that his daughter is deeply addicted to drugs, his battle becomes a personal one. He wants to save his daughter from her addiction, but finds it difficult to keep his integrity in the war on drugs while still supporting his daughter. It’s one thing to “declare war” on drugs and drug users in the abstract, and quite another to do so to one’s child.

Personality… responsible and driven. Robert is a strategic politician with an agenda. Luckily, his agenda is generally just, if naïve. He still has a lot to learn about the drug trade and how it really looks in the streets – and in the walls of one’s own home.