Biography

CIA analyst Jack Ryan first appeared in The Hunt for Red October, although Patriot Games (Clancy's third novel) begins his story ...

The son of a nurse and a police officer, both of whom died in a plane crash, Ryan is a 6'1" former US Marine. He served as second lieutenant on the USS Guam, until his military career was cut short at the age of twenty-three when his platoon's helicopter crashed during a NATO exercise over Crete. Ryan's back was badly injured in the crash; he has hated flying ever since.

After leaving the Marine Corps, Ryan became a successful stockbroker in Baltimore where he came to the attention of his company's Vice-President, Joe Muller. Jack met Muller's daughter, Caroline (Cathy), a medical student at John Hopkins and subsequently they fell in love. She introduced Jack to her teacher, a professor of neurosurgery, who operated on Jack's back and cured his back pain. Cathy later went on to become an ophthalmic surgeon.

Jack, who holds a degree in history, left the world of stock broking after 4 years to complete his doctorate. He then took a job at the US Naval Academy where he became involved in consulting work for the CIA.

Following his successful intervention in an assassination attempt against the Prince and Princess of Wales by the Ulster Liberation Army, Ryan was invested as a Knight Commander of the Victorian Order by the Queen. He was also asked to join the CIA permanently by the DDI (Deputy Director Intelligence) James Greer and, following a retaliatory assassination attempt on his wife and daughter, decided to accept. His consistent bravery was rewarded with rapid promotion and he moved swiftly from being Greer's assistant to taking his place as DDI. From there it was a short step to becoming National Security Advisor to the President, and when the unimaginable happened, to inauguration as the President of the United States of America.

Estimates put Jack's age at around forty-two years old by the time he becomes President. He and his wife Cathy have three children: Sally, Jack Junior and Katie. At the start of Patriot Games Jack is thirty-one years old and Sally is four. Jack Junior is born at the end of Patriot Games.