Why On Earth Did Cooper Howard Trust The President In Fallout?!

Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for Fallout season 2, episode 7.

When you think of Fallout's The Ghoul, you think of a lone ranger who trusts no one, but in a previous life, Cooper Howard appears to have an unreasonable level of trust for people he didn't know. In the penultimate episode of season 2, there is a flashback to events surrounding Cooper Howard after he acquires the key to cold fusion from Hank MacLean.

Aiding him in this effort, his wife, who has previously been highly secretive with her husband, decides to put her faith in her husband and help him achieve his goals, even though they could impede her own. But of course, Cooper needs to find someone else who can do something meaningful with the key to limitless energy, so he turns to the President of the United States.

Cooper Howard Had His World Turned Upside Down Learning About His Wife's Dark Secrets

The thing is, Cooper has been thrown into a world that he frankly wasn't ready to be a part of. Despite serving as a soldier during wartime, Cooper had settled into a life of luxury as a movie star, and he lived in ignorant bliss for years before talk of imminent nuclear war rocked his world. And then, to discover that his own wife was involved in a plan to send the nukes at America itself, it was world-altering.

As a result, Cooper had some trust issues, and he was reluctant to take people at their word, but he still believed that some people were inherently good, and people like his wife may have been misguided. So when Barb Howard helps him reclaim cold fusion, it probably lit another spark of hope in humanity for Cooper.

Cooper Howard Aligned Himself With Underdogs To Fight Back

Cooper was also more inclined to align himself with underdogs as opposed to those in power. When he met with Lee Moldaver for the first time, recognizing her struggle to do things right resonated with him. Likewise, Cooper felt care and compassion towards a female politician who appeared to struggle to connect with her constituents and peers.

But, despite the uphill battle that lay ahead, Cooper decides to put his faith in these people and push towards making a real marked difference by doing whatever they suggest in order to prevent global disaster.

Cooper Howard Should Never Have Blindly Trusted The President Of The United States

Despite all of that, there is one significant moment in Fallout season 2, episode 7, when Cooper is told he could meet with the President and hand over the cold fusion reaction in hopes that the world's most powerful man will do the right thing. But it makes almost no sense that he should have blind faith and trust in this political elite, considering what came before.

Cooper could barely trust his wife, and for a while, he didn't. When he met Robert House, the wealthiest man in America, he knew that this man was dangerous. But somehow, some way, he thought the President of the United States was worthy of his authority, and the right man to hand over the cold fusion to.

Evidently, the future proved that this decision was likely a mistake, and the fact that Clancy Brown, an actor who is notoriously cast as villains, only serves as further evidence that Cooper Howard made a mistake trusting the President. Maybe he was naive, and that changed over the next 200 years, or maybe his restored faith in his wife extended to the White House, but either way, it was a costly lesson learned in Fallout's dark past.