Arthur Winters Arthur Coleman Winters was the President of the United States circa spring 2008 . After " Harold Saxon " announced the existence of the Toclafane to the world , Winters was said to be furious at Great Britain having taken unilateral action . The night before official first contact , Winters flew to the United Kingdom in the presidential aircraft and met with Saxon . Refusing to acknowledge Britain ' s authority in the matter , Winters had UNIT seize control and designated himself as the United Nations ambassador to the Toclafane , overriding Saxon . Aboard the UNIT ship " Valiant " , which was to serve as the neutral ground meeting point , Winters ordered all armed personnel to withdraw in accordance with UN strictures before the Toclafane appeared . Much to his confusion , they disregarded him and asked for their " Master " . Saxon , who in actuality was the renegade Time Lord known as the Master , then stood up and identified himself . Still not understanding the situation , Winters accosted him and demanded an explanation . In response , ' Saxon ' stated that he was taking control and ordered one of the Toclafane to kill Winters . One immediately did so , firing a laser bolt that disintegrated the President on the spot . His death , witnessed by the entire world , signalled the start of the Toclafane occupation of Earth . ( TV : " The Sound of Drums " ) When the paradox machine allowing the Toclafane to exist was destroyed , the natural cycle took over and though most of the events that had taken place were reversed , it only rolled back time to a few moments after Winters ' death , meaning that it still happened and Winters remained one of the few casualties of the Master ' s failed plot . ( TV : " Last of the Time Lords " ) Personality . Pompous , arrogant , cynical and short - tempered , President Winters saw himself as the rightful Earth representative . He was antagonistic towards the British , declaring that they had elected an " ass " with Saxon as Prime Minister , and displayed what he saw as perfect patriotism , but was in fact textbook arrogance . Winters was also disrespectful and disregarding of the United Nations and the Unified Intelligence Taskforce , perfectly willing to use them to usurp Saxon but otherwise shunting them aside , branding the First Contact as US - led with his own seal , not the UN ' s . The Toclafane regarded him as stupid . ( TV : " The Sound of Drums " ) Behind the scenes . " President - Elect " . When meeting the Toclafane , Winters referred to himself as " " , suggesting that he had recently won an election but had not yet been sworn in . However , during " The Sound of Drums " , he was referred to as " President " numerous times and by different characters . Moreover , his plane was designated as Air Force One , which would not be true were he merely the President - elect . Unless American law differs in the Whoniverse , it is impossible for an individual to be called the " President - elect " in the spring . The term applied to the winner of the US presidential election during the brief period from Election Day in November to Inauguration Day on the following 20 January — well before the events of " The Sound of Drums " . Additionally , a President - elect has no official standing or duties until formally taking office and becoming President , so Winters being on his mission at all would be extraordinarily unlikely were he still only President - elect . This reference to the " President - elect " was almost certainly a production error that can be jointly laid at the feet of the script editor , the writer and the continuity supervisor , since it only occurs once in the script . The later introduction of Barack Obama to the Whoniverse opens the question as to whether in the fictional universe of " Doctor Who " , Obama was elected president in a standard election , or if he was initially elected as the vice - presidential running mate of Winters and succeeded to the office upon Winters ' death ( as per American law ) .