What is the name of the politician who is the antagonist in The Dead Zone?

The politician who serves as the antagonist in The Dead Zone is Greg Stillson. Stephen King’s 1979 novel presents Stillson as an ambitious, ruthless politician whose possible rise to the presidency creates a catastrophic moral dilemma for Johnny Smith.

After waking from a coma of nearly five years, Johnny develops clairvoyant abilities triggered by touch. When he encounters Stillson, Johnny sees a future in which Stillson becomes president and causes a worldwide nuclear conflict. That vision drives the novel’s central question: whether Johnny should murder one dangerous political figure to prevent an unimaginable disaster.

Stillson is not the only threatening figure in the novel. Frank Dodd is a serial killer whose crimes form another major plotline, while Johnny Smith is the protagonist and psychic investigator confronting both forms of evil. The 1983 film adaptation cast Martin Sheen as Stillson, and the television series later featured Sean Patrick Flanery in the role.