Hello, Ric here and welcome to the Personnel File, a series where we look into the career
and psyche of some of Star Trek’s notable characters. We are continuing our campaign
of captains with a twist this time. Technically this one is not a part of the Federation,
well for a long time anyway. Captain Jonathan Archer was one of the earliest
and most influential Starfleet captains whose endeavours in exploration, diplomacy and combat
predate the Federation which he would even go on to lead for a time. Existing in a time
before the rule book was written, he was influential in the formation of many of Starfleet’s
laws including the formation of the Prime Directive, First Contact protocols and his
advice was invaluable to many following explorers. So as with the other Personnel files, this
will consist of mostly memory alpha content with beta content, that is novels and the
like filling in some of the blanks especially in his later life.
Jonathan Beckett Archer was born October 9th 2112 in New York, Earth to Henry and Sally
Archer. Henry Archer was a warp theorist and engineer who had worked with Zefram Cochrane
who continued Cochrane’s work after the scientist disappeared.
In 2119 Henry Archer successful founded the NX Program with the ultimate goal of producing
a Warp 5 engine. It was likely around here that the family moved to San Francisco.
In 2124, Jonathan Archer began studying with the goal of becoming a pilot.
Later that year, Henry Archer died from Clarke’s Disease.
In 2130, Jonathan Archer entered Starfleet Flight School at the age of 18.
In 2132, still under training, he took up a position working in his father’s NX program.
At the age of 22, Jonathan Archer was part of the North American Water Polo Regionals
and his team won. In 2136 He Graduated from Starfleet Flight
School and took an official rank and position in the NX program. In this year he proposed
to Margaret Mullin but she refused due to his drive to join Starfleet.
In 2140, Archer was promoted to Commander alongside A.G Robinson and had earned a reputation
as one of the best pilots in the Project, perhaps even the fleet.
He was also intimately familiar with the theory and specifics of the Warp engine models of
the NX program having a vested interest in his father’s legacy.
In 2143, Commander Robinson became the first human to break the Warp 2 barrier with Archer
running ground control operations. The project was almost cancelled with the destruction
of the NX-Alpha test ship and the near death of Robinson.
Not long after, the two test pilots, along with engineer Charles Tucker took the NX-Beta
for an unauthorised test flight and successfully reached warp 2.5 after correcting a flaw in
his father’s design. For their act of defiance, they were grounded
for 3 months, but kept on the project. In 2145, Warp 3 was achieved.
In 2147, Archer was engaged in numerous training exercises such as the Omega training that
included EV training on Titan. He also was assigned to Vulcan exploratory
ships to help install equipment. Starfleet was likely taking any attempt to get its most
promising officers out into actual space. In 2149, construction on Starfleet’s first
deep space vessel began and selection for its command was started.
In 2150 both Archer and Robinson were the two remaining candidates for the command of
the NX-01. In 2151, Jonathan Archer was promoted to Captain
and assigned to the NX-01 prototype christened, Enterprise.
Its first mission was to return a Klingon agent to Qo’Nos introducing the United Earth
to the Klingon Empire. Archer and the higher echelons of Starfleet
were soon made aware of the Temporal Cold War being waged and throughout his career
was often utilised as a Temporal Agent by a 31st century.
Archer was instrumental in laying the groundwork for diplomatic ties with the Andorian species
with the exposure of the P’Jem listening post and subsequent encounters with Thy’Lek
Shran. In 2152 the Enterprise reached warp 5.2, a
theoretically attainable, but unproven speed for the NX vessels.
Also this year, he made First Contact of a sort with the Romulan Star Empire.
In 2153, The Xindi attacked Earth. Archer was sent on a yearlong mission into the Delphic
Expanse to prevent a second attack which ended with the Xindi learning that they were being
used as pawns in the Temporal Cold War. The Enterprise returned home in 2154.
He was instrumental in the return of the Kir’Shara to the Vulcan people which instituted a series
of reforms centred around older teachings of Surak.
Later that year, in the face of rising Romulan tensions, Archer helped found the Coalition
of Planets between Andoria, Earth, Tellar and Vulcan.
In 2155, the Earth Romulan War began, being waged with drone ships and long range strikes.
In 2156, Archer was promoted to Commodore. Archer also petitions for Klingon aid in fighting
the Romulan threat and the NX class was refitted and designated as the Columbia Class.
At the close of 2160, Archer oversaw the Battle of Cheron marked the final conflict of the
Earth-Romulan War. The Neutral Zone was established as a border between the two powers and the
conflict ended. 12th of August, 2161 the Coalition of Planets
is officially reformed into the United Federation of Planets and Jonathan Archer signs the accords,
delivering a speech at Candlestick Auditorium. The NX-01 was decommissioned soon after and
Captain Archer accepted a promotion to Admiral. He was diagnosed with a neurological disease
that seemed incurable. In 2164, the Andorian Imperial guard made
him an honorary member. He was also cured of his illness.
In 2165 Admiral Archer was assigned as the United Earth Space Probe Agency’s Chief
of Staff. One of his first actions was to implement
a series of changes throughout Starfleet to produce many new vessels under both Starfleet’s
shipyards and the UESPA divisions. In 2169 Archer retired from Starfleet and
took up position as the Earth Ambassador to Andoria, to the wide acceptance of the Andorian
people and began his role in politics. In 2175 he took a role as a Federation councilman
where he served for 8 years shaping federation policy.
In 2184 He ran for and was elected Federation President following the Andorian President
Avarnthi sh’Rothress. Archer served two consecutive terms until
2192 where he stepped down. This is where the records for Jonathan Archer
end and some sources suggest his death date to be in 2245 at the age of 133. A feasible
age in Trek lore, but still a very long lifespan, but if true, he would have lived just long
enough to witness the launch of the USS Enterprise NCC-1701.
In terms of hobbies, Archer’s primary interest seems to be water polo, which he used to play
in a semi-professional fashion in his youth and he continue to keep up to date with the
sport. He continues to have a competitive streak and engaged in numerous sports alongside
his crew. Hiking and climbing seemed to be something he did often and he continually
displayed a vested interest in astronomy. Archer shares a very strong bond with his
ship, the Enterprise as any captain should, but for him it is a personal connection.
He was very close to his father, who inspired in him a great desire to explore and is the
primary reason for him to follow in his footsteps. From a young age, he set his sights on becoming
a pilot, something most children have dreamed of in wonder. What would it be like to fly?
He maintains this even into his adulthood enjoying moments of wonder to remind himself
of his initial dream. This desire became a downright drive on the death of his father,
reinforcing his attempts to succeed. Because of this he applied himself wholly to the NX
Program, with it consuming his focus. The Enterprise is the final outcome of his father’s
legacy. Archer had very few rules to guide him on
his early missions in deep space. As the captain of the first warp 5 vessel, he was often far
from Starfleet authority and the only guide he had were his crew and his own moral compass.
A trait that would go on to be true for many following captains. This would prove to be
the first of many hurdles he would have to overcome as throughout his early life, he
was a stickler for protocol and the rulebook, something it took his rival/friend A G Robinson
to point out would not be a suitable trait for a pioneer.
In effect, the first NX captain would have to be a pathfinder for Starfleet and while
a strong morality was a benefit in shaping the future of Starfleet, he would be entering
into situations that could not have been foreseen, situations which there were no rulebooks to
consult, yet. Meaning the full weight of a decision rested solely on him.
Because of this, we see him struggle with decisions and make choice that perhaps later
captains would consider rash or extreme, but a constant in Archer’s mind was the morality
of his actions. He was troubled by some experiences, especially in the Expanse but despite this,
would often strive for a non-confrontational outcome, resorting to force only when out
of other options. His first ever mission was undertaken to attempt
diplomatic relations with the Klingon people, ultimately it failed but the sentiment was
there. As a test pilot, Archer has been used to accepting
a high level of personal risk and this carried over into his command style, often placing
himself in dangerous situations (at the exasperation of his fellow officers). This trait is so
ingrained in him that he never really lets it go but it does serve to earn him a great
deal of respect from those he encounters. Within minutes it becomes apparent that he
would not ask anything of his crew that he would not do himself.
Archer did have a tendency to judge people and a species as a whole but was aware of
this and took efforts to minimize any preconceived bias though one opinion that took him far
longer to overcome was his view of the Vulcan people, especially their very slow politics.
This can be attributed to the sudden death of his father who died before completion of
the warp 2 engine, his life’s work as Archer held the opinion that if the Vulcans had reduced
their level of red-tape around the project then it may have proceeded faster and his
father been able to see the outcome of his designs.
This is a deeply personal bias that is eventually lost with exposure to characters such as T’Pol,
Soval and the Syrranites, but nonetheless was there at some point, showing how susceptible
to his emotions he can be. In my opinion this makes him the most relatable of the captains.
He tries to be a noble individual because he is aware of, and embraces his human side.
He enjoys real steak, he struggles with his level of emotional connection to his crew,
even becoming frustrated with his own attraction to T’Pol. He frequently places himself in
danger, not because he has a martyr complex, but because he can feel uncomfortable putting
others in harm’s way. And he brings is pet dog on his deep space missions because he
can’t bear to let him go. He forms close friendships with most of his
crew referring to them by first name over rank, unless wishing to draw attention to
it. He does expect his position as captain to be respected however and wastes no time
in raising his voice to drown out dissent or bad conduct. This approach is mixed with
a level of politeness and distant “correctness” when addressing external characters but here
too he seems to be seeking to make friends, seeing friendship as a prologue to alliances.
He also tries to walk the line between respecting other cultures and applying human morality
to them. Something that he struggles with and I suspect he would be rather more loose
with his emotions were he not the only Starfleet ship and representative of humanity in deep
space for around 3 years. His weaknesses are likewise his strengths and his actions reflected
on human society as a whole. He carries this weight well and grows to understand that his
actions have consequences and some of the boyish naivety that he began his journey with
is pushed down within him but it never truly vanishes.
Thanks for listening to this personnel file on Jonathan Archer, captain of the Enterprise
whose feats would go on to shape the Federation and be used as examples of what to do, and
sometimes not to do in deep space. Some critical Archer episodes of Enterprise
are of course, “First Flight” which covers some of his time in the NX program and the
instrumental events that shaped Archer’s approach to captaincy. “Home” has the
captain struggle to deal with some of the choices he made in the Expanse and reconcile
the sometimes darker nature of space exploration with his own personality. And I think I’m
split between “Broken Bow” the pilot for Enterprise and “Babel One” as these both
go to show the sort of situations Archer had to contend with while basically winging it.
What’s your favourite Archer moment? And now we’ve done all the main captains, who’s
your favourite? Enterprise gets a mixed bag when it comes to opinions, but all of Trek
does. Personally I liked it a lot and the characters felt identifiable which I attribute
to it being the early days of Starfleet. Thanks for watching and I hope to see you
around for more Trek lore so until then, thanks again and goodbye.