President Gibson navigates Cold War tensions as U.S. President. When Soviet agents abduct scientist Burt Gains, Gibson authorizes the submarine's destruction to safeguard the classified Space Ranger project, killing Gains and escalating hostilities. He consistently pursues peaceful solutions, rejecting aggressive proposals like the Supreme Allied Commander Europe's call for a nuclear first strike. His attempts to contact Soviet Premier Orlov directly collapse after the Spetsnaz attack in Neinberg.

Gibson recoils at Soviet casualty estimates of fifteen to twenty million after the initial nuclear exchange, disturbed by the military's statistical approach to human loss. He suffers a profound emotional breakdown after gravely ordering retaliatory nuclear strikes against Soviet targets, a decision that haunts him despite Secretary of State Girard's reassurance of its necessity. Following the nuclear devastation of Washington D.C. and other cities, Gibson relocates the remnants of the U.S. government to an underground command center.

From this subterranean base amidst the radioactive aftermath, Gibson commands surviving military assets, including the damaged Space Ranger system. He orders its deployment to intercept a final wave of Soviet MIRV missiles aimed at surviving U.S. cities. Gibson coordinates the joint U.S.-Soviet mission to rescue astronaut Wataru Mikumo from space, signaling a move toward cooperation even as conflict persists.

His actions include sending Premier Orlov an expensive box of cigars with a peace overture shortly after the submarine incident, which Orlov misinterpreted as a cheap, thoughtless gift. Gibson articulated the conflict's grim reality, stating, "This is a war without victory," reflecting the catastrophic global nuclear toll.