Sam Blackwell

Sam Blackwell was a U.S. Senator (ID #778232) representing West Virginia before the Great War.

Background
Sam Blackwell was elected to at least two terms in the U.S. Senate by West Virginia due to his popularity as a union activist on behalf of the coal miners of Appalachia; he once won re-election with 73% of the popular vote. The only black mark on his record as a senator was his vocal and persistent support for the Free States, a group of survivalists with a separatist streak who often clashed with the police, and having been longtime friends with the group's founding leader Raleigh Clay.

Blackwell was strongly opposed to rampant automation in Appalachia which caused many coal miners and other workers to be rendered jobless. His opposition earned him the ire of powerful corporations such as Hornwright Industrial and Atomic Mining Services who tried to smear his image. He was also opposed to the building of automated nuclear silos across Appalachia and voiced his concern about the timing discrepancies between the military and civilian warning systems. His concerns caused the Department of Defense to threaten him with imprisonment to keep his silence. Blackwell later investigated the Congressional Bunker project beneath the Whitespring Resort which led him to learn the existence of the Enclave. This discovery put him in grave danger, and Blackwell began making plans to go into hiding with his daughter, Judith.

Blackwell planned to vote against Ballot Measure 6, which replaces all human workers in the Appalachian government with automated systems. Daniel Hornwright of Hornwright Industrial hired an agent to intimidate Blackwell in order for Ballot Measure 6 to go unopposed. Blackwell mistook the agent belonging to the Enclave, and he and his daughter quickly disappeared into their concealed bunker shortly before the Great War. He later invited Charleston Herald reporter Quinn Carter to interview him in order to spread awareness of the Enclave's insidious conspiracy.

Years after the bombs fell, Blackwell developed a growing dependency upon Mentats due to growing mental problems with his memory. He lived in perpetual fear of retaliation from the Enclave and thus he refused contact with other survivors. One day while out hunting, Blackwell survived in an encounter with a scorchbeast. Apparently the same creature was encountered by Judy, who then died succumbing to the Scorched Plague in February 2084. Blackwell blamed himself for her death.

Sometime after Judy's death, Blackwell left the bunker and reconnected with Raleigh Clay at Harpers Ferry, where he helped clean weapons in the local armory away from the people. However, his stay with the Free States did not last when an Enclave agent recognized him. Blackwell murdered the agent and made his death look like an animal attack. The Enclave were not fooled and Blackwell fled back to his bunker. Blackwell was finally killed by Agent Jefferson Grey under orders from Thomas Eckhart, as he knew of the Enclave bunker. Blackwell's Senate ID which allowed him access to the bunker and his alliance with the Free States meant he posed a serious threat to the bunker's security. Blackwell's killer, however, quickly fell victim to the deathclaws that reside outside of the bunker.

Appearances
Sam Blackwell is mentioned only in Fallout 76.