Claire Underwood is a fictional character in House of Cards, played by Robin Wright. She is the wife of the show's protagonist Frank Underwood and the main protagonist in the final season. She is a lobbyist and runs an environmental nonprofit organization, but in later seasons ascends to the positions of Second Lady of the United States, First Lady of the United States, the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Vice President of the United States, and finally the 47th President of the United States. Claire made her first appearance in the series' pilot episode, "Chapter 1". The character is based on Elizabeth Urquhart, a character from the eponymous British miniseries from which the current series is derived. Unlike the original character, however, Claire has her own storylines.

House of Cards is an American political thriller television series created by Beau Willimon. It is based on the 1989 novel of the same name by Michael Dobbs and an adaptation of the 1990 British series of the same name by Andrew Davies, also from the novel. The first 13-episode season was released on February 1, 2013, on the streaming service Netflix. House of Cards is the first TV series to have been produced by a studio for Netflix.