If you ask most people, the idea of being President of the United States is likely one of the best jobs ever. Every little kid is told if he or she works hard, some day they could be the Commander in Chief. And yet, if you have been watching the eight seasons of '24,' there is probably no worse career choice than running America while Jack Bauer is handling a CTU assignment. In fact, when you look back on the presidents who have inhabited the White House during Jack's tenure, being the most powerful world leader is a high-risk profession that's not for the faint of heart.

Unlike other television series that have taken viewers inside the Oval Office, '24' presents the president in crisis mode, so perhaps it's a bit unfair to compare. Still, if you had your choice, you'd rather be Jed Bartlett on 'The West Wing' than Wayne Palmer or any other '24' president. Here are three reasons why the worst job on '24' is President of the United States:

(S05E23/S05E24) This season would begin with hours and hours of action and drama, and it would close out with a pair of episodes carrying just as much weight. When we left off a week ago, Jack Bauer, Christopher Henderson, and another agent were going to attempt to take down Vladimir Bierko, who just snagged a Russian submarine in U.S. civilian territory by using the last remaining cylinder of weaponized nerve gas. The fact that there were twelve sea-to-land missiles on board was just what the doctor ordered ... if you're a bad guy and represented a pretty big challenge, even for Bauer & Co. to overcome.

President Logan proved to be just the egotistical bastard that he had been portrayed as, buying in to everything his wife had to say to him to keep him where he was at the compound instead of flying to the airport to go back to DC with David Palmer's body. He thought he had his cake and would eat it too, but Jack and his band of merry CTUers would have nothing of it. The finale had a bit of laughs, with Chloe's ex-husband (who knew?) Morris, who worked at a ladies' shoe store, coming back to pretty much save the day. Okay, okay, he was just really good with technology. Plus, having him getting a high level security clearance was just the randomness we all needed to show some un-reality in this show, since no one had been opening sockets or blowing up baddies with a Treo of late.

(S05E22) If Jack Bauer asking questions like "What are you talking about?" landed a dollar in my pocket every time they were exclaimed, then I'd be a very rich man right now. With last week's episode closing shortly after Miles destroys the digital recording Chloe was working on for presentation to the Attorney General, it wasn't going to be a good week for Jack and the crew. Then again, when is it a good time for everyone.

Christopher Henderson "working" for the good guys, in a screwed up kind of way, pretty much turned this show completely on its head, but it appears that he is just as desperate as he is cunning, when it comes to surviving to breathe for another day. President Logan continues to play his cards with his "handlers," or whatever those dastardly masterminds should be called at this point, but he thinks he's still got the Homeland / CTU office in his court somewhat, which he most certainly doesn't. He also thinks that he's going to get rid of Aaron Pierce very quickly, but that wasn't to be.

(S05E21) Shock and Awe was a marketing slogan that our American military had come up with to describe a bombing salvo that would be unleashed in Iraq a few years ago. As it turns out, it could have been a descriptor for what would go down during the 3am-4am hour on this week's 24.

In a season that's been well-known for killing off longtime characters on the show, with Edgar, Tony, Michelle, President Palmer, Secretary Heller, oh, wait, we got an update there. As many readers and commenters here have stated, there was definitely the chance that Heller survived his car's plummeting off a cliff, something I wasn't so sure could have happened. Turns out, I either overestimated the abilities of terrorists in a chase helicopter with night vision goggles, or underestimated the smarts of Heller to either dive from the vehicle as it dropped, or his ability to survive once it crashed into the waters below. Well, at least we *think* he's still alive, as no one has officially talked to him yet, we've just heard he was okay. No one's that underhanded to pull a stunt like that, right?

Gregory Itzin, who plays President Logan on 24, wanted the character to be a hero and a good guy. Producers even asked him what he would like to see happen to the character and he told them. But then they, um, didn't listen to him.

He even admits, in this TV Guide interview, to being "devastated" and "depressed" by the plot twist. There's also a phone number on the set where fans can actually call and perhaps talk to cast members (I know, you 24 fans probably already know about the phone, but still, the number is 310-597-3781).