Selina Catherine Meyer (/ˈmaɪ.ər/ MY-ər; née Eaton) is a fictional character portrayed by Julia Louis-Dreyfus on the HBO television comedy series Veep.

The election results in an Electoral College tie, setting the stage for the fifth season as the United States House of Representatives prepares to choose the president.

In fact, it was her father's secretary (childless due to their affairs and a series of pressured abortions) who acted most like a parent towards Selina, giving her a childhood snow-globe collection as a surrogate child.

Despite strong initial victories, she ultimately is defeated by primary challenger Stuart Hughes on Super Tuesday, and suspends her campaign.

Any and all programs that Meyer pursued which she genuinely believed in, such as the Clean Jobs Initiative or Senate filibuster reform, were often stymied at the president's insistence out of political expediency.

Following the 2014 midterms, Meyer is given special responsibility for foreign affairs, entailing numerous overseas trips, as reward for her campaigning.

When the sitting president decides that he will not seek a second term, his chief of staff, Ben Cafferty, encourages Meyer to run, which she ultimately does.

[3] She faces a primary challenge from war veteran and Governor of Minnesota Danny Chung, Secretary of Defense George Maddox, freshman Congressman Owen Pierce, and baseball coach Joe Thornhill.

[9] It is mentioned throughout the final two seasons that she went to a psychiatric hospital that she referred to as a 'wellness spa' during the year after her loss in the House vote (although she later tells reporters that it was Catherine who went).

Throughout the sixth season, which is set in 2018, Selina Meyer begins her presidential memoir with the help of her ghostwriter and former Press Secretary Mike McLintock.

[11] In 2019, she begins running a fierce campaign against Jonah Ryan, Tom James, and Nevada Governor Buddy Calhoun.

She enlists the help of the Chinese government with the help of Quinn, who uses voter suppression techniques in African-American neighbourhoods in the state, leading to her victory.

She escapes with the help of Murman Shalikashvili, the dictatorial President of Georgia; she also has immense American support before the revelation that the drone strike killed an elephant.

During the series finale, she wins the brokered convention of her party in Charlotte, North Carolina by offering Ryan the vice presidency to get his delegates and (supposedly superficially) opposing same-sex marriage to get those of the socially conservative Calhoun; the latter causes a permanent rift between her and her lesbian daughter Catherine who is married to Marjorie, a former member of Selina’s Secret Service detail.

Meyer's final, single presidential term is shaky and lonely; she has no friends during this time, and her presidency is politely described as “underrated”, remembered only for the brief liberation of Tibet and the permanent overturning of same-sex marriage.

Coverage of her funeral is knocked out of the news cycle by the death of Tom Hanks the same day, a call back from season 1.

Jonah Ryan's impeachment as Vice President was revealed to have resulted from personal bankruptcy after ill-judged investment in the airline industry.

[14] The show's premise is that Meyer is a former United States senator who runs a failed presidential campaign before being asked to be the winning candidate's vice president.

[16] Selina also hires Dan Egan (Reid Scott), who threatens Amy's place in the staff, and Mike McLintock (Matt Walsh), a press spokesman.

[15] Alessandra Stanley of The New York Times notes that Meyer's party affiliation is unknown because the show focuses on bullying and ego rather than ideology.

"[20] In an interview with The New Yorker Radio Hour, Julia Louis-Dreyfus suggested that Meyer's associated political party is intentionally left unknown to the audience.

[22] However, in the finale of the season, she is seen as running for her party's nomination against Buddy Calhoun, whose political views, especially his opposition to same-sex marriage, appear to be more conservative in nature.

[24] Variety television critic Brian Lowry describes Meyer as "easily flustered, foul-mouthed", saying that her "over-reliance on profanity" is a comedic crutch.

[16] T. A. Frank of The New Republic says that in season 1 she is completely ignored by the president and dismissed by Congress as she endures repeated indignities with a high degree of cynicism.

[26] Entertainment Weekly's Ken Tucker, noted that the premise of a politician without influence striving for it suited itself well to a comedy and that her frequent cursing should not have been much of an issue given that it was an HBO production.