General Robert Lefcourt

Babylon 5: In the Beginning

General Lefcourt first appeared in Babylon 5: In the Beginning where he and another Earth Alliance official quizzed ambassador Londo Mollari about the Minbari. Despite being warned by Mollari to send only a single ship to make contact with the Minbari lest they are perceived as a threat, Lefcourt brashly asserted that the Earth Alliance had taken care of the Dilgar and it could take care of the Minbari as well. Mollari commented that this attitude was both arrogant and stupid however he did give all information that the Centauri held about the Minbari.

Despite Mollari's warning General Lefcourt decided to send a small task force to the border of Minbari space. The expedition was led by the EAS Prometheus under the command of Captain Michael Jankowski. The task force unexpectedly encountered three Minbari warships, one of which contained the Grey Council. Jankowski initially refused to jump back into hyperspace, preferring to wait to the last moment so they could get as much information on the Minbari ships as possible. By the time Jankowski decided to jump the Earth ship's jump engines had been accidentally disabled by the Minbari. He then misinterpreted the meaning of the Minbari ships opening their gunports and panicked, ordering his ships to open fire. When the Minbari leader Dukhat was killed it led to the opening of hostilities between the Minbari and the Earth Alliance.

Following this General Lefcourt and General Fontaine appear to lead EarthForce's losing effort against the Minbari. The pair are shown briefing EarthForce personnel after the initial Minbari attacks and again later when they show replays of Commander John Sheridan's victory over the Minbari flagship the Drala Fi'. Following this he gives Sheridan and Dr Stephen Franklin a mission to meet with a Minbari representative on a neutral planet to discuss peace. He tells Sheridan in no uncertain terms that if the Minbari want Earth's surrender then he is to give them it, to ensure the survival of the human race.

Earth Civil War

Thirteen years after the end of the Earth-Minbari war the Earth Alliance had slipped into civil war with the now Captain John Sheridan leading a rebellion against the authoritarian regime of Earth Alliance President, Morgan Clark. Sheridan's fleet manages to overcome all EarthForce resistance before mounting an attack on the Sol System. General Lefcourt is selected by Clark to command a fleet of 35 Omega class destroyers who make their stand at Mars. He is selected not because of any particular loyalty to Clark but because of his belief that soldiers should not take up arms against their own government no matter the cause. Sheridan was also a pupil of his at the EarthForce academy and it was thought that he would know his tactics best. Taking command of the EAS Apollo he dismissed the ground attacks by the Mars resistance and a single White Star commanded by Marcus Cole as a diversion and refused to allow his fleet to turn back to take them on. Minutes later most of Lefcourt's fleet is disabled by Shadow altered telepaths and the rest are put out of action by Sheridan's White Star fleet.

Security aboard the Apollo soon find and eliminate the telepath onboard but the ship remains adrift. General Lefcourt threatens the engineering crew to get the ship under control and when they finally manage to do so he orders them to Earth in pursuit of Sheridan's fleet. The Apollo makes a timely arrival, President Clark in a final vindictive act before he committed suicide had ordered the planetary defence grid to fire on Earth. Sheridan's fleet managed to destroy all the platforms except one. With it about to fire on the North American seaboard, the EAS Agamemnon under Captain Sheridan's command was the only ship in range to destroy it. The Agamemnon's weapon systems were inoperative however and Sheridan ordered the Agamemnon to ram the platform. Seconds before it would have. the Apollo exits hyperspace and destroys the final platform, General Lefcourt then welcomes Captain Sheridan home.