Don Draper is the protagonist of the AMC television series Mad Men, which aired from 2007 to 2015. He is a brilliant advertising executive who is also a complex and troubled man.
Don was born Richard Whitman in 1926 to a poor family in rural Illinois. His mother died in childbirth, and his father was an abusive alcoholic. Don was raised by his abusive stepmother and her son, Adam.
When Don was 16 years old, he ran away from home and joined the US Military. He served in the Korean War, where he was awarded a Purple Heart (meant for the real Don Draper). After the war, Don moved to New York City and assumed the identity of Don Draper, a dead soldier he met in the war.
Don used his new identity to get a job selling used cars, which is where he met his wife, Betty Draper, a former model. He later took a job working at an advertising copywriter at Sterling Cooper. He quickly rose through the ranks and became one of the most successful advertising executives in New York City.
Don is a brilliant ad man, but he is also a deeply troubled man. He is haunted by his past, and he struggles with alcoholism, depression, ego and infidelity.