Muffley's president character in the book 'Red Alert' was nameless, allowing for Kubrick to give him the world's funniest name. When the movie first began filming, Muffley was supposed to have an extreme cold as well as asthma, using an absurd looking inhaler [another phallic symbol!] that was eventually cut from the film for being 'too silly'. Muffley's sickness is, however, included very prevelantly in the Dr. Strangelove novelization. Muffley's sickness was intended to emphasize his overall weakness [hydrogen bomb vs. coughing baby].
CRIMINAL HISTORY:
Muffley doesn't have much of a canon background that I know of.
BUSINESS:
As of the events of the movie, Muffley is of course the President of the United States.
MODUS OPERANDI:
Muffley's voice and appearance are directly inspired by former U.N. Ambassador Adlai Stevenson. Everything about Muffley down to his very name is designed to be as unthreatening and benign as possible. He's weak. He's effeminate. He's vulnerable. He's a pussy! He's figuratively the only woman in a room full of horny men and is the victim of their domination and sexual war exploits! He also I suppose serves as the representation of America in this whole situation. And he speaks to the Soviet Premier as if they were bitter ex-lovers.
"Why do you think I'm calling you? Just to say hello? Of course I like to speak to you. Of course I like to say hello. Not now, but any time, Dimitri. I'm just calling up to tell you something terrible has happened. It's a friendly call. Of course it's a friendly call. Listen, if it wasn't friendly, ... you probably wouldn't have even got it."
