When Madam Secretary premiered in 2014, the show was celebrated for its level-headed take on the inner workings of the U.S. government but after six seasons it was cancelled. The many changes the show made in its final, truncated sixth season left viewers wondering why, exactly, CBS pulled the plug on Madam Secretary.

One of the biggest issues faced by an ongoing series about the inner workings of politics is that high-ranking elected officials rarely have the same job for a long time. Madam Secretary was always only going to have so many seasons featuring Elizabeth McCord as the Secretary of State because eventually, she would have to vacate her job.

As for the question of why “Madam Secretary” was being considered for cancelation in the first place, there's one very simple answer: the ratings weren't that great. For its first few seasons, the show was doing well, averaging tens of millions of viewers and competing with the likes of “Criminal Minds” and “The Voice,” but those numbers didn’t last.

When “Madam Secretary” was canceled devastated fans wondered whether a spin-off show that focused on McCord's time as Commander in Chief titled Madam President was possible. Unfortunately for those fans, due to the poor ratings, it's unlikely that a spin-off will materialize, and at this time, there are no announced plans for one.