The West Wing

For the section of the White House for which the show is named, see West Wing.

The West Wing
Created by	Aaron Sorkin
Starring	Rob Lowe Alan Alda Stockard Channing Moira Kelly Kristin Chenoweth Dulé Hill Allison Janney Joshua Malina Mary McCormack Janel Moloney Richard Schiff John Spencer Bradley Whitford with Jimmy Smits and Martin Sheen
Composer	W.G. Snuffy Walden
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	7
No. of episodes	156 (including one special episode) (list of episodes)
Production
Running time	approx. 42 min.
Production company	Warner Bros
Original release
Network	NBC
Release	September 22, 1999 (1999-09-22) – May 14, 2006 (2006-05-14)

The West Wing is an American television drama created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally shown from September 22, 1999 to May 14, 2006. The series is set in the West Wing of the White House—where the Oval Office and offices of presidential staff are—during the fictional presidency of Josiah Bartlet (played by Martin Sheen).

It first aired on NBC in 1999, and has been shown on many networks in several other countries. The series ended its seven years on television on May 14, 2006.

The show received positive reviews from critics, political science teachers, and former White House workers. In total, The West Wing won three Golden Globe Awards and 27 Emmy Awards, including the award for Outstanding Drama Series, which it won four times in a row from 2000 through 2003. The show's ratings were lower in later years, series creator Aaron Sorkin (who wrote or co-wrote 85 of the first 88 episodes) left the show after the fourth season. It was still popular with viewers who have a high-income.

Background

NBC originally ordered the pilot episode in March 1998 for a midseason premiere the following year, and the casting of Martin Sheen, Rob Lowe, Bradley Whitford, Allison Janney and Richard Schiff was officially reported in March 1999. NBC officially picked up the series in May 1999 for its fall schedule.

In an interview on the first season DVD, Bradley Whitford said that he was originally cast as Sam, even though Aaron Sorkin had created the Josh character specifically for him. In the same interview, Janel Moloney stated she had originally auditioned for the role of C.J. and that Donna, the role for which she was eventually cast, was not meant to be a recurring character. Other actors were seriously considered for other roles, including Alan Alda and Sidney Poitier for the President, Judd Hirsch for Leo, Eugene Levy for Toby, and CCH Pounder for C.J.

Moloney became a recurring character in Season 1 and then a regular in Season 2 due to her chemistry with Whitford's character beginning in the pilot episode, and their possible romantic relationship became an ongoing plot thread throughout the series.

Each of the principal actors made approximately $75,000 per episode, with the established Sheen receiving a confirmed salary of $300,000. Differences in cast salaries led to very public contract disputes, particularly by Janney, Schiff, Spencer, and Whitford. During contract negotiations in 2001, the four were threatened with breach of contract lawsuits by Warner Bros. However, by banding together, they were able to persuade the studio to more than double their salaries. Two years later, the four again demanded a doubling of their salaries, a few months after Warner Bros had signed new licensing deals with NBC and Bravo.

Sorkin's hectic writing schedule often led to cost overruns and schedule slips, and he made headlines in April 2001 with an arrest for possession of hallucinogenic mushrooms.

The New York Times reported in June 2001 that the show cost at least $2 million an episode, and that some writers would not receive planned raises in the third season.

In July 2002, it became public that Rob Lowe, who had a separate salary deal from the other main cast members, intended to leave the series toward the end of the fourth season, saying in a statement "it has been increasingly clear, for quite a while, that there was no longer a place for Sam Seaborn on 'The West Wing.'' Variety reported that his exit was due to salary dissatisfaction and the evolution of Martin Sheen's character to have a more primary regular role. In August 2002, Lowe suggested he could still stay if a deal could be worked out. Sorkin said in September 2002 that the exit would be written in a way that the door would always be open for Lowe's return. Lowe would later return for guest appearance roles at the end of the final season in 2006 and A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote in 2020.

Joshua Malina's role as a series regular following Lowe's exit was first reported in December 2002. The teaser of the season 4 Christmas episode "Holy Night" is almost entirely in Yiddish, in part inspired by Richard Schiff's own family history.

The show was renewed for seasons 5 and 6 in January 2003 despite falling ratings.

The news of Aaron Sorkin's and Tommy Schlamme's departures at the end of season 4 was first reported at the beginning of May 2003 ahead of that year's season finale. Many sources referred to growing tensions over budgets, delayed scripts and ratings, given the fact that Sorkin wrote nearly every episode himself. Production company Warner Brothers and NBC executive Jeff Zucker stated that executive producer John Wells was set to take a "more active" role in the coming season, essentially taking over as showrunner. At the time Wells suggested that Sorkin had been convinced to stay on for previous seasons, that ratings were not a factor, and that he planned to bring in additional writing staff . Wells also stated later that conflict involving the network and the role of an actor on the series were a factor. He also said that the timing of the exit and his takeover was the unplanned result of an end of season meeting involving the production company and the network and that he and the writing staff had to do the best they could to come up with a way to continue from the Season 4 cliffhanger finale Sorkin had written.

Jimmy Smits was cast in the show's sixth season as the congressman and future presidential candidate Matt Santos after John Wells saw his performance in the summer 2004 Central Park Shakespeare in the Park production.

The show was renewed for a seventh season in March 2005.

In the seventh and final season, many of the actors appeared in fewer episodes as the show faced budget limitations, but were still paid the same amount for the episodes they were in, according to Richard Schiff. Schiff, who has been very vocal about his unhappiness with his character's final storyline, was contracted for 11 episodes after initially being offered four episodes.

John Spencer died of a heart attack on December 16, 2005, about a year after his character experienced a nearly fatal heart attack on the show. Martin Sheen gave a brief memorial message before "Running Mates", the first new episode that aired after Spencer's death. The loss of Spencer's character was addressed beginning with the episode "Election Day", which aired on April 2, 2006.

The ending of the series was announced in January 2006, with NBC Entertainment President Kevin Reilly saying the decision had been made before John Spencer's death, citing lower ratings. The entire cast appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show ahead of the finale in May 2006.

High profile real life guest appearances over the course of the show included Yo-Yo Ma, Jon Bon Jovi, Foo Fighters, The Whiffenpoofs, Penn & Teller, and characters from Sesame Street.

Inside scenes were filmed on soundstages at Warner Bros. Studios Burbank in California. The production also filmed outdoor scenes on trips to the Washington, D.C. area, including at what was then the Newseum building in Rosslyn, Maryland, New York City, Pennsylvania, and in Ontario, Canada.

Crew

The series was created by Aaron Sorkin. Sorkin served as executive producer for the first episode with director Thomas Schlamme and John Wells. Kristin Harms and Llewellyn Wells were producers for the first episode. Michael Hissrich acted as a co-producer.

The first season proper saw the return of all of the pilot production team along with the addition of Ron Osborn and Jeff Reno as consulting producers and Rick Cleveland as a second co-producer with Robert W. Glass as an associate producer. Glass left the production team after only five episodes. Osborn and Reno departed after nine episodes. Paul Redford served as a story editor throughout the first season. Lawrence O'Donnell, Jr. worked as executive story editor for the second half of the season.

With the second season Kevin Falls became a co-executive producer. Cleveland left the production team and Redford and O'Donnell were promoted to co-producer. Peter Parnell, and Patrick Caddell became co-producers and Julie Herlocker and Mindy Kanaskie became associate producers. O'Donnell was promoted again to producer five episodes into the season and Hissrich joined him twelve episodes into the season.

The third season saw the departure of Parnell, Caddell, and Herlocker and the temporary absence of O'Donnell. Director Christopher Misiano became a supervising producer and Patrick Ward came aboard as an associate producer. Redford was promoted to producer. With the thirteenth episode of the third season director Alex Graves became an additional supervising producer and Eli Attie joined the writing staff as a story editor.

The fourth season marked the temporary departure of Hissrich. Misiano and Graves became co-executive producers alongside Falls. Attie was promoted to executive story editor and Debora Cahn became a staff writer. The fourteenth episode of the season saw Redford promoted to supervising producer and Kanaskie, Ward and Attie promoted to co-producers.

The fifth season saw the departure of both Sorkin and Schlamme as executive producers. Schlamme remained attached to the series as an executive consultant. John Wells remained the sole executive producer and showrunner. Co-executive producer Kevin Falls also left the show. O'Donnell rejoined the production team as a consulting producer. Wells also added Carol Flint, Alexa Junge, Peter Noah and John Sacret Young as consulting producers. Andrew Stearn came aboard as a producer and Attie was promoted to producer. Cahn became story editor and Josh Singer replaced her as staff writer. With the tenth episode Flint, Junge, Noah and Sacret Young became supervising producers.

With the sixth season Misiano and Graves were promoted to executive producers. Redford and Junge left the production team and Dylan K. Massin became a co-producer. Cahn was promoted to executive story editor and Singer replaced her as story editor. Lauren Schmidt filled the staff writer role. The fourth episode saw the departure of original crew member Llewellyn Wells. Debora Cahn was promoted to co-producer with the fourteenth episode.

The seventh season saw Noah and O'Donnell promoted again, this time becoming additional executive producers. Attie became a supervising producer. Hissrich returned to his role as producer for the final season.

Cast

The West Wing employed a broad ensemble cast to portray the many positions involved in the daily work of the federal government. The President, the First Lady, and the President's senior staff and advisors form the core cast. Many secondary characters, appearing intermittently, complement storylines that generally revolve around this core group.

Summary of the main cast

Actor/Actress	Character	Original position (Bartlet era)	Subsequent positions held (Bartlet era)	Position at series end (Santos era)
Stockard Channing	Abigail Bartlet	First Lady		Former First Lady of the United States
Dulé Hill	Charlie Young	Personal Aide to the President (Seasons 1–6)	Deputy Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff (Seasons 6–7)	Student at Georgetown Law School
Allison Janney	C. J. Cregg	Press Secretary (Seasons 1–6)	Chief of Staff (Seasons 6–7)	President & CEO of the Frank Hollis Foundation
Moira Kelly	Mandy Hampton	White House Media Consultant (Season 1)
Rob Lowe	Sam Seaborn	Deputy Communications Director (Seasons 1–4)		Deputy White House Chief of Staff
Janel Moloney	Donna Moss	Senior Assistant to Josh Lyman (Seasons 1–6)	Russell Campaign Spokesperson/Santos Campaign Spokesperson (Seasons 6–7)	Chief of Staff to the First Lady
Richard Schiff	Toby Ziegler	Communications Director		Professor at Columbia University (2009-present)
Martin Sheen	Josiah "Jed" Bartlet	President of the United States		Former President of the United States of America
John Spencer	Leo McGarry	Chief of Staff (Seasons 1–6)	Senior Advisor to the President (Season 6)/Democratic Candidate for Vice President (Season 7)	Vice President-Elect of the United States (Died before he could take office)
Bradley Whitford	Josh Lyman	Deputy Chief of Staff (Seasons 1–6)	Santos for President Campaign Manager (Seasons 6–7)	White House Chief of Staff
Joshua Malina	Will Bailey	Deputy Communications Director (Seasons 4–5)	Chief of Staff to Vice President Bob Russell (Seasons 5–7) White House Communications Director (Season 7)	Strategist for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (2007-09); U.S. Representative for Oregon's 4th Congressional District (2009-present)
Mary McCormack	Kate Harper	Deputy National Security Advisor (Seasons 5–7)		Author of Foreign Policy Commentary
Kristin Chenoweth	Annabeth Schott	Deputy Press Secretary (Season 6)	Santos for President campaign team (Season 7)	Press Secretary to the First Lady
Jimmy Smits	Matt Santos	Congressman from Texas (Season 6)	Democratic candidate for President (Seasons 6–7)	President of the United States
Alan Alda	Arnold Vinick	Senator from California (Season 6)	Republican Candidate for President (Seasons 6–7)	Secretary of State

Plot

The West Wing, like many serial dramas, stretches storylines over several episodes or entire seasons. In addition to these larger storylines, each episode also contains smaller arcs which usually begin and end within an episode.

Most episodes follow President Bartlet and his staff through particular legislative or political issues. Plots can range from behind-closed-doors negotiating with Congress ("Five Votes Down") to personal issues like sex ("Pilot", "Take out the Trash Day") and personal drug use (a major plotline throughout the first and second seasons). The typical episode loosely follows the president and his staff through their day, generally following several plots connected by some idea or theme. A large, fully connected set of the White House allows the producers to create shots with very few cuts and long, continuous master shots of staff members walking and talking through the hallways. These "walk and talks" became a trademark of the show. The final two seasons presented a narrative change, with the focus of the show divided between plots in the West Wing with President Bartlet and his remaining senior staffers and plots revolving around the rest of the main cast on the campaign trail for the 2006 election.

• In the first season, the administration is in the middle of its first year and is still having trouble settling in and making progress on legislative issues.
• The second season brings scandal as the White House is rocked by allegations of criminal conduct and the President must decide whether he will run for a second term.
• The third and fourth seasons take an in-depth look at the campaign trail and the specter of both foreign and domestic terrorism.
• In the fifth season, the president begins to encounter more issues on the foreign front, while at home he must face off with the newly elected Speaker of the House over the future of the federal budget.
• The sixth season chronicles the quest to replace Bartlet in the next election, following the primary campaigns of several candidates from both parties, while the President himself attempts to build his legacy, but finds his ability to govern compromised by his illness.
• In the seventh season, the president must face a leak of confidential information about a secret NASA program from inside the White House, while the Democratic and Republican candidates battle to replace him in the general election.

Development

The series was developed following the success of the 1995 theatrical film The American President, for which Aaron Sorkin wrote the screenplay, and in which Martin Sheen played the White House Chief of Staff. Unused plot elements from the film and a suggestion from Akiva Goldsman inspired Sorkin to create The West Wing. Sorkin said that the airing of the show was delayed for about a year due to the Clinton–Lewinsky scandal. Around the same time, a completely separate series called West Wing was under development for Lifetime by a former White House staffer about a White House press secretary with a college friend working as a TV news correspondent, with future The West Wing guest star Annabeth Gish attached to star, but it was not picked up to series.

According to the DVD commentary, Sorkin intended to center the show on Sam Seaborn and the other senior staff with the president in an unseen or a secondary role. However, Bartlet's screen time gradually increased, and his role expanded as the series progressed. Positive critical and public reaction to Sheen's performance raised his character's profile, decreasing Lowe's perceived significance. In addition, according to Sorkin, the storylines began to focus less on Sam and more on Josh Lyman, the deputy chief of staff. This shift is one of the reasons for Lowe's eventual departure from the show in the fourth season. For the first four seasons, Sorkin wrote almost every episode of the series, occasionally reusing plot elements, episode titles, character names, and actors from his previous work, Sports Night, a sitcom in which he began to develop his signature dialogue style of rhythmic, snappy, and intellectual banter. Fellow executive producer and director Thomas Schlamme championed the "walk and talk," a continuous shot tracking in front of the characters as they walk from one place to another that became part of The West Wing's signature visual style. Sorkin's hectic writing schedule often led to cost overruns and schedule slips, and he opted to leave the show after the fourth season, following increasing personal problems, including an arrest for possession of illegal drugs. Thomas Schlamme also left the show after the fourth season. John Wells, the remaining executive producer, took the helm after their departure.

The show aired its series finale on Sunday, May 14, 2006. It had suffered a significant ratings fall after being placed in the same timeslot as ABC's Top 20 hit Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, and CBS' Top 30 hit Cold Case.

Critical reactions

The West Wing offers a rare glimpse into the inner workings of the White House, and the show's legitimacy, political slant, and film merits have generated considerable discussion.

Realism

The West Wing is not completely accurate in its portrayal of the actual West Wing; however, former White House staffers agree that the show "captures the feel [of the West Wing], shorn of a thousand undramatic details."

Former White House Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers as well as expert pollster Patrick Caddell served as consultants for the show from the beginning, helping writers and actors depict the West Wing accurately. Other former White House staffers, such as Peggy Noonan and Gene Sperling, have served as consultants for brief periods.

A documentary special in the third season compared the show's depiction of the West Wing to the real thing. Many former West Wing denizens applauded the show's depiction of the West Wing, including advisor David Gergen, Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Chief of Staff Leon Panetta, Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove, and former Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and Bill Clinton.

While critics often praised The West Wing for its writing, others faulted the show as unrealistically optimistic. A large part of this criticism came from the perceived naiveté of the characters. Television critic Heather Havrilesky asked "What rock did these morally pure creatures crawl out from under and, more important, how do you go from innocent millipede to White House staffer without becoming soiled or disillusioned by the dirty realities of politics along the way?"

Social impact

Despite acclaim for the veracity of the series, Sorkin believed, "our responsibility is to captivate you for however long we've asked for your attention." Former White House aide Matthew Miller noted that Sorkin "captivates viewers by making the human side of politics more real than life — or at least more real than the picture we get from the news." Miller also noted that by portraying politicians with empathy, the show created a "subversive competitor" to the cynical views of politics in media. In the essay "The West Wing and the West Wing", author Myron Levine agreed, stating that the series "presents an essentially positive view of public service and a healthy corrective to anti-Washington stereotypes and public cynicism."

Dr. Staci L. Beavers, associate professor of political science at California State University, San Marcos, wrote a short essay, The West Wing as a Pedagogical Tool, concerning the viability of The West Wing as a teaching tool. She concluded, "While the series’ purpose is for-profit entertainment, The West Wing presents great pedagogical potential." The West Wing, in her opinion, gave greater depth to the political process usually espoused only in stilted talking points on shows like Face the Nation and Meet the Press. However, the merits of a particular argument may be obscured by the viewer's opinion of the character. Beavers also noted that characters with opposing viewpoints were often set up to be "bad people" in the viewer's eyes. These characters were assigned undesirable characteristics having nothing to do with their political opinions, such as being romantically involved with a main character's love interest. In Beavers's opinion, a critical analysis of the show's political views can present a worthwhile learning experience to the viewer.

One of the stranger impacts of the show occurred on January 31, 2006, when The West Wing was said to have played a hand in defeating Tony Blair's government in the British House of Commons, during the so called "West Wing Plot". The plan was allegedly hatched after a Conservative Member of Parliament watched the episode, "A Good Day", in which Democrats block a bill aimed at limiting stem cell research, by hiding in an office until the Republican Speaker calls the vote.

"The Left Wing"

The West Wing was sometimes called "The Left Wing" by detractors because of its portrayal of an ideal liberal administration and its alleged demonization of conservatives. Chris Lehmann, senior editor of Washington Post Bookworld, characterized the show as a revisionist look at the Clinton presidency: an attempt to solidify the Clinton legacy and to make America forget the Whitewater and Lewinsky scandals. On the other hand, some Republicans have admired the show since its inception, before even the departure of Sorkin and the show's resulting shift toward the center. In his 2001 article "Real Liberals versus the West Wing", Mackubin Thomas Owens wrote,

“

Although his administration is reliably liberal, President Bartlet possesses virtues even a conservative could admire. He obeys the Constitution and the law. He is devoted to his wife and daughter [sic]. Being unfaithful to his wife would never cross his mind. He is no wimp when it comes to foreign policy — no quid pro quo for him.

”

Journalist Matthew Miller wrote, "although the show indeed has a liberal bias on issues, it presents a truer, more human picture of the people behind the headlines than most of today's Washington journalists."

Filming techniques and reactions

In its first season, The West Wing attracted critical attention in the television community with a record nine Emmy wins. The show has been praised for its high production values and repeatedly recognized for its cinematic achievements. With a budget of $6 million per episode, many consider each week's show to be a small feature film. However, many in the television community believe that the true genius of the show was Sorkin's rapid-fire and witty scripts.

The West Wing is noted for developing the "walk-and-talk"—long Steadicam tracking shots showing characters walking down hallways while involved in long conversations. In a typical "walk-and-talk" shot, the camera leads two characters down a hallway as they speak to each other. One of these characters generally breaks off and the remaining character is then joined by another character, who initiates another conversation as they continue walking. These "walk-and-talks" create a dynamic feel for what would otherwise be long expository dialogue, and have become a staple for dialogue-intensive television show scenes.

Awards

In its first year, The West Wing received nine Emmys, a record for most won by a series in a single season. The show also received the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series in 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003, tying Hill Street Blues and L.A. Law for most won in this category. Each of its seven seasons was nominated for the award. The West Wing ranks 8th all-time in number of Emmy Awards won by a show.

The show shares the Emmy Award record for most acting nominations by regular cast members for a single show in one year. (Both Hill Street Blues and L.A. Law also hold that record). For the 2001–2002 season nine cast members were nominated for Emmys. Allison Janney, John Spencer and Stockard Channing each won an Emmy (for Lead Actress, Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress). The others nominated were Martin Sheen (for Lead Actor), Richard Schiff, Dule Hill and Bradley Whitford (for Supporting Actor), and Janel Moloney and Mary-Louise Parker (for Supporting Actress). In that same year, Mark Harmon, Tim Matheson and Ron Silver were each nominated in the Guest Actor category (but none won the award). This gave the show an Emmy Award record for most acting nominations total (including guest performer category) in a single year, with 12 acting nominations.

Twenty Emmys were awarded to writers, actors, and crew members. Allison Janney is the record holder for most wins by a cast member, with a total of four Emmys.

In addition to its Emmys, the show won two Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards, in 2000 and 2001, for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series. Martin Sheen is the only cast member to have won a Golden Globe, and he and Allison Janney are the only cast members to win a SAG award (for best actor and best actress). In both 1999 and 2000, The West Wing was awarded the Peabody Award for excellence in broadcasting.

This table shows award wins by cast members:

Actor	Awards won
Alan Alda	Emmy, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (2006)
Stockard Channing	Emmy, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (2002)
Allison Janney	Emmy, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (2000, 2001)
	Emmy, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series (2002, 2004)
	SAG Award, Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series (2000, 2001)
Richard Schiff	Emmy, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (2000)
Martin Sheen	Golden Globe, Best Actor in a TV Series — Drama (2001)
	SAG Award, Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series (2000, 2001)
John Spencer	Emmy, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (2002)
Bradley Whitford	Emmy, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (2001)

W.G. "Snuffy" Walden received an Emmy Award for Main Title Theme Music in 2000 for "The West Wing Opening Theme".

Many cast members have been Emmy-nominated for their work on The West Wing but have not won, including Martin Sheen—who was nominated each year for all seven seasons of the series without receiving the award—as well as Janel Moloney, who was nominated twice, and Dulé Hill, Rob Lowe, and Mary-Louise Parker, who were all nominated once. Matthew Perry, Oliver Platt, Ron Silver, Tim Matheson, and Mark Harmon have also received Emmy nominations for guest starring on the show.

Exploration of real world issues

The West Wing often features extensive discussion of current or recent political issues. After the real-world election of Republican President George W. Bush in 2000, many wondered whether the liberal show could retain its relevance and topicality. However, by exploring many of the same issues facing the Bush administration from a Democratic point of view, the show continued to appeal to a broad audience of both Democrats and Republicans.

In its second season episode "The Midterms", President Bartlet admonishes fictional radio host Dr. Jenna Jacobs for her views regarding homosexuality at a private gathering at the White House. Dr. Jacobs is a caricature of radio personality Dr. Laura Schlessinger, who strongly disapproves of homosexuality. Many of the president's biblical references in his comments to Dr. Jacobs appear to have come from an open letter to Dr. Schlessinger, circulated online in early May 2000.

The Bartlet administration experiences a scandal during the second and third seasons that has been compared to the Monica Lewinsky affair. President Bartlet was diagnosed with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) in 1992. The scandal centers around President Bartlet's nondisclosure of his illness to the electorate during the election. He is investigated by an opposition Congress for defrauding the public and eventually accepts Congressional censure. Multiple sclerosis advocacy groups have praised the show for its accurate portrayal of the symptoms of MS and stressing that it is not fatal. The National MS Society commented:

“

For the first time on national television or even in film, the public encountered a lead character with both an MS diagnosis and the hope for a continued productive life. Because [The] West Wing is a fictional drama and not a medical documentary, writers could have greatly distorted MS facts to further their story line [but did not].

”

Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, the start of the third season was postponed for a week, as were most American television premieres that year. A script for a special episode was quickly written and began filming on September 21. The episode "Isaac and Ishmael" aired on October 3 and addresses the sobering reality of terrorism in America and the wider world, albeit with no specific reference to September 11. While "Isaac and Ishmael" received mixed critical reviews, it illustrated the show's flexibility in addressing current events. The cast of the show state during the opening of the episode that it is not part of The West Wing continuity.

While the September 11 attacks do not occur in The West Wing continuity, the country does enter into a variation of the War on Terrorism. The war begins during the show's third season, when a plot to blow up the Golden Gate Bridge was uncovered; in response, the President orders the assassination of terrorist leader Abdul ibn Shareef. This storyline draws similarities to the real-world U.S. invasion of Afghanistan as well as U.S. relations with Saudi Arabia, as it brings the Middle East to the forefront of U.S. foreign relations and elevated terrorism as a serious threat in The West Wing universe. In Seasons 3, 4 and 5, the fictional Bahji terror group seems to act as a fictional stand-in for the real world Al Qaeda, but in Seasons 6 and 7, characters mention Al Qaeda itself as a threat, despite no clearly stated history of Al Qaeda terror attacks in The West Wing continuity (although Nancy McNally does refer to Osama Bin Laden as a potential threat at the beginning of Season 2.)

In the middle of the fourth season, Bartlet's White House is confronted with the genocide in the fictional African country of Equatorial Kundu which was compared to the Rwandan Genocide of 1994. The result was new foreign policy doctrine for Bartlet Administration and military intervention to stop the violence, which came after much hesitation and reluctance to call the conflict a genocide. In reality, the Clinton Administration didn't intervene in Rwanda, making series events look like a moral imperative.

In the sixth and seventh seasons, The West Wing explores a leak of top-secret information by a senior staffer at the White House. This leak has been compared to the events surrounding the Valerie Plame affair. In the storyline, the International Space Station is damaged and can no longer produce oxygen for the astronauts to breathe. With no other methods of rescue available, the president is reminded of the existence of a top-secret military space shuttle. Following the president's inaction, the shuttle story is leaked to a White House reporter, Greg Brock (analogous to Judith Miller), who prints the story in The New York Times. Brock will not reveal his source and goes to jail for failing to do so, as did Miller. In order to stop the investigation, in which authorities suspect Chief of Staff C.J. Cregg, Toby Ziegler admits leaking the information, and the President is forced to dismiss him. In comparison, the Plame affair resulted in the arrest and conviction of Lewis Libby, the vice president's chief of staff. However, Libby was convicted of perjury in testimony to a grand jury. No one was convicted for "blowing the cover" of Plame. (Richard Armitage, an official in the Bush State Department, acknowledged leaking information about Plame to reporters but was never charged with a crime.) Libby's two and a half year prison sentence was later commuted by President Bush, though the other facet of his sentence ($250,000 fine) stands until Libby's appeals were to be considered.

Other issues explored in The West Wing include:

• North Korean and Iranian nuclear ambitions
• Strained relations and a state of brinksmanship between India and Pakistan
• Legislation of the Central American Free Trade Agreement
• The formation of the Minuteman Project
• Peacemaking and terrorism in Israel, West Bank and the Gaza Strip, including the deaths of 3 Americans in the attack on a diplomatic convoy in the Gaza Strip and a peace negotiation at Camp David, similar to the Camp David 2000 Summit.
• The genocide in Darfur, Sudan
• AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa
• The Northern Ireland peace process
• War on Drugs and conflict in Colombia
• Controversy over Intelligent design in schools
• Brinksmanship and potential conflict between the People's Republic of China and Republic of China over Taiwan's political status (including a situation similar to the Third Taiwan Strait Crisis when the PRC holds military exercises in response to the ROC's first democratic elections)
• A hate crime murder, similar to the death of Matthew Shepard
• A federal government shutdown
• The 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (referred to directly, along with the fictional Marriage Recognition and Sanctity of Marriage Acts)
• Anthrax attacks against the Bartlet Administration
• A mysterious nuclear detonation in the Indian Ocean, similar to the Vela Incident
• A bombing of apartment blocks in Moscow, leading to allegation that the Russian President orchestrated the attacks
• Federal funding for the arts.
• The Isla Perejil crisis, involving Morocco and Spain in 2002, is portrayed in the fifth season episode Disaster Relief, in which Greece and Albania vie for the control of a deserted islet, inhabited only by goats (as Perejil is).

The West Wing universe

See also: List of politicians on The West Wing

Domestic

All contemporary domestic government officials in The West Wing universe have been fictional. President Bartlet has made three appointments to the fictional Supreme Court and maintains a full cabinet, although the names and terms of all members have not been revealed. Some cabinet members, such as the Secretary of Defense, appear more often than others. Many other government officials, such as mayors, governors, judges, representatives, and senators, have been mentioned and seen as well.

Fictional locations inside the United States have been created to loosely represent certain places:

San Andreo

San Andreo is a fictional California city. It is near San Diego. It has 42,000 people. The San Andreo Nuclear Generating Station is there.

A near meltdown at the nuclear plant becomes the focus of an October surprise for Republican nominee Senator Arnold Vinick during the 2006 presidential election, due to Vinick's strong pro-nuclear stance and revelations of his active lobbying for the construction of the plant. This was seen to be a key factor in Vinick's narrow defeat in the election by Democratic nominee Congressman Matt Santos.

Hartsfield's Landing

Hartsfield's Landing is a fictional town in New Hampshire. It is stated to be a very small community of only 63 people, of whom 42 are registered voters, that votes at one minute past midnight on the day of the New Hampshire primary, hours before the rest of the state, and has accurately predicted the winner of every presidential election since William Howard Taft in 1908. It is based on the true New Hampshire communities of Hart's Location and Dixville Notch, which in real life do vote before the rest of the state during the primaries, and also loosely upon the concept of "bellwether states" in US presidential elections.

Kennison State University

Kennison State is a fictional university in Iowa that was used as the setting of a bombing in the beginning of the fourth season.

Foreign

While several real-world leaders exist in the show's universe, most foreign countries have fictional rulers. Real people mentioned in The West Wing include Muammar al-Gaddafi, Yasser Arafat, Fidel Castro, Queen Elizabeth II, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, King Carl Gustaf, Thabo Mbeki and Osama bin Laden. However, when a peace accord was worked out between Israel and the Palestinian Authority at the start of the show's sixth season, the Chairman of the Palestinian Authority was the fictional Nizar Farad, not Arafat. (By that time in the real world, Arafat was dead and a successor, Rawhi Fattuh, had been elected.)

Entire countries are invented as composite pictures that epitomize many of the problems that plague real nations in certain areas of the world:

Qumar

Qumar, a fictional oil-rich, terrorist-sponsoring Middle Eastern state, is repeatedly a source of trouble for the Bartlet administration. According to maps on the show, Qumar is in southern Iran, directly across the important Strait of Hormuz. After the September 11 attacks, it became the main venue for the show's terrorism subplots.

Jabal Nafusah (also the name of a real-life Libyan city) seems to be the largest city and the capital, according to maps shown of the country. Qumar is an absolute monarchy, ruled by a sultan and his family. The country is a former British protectorate. The nation was first introduced in the third season where it was mentioned as a close ally of the United States. Qumar continues on the show to be a U.S. ally, though the sultan and other officials were extremely troubled by the Bartlet administration's assassination of Defense Minister Abdul ibn Shareef, and a bombing campaign and invasion that followed Zoey Bartlet's abduction by Qumari extremists (ostensibly in retaliation for Shareef's murder). As a result of the air strikes, gas pipelines were damaged, leading to economic troubles for the country and its European allies.

During the final season episode "The Cold", a situation room map shows the Persian Gulf clearly, but omits Qumar.

Equatorial Kundu

Equatorial Kundu is a fictional African nation blighted by AIDS and a civil war resembling the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

When Kundu was first mentioned in season 2, it is led by President Nimbala who is executed by the end of the episode. In January 2003 of the series' timeline ("Inauguration, Part I"), the Arkutu-run government of President Nzele (described as a "sadistic madman") begins an ethnic cleansing campaign against the Induye in Bitanga, killing 200 people. The violence soon spreads outside Bitanga and into the countryside. In President Josiah Bartlet's second inaugural address ("Inauguration Over There"), he announces the new Bartlet Doctrine for the use of force: America shall intervene whenever there are humanitarian interests at stake. With that new doctrine, Bartlet sends a brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division, the 101st Airborne Division, and a Marine Expeditionary Unit, a force of 11,000 troops in total, to Kundu ("The California 47th"). As of the episode "Twenty Five," US forces are still operating in Kundu.

In its original appearance, Kundu's location is somewhat ambiguous. President Nimbala and his aide appear to speak Setswana, a Bantu language spoken in South Africa and Botswana, which would imply a Southern African setting. The Season 4 appearance seems to more firmly place the country in West Africa, near to the Ivory Coast and Ghana. Its capital city is Bitanga, which contains a major airport, TV station and a radio station.

Presidential elections

Fictional timeline

In general, The West Wing attempts to create an alternative reality, in which there is a subtly different set of historical truths in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. In particular, the show tries to suggest that the last "real" president in its timeline is Richard Nixon, and to chart the careers of its principal players in the light of that decision. Nevertheless, there are occasions in which more contemporary presidents are implied.

However, through timeline analysis, it can be assumed that while Richard Nixon was the last President to hold a real-life presidential term, Ronald Reagan was the last real-life President. These are the Presidents and their terms in the West Wing universe:

• Richard Nixon (R - 1969-1974)
• Gerald Ford (R - 1974-1975)
• Jimmy Carter (D - 1975-1979)
• Ronald Reagan (R - 1979-1987)
• D. Wire Newman (D - 1987-1991)
• Owen Lassiter (R - 1991-1999)
• Josiah "Jed" Bartlet (D - 1999-2007)
  • Glen Allen Walken (R - May 8-10, 2003)
• Matt Santos (D - 2007-2015)

Skewed from reality

Fictional Presidents who served between Nixon and Bartlet include one-term Democrat D. Wire Newman (James Cromwell) and two-term Republican Owen Lassiter.

Leo McGarry is mentioned as being Labor Secretary in the administration that was in office in 1993 and 1995. In the first season, an outgoing Supreme Court Justice tells President Bartlet that he had been wanting to retire for 5 years, but waited "for a Democrat." The season four episode "Debate Camp" features a flashback to the days just before Bartlet's inauguration, as Donna Moss meets with her Republican predecessor, Jeff Johnson, who makes it clear that the outgoing Republican administration has been in office for eight years. In season six Leo says that the Republicans have been "out of power for eight years", and Republicans at their convention say "eight (years) is enough".

The passage of time on the show relative to that of the real world is somewhat ambiguous when marked by events of shorter duration (e.g., votes, campaigns). Sorkin has noted in a DVD commentary track for the second season episode "18th and Potomac" that he has tried to avoid tying The West Wing to a specific period of time. Despite this, real years are occasionally mentioned, usually in the context of elections and President Bartlet's two-term administration.

The show's presidential elections are held in 2002 and 2006, which are the years of the midterm elections in reality. The election timeline in The West Wing matches up with that of the real world until early in the sixth season, when it appears that a year is lost. For example, the filing deadline for the New Hampshire primary, which would normally fall in January 2006, appears in an episode airing in January 2005.

In an interview, John Wells stated that the series began one and a half years into Bartlet's first term and that the election to replace Bartlet was being held at the correct time.

In the season 5 episode "Access", it is mentioned that the Casey Creek crisis occurred during Bartlet's first term, and network footage of the crisis carries the date of November 2001.

1998 presidential election

Bartlet's first campaign for president is never significantly explored in the series. Bartlet won the election with 48% of the popular vote, 48 million votes, and a 303–235 margin in the Electoral College. Bartlet faced three debates with his Republican opponent, who is assumed to be Lewis D. Eisenhower, the Vice President under Owen Lassiter and an immediate relative to former President Dwight D. Eisenhower. It is mentioned that Bartlet won the third and final debate, which was held eight days before election day in St. Louis, Missouri, and that this helped swing a close election in his favor. Josh Lyman said in the days prior to the election "Bartlet was punching brick walls" as the result seemed too close to call, before the result broke his way. Leo McGarry said the same thing in "Bartlet for America" when he said "It was eight days to go, and we were too close to call".

The campaign for the Democratic nomination is extensively addressed. In the episodes "In the Shadow of Two Gunmen" and "Bartlet for America", flashbacks are used to tell how Bartlet defeated Texas Senator John Hoynes (Tim Matheson) and Washington Senator William Wiley for the Democratic nomination. The flashbacks also reveal how Leo McGarry persuaded Bartlet, who was then governor of New Hampshire, to run for president and how Bartlet ultimately selected John Hoynes as his choice as running mate.

2002 presidential election

The West Wing's 2002 presidential election pits Bartlet and Vice President John Hoynes against Florida Governor Robert Ritchie (James Brolin) and his running mate, Jeff Heston. Bartlet faces no known opposition for renomination, though Democratic Senator Stackhouse does launch a brief independent campaign for the presidency. Ritchie, not originally expected to contend for the nomination, emerges from a field of seven other Republican candidates by appealing to the party's conservative base with simple, "homey" sound bites.

Bartlet's staff contemplates replacing Vice President John Hoynes on the ticket with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Percy Fitzwallace (John Amos), among others. After it is clear that Ritchie will be the Republican nominee, Bartlet dismisses the idea, declaring that he wants Hoynes in the number two spot because of "four words," which he writes down and hands to his staffers to read: "Because I could die."

Throughout the season it is anticipated that the race will be close, but a stellar performance by Bartlet in the sole debate between the candidates helps give Bartlet a landslide victory in both the popular and electoral vote.

2006 presidential election

A speed-up in The West Wing's timeline, in part due to the expiration of many cast members' contracts and a desire to continue the program with lower production costs, resulted in the omission of the 2004 midterm elections and an election during the seventh season. The sixth season extensively details the Democratic and Republican primaries. The seventh season covers the lead-up to the general election, the election, and the transition to a new administration. The timeline slows down to concentrate on the general election race. The election, normally held in November, takes place across two episodes originally broadcast on April 2 and April 9, 2006.

Congressman Matt Santos (D-TX) (Jimmy Smits) is nominated on the fourth ballot at the Democratic National Convention, during the sixth season finale. Santos was planning to leave Congress before being recruited to run for the presidency by Josh Lyman. Santos polled in the low single digits in the Iowa caucus and was virtually out of the running in the New Hampshire primary before a last-ditch direct television appeal vaults him to a third-place finish with 19% of the vote. Josh Lyman, Santos's campaign manager, convinces Leo McGarry to become Santos' running mate.

Senator Arnold Vinick (R-CA) (Alan Alda) secures the Republican nomination, defeating Glen Allen Walken (John Goodman) and the Reverend Don Butler (Don S. Davis), among others. Initially, Vinick wants Butler to become his running mate. However, Butler does not want to be considered because of Vinick's stance on abortion. Instead, West Virginia Governor Ray Sullivan (Brett Cullen) is chosen as Vinick's running mate. Vinick is portrayed throughout the sixth season as virtually unbeatable because of his popularity in California, a typically Democratic state, his moderate views, and his wide crossover appeal. Vinick, however, faces difficulty with the pro-life members of his party as a pro-choice candidate, and criticism for his support of nuclear power following a serious accident at a Californian nuclear power station.

On the evening of the election, Leo McGarry suffers a massive heart attack and is pronounced dead at the hospital, with the polls still open on the West Coast. The Santos campaign releases the information immediately, while Arnold Vinick refuses to use Leo's death as a "stepstool" to the presidency. Santos emerges as the winner in his home state of Texas, while Vinick wins his home state of California. The election comes down to Nevada, where both candidates need a victory to secure the presidency. Vinick tells his staff repeatedly that he will not allow his campaign to demand a recount of the votes if Santos is declared the winner. Josh Lyman is seen giving Santos the same advice, although the Santos campaign does send a team of lawyers down to Nevada. Santos is pronounced the winner of the election, having won Nevada by 30,000 votes, with an electoral margin of 272–266.

Santos organizes his administration, choosing Josh Lyman as Chief of Staff, who in turn calls on former colleague Sam Seaborn to be Deputy Chief of Staff. In need of experienced cabinet members, Santos taps Arnold Vinick as Secretary of State, believing the senior statesman to be one of the best strategists available and respected by foreign leaders.

President Bartlet's final act as President of the United States is pardoning Toby Ziegler. The series ends with Bartlet returning to New Hampshire. Having said his goodbyes to his closest staff, former President Bartlet tells President Santos, "Make me proud, Mr. President", to which Santos responds, "I'll do my best, Mr. President."

According to executive producer Lawrence O'Donnell, Jr., the writers originally intended for Vinick to win the election. However, the death of Spencer forced him and his colleagues to consider the emotional strain that would result from having Santos lose both his running mate and the election. It was eventually decided that the last episodes would be rescripted by John Wells. Other statements from John Wells, however, have contradicted O'Donnell's claims about a previously planned Vinick victory. The script showing Santos winning was written long before the death of John Spencer. In 2008 O'Donnell stated to camera "We actually planned at the outset for Jimmy Smits to win, that was our .. just .. plan of how this was all going to work, but the Vinick character came on so strong in the show, and was so effective, it became a real contest ... and it became a real contest in the West Wing writer's room."

Similarities to 2008 U.S. presidential election

Similarities between the fictional 2006 election and the real-life 2008 U.S. presidential election have been noted in the media: young minority Democratic candidate (Matthew Santos on the show, Barack Obama in real life) has a gruelling but successful primary campaign against a more experienced candidate (Bob Russell on the show, Hillary Clinton in real life) and chooses an experienced Washington insider as his running mate (Leo McGarry on the show, Joe Biden in real life), whereas the Republican contest is determined early in the primary season with an aging maverick senator of a Western state being the nominee (Arnold Vinick on the show, John McCain in real life), defeating an ordained minister as the closest competitor (Reverend Butler on the show, Mike Huckabee in real life), and then selecting a socially conservative running mate from a small Republican state (West Virginia Governor Ray Sullivan on the show, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin in real life).

Writer Eli Attie called David Axelrod to talk about Obama after Obama's 2004 Democratic National Convention speech and says that he "drew inspiration from [Obama] in drawing [the Santos] character," while actor Jimmy Smits says that Obama "was one of the people that I looked to draw upon." Writer and producer Lawrence O'Donnell says that he partly modeled Vinick after McCain. Obama's Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, is said to be the basis of the Josh Lyman character, who became Santos' Chief of Staff.

Other broadcasts

The show previously reran on Bravo in the US beginning in 2003 and was previously available on Netflix beginning in 2013. Cable channel TNT reran episodes of the show in 2020 ahead of the US election and the show's launch on HBO Max in December 2020. In 2022, HLN aired a marathon of the show over the Thanksgiving holiday. After the show was removed from the Max streaming service in the US in December 2024, the series appeared on the top of the rankings for show purchases on iTunes in January 2025. It later returned to streaming on Max a week later on January 8, 2025, after leadership at the platform reportedly had been unaware of the plans for removal. Journalist Oliver Darcy had reported in his newsletter that the removal had been due an "ROI evaluation" and had written that "it’s a little embarrassing that Warner Bros. Discovery can’t apparently afford to keep its own show (Warner Bros. Television produced the program) on its own streamer." Fans of the show also took credit on social media for its return after having expressed their unhappiness. The show reached the top 10 most viewed TV series list on Max the week it was restored and the following days. The series was also made available on Netflix again in December 2025.

In the UK, the show originally aired on Sky One in 2000 before later airing on Channel 4, E4 and More4. The show has also been made available on Channel 4's streaming service and on Amazon Prime Video's Freevee platform in the UK.

The 2005 German series Kanzleramt on public broadcaster ZDF was compared with The West Wing. The original was not broadcast in Germany until it ran from 2008 to 2012 on the pay television channel Fox.

Other websites

Official websites

• United States: Archived Official Warner Brothers site
• United Kingdom: More4 (Channel Four) and Warner Bros Archived 2006-03-08 at the Wayback Machine
• Japan: NHK Official Homepage of The West Wing - Season 1 Archived 2006-08-31 at the Wayback Machine, Season 2 Archived 2006-08-31 at the Wayback Machine, Season 3 Archived 2006-08-22 at the Wayback Machine, and Season 4 Archived 2006-08-24 at the Wayback Machine
• Canada: CTV Archived 2008-12-06 at the Wayback Machine
• Sweden: SVT
• Netherlands: RTL4
• Norway: NRK

General

• The West Wing Transcripts or Fan Transcribed Scripts Archived 2006-05-07 at the Wayback Machine
• The West Wing Episode Guide Archived 2012-06-07 at the Wayback Machine
• West Wing Continuity Guide
• The West Wing Episode Guide with consumer ratings
• The West Wing Wiki Archived 2007-02-16 at the Wayback Machine
• White House Museum: "The West Wing of The West Wing" Archived 2021-02-12 at the Wayback Machine with layout, pictures, and reviews comparing the TV West Wing to the real West Wing
• The West Wing at AllMovie
• The West Wing on IMDb
• The West Wing at TV.com