The West Wing was produced by Warner Bros. Television.
For the first four seasons, there were three executive producers, Aaron
Sorkin (lead writer of almost all those first four seasons), Thomas Schlamme and John Wells. After Sorkin left the program, John Wells became the sole executive producer.
It first aired on NBC in 1999, and has been broadcast by many networks in several other countries. The series ended its seven-year run on May 14, 2006.[2]
The show received positive reviews from critics, political science professors, and former White House staffers. 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
consecutive times from 2000 through 2003. The show's ratings waned in
later years, following the departure of series creator Aaron Sorkin
(who wrote or co-wrote 85 of the first 88 episodes) after the fourth
season, yet it remained popular among high-income viewers, with around
16 million viewers, a key demographic for the show and its advertisers.[3]
The series was created by Aaron Sorkin. Sorkin served as executive producer for the pilot episode alongside director Thomas Schlamme and John Wells. Kristin Harms and Llewellyn Wells were producers for the pilot. 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.
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. Numerous secondary characters, appearing intermittently, complement storylines that generally revolve around this core group.
Each of the principal actors made approximately $75,000 an episode, with Sheen's most recently confirmed salary being $300,000.[4][5]
Rob Lowe also had a six-figure salary, reported to be $100,000, because
his character originally was supposed to have a more central role.[6] Disparities 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 suits by Warner Bros. However, by banding together, they were able to persuade the studio to more than double their salaries.[4]
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.[7]
John Spencer, who played Leo McGarry, died from a heart attack on December 16, 2005—about a year after his character experienced a nearly fatal heart attack on the show. A brief memorial message from Martin Sheen ran 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.
In an interview on the Season 1 DVD, Bradley Whitford
said 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.[8]
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 to personal problems like
post-traumatic stress disorder, from which Josh suffers during the
second season. 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
second year and is still having trouble settling in and making progress
on legislative issues.
The second season covers the aftermath of the shooting at Rosslyn,
the 2000 midterm elections and dealings with a new Congress, and sees
scandal when 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 faces off with the newly
designated Speaker of the House, battles controversy over Supreme Court appointments and oversees a daring plan to save Social Security.
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 DoD program from inside the
White House, while the Democratic and Republican candidates battle to
succeed him in the general election.
The series developed following the success of 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.[citation needed]
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.[9]
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.[10] Sorkin's hectic writing schedule often led to cost overruns and schedule slips,[11]
and he opted to leave the show after the fourth season, following
increasing personal problems, including an arrest for possession of
"what were believed to be hallucinogenic mushrooms."[12]Thomas Schlamme also left the show after the fourth season. John Wells, the remaining executive producer, took the helm after their departure.
The West Wing aired on Wednesday nights from its debut until
the end of its sixth season, not moving from its 9:00 time slot in any
of those seasons. NBC elected to move the series to Sunday nights for
what proved to be its final season, and the series finale aired on May
14, 2006. The West Wing took a large ratings hit with the move, which put it up against ABC's Top 20 hit Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, and CBS' Top 30 hit Cold Case in its timeslot.
The West Wing offers a fictional glimpse into the inner
workings of the White House, and the show's legitimacy, political
slant, and film merits have generated considerable discussion.
The West Wing is not completely accurate in its portrayal of the actual West Wing;[13]
however, former White House staffers agree that the show "captures the
feel [of the West Wing], shorn of a thousand undramatic details."[14]
Former White House Press SecretaryDee 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.
While critics often praised The West Wing for its writing, others faulted the show as unrealistically optimistic[15] and sentimental.[16]
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?"[17]
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."[18]
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.[14] 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."[13]
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.[19]
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 a proposal backed by Tony Blair's government in the British House of Commons, during the so called "West Wing Plot". The plan was allegedly hatched after a ConservativeMember 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.[20]
Jewish Journal columnist Naomi Pfefferman once referred to The West Wing as "The Left Wing..." because of its portrayal of an ideal liberal administration, and the moniker has also been used by Republican critics of the show.[21][22][23] Chris Lehmann, former deputy editor and regular reviewer for The Washington Post's Bookworld, characterized the show as a revisionist look at the Clinton presidency.[24]
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.[25] 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. 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.[26]
”
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."[14]
Sam Seaborn and Josh Lyman converse in the hallway in one of The West Wing's noted tracking shots.
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.[27] With a budget of $6 million per episode, many consider each week's show to be a small feature film.[28] However, many in the television community believe that the true genius of the show was Sorkin's rapid-fire and witty scripts.[29]
The West Wing is noted for developing the "walk-and-talk"—long Steadicamtracking 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.[30]
In its first season, The West Wing garnered nine Emmys, a record for most won by a series in its first season.[31] In addition, the series 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 earned a nomination for the award. With its 27 total awards, The West Wing ranks 4th all-time in number of Emmy Awards won by a series, behind Frasier (37), The Mary Tyler Moore Show (29), and Cheers (28). It is the most honored program in the drama series categories.
The series shares the Emmy Award
record for most acting nominations by regular cast members (excluding
the guest performer category) for a single series 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 respectively). 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 addition, that same year Mark Harmon, Tim Matheson and Ron
Silver were each nominated in the Guest Actor category (although none
won the award). This gave the series an Emmy Award record for most
acting nominations overall (including guest performer category) in a
single year, with 12 acting nominations.
Twenty individual 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. The West Wing won at least one Emmy in each of its seasons except the sixth.
In addition to its Emmys, the show won two Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards, in 2000 and 2001,
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 (best actor and
best actress, respectively). In both 1999 and 2000, The West Wing was awarded the Peabody Award for excellence in broadcasting.
The following table summarizes award wins by cast members:
Emmy, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (2001)
Many cast members have been Emmy-nominated for their work on The West Wing
but have not won, including Martin Sheen—who was nominated for six of
the 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.
W. G. "Snuffy" Walden received an Emmy Award for Main Title Theme Music in 2000 for "The West Wing Opening Theme".
Readers of TV Guide voted the cast of The West Wing their Best Drama cast of all time, ranking at 37% of the votes, beating Lost, which registered 23%. (The cast of Friends won for Best Comedy.)[32]
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.[37]
The Bartlet administration experiences a scandal during the second and third seasons that has been compared to the Monica Lewinsky affair.[38] 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].[39]
”
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,[citation needed]
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 Wingcontinuity.
While the September 11 attacks are not referenced 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.[40]
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.[41][42] 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 to leaking the
information, and the President is forced to dismiss him. In comparison,
the Plame affair resulted in the arrest and conviction of "Scooter" 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) stood and was duly paid. In the series finale, President Bartlet,
as one of his last official acts, pardons Ziegler.
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).
Tuition scholarships to allow low-income District of Columbia public school students a chance to attend private K-12 schools.
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 is a fictional California city. It is located near San Diego, has a population of 42,000 and is the location of the San Andreo Nuclear Generating Station.
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
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.
Entire countries are invented as composite pictures that epitomize
many of the problems that plague real nations in certain areas of the
world:
Qumar is a fictional, oil-rich, powerful, Middle Eastern state. A former British protectorate now ruled by a sultan
and his family, it hosts a major US airbase and is frequently a source
of trouble for the Bartlet administration. The nation is first introduced in the third season as a close ally of the United States but is criticized for its harsh treatment of women. After the September 11 attacks,
it became a major venue for the show's terrorism subplots, including
one where convincing evidence is discovered that Qumari Defense
Minister Shareef is planning terrorist acts against US infrastructure
and President Bartlet authorizes his assassination by a covert
operations team.
Equatorial Kundu is a fictional African nation blighted by AIDS and a civil war resembling the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
The West Wing universe diverges from history after Richard Nixon's
presidency, although there is occasional overlap. 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.[43]
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.
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. 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 punched through a few
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, Part I", "In the Shadow of Two Gunmen, Part II" 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.
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, Governor Jeff Heston of Wyoming. 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 StaffAdmiralPercy 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.
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 ReverendDon 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.
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.[44]
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."[45]
[edit]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).[46][47]
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,"[48] while actor Jimmy Smits says that Obama "was one of the people that I looked to draw upon."[49] Writer and producer Lawrence O'Donnell says that he partly modeled Vinick after McCain.[50] Obama's former Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, is said to be the basis of the Josh Lyman character, who became Santos' Chief of Staff.[51][52]
As the series sunsets with Bartlet's final year in office, little is
revealed about Matt Santos' presidency, with the last few episodes
mainly focusing on the Santos team's transition into the White House.
Santos chooses 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. Santos eventually decides
on Eric Baker,
the Democratic Governor of Pennsylvania and at one point the
frontrunner for the Democratic nomination, as his choice for vice
president, and submits his name to Congress under the terms of the 25th Amendment. While the show ends
before he can be confirmed, it is implied he would face little
opposition from Republicans due to the backing of Secretary of State
Vinick.
President Bartlet's final act as President of the United States is pardoning Toby Ziegler,
who had violated federal law by leaking classified information about a
military space shuttle. 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."
^ ab Levine, Myron A. "The West Wing and the West Wing." Reprinted in The West Wing: The American Presidency as Television Drama. Edited by Peter C. Rollins and John E. Connor. 2003.
^ abc Miller, Matthew. "The Real White House." Brill's Content. Reprinted at Bartlet4America. March 1, 2000.
^ Beavers, Staci L. "The West Wing as a Pedagogical Tool." PS: Political Science & Politics. December 24, 2001. Reprinted in The West Wing: The American Presidency as Television Drama. Edited by Peter C. Rollins and John E. Connor. 2003.
^ Lehmann, Chris. "The Feel-Good Presidency: The Pseudo-Politics of The West Wing." Reprinted in The West Wing: The American Presidency as Television Drama. Edited by Peter C. Rollins and John E. Connor. 2003.
