#bartlet administration

[twwpress]

Weekly Press Briefing #51: June 11th - June 17th

Welcome back to the Weekly Press Briefing, where we bring you highlights from The West Wing fandom each week, including new fics, ongoing challenges, and more! This briefing covers all things posted from June 11 - June 17, 2023! Did we miss something? Let us know; you can find our contact info at the bottom of this briefing!

Challenges/Prompts:

The following is a roundup of open challenges/prompts. Do you have a challenge or event you’d like us to promote? Be sure to get in touch with us! Contact info is at the bottom of this briefing.

The Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda Josh/Donna prompt fest (hosted by @jessbakescakes and @thefinestmuffin) is open for claiming; fics reveal on June 24th. Details here.

Photos/Videos:

Here’s what was posted from June 11 - June 17.

Amy Landecker posted a photo of herself and Bradley Whiford at last year’s Creative Arts Emmy Awards in celebration of his nomination for a Supporting Actor Emmy for his role as Commander Lawrence in The Handmaid’s Tale. 

Richard Schiff posted photos of himself with Lisa Edelstein in promotion of their short film Swipe NYC.

Bradley Whitford posted photos of himself on the WGA picket line with his Perfect Harmony co-stars.

Dule Hill posted a promo video for his show The Wonder Years; the second season is now available to stream on Hulu. 

Josh Malina posted a video of the Leopoldstadt cast walking to the Tony Awards together. 

Josh Malina posted a video of his Leopoldstadt colleague Brandon Uranowitz winning a Tony Award. 

Josh Malina posted a selfie with David Krumholtz, who originally played Hermann (the character Malina now plays) in Leopoldstadt. 

Josh Malina posted a silly photo of himself claiming that he’s staying humble after Leopoldstadt’s Tony wins. 

Josh Malina posted a photo of himself napping with his dog, Gus. 

Kim Webster posted a video of herself and her friends taking shots with Geena Davis.

Marlee Matlin posted a photo of her brother and his husband, along with well wishes for their first anniversary. 

Rob Lowe posted a video of himself and his wife getting ready for a date and joking that they were going to prom. 

We missed some videos from May that feature Martin Sheen. Huge thanks to the newsletter reader who sent them our way! 1 | 2 

Donna Moss Daily: June 11 | June 12 | June 13 | June 14 | June 15 | June 16 | June 17

Daily Josh Lyman: June 11 | June 12 | June 13 | June 14 | June 15 | June 16 | June 17

No Context BWhit: June 11 | June 12 | June 13 | June 14 | June 15 | June 16 | June 17

@jdsgifs: June 11 (1) | June 11 (2) | June 11 (3)

@twwarchive: June 17

Editors’ Choice: 

In honor of Father’s Day, we’re sharing some of our favorite fics that focus on fatherhood and found family dad vibes! We’ve tried to include a lot of fluff, but please be aware that because family relationships can be complicated, there might be some angsty and potentially triggering content here, so please read tags and notes and take care of yourself first. 

Favorites by Jxjxjx | Rated G | Jed Bartlet & Charlie Young, Zoey Bartlet/Charlie Young | Complete | Jed and Charlie talk before Charlie gets married

 i knew the love of a father runs deep by sam_writes_fics | Rated G | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete | She sees something light up in her husband’s eyes. She’s seen the look before – when he proposed and she said yes, when they finally said ‘I do’, both times when she told them they were having a baby – and every single time it makes her heart flutter.

 His Boy by The_wastedworld | Rated G | Josh Lyman & Leo McGarry, Jed Bartlet & Josh Lyman, Jed Bartlet & Leo McGarry (Gen Fic) | Complete | Post Bartlet shouting at Josh in 3x22, Featuring Leo defending Josh, a discussion of how much they both love him, and a slightly screwed up timeline. Also featuring a slightly mean Bartlet, but he apologises

 when i'm in my sweet daughter's eyes (my heart is now ruined for the rest of all time) by JessBakesCakes | Rated T | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete | The first day of school in the Moss-Lyman family is, as seven-year-old Nora puts it, a big freakin’ deal. Josh has come to enjoy it as much as the girls do – watching them all take on another school year with (mostly) wonder and excitement fills him with pride.

// the Moss-Lyman family's first day of school

 For the Redemption and the Battles by shutterbug_12 (shutterbug) | Rated G | Andrea Wyatt/Toby Ziegler | Complete | At Hanukkah, Toby teaches a lesson.

One Quiet Day in June by GinnyK  | Rated T | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete | This was my answer to a Father's Day challenge, many, many years ago!

i'm gonna love you til my lungs give out by payback16 | Rated E | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete | Sixteen years together and he still feels like pinching himself every morning he wakes up to a head of blonde hair tucked under his chin. Three other blonde little heads are sleeping just down the hall and at the thought he pulls his wife in tighter, endlessly grateful for her and the family they've created together.

or: father's day 2022 with our favorite dad

 Fathers by Nkala99 | Rated G | Gen Fic/No Pairings Listed | Complete | Jed Bartlet usually tried to maintain a professional distance with the men and women who worked for him, but the longer he spent time with them on the road during his campaign, he couldn’t deny that he was coming to care about his team.

Father's Day by Lulu [archived by westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist] | Rated T | Gen Fic/No Pairings Listed | Complete | Leo, Mallory, and some friends get together on father's day.

Fics:

Presenting your weekly roundup of fics posted in the tag for The West Wing on Archive of Our Own.

Josh/Donna

Errors and Omissions by Chinesepapercut | Rated T | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | In Progress

Fragments of Days Gone By… by JayeReid1 | Rated T | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | In Progress

Domestic Days by spooky_spacegirl | Rated G | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | In Progress

C.J./Danny

Off the Record by  onekisstotakewithme for daylight_angel, miabicicletta, Luppiters, hondagirll | Rated T | Danny Concannon/C. J. Cregg | In Progress

12 Months by Jxjxjx |  Rated G | Danny Concannon/C. J. Cregg | In Progress

Other Pairings/Gen Fic

 it started off with a kiss... now it ended up like this by imawkwardlysoc | Rated G | Sam Seaborn/Original Female Character | In Progress

Wait For Me by imperfectirises | Rated M | Abbey Bartlet/Jed Bartlet | In Progress

Not Making Plans by Mabis | Rated T | Josh Lyman/Sam Seaborn | Complete

north potomac, maryland by rearviewmirror | Rated G |  C. J. Cregg/Toby Ziegler | Complete

Multiple Pairings

Operation in the Desert by mlea7675 | Rated T | Abbey Bartlet/Jed Bartlet, Helen Santos/Matt Santos, Josh Lyman/Donna Moss, Ainsley Hayes/Sam Seaborn, Danny Concannon/C. J. Cregg, C. J. Cregg/Toby Ziegler, Will Bailey/Kate Harper, Zoey Bartlet/Charlie Young, Leo McGarry/Annabeth Schott | Complete

Yes, You are better than my old boyfriend by Proportional Response | Rated E | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss, Dr. Freeride/Donna Moss | Complete

THE WEEKLY PRESS BRIEFING TEAM CAN BE REACHED VIA THE FOLLOWING METHODS:

Twitter: @TWWPress

Email: [email protected]

 Feel free to let us know if we missed something, if you have an event you’d like us to promote, or if you have an item that you’d like included in the next briefing!

xx, What’s next?

#the west wing #west wing #tww #west wing fandom #the west wing fandom #tww fandom #bartlet administration #tww fic #west wing fic #the west wing fic #josh lyman #sam seaborn #jed bartlet #charlie young #toby ziegler #leo mcgarry #fathers day #donna moss #cj cregg #andy wyatt #josh x donna #danny x cj #tww rare pairs #tww gen fic #weekly press briefing

[1doesnotsimplyhavejust1fandam]

My love for the West Wing has officially reached the point where the Bartlet White House is the one that I think about when reading political AUs for other fandoms. Was reading a 9-1-1 AU with the firefam as the Nash Administration and literally thought, “wait, why isn’t CJ handling this? Did I miss something bigger going on with the press?” even though the fic literally established Chimney as the press Secretary jfc someone come pick me up, I’ve finally lost it

#the west wing #west wing #tww #ww #911 #9-1-1 #911 fox #9 1 1 fox #jed bartlet #Bartlet administration #bobby nash #firefam #cj cregg #au #chimney han #alternate universe #nash administration #texts to my bestie #i need professional help

[wanderlust-nikki]

My #Wednesday100 Drabble for The West Wing!

Love to @somewhereapart always

#wednesday100 #fanfic #the west wing #Bartlet administration found family but I forgot Sam

[wannaliveattheholidayinn]

i would HATE to work in the white house during bartlet's administration. what if i turn a corner and have to bear witness to whatever the hell is going on between josh and donna ?

#i truly believe they were hr's worst nightmare #the west wing #tww #josh x donna #joshdonna #josh lyman #donna moss

[southofeerie]

modern west wing social media hcs

i feel like charlie would have the most normal social media acct and following, like maybe an instagram where he posts pictures of himself (mostly for family), and like a twitter where he occasionally retweets his friends or bartlet. he likes making fun of other people (especially senior staff) for being too stuck to their devices, and a large online presence would take away that ability

CJ’s twitter is less incendiary than she’d like, since she’s the face of the bartlet administration, and so a lot of it is discussing policy or clarifying briefings. she does retweet a lot of good edu sites or interesting articles she finds. she herself trends a lot, she’s pretty famous online as a political icon ala AOC or bernie sanders, and she gets a lot of edits made online from press conferences (which she enjoys bragging abt to the other staff, while making fun of them for being out-of-touch). CJ also has a private instagram that hogan had her make, but she only posts extremely blurry pictures of coffee and her goldfish with captions like “hogan said to post to remind people that im alive”. toby always replies with “sending the pictures to MOMA. breathtaking” and danny replies with “breaking news. press secretary reveals she is still alive. more at 7”.

leo does not have social media because he still has a flip phone and a brick laptop. he says he prefers hearing bad news out loud or reading it on physical paper, but really, he just can’t figure out how to work it. im talking types “google” into google, then types “hello find me a map of the united states of america” in the search bar. margaret tried to help but seeing him type google into google physically pained her

josh is banned from twitter (after he pissed off three midwestern states, basket weavers, and most hollywood producers in the first week in office). cj regularly checks to make sure he hasn’t made a new account. he has a public instagram, but cj looks over captions before he posts (he once tried to ask the president for permission to get a new account but the president sided with cj). most of his posts are about encouraging people to vote or be more politically active. he is also not allowed to reply to comments on the instagram, so he reads them out loud in a mocking voice to donna. unbeknownst to him, there is a white house deputy chief of staff twitter page run by donna (with cj’s permission) that discusses white house initiatives and shares fun anecdotes abt day to day work. anytime someone tells josh they love his twitter account he assumes they mean instagram, and nobody tells him until bartlet is two years out of office

donna, like charlie, has an instagram mostly for her family back home, but also has a twitter where she talks about tv shows she likes and her hobbies, that has a decent following. she might have a tumblr but again it would be abt tv shows and hobbies she has

toby is on goodreads and instagram (but only to leave sarcastic comments on his friends’ posts). he hates twitter’s word count limit and how it’s owned by elon musk, and rants abt it often. he leaves lengthy reviews on any political commentary article in the comments section. this has been brought up in the briefing room, to the point where cj has a recording of herself saying “toby ziegler’s online rants are not indicative of president bartlet’s views. if you have any questions please direct them to ziegler himself”

president bartlet has facebook </3. there’s a white house twitter page run by an intern, but he’s not involved with that. he posts fun facts about national parks or ancient latin novels, but each fact starts with something like “joshua lyman, 🧍‍♂️deputy chief of staff, 🇺🇸doesn’t understand the true beauty of yellowstone national park 🙄🏞🏜🤦‍♂️”. most people think it’s a parody account and cj doesn’t want to correct them

abbey does not have facebook, despite her husbands insistence that it’s better than twitter. on the rare occasions she uses her account it’s mostly to discuss important medical breakthroughs and her daughter’s work

sam has a really popular instagram, where he posts selfies and pretty pictures of the white house and captions like “having a great day at work today!” or “white house at sunset.. gorgeous”. he posts on his story a lot, and comes off as very relatable to the public. he’s cj’s dream social media user

will bailey runs campaign social medias pretty well but his own twitter account is mostly for promoting the campaigns. occasionally he retweets stuff his friends post, or tweets out funny jokes he hears.

margaret is tumblr famous, but never posts abt her job. her posts regularly wind up on other sites. she hasn’t told anybody and doesn’t plan to

#the west wing #west wing #tww #cj cregg #charlie young #josh lyman #sam seaborn #toby ziegler #margaret hooper #jed bartlet #abbey bartlet #social media au #donna moss #will bailey #leo mcgarry

[littlefanthings]

Rewatching The West Wing and thinking about Josh being so upset about Donna leaving in S6. His “what about loyalty” thing is confusing because he also ends up leaving the White House not long after. Obviously we know it’s about loyalty to him, really, but even he would have to notice the hypocrisy.

So then I realized that the way Donna sees her work at the White House and the way Josh sees Donna’s work at the White House are totally different.

Donna knows she’s Josh’s assistant. She’s grown out of the title. She knows she can do more but she also knows Josh isn’t ever really going to give her the chance. She’s too valuable to him as an assistant. If she stays she’s always going to be taking Josh’s calls and getting his burnt hamburgers while he gets to help run the country.

But the thing is that subconsciously, Josh doesn’t really think of her as his assistant but more like a partner. Yeah, he does all the political diplomacy stuff, but she does all the other stuff that makes it all possible. They’re doing this incredible thing helping to run the country together.

So when she leaves and he talks about loyalty, she’s thinking what he really means is that he just wanted her taking his calls and burning his food forever because it made his life so much easier. But what Josh was really saying was “we were a TEAM (and we all know how important teams are to the Bartlet administration), how could you just leave like that?”

(I mean mostly he’s so mad because he’s madly in love with her but he’s too terrified to do anything about it so he does nothing and if everything stays exactly the same at least she’s still THERE and if they don’t work together how will he keep her in his life oh no maybe she doesn’t WANT to be in his life and all of this hurts so much and it’s all his own fault for not just TELLING HER he loves her. tl;dr he’s an idiot.)

#the west wing #west wing #donna moss #josh lyman

[thebreakfastgenie]

I think the secret sauce of the Bartlet administration is that they have both Josh and Toby and Josh and Toby both understand that they need each other. Not that they're more crucial as individuals than CJ and Sam, but they're the clearest representations of particular philosophies. Josh is a pragmatist who does have ideals deep down but is willing to compromise because getting something is better than getting nothing. He gets dirty to keep Bartlet clean. Toby is a frustrated idealist who is angry a lot of the time because his expectations are so high. He knows things can be better than they are and he's constantly disappointed that they aren't and that depresses him. Josh and Toby fight it out but they both respect each other and deep down they both understand where the other is coming from and agree a lot more than it seems on the surface. That balance makes the administration stronger, combined with Jed Bartlet being smart enough to listen to both of them and decide for himself. There's a reason Leo handpicked both of them.

#someday i'll write more about how cj and sam fit in too

[onekisstotakewithme]

My favourite thing about "Tomorrow" as a finale is just the simultaneous feeling of it being a finale, and feeling like you can just tune in again next week, and everyone will still be there.

It really encompasses the end of one administration and the start of the next, like the Bartlet Administration is over, but the government is continuing...

#the west wing #tww

[fadeouttowhispers]

Fandom: The West Wing Relationship(s): CJ/Danny, CJ & Margaret Word Count: 6964 words Genre/Tags: Season 7, Comfort, Romance, Sick CJ, Domestic Fluff Summary: C.J. had caught a cold, the rare phenomenon that happened once every year like clockwork (sometime around Thanksgiving, but before the second week of December was done). C.J. comes down with a cold towards the end of the Bartlet administration, and Margaret sends her home to rest. Luckily for her, her boyfriend is there to take care of her. Originally Posted: 29 September 2023

#the west wing #cj cregg #danny concannon #margaret hooper #cj x danny #creggcannon #fanfiction #~fanfiction #~fics #danny x cj #tww #the irony of me posting this just as I got sick (again) is not lost on me

[mihrsuri]

for @miabicicletta a mini companion piece to my ‘it was CJ who was kidnapped not Zoey AU’

Journalistic ‘objectivity’ was a crapshoot at best - at worst it was a fig leaf to hide that you, the superior journalist did not have any bias, honestly you don’t - Samira Cohen learned from the greatest that the best thing you can do, maybe the only thing you can do is genuinely be fair. Don’t pull punches, don’t soft pedal a story but be kind - the foundation of their profession is people and if nothing else, it’s self interest to not be malicious.

The (almost) entire White House Press Corps has left ‘unbiased’ in a previous century about a second after they learned CJ Cregg was kidnapped. She and Katie, Mark, Ikram and Kara from The Guardian have, Samira is pretty sure, wore holes in the carpet and displaced their worry onto well, worrying about Danny.

Of course they are worrying about Danny. The trouble is, well not the trouble - honestly if she had the choice she’d sell tickets to Danny murdering Lewis Warner VI from Fox and eat popcorn the entire time. Sign a recommendation for a medal of honour and she’s pretty sure Jed Bartlet would give him five of them. Unfortunately if he does it now, it’s just going to fan the disgusting things the right are saying. Especially what they’d say about CJ, which is all that Danny actually gives a fuck about.

(Lewis Warner VI has been various flavours of racist (anti semitic, anti black, anti brown), sexist and patronising for years but because he’s the one actual real life example (i.e. wasp) of the caricature of affirmative action he rants about, he’s kept failing up).

So they’ve all attempted to keep Danny well away from and well, it helps to take her mind of everything. Because Samira likes these people. Oh sure, she’s been critical (won an award for it) but they are good dedicated people here in this administration. And now they all have to pretend they haven’t lost a sister and a daughter and Danny has to make an attempt to pretend that he isn’t hanging on the edge of the news of losing the love of his life.

#lil and her ridiculous aus #fic #tv: west wing

[1doesnotsimplyhavejust1fandam]

Why is Charlie and Sam’s first meeting genuinely so amusing if you look at it from Charlie’s point of view? You’re here for the messenger job at the White House, you’ve got a drivers license and your bike, but Ms. DiLaGuardia thinks you’re up for assisting the President day in and day out, so now you’re talking with the deputy chief of staff who is just absolutely steamrolling your desire to stick to the messenger application, and THEN the deputy communications director shows up and immediately tries to pick a fight with the DCOS over legalities of your interview questions. He has to be dragged from the room by the DCOS, who was literally interviewing you, and he shouts about representing you if you sue the administration for asking stupid questions, and then neither of these two comes back for like,, at least an hour.

And then LATER, Josh is taking you to meet the President (!!!) who verbally destroys you before being dragged into the chief of staff’s office, where he keeps on yelling for a few moments, and then a few minutes later, you hear genuine UPROARIOUS laughter, and you’re so confused bc Josh is keeping you in the outer room to the Oval, but you would really like to just go back to trying for the messenger job and are you even certain you aren’t being held hostage by the deputy chief of staff? And Josh is nice and all, but you just got yelled at by the President and you’d really just like to get the messenger job so that you can go home and stare at the wall until Deanna gets real concerned bc what is going ON??? But then suddenly the President is coming out to shake your hand and introduce himself like you don’t know exactly who Jed Bartlet is, like you didn’t vote for the man months ago. And then he’s telling you about working on gun control and asking you to honor your mother, and you find yourself smiling for the first time that day because that really does sound good to you, and is also the simplest decision you’ve heard of all day. And suddenly you’re the president’s personal assistant and not getting any sleep ever, but you’ve got your little sister, your new co-workers (who are actually welcoming and want to hear your thoughts), and you meet this girl and ma’am her at first before realizing that she’s kind of awesome, and suddenly you’re dating the president’s daughter and there is literally no escape from this place.

#the west wing #charlie young #sam seaborn #josh lyman #jed bartlet #zoey bartlet #this went way more into Charlie’s first episode than his first meeting w Sam but idc bc it’s all wild #this kid was always gonna land on his feet if he was able to get thru the chaos of those first few hours lol #Charlie young is literally my hero not even kidding #tww #ww #west wing #that show that’s been over for nearly 20 years and yet I’m still obsessed

[bookofjudith]

I kinda wish Josh and Donna had slept together during the bartlet administration if only because I take great delight in CJ somehow finding out before it becomes a press problem and relentlessly bullying Josh by calling him a man-whore

#tww #josh x donna

[princesssarcastia]

oddly enough, the thing that crystalized my feelings on The West Wing and Jed Bartlet is finally watching the last season of Madam Secretary this month, where Elizabeth McCord gets to be president for ten episodes.

She's besieged on all sides, dealing with some truly galling and, surprisingly, named-for-what-it-is sexism from Congress that snowballs into impeachment hearings. Back to the wall, allies disappearing, hope a thing of the past—and what does she do?

She looks around, sees where she is and the power she still holds, and makes a wish list. A shoot-for-the-moon, if-you-could-have-anything-you-wanted-what-would-it-be list...and gets to work on it. In the middle of a series of blockbuster televised congressional hearings about her and her family, Elizabeth McCord decides she's still the fucking president and she'd damn well better act like it. Her game plan is to refuse to give the political bullshit any oxygen in her administration, and to go on doing things that need doing. Like land disputes in the south china sea. and gun control. and carbon reduction. and expanding access to health care.

RUSSEL: Do you really want to take on one of the most intractable problems in the world while your head is on the chopping block? ELIZABETH: Yep.

Jed Bartlet could never.

#west wing #madam secretary #obviously madam secretary has much more fantastical politics than the west wing does #but also...goddamn #if you're going to write fiction then lean in #jed bartlet #elizabeth mccord

[starship21zedna9]

I think it's sweet that Leo got a job set up for Toby in case the whole administration went south. I know Toby was offended but I liked it.

Sam would have been fine (as evidenced by him going back to being a high powered lawyer between seasons 5-7).

CJ probably would have been fine too. She was more a PR person than a politician. She would land on her feet.

Josh is too damned determined and obsessed with his career not to land on his feet somewhere.

Toby? Yeah, I'd worry about him. He wasn't doing great before he was brought on the to the Bartlet campaign.

#the west wing #toby ziegler #leo mcgarry #josh lyman #cj cregg #sam seaborn #jed bartlet #aaron sorkin

[ithastobethiswhitehouse]

'It rips on a lot of levels,' John Spencer added, particularly 'the disappointment and the hurt that my best friend didn't share something so great with me, and fear because there's a duality now' - and a devotion and love for Bartlet and a desire to protect the presidency and the administration.

Excerpt from Inside Bartlet's White House: An Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to The West Wing by Keith Topping

#john spencer #leo mcgarry #jed bartlet #the west wing #1.12

[thebreakfastgenie]

John Hoynes Manifesto

Seasons 1-4 only

Hoynes is there for Leo when Jenny leaves him in Five Votes Down and stands up for him again when the other members want to kick him out of their AA meeting. He stopped drinking at 22 because he was concerned about how much he was drinking and his family history of alcoholism, which demonstrates a level of self-awareness that impresses Jed Bartlet. When he finds out Bartlet doesn’t know about his history with alcoholism he’s shocked and tells him with no hesitation.

Hoynes is the only one Bartlet wants for Vice-President, even when changing the ticket could be politically advantageous, because he trusts him to assume the office if he dies. When Bartlet is shot, Hoynes doesn’t try to seize power or take the opportunity to self-aggrandize. If anything, he defers to Leo more than he constitutionally should; Toby is correct to point out that Leo is unelected.

Politically, Hoynes is ambitious, but he’s not as straight-forwardly self-serving as he seems. He’s one of the few legislators willing to take a position on social security and the entire argument is over that Josh wanting him to make that position central to his campaign instead of hiding from it. Hoynes even says he's planning to talk about it, he just doesn't want to start the campaign with it, which is strategically a perfectly reasonable position.

Instead he wants to focus on the ethanol tax credit, which is another issue on which he took a principled and unpopular position that was incredibly risky politically. There's a whole storyline about it in season 1, when there's a tie in the Senate and Bartlet is going to ask Hoynes to break the tie in favor of the ethanol tax credit. Bartlet feels bad about it and ultimately doesn't do it, because Bartlet also agrees with Hoynes about ethanol, but he takes the politically expedient position instead of being honest. Arguably in the primary Hoynes could afford to do it as the frontrunner while Bartlet couldn't, but what's Bartlet's excuse once he's in the White House?

Hoynes spent years of his career trying to pass a bill to bring high-speed internet access to rural communities and when it finally comes down to it, the only way to pass it is to take his name off of it. Bartlet's staff waste a lot of time trying to find workarounds before telling Hoynes the truth and when they do he immediately says to take his name off. He doesn't even treat it as a question. Passing the bill, which he believes in, is more important to him than credit.

Even some of his more self-serving behavior in season 1, such as screwing over Bartlet by claiming the credit for getting the votes in Five Votes Down, retroactively becomes a lot more reasonable--even arguably sympathetic--in season 2, when you find out Bartlet wasn't planning to run for re-election and Hoynes knew that. As far as Hoynes knew in season 1, he was going to be the one running for president in three years, not Bartlet, so he needed the clout of a political win more.

The tension between him and Bartlet--before they eventually more or less work it out--is very much a two-way street. Bartlet beats him in a primary he was supposed to be guaranteed to win, which is fair game, that's just a bruised ego, but then immediately tells him he has MS which he deliberately did not mention during the campaign. Then he spends the next year being pissy because Hoynes wasn't immediately grateful for the offer of VP and wanted time to think about it before accepting the job. And Bartlet keeps changing the game on him because he starts acting like someone who is running for re-election but hasn't told Hoynes he's changed his mind. Toby even points out that Hoynes may be the only one acting responsibly toward the voters and the party.

The end of his vice-presidency in season 4 comes about because he owns his serious mistakes. Bartlet and Leo want him to fight it, but he knows the administration can't weather another scandal and he walks away. There is no indication he was already planning a comeback at that point, either. Also, the scandal in question was a consensual affair, which isn't anybody's business, and being careless with sensitive information, which is. Nothing particularly bad happened, but he knew his behavior was inexcusable.

Hoynes wants to be president because he wants power but also because he wants to do something with it. He does see politics as public service, if not quite to the extent that Jed Bartlet does (and let's not forget Bartlet has a huge ego, too). I think Hoynes is probably one of the most nuanced and realistic portrayals of a politician that I've seen. He's not someone that you fall in love with but he is someone that you vote for.

#the west wing