I never watched The West Wing originally, but am starting to watch it on DVD (thanks to Netflix). One thing that’s not clear to me is what position each character is. Can anyone point me to a list of characters and their titles (i.e., chief of staff, press secretary, etc.). I couldn’t find this on TV Tome or IMDB.
Here’s a few to get you started:
Leo McGarry: White House Chief of Staff - Runs the white house for the President
Josh Lyman: Deputy Chief of Staff - See above but more involved in the smaller details and liasing with staffers.
Toby Zeigler: Director of Communications - In Charge of the message the public sees. He is responisible for writing/delegating the writing of major speechs for the President as well as preparing the president for press conferences and the like. I’m sure that other duties are involved but these appear to be where we focus in the show.
Sam Seaborn: Deputy Director of Communications - A gifted speech writer, again is a partner to the more senior staffer with overlapping responsibilities.
CJ Cregg: Press Secretary - Liases with the White House Press Corps about matters pertaining to the White House and the President. Don’t mess with her. She is technically Junior to the Director/Deputy Director of Communications but she is ultimately responsible for “controlling” the Media’s impression of the White House.
Charlie Young: Personal Assistant to the President - A Valet, Personal Assistant and Gopher. His job is to provide whatever personal assitance the President requires, from keeping track of his glasses to waking him up in the morning. If someone needs to meet with the President “Right Now!” They go through Charlie first.
Mandy Hampton: Media Director - Who knows. Looks primarly for ways of shaping the public’s perception of White House Policy (?)
For a more complet description of jobs roles and characters, you may want to try here.
The above is mostly my impression from watch the show, and reading far too much Tom Clancy. The site above is an unofficial fan site but is thoroughly researched and can probably be considered very accurate.
-DF
Here’s a list I once posted of the main and secondary characters:
You also might hear Charlie referred to as the president’s “Body Man”.
Thanks for the links everyone. It makes more sense now.
Couple more:
Donna Moss is Josh’s assistant.
Margaret is Leo’s assistant.
Mrs. Landingham is (one of) the President’s secretary. It’s said he has five, but I don’t think we’ve seen the others.
Carol is CJ’s assistant.
Do Toby and Sam share an assistant?
As far as I can tell in the first two seasons, Toby and Sam have a whole staff, which includes Kathy and Ginger and a couple others. There’s also a strawberry-blondish girl whose name escapes me. All I remember is that her character is from New Jersey.
For the President’s other secretaries, the only other one I can think of besides Mrs. L. is Nancy, played by Renee Estevez, who is Martin Sheen’s daughter and the star of Sleepaway Camp II, one of my favorite horror movies. 