Fictional character
This article is about the fictional West Wing character. For the real-life signatory of the Declaration of Independence, see
Josiah Bartlett
.
Fictional character
Josiah Edward
"
Jed
"
Bartlet
is a fictional character from the American television serial drama
The West Wing
created by
Aaron Sorkin
and portrayed by actor
Martin Sheen
. The role earned Sheen a
Golden Globe Award
for
Best Actor ? Television Series Drama
in 2001, as well as two
SAG Awards
.
Bartlet's tenure as a fictional
Democratic
President of the United States
is a preeminent aspect of the series. His origin as a recurring character evolved due to Sheen's acting finesse; Sorkin and fellow
West Wing
writers shaped Bartlet's role within the show accordingly. The
first season
depicts part of Bartlet's first two years in the
White House
. The remainder of the series fleshes out the details of Bartlet's administration, including friction between his policies and those of the
Republican
-dominated
Congress
, his tribulations with
multiple sclerosis
, his reelection, and the campaign of his successor,
Matt Santos
.
Bartlet is characterized by manifest integrity, quick witticisms, a fierce intellect, and compassionate stoicism.
Creation and development
[
edit
]
Show creator Aaron Sorkin had not initially intended to feature the president at all. He envisioned the series as focused on the
White House
senior staff who execute and advise on major policy and political matters. "Then I felt that would become
hokey
," he said. "We'll constantly be just missing the president. As he walks around the corner, we'll see the back of his head." The character of Josiah Bartlet was then created as a recurring figure, and
Martin Sheen
was signed to appear in four episodes.
Alan Alda
(who went on to portray Senator Arnold Vinick),
Jason Robards
, and
Sidney Poitier
were also considered for the role.
[1]
After seeing Sheen's dailies, the producers were so impressed that they asked him to join the regular cast. "They realized that people might catch on that I'd be there only once a month, so they talked to me about a longer commitment," says Sheen. The actor said that part of the reason he took on the role of Bartlet was because of his involvement in social issues.
[2]
Sorkin's main interest in writing for the character was exploring the side of the president that the public does not generally see.
[3]
Sheen described the character as being drawn largely from
Bill Clinton
: "He's bright, astute, and filled with all the negative foibles that make him very human," he told
Radio Times
.
[2]
Sheen said elsewhere that he adored Clinton and was welcomed into the Clinton White House for visits during the period between the show's beginning in the fall of 1999 and the inauguration of
George W. Bush
as president in January 2001. Sorkin said he took some of Bartlet's characteristics from his own father, namely his "great love of education and literature [and] all things old," his "[belief] in a genuine goodness in people," and his "'Aw, Dad' sense of humor."
[4]
In the middle of the show's first season, it is revealed that Bartlet has
multiple sclerosis
. According to Sorkin, this was not planned; the plot came about because he wanted to write an
episode
in which the president was in bed watching a soap opera and the audience discovered that the first lady was a
physician
. "When I wrote the pilot, I didn't have any idea what was going to happen in Episode 2, much less 12," he says.
[2]
Character biography
[
edit
]
Personal life
[
edit
]
Bartlet was born in 1942 and raised in
Manchester, New Hampshire
. He is a descendant of Dr.
Josiah Bartlett
, a real-world signatory of the
Declaration of Independence
.
Bartlet is a devout
Catholic
. This is due to the influence of his mother, as his father would have preferred that he be raised
Protestant
. His relationship with his father was often strained and abusive. In a discussion with his subconscious, personified by the "ghost" of Mrs. Landingham, his father is described as "a prick who could never get over the fact that he wasn't as smart as his brothers."
[5]
Sorkin has stated that Bartlet's father, "obviously convinced he married some Catholic whore, treats his son terribly for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that he adopted his mother's religion." Sorkin said that Bartlet's tirade against God in the episode "
Two Cathedrals
" is therefore directed just as much at Bartlet's own father as it is at God.
[2]
However, when his father's unkind and sometimes abusive treatment of him is mentioned by
Toby Ziegler
, Bartlet attempts to defend his father. Though he is long dead, Toby suggests that Bartlet is still trying to get the man to like him, hoping that "maybe if you get enough votes, win one more election," Bartlet will finally be able to earn his father's approval.
[6]
He displays a remarkable ability for chess. Once, he engaged several members of his staff in separate matches at the same time and won.
Bartlet scored 1590 out of 1600 on his
SAT
college admission test. Later he retook the exam, and received the same result, something both
Leo McGarry
and Dr. Stanley Keyworth find amusing.
[7]
He was accepted to
Williams
,
Harvard
, and
Yale
, but instead chose to go to the
University of Notre Dame
, as he was considering becoming a priest, though decided against it after meeting Abbey, his future wife.
[8]
He graduated
summa cum laude
with a B.A. in
American studies
and a minor in
theology
. He received a
Masters
and
Ph.D.
in economics from the
London School of Economics
, as well as an
Honorary Doctorate
in Humane Letters from
Dartmouth College
, where he was a tenured professor prior to entering politics.
[9]
He speaks four languages, including Latin, English, and German.
[10]
[11]
[12]
He is a
Nobel Laureate in Economics
, and is generally portrayed as a macroeconomist sympathetic to
Keynesian
views. He was required to split his
Nobel Prize
with another economist, a much more conservative Japanese man whom Bartlet respects but does not particularly like. He is the author of a book entitled
Theory and Practice of
Macroeconomics
in Developing Countries
,
[9]
and his research in economics is described as being focused on the
developing world
.
Bartlet's wife,
Abigail Bartlet
, is a
thoracic surgeon
and they have three daughters: Elizabeth Anne Westin,
Eleanor Emily Bartlet
, and
Zoey Patricia Bartlet
. There are two grandchildren from his oldest daughter, Elizabeth: Annie, who is 12 in the pilot (although she is shown as and is referenced as being much younger in later episodes), and Gus, who is about 5 in the fifth season. It is also revealed in the seventh season that middle daughter Ellie is pregnant with Bartlet's third grandchild. He is depicted as a stern but loving father, in contrast to his own father, who (as is seen in flashbacks) was cold and physically abusive.
[5]
President Bartlet also has paternal feelings towards members of his staff, referring to
Charlie Young
(his personal aide) and
Josh Lyman
(his deputy chief of staff) as his sons,
[5]
[13]
and telling
C.J. Cregg
(his
press secretary
and later
chief of staff
) that she is part of his family.
[14]
Bartlet suffers from relapsing-remitting
multiple sclerosis
, which at one time puts the future of his presidency in doubt. He and his wife concealed his illness during his initial presidential run and would not disclose the information until well into his first term, leading to allegations of
fraud
. He receives a Congressional
censure
for covering up his MS while running for president.
Bartlet began his political career when he was elected to the
New Hampshire House of Representatives
. He later served three terms in the
United States House of Representatives
, representing
New Hampshire's 1st congressional district
. Like his ancestor, he was a two-term
Governor of New Hampshire
and won re-election with 69% of the vote.
A recurring motif throughout the series is Bartlet's inability to remember the names of junior staffers, a trait taken directly from Sheen's own memory tendencies. However, in the series finale episode, he meets and thanks a long series of White House staff members and addresses them all accurately by name.
Bartlet also displays an obsession with trivia, often quizzing staffers, whether they are interested or not.
Presidency
[
edit
]
Bartlet's best friend,
Leo McGarry
, persuades him to run for president around the fall of 1997, writing the slogan "Bartlet for America" on a cocktail napkin.
[15]
Although initially a
dark horse
, Bartlet eventually defeats the Democratic frontrunner,
U.S. Senator
John Hoynes
of Texas, whom Bartlet asks to join the ticket as his vice-presidential
running mate
. He defeats the Republican nominee for president, winning a close election with just 48 per cent of the vote, 48 million popular votes, and a 303?235 margin in the
Electoral College
. He is sworn into his first term on January 20, 1999.
Bartlet's accomplishments as president include appointing the first Hispanic
Supreme Court Justice
and first female
Chief Justice
, negotiating a peace settlement between
Israel
and
Palestine
, creating millions of new jobs, providing strong support for alternative energy, and orchestrating a
Social Security reform
plan (although it is never made clear whether the plan is passed by the
United States Congress
, the show indicates that a revolutionary agreement is achieved with bi-partisan support). He does, however, express regret at his inability to balance the budget in his eight years in the White House.
[16]
Bartlet does not shy away from using the military when he feels it is necessary during his eight years in the
White House
, and deals with major foreign policy crises in various parts of the world. The
Middle East
is a recurring source of problems, particularly
Iran
,
Syria
, the
Israeli?Palestinian conflict
and the fictional gulf state of
Qumar
. Bartlet is able to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by negotiating a historic agreement at
Camp David
in 2005 and deploying peacekeepers to the region, despite opposition to these efforts from both Democrats and Republicans. Terrorism, particularly from the Bahji network based in Qumar, is a continual problem and in the season 4 finale, Bartlet has to confront the kidnapping of his own daughter at the hands of the group. In Latin America, Bartlet has to deal with situations in
Haiti
,
Colombia
and
Bolivia
. A conflict and genocide in the fictional African nation of
Equatorial Kundu
lead Bartlet to intervene militarily and declare a bold
interventionist
foreign policy doctrine. In
Asia
, Bartlet deals with tensions and near-conflicts between India and Pakistan, China and
Taiwan
, and
Russia
and China. The latter crisis, in his final year, leads to him deploying 140,000 peacekeepers to prevent a full-blown conflict over oil in
Kazakhstan
, and this becomes a key issue in the 2006 presidential campaign to succeed him.
President Bartlet shows the most affection among his staffers to
Josh Lyman
,
C.J. Cregg
, and
Sam Seaborn
. He predicts that Sam will one day run for president and expresses his faith in Sam's capability.
[17]
While he clearly respects
Toby Ziegler
, the two are prone to clash, usually when Toby feels the President is not acting according to his true morality or is ducking important issues. He is pained when he finds out Toby has leaked classified national security information and fires him. Bartlet eventually signs a pardon for Toby in his last official act as president.
[18]
He does not get along well with either of his vice presidents,
John Hoynes
or
Bob Russell
, saying at one point he does not know what either of them is good for. For reasons presumably tied to his own lack of military service, he is somewhat intimidated by acid-tongued
Secretary of Defense
Miles Hutchinson and deferential to respected
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Percy Fitzwallace.
Bartlet is shot in the first season
cliffhanger
finale "
What Kind of Day Has It Been
". While it is revealed in the season 2 opening episode that his wounds are not serious (quick medical intervention having him on his feet within a few hours), Josh Lyman is critically injured. It is eventually discovered that the shooters were white supremacists from
West Virginia
and that his
bodyman
Charlie Young was the intended target of the assassination attempt, not Bartlet himself.
[19]
In the second-season finale, "
Two Cathedrals
," Bartlet announces to the country that he suffers from
multiple sclerosis
, and has been keeping it a secret, although this had previously been revealed to the show's audience in the first-season episode "
He Shall, from Time to Time...
" This leads to an investigation of Bartlet's administration by a
special prosecutor
and by the
United States House of Representatives
, a storyline which dominates much of the show's third season.
[20]
Eventually, Bartlet accepts a
censure
from Congress, which settles all investigations against him.
[21]
While Bartlet's campaign efforts are damaged by the controversy, he nonetheless defeats the Republican nominee, Governor
Robert Ritchie
of Florida, by a landslide and is returned for a second term. The election is forecast to be close until Bartlet scores a decisive debate win over Ritchie.
[22]
Zoey Bartlet
is kidnapped on the day of her graduation from
Georgetown University
, possibly in retaliation for the assassination of the Qumari defence minister, Abdul ibn Shareef, which her father authorized. While Zoey is missing, President Bartlet fears he is incapable of maintaining the necessary dispassion while his daughter is in such danger and invokes Section 3 of the
25th Amendment
, declaring himself incapacitated and transferring the powers of the presidency to the next person in the
presidential line of succession
. Due to the resignation a few days earlier of Vice President Hoynes, the
Speaker of the House
, Republican Glen Allen Walken, becomes
Acting President of the United States
.
[23]
Zoey recovers with only minor injuries several days later and President Bartlet reassumes his office shortly thereafter.
Soon after Bartlet resumes the presidency, he faces off against Jeff Haffley, the newly elected
Speaker of the House
(replacing Walken, who was forced to resign in order to fulfil his duties as acting president) on intense budget negotiations that break down to the point where the federal government is shut down (similar to the real world 1995 and 1996
shutdowns
during the Clinton administration). Eventually, Bartlet topples Haffley's influence and sees to it that the Speaker's power declines thereafter.
At the end of the fifth season and the beginning of the sixth, the Bartlet administration is dragged into the Israeli-Arab dispute after terrorists attack U.S. government officials on a trip to
Gaza
. Eventually, after intense negotiations at
Camp David
between the Israelis and the
Palestinians
, Bartlet manages to secure a peace agreement but at a great cost, firing his chief of staff
Leo McGarry
in a disagreement over the conflict. McGarry has a heart attack but later returns to work as Special Counsellor to the President.
CJ Cregg
succeeds him as chief of staff.
On a trip to China, Bartlet is left temporarily paralyzed by an attack of multiple sclerosis. As a result, he briefly uses a wheelchair but soon recovers although he is left somewhat weakened by the attack. After seeing Congressman Matt Santos' stirring speech at the
Democratic National Convention
, Bartlet has a chat with a
New York
Democratic leader who had previously refused to support Santos due to concerns over education policy; the leader reverses his course and Santos becomes the Democratic nominee for president.
In the seventh and final season of
The West Wing
, Bartlet is in the last year of his term as president. Near the end of the season, Congressman
Matt Santos
of Texas defeats the Republican nominee, Senator
Arnold Vinick
of
California
, in the 2006 presidential election and thereby becomes Bartlet's successor. After Santos' inauguration, Bartlet returns to his
New Hampshire
home aboard
Air Force One
with his wife and while en route has the last word of the series. Mrs Bartlet asks the introspective former president what he is thinking about, and Bartlet replies: "Tomorrow."
The Bartlet Presidential Library opens three years after the end of his term and Bartlet is present at the opening ceremony, along with Kate Harper, C. J. Cregg, Danny Concannon,
Charlie Young
, Toby Ziegler, Josh Lyman, and Will Bailey. The new president does not appear, as this scene occurs in a flash forward during season seven, before the election.
West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin briefly revived the character for
Maureen Dowd
's September 20, 2008
New York Times
column, where he scripted a hypothetical meeting between Bartlet and then-Democratic presidential nominee
Barack Obama
. He did the same after Obama's first debate against
Mitt Romney
in 2012.
[24]
[25]
Reception
[
edit
]
The West Wing
'
s portrayal of
multiple sclerosis
through Bartlet was applauded by Mike Dugan, president of the
National Multiple Sclerosis Society
. Dugan stated that the group was especially pleased that the affected character was a world leader, that the show educated viewers about MS and made it clear the disease is not fatal, and that Bartlet was shown as taking advantage of medical breakthroughs to treat his condition. "Since fiction often becomes more real to people than fact, President Bartlet's life with MS has the potential for great good," he said, suggesting that as Bartlet was able to overcome the challenges of his disease to succeed, "the public will become more accepting of individuals with MS and individuals with MS will become more accepting of themselves and their abilities to lead fulfilling lives."
[2]
Mike McCurry
, a former
press secretary
for the Clinton administration, described Bartlet as the ideal president, possessing "the compassion and integrity of
Jimmy Carter
... that shrewd decision-making and hard-nosed realism of a
Richard Nixon
... the warmth and amiability and the throw-the-arm-around-the-shoulder of a
Bill Clinton
; and... the liberal passion of a
Teddy Kennedy
."
[26]
[27]
James Poniewozik
described the character in 2002 as "a folksy Nobel laureate with touches of
F.D.R.
,
Stephen Hawking
,
Will Rogers
and the
Buddha
."
[28]
At one point, the producers of
The X-Files
considered having Sheen portray Bartlet in the
final episode
of the show, in a scene where he would be informed by members of
The Syndicate
that
Fox Mulder
escaped from government custody. Instead, Bartlet was replaced by an actor playing
George W. Bush
, although the scene was cut from the final episode altogether.
A
Wall Street Journal
poll in 2016 named Martin Sheen's Josiah Bartlet as the second greatest fictional president, behind
Harrison Ford
's President James Marshall in
Air Force One
.
[30]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Salem, Rob (January 25, 2005).
Decision '05 sure to shake up West Wing
Archived
October 21, 2007, at the
Wayback Machine
.
Toronto Star.
Accessed on December 8, 2007.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Topping, Keith (2002).
An Unofficial and Unauthorized Guide to The West Wing: Inside the Bartlet White House
. London: Virgin Books Ltd.
- ^
Schlamme, Thomas
(November 11, 1999).
Interview with Thomas Schlamme, Director and Executive Producer, "Sports Night"
Archived
June 26, 2007, at the
Wayback Machine
.
Directors World
. Accessed on December 13, 2007.
- ^
Sorkin, Aaron (May 22, 2002).
Interview with Aaron Sorkin
Archived
July 15, 2007, at the
Wayback Machine
.
The Today Show
. Accessed on December 13, 2007.
- ^
a
b
c
The West Wing
, Episode 2.22:
Two Cathedrals
. Original airdate: May 16, 2001.
- ^
The West Wing
, Episode 3.12:
The Two Bartlets
. Original airdate: January 30, 2002.
- ^
The West Wing
, Episode 4.11:
Holy Night
. Original airdate: December 11, 2002,
- ^
The West Wing
, Episode 2.07:
The Portland Trip
. Original Airdate: November 15, 2000.
- ^
a
b
The West Wing
, Episode 3.16:
The U.S. Poet Laureate
. Original Airdate: March 27, 2002.
- ^
The West Wing
, Episode 1.12:
He Shall, from Time to Time
. Original Airdate: January 12, 2000.
- ^
The West Wing
, Episode 3.08:
The Women of Qumar
. Original Airdate: November 28, 2001.
- ^
The West Wing
, Episode 3.07:
The Indians in the Lobby
. Original Airdate: November 21, 2001.
- ^
The West Wing
, Episode 2.08:
Shibboleth
. Original airdate: November 22, 2000.
- ^
The West Wing
, Episode 3.18:
Enemies Foreign and Domestic
. Original airdate: May 1, 2002.
- ^
The West Wing
, Episode 3.09: "
Bartlet for America
." Original airdate: December 12, 2001.
- ^
The West Wing
, Episode 6.17: "
A Good Day
." Original airdate: March 2, 2005.
- ^
The West Wing
, Episode 3.14: "
Hartsfield's Landing
." Original airdate: February 27, 2002.
- ^
The West Wing
, Episode 7.22: "
Tomorrow
." Original airdate: May 14, 2006.
- ^
The West Wing
, Episode 2.02: "
In the Shadow of Two Gunmen, Part II
." Original airdate: October 4, 2000.
- ^
The West Wing
, Episode 3.03: "
Ways and Means
." Original airdate: October 24, 2001.
- ^
The West Wing
, Episode 3.10: "
H. Con-172
." Original airdate: January 9, 2002.
- ^
The West Wing
, Episode 4.06: "
Game On
." Original airdate: October 30, 2002.
- ^
The West Wing
, Episode 4.23: "
Twenty Five
." Original airdate: May 14, 2003.
- ^
Dowd, Maureen. "
Aaron Sorkin Conjures a Meeting of Obama and Bartlet
."
The New York Times
.
- ^
Dowd, Maureen. "
Two Presidents, Smoking and Scheming
."
The New York Times
.
- ^
Mackenzie, G. Calvin (2016).
The Imperiled Presidency: Leadership Challenges in the Twenty-First Century
. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 46.
ISBN
978-1442260757
.
- ^
Nissen, Beth (August 18, 2000).
A Presidential Sheen
Archived
February 1, 2008, at the
Wayback Machine
.
CNN.com
. Retrieved on December 13, 2007.
- ^
Poniewozik, James (March 25, 2002).
"The new capitol gang: Once a prime-time pariah, government is hot. But will viewers vote with their remotes?"
.
CNN.com
.
CNN
. Retrieved
May 15,
2019
.
- ^
"44 Fake Presidents From Worst to Best"
.
WSJ
. Retrieved
July 24,
2016
.