List of The West Wing characters

Main cast

White House staff

• Madeline "Mandy" Hampton : Political consultant during Bartlet's first campaign. Worked as a media consultant at Lennox-Chase after the campaign. Briefly consults for Democratic Senator Lloyd Russell before being hired by the White House as a political consultant and media director. She is not seen or mentioned again after the first season.
• Amelia "Amy" Gardner : Head of the Women's Leadership Coalition and influential women's rights activist. Works as a political consultant for Senator Howard Stackhouse when he runs for president. Later hired as the Chief of Staff for the Office of the First Lady. Resigns after she upsets the President. Agrees to become the Director of Legislative Affairs in the Santos administration.
• Clifford "Cliff" Calley : Majority Counsel for the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee during the Bartlet censure proceedings and a Republican. During the censure hearings, he helps facilitate a schedule delay which allows Leo McGarry to avoid potentially damaging testimony. Briefly hired as Deputy Chief of Staff by C.J. Cregg, where he helps orchestrate a Democratic vote on stem cell research that the Republican Speaker of the House has stymied.
• Angela Blake : Worked for Leo McGarry while he was Secretary of Labor. While a political consultant, she is hired to be Director of Legislative Affairs, fulfilling Josh Lyman's duties while he is benched for causing a Democratic Senator to defect. She is not seen or mentioned again after the budget crisis is over and Josh regains his effective leadership.

  Other White House staffers

• Dolores Landingham : The President's first executive secretary and a close confidante dating back to his high school days. Her death in a car accident at the end of season two briefly shakes Bartlet's faith. Appears in flashbacks. Referred to simply as "Mrs Landingham" almost always by everyone, including the president.
• Deborah "Debbie" Fiderer : The President's second and final executive secretary, hired after the death of Mrs Landingham. Charlie arranges her first interview with the President against her own wishes, in which she is groggy from prescription medication and performs badly by confessing to being both a professional gambler and an alpaca farmer. Charlie later successfully pushes for her to be re-considered. President Bartlet learns the reason she lost her previous White House personnel job — she had defied the Director of Personnel by hiring Charlie rather than a wealthy Bartlet supporter's unqualified son — and, though appearing very quirky, he sees she is actually very smart and capable, he hires her on the spot.
• Margaret Hooper : Assistant to chiefs of staff Leo McGarry and C. J. Cregg. She is somewhat eccentric and often focused on the minutiae of life. Particularly devoted to and protective of Leo — frequently found snooping in on his private meetings — but she has a rebellious streak, so they are often at odds with their working styles. She is visibly pregnant in season 6, with no clear information about the father, and her baby is never seen on the show. After Leo is fired from his position by the President, she is convinced to stay on as C.J.'s assistant.
• Bonnie : Assistant to Communications Director Toby Ziegler.
• Carol Fitzpatrick : Assistant to Press Secretaries C. J. Cregg and Toby Ziegler.
• Ginger : Assistant to Communications Director Toby Ziegler and Deputy Communications Director Sam Seaborn.
• Cathy : Assistant to Deputy Communications Director Sam Seaborn.
• Elsie Snuffin : Assistant to Deputy Communications Director Will Bailey, as well as his stepsister.
• Cassie Tatum : Intern at the White House Press Office.
• Lauren Romano : Intern at the White House Press Office. Will Bailey often calls her by her last name to tell the Laurens apart.
• Lauren Shelby : Intern at the White House Press Office. Will Bailey often calls her by her last name to tell the Laurens apart.
• Lauren Chin : Intern at the White House Press Office. Will Bailey often calls her by her last name to tell the Laurens apart.
• Marina : Assistant to Communications Director Toby Ziegler. Causes consternation among staff members by wearing revealing outfits in the West Wing office areas, raising concerns over potential harassment complaints or perceived lack of professionalism. After an emotional moment in which she admits no one likes her, Toby takes pity and recruits her as his assistant, which she proves to be adept at.
• Nancy : President's Confidential Assistant. Estevez is the daughter of Martin Sheen, who plays the President.
• Ed : White House staffer usually seen with Larry.
• Larry : White House staffer usually seen with Ed.
• Ryan Pierce : White House intern assigned to Josh and nephew of a powerful senator; great-great-great-grandson of the 14th U.S. president, Franklin Pierce. Toward the end of that season, he becomes a top aide to a Democratic congressman whom Josh dislikes, and is not seen or mentioned after that.
• Curtis Carruthers : Succeeds Charlie Young as personal aide to the President. Most notably carries the President out of Air Force One when he is debilitated by a Multiple Sclerosis episode.

  Office of the White House Counsel

• Lionel Tribbey : The fourth White House Counsel of the Bartlet administration and the first to appear in the series. He has very liberal views and is animated and theatrical.
• Oliver Babish : The fifth and final White House Counsel of the Bartlet administration and the second of the two characters to be shown in that position during the series. Diligent and zealous, he first appears advising President Bartlet when the President is considering revealing his diagnosis of multiple sclerosis to the public. He appears connected to this plot-line into season three, then returns in season seven to participate in the White House's internal investigation into the military shuttle leak. He later decamps to a law firm in the wake of the outgoing Bartlet Administration and is later mentioned by Santos as a potential choice for Attorney General. He is described by Josh Lyman as "smart and tough".
• Ainsley Hayes : Associate White House Counsel. Conservative Republican from North Carolina. Graduate of Harvard Law School. After she soundly defeats and embarrasses Sam during a debate on the political talk show Capital Beat, President Bartlet tells Leo McGarry to offer her a job, which - after initially believing she is being rebuked - she thinks is either a joke or a terrible idea, but when seeing the White House staff in action in a crisis, leads her to accept the Associate White House Counsel's post. Primarily, she appears as a foil to Sam Seaborn, making him reconsider his position on policies. She briefly reappears in season 7, wanting to become White House Counsel for the Santos Administration with Josh planning on getting her a meeting with Santos.
• Joe Quincy : Associate White House Counsel who replaces Ainsley Hayes. Republican. He uncovers Vice President Hoynes's leaking of information during an affair with local socialite Helen Baldwin, ultimately leading to Hoynes's resignation. He is later asked by Toby to try and convince Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Ashland, whom he once clerked for, to retire, a task he performs very reluctantly.
• Mike Wayne : Associate White House Counsel. Deals with Toby after he admits to being the source of the military space shuttle leak.
• Richard Squire : Associate White House Counsel. Graduate of Yale Law School and a Rhodes Scholar.

  Situation Room

• Admiral Percy "Fitz" Fitzwallace : Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Fitzwallace is a career surface warfare officer. Following his retirement, while he is on a special diplomatic mission in Palestine at Bartlet's particular request, he is killed in a terrorist road-side bombing of his car, in which Donna Moss is also badly injured, at the culmination of the fifth season.
• General Nicholas Alexander : an ex-Green Beret. He succeeds Admiral Fitzwallace as a much more hawkish Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
• Dr. Nancy McNally : National Security Advisor. She can appear to be either a 'war dove' or 'war hawk' depending upon the situation, but is always fair and usually right on the money with a situation. It is suggested that she becomes U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.
• Lieutenant Commander Jack Reese : Aide to National Security Advisor Nancy McNally and Donna's brief love interest.
• Commander Kate Harper : Deputy National Security Advisor, who takes on many of Nancy McNally's White House duties. She has extensive CIA experience all over the world, as C.J. Cregg discovers when reading her classified personnel file. She goes on to write a book about her experiences following the end of the Bartlet administration.
• Lieutenant General Alan Adamle : A three-star general in the USAF. Meets with Leo to discuss the International Criminal Court in episode 3.05 and stuns Leo by revealing Leo once bombed a non-military target and killed innocent civilians, telling a devastated Leo this story to lead to his view that "All wars are crimes". He also briefs then President-elect Bartlet on a small delegation of military advisers being sent to the Philippines three days after the presidential election in episode 5.22. Served with Leo in Vietnam.
• General Shannon : Appears in episodes and. A four-star general in the USAF; Leo calls him "Jack" in his first episode and "Ken" in his second appearance. He seems to be the senior officer in the Situation Room in episode 2.01 until Nancy McNally arrives.
• Lieutenant General Ed Barrie : Army Chief of Staff. He appears in episode 2.05 berating C.J. for reprimanding his intentions to condemn on TV the President's failure to ensure military preparedness before his retirement, but is left silent when C.J. tells him he is wearing a Distinguished Combat Service Medal he had not earned; later however, Bartlet says the General served his country bravely and would face no White House censorship of any of his views. Despite being identified as Army Chief of Staff, he is portrayed as a three-star lieutenant general.
• General Mitch Jensen : A three-star Army general. Present in the Situation Room during discussions of retaliatory options to Morris Tolliver's USAF medical transport being shot down in episode 1.03. Also advises the President on the India–Kashmir crisis in episodes 1.11 and 1.12.
• Colonel Mark Chase : Air Force officer who advises Leo on a crisis with Iraqi oil smugglers in episode 2.07, and monitors the Missile Defense Shield test in episode 2.12.
• CIA Director George Rollie : President Bartlet does not trust or like him, but as C.J. and Toby note in "365 Days", his pariah status is useful because it prevents the President from tearing down anyone else during tense situations.
• Mr Cashman: Often mentioned alongside Secretaries Hutchinson and Berryhill, implied to be a senior official at one of the Executive Branch departments, the department of either State or Defense.
• Bobby Dunn : Appears in episodes,,,, and ; apparently a State Department official.
• Albie Duncan : Assistant Secretary of State. Longtime Republican and State Department elder ; is brought in by Leo to counsel the President on the submarine crisis off of North Korea in episode ; later brought in by Toby during the reelection campaign to help C.J. spin the post-debate in episode.
• Ted Barrow : Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs. Appears in Seasons 5–7. In season 5, tends to be harsh with the senior staffers and notably sympathetic to the views of North Korea; in later appearances, he is more measured and diplomatic.
• Bob Slattery : Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs. Appears in Seasons 3–7.
• Miguel "Mickey" Troop : Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs. Appears in season 2; advises the President on the DEA hostage crisis in Colombia, where he pushes for negotiations over a military solution and later outlines how dangerous and deadly a U.S. war against the major cartels would be.
• Mike Chysler : ; adviser to the President during his first term, regularly appearing in the Situation Room. Briefs the President on the DEA hostage crisis; also advises the President during the prelude to the assassination of Abdul Shareef near the end of Season 3. Appears in Seasons 2–4.