the-french-artist/wikipedia_20220301.simple_sentence_split huggingface dataset:
Bradley Whitford states in an interview on the Season 1 DVD that he was originally cast as Sam, though the character of Josh was the role Whitford had wanted and for which he had auditioned.
In addition, Josh's character had been written specifically for him by Aaron Sorkin.
In the same interview, Janel Moloney states that she had originally auditioned for the role of C.J., and that the role she eventually received, Donna, was not meant to be a recurring character.
Other actors who were seriously considered included Alan Alda and Sidney Poitier for the President, Judd Hirsch for Leo, Eugene Levy for Toby, and CCH Pounder for C.J.
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 ("Five Votes Down") to personal issues like sex ("Pilot", "Take out the Trash Day") and personal drug use (a major plotline throughout the first and second seasons).
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 first year and is still having trouble settling in and making progress on legislative issues.
The second season brings scandal as 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 must face off with the newly elected Speaker of the House over the future of the federal budget.
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 NASA program from inside the White House, while the Democratic and Republican candidates battle to replace 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 Martin Sheen played the White House Chief of Staff.
Sorkin used some of the same research he had done for The American President a suggestion from a friend to create The West Wing.
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.
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.
Sorkin's hectic writing schedule often led to cost overruns and schedule slips, and he opted to leave the show after the fourth season, following increasing personal problems, including an arrest for possession of illegal drugs.
Thomas Schlamme also left the show after the fourth season.
The show aired its series finale on Sunday, May 14, 2006.
It had suffered a significant ratings fall after being placed in the same timeslot as ABC's Top 20 hit Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, and CBS' Top 30 hit Cold Case.
Critical reactions
The West Wing offers a rare 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; however, former White House staffers agree that the show "captures the feel [of the West Wing], shorn of a thousand undramatic details."
Former White House Press Secretary Dee 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.
A documentary special in the third season compared the show's depiction of the West Wing to the real thing.
Many former West Wing denizens applauded the show's depiction of the West Wing, including advisor David Gergen, Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Chief of Staff Leon Panetta, Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove, and former Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and Bill Clinton.
While critics often praised The West Wing for its writing, others faulted the show as unrealistically optimistic.
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?"
Social impact
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."
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.
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."
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.
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 Tony Blair's government in the British House of Commons, during the so called "West Wing Plot".
The plan was allegedly hatched after a Conservative Member 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.
"The Left Wing"
The West Wing was sometimes called "The Left Wing" by detractors because of its portrayal of an ideal liberal administration and its alleged demonization of conservatives.
Chris Lehmann, senior editor of Washington Post Bookworld, characterized the show as a revisionist look at the Clinton presidency: an attempt to solidify the Clinton legacy and to make America forget the Whitewater and Lewinsky scandals.
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.
In his 2001 article "Real Liberals versus the West Wing", Mackubin Thomas Owens wrote,
Filming techniques and reactions
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.
With a budget of $6 million per episode, many consider each week's show to be a small feature film.
However, many in the television community believe that the true genius of the show was Sorkin's rapid-fire and witty scripts.
The West Wing is noted for developing the "walk-and-talk"—long Steadicam tracking 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.
In its first year, The West Wing received nine Emmys, a record for most won by a series in a single season.
The show also 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 was nominated for the award.
The West Wing ranks 8th all-time in number of Emmy Awards won by a show.
The show shares the Emmy Award record for most acting nominations by regular cast members for a single show 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).
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 that same year, Mark Harmon, Tim Matheson and Ron Silver were each nominated in the Guest Actor category (but none won the award).
This gave the show an Emmy Award record for most acting nominations total (including guest performer category) in a single year, with 12 acting nominations.
Twenty 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.
In addition to its Emmys, the show won two Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards, in 2000 and 2001, for 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 (for best actor and best actress).
In both 1999 and 2000, The West Wing was awarded the Peabody Award for excellence in broadcasting.
Many cast members have been Emmy-nominated for their work on The West Wing but have not won, including Martin Sheen—who was nominated each year for all 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.
Exploration of real world issues
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.
The Bartlet administration experiences a scandal during the second and third seasons that has been compared to the Monica Lewinsky affair.
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:
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, 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 Wing continuity.
While the September 11 attacks do not occur 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.
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.
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 leaking the information, and the President is forced to dismiss him.
In comparison, the Plame affair resulted in the arrest and conviction of Lewis 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) stands until Libby's appeals were to be considered.
Other issues explored in The West Wing include:
North Korean and Iranian nuclear ambitions
Strained relations and a state of brinksmanship between India and Pakistan
Legislation of the Central American Free Trade Agreement
The formation of the Minuteman Project
Peacemaking and terrorism in Israel, West Bank and the Gaza Strip, including the deaths of 3 Americans in the attack on a diplomatic convoy in the Gaza Strip and a peace negotiation at Camp David, similar to the Camp David 2000 Summit.
The genocide in Darfur, Sudan
AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa
The Northern Ireland peace process
War on Drugs and conflict in Colombia
Controversy over Intelligent design in schools
Brinksmanship and potential conflict between the People's Republic of China and Republic of China over Taiwan's political status (including a situation similar to the Third Taiwan Strait Crisis when the PRC holds military exercises in response to the ROC's first democratic elections)
A hate crime murder, similar to the death of Matthew Shepard
A federal government shutdown
The 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (referred to directly, along with the fictional Marriage Recognition and Sanctity of Marriage Acts)
Anthrax attacks against the Bartlet Administration
A mysterious nuclear detonation in the Indian Ocean, similar to the Vela Incident
A bombing of apartment blocks in Moscow, leading to allegation that the Russian President orchestrated the attacks
Federal funding for the arts.
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).
The West Wing universe
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.
Many other government officials, such as mayors, governors, judges, representatives, and senators, have been mentioned and seen as well.
San Andreo
San Andreo is a fictional California city.
It is near San Diego.
It has 42,000 people.
The San Andreo Nuclear Generating Station is there.
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
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.
Kennison State University
While several real-world leaders exist in the show's universe, most foreign countries have fictional rulers.
Real people mentioned in The West Wing include Muammar al-Gaddafi, Yasser Arafat, Fidel Castro, Queen Elizabeth II, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, King Carl Gustaf, Thabo Mbeki and Osama bin Laden.
However, when a peace accord was worked out between Israel and the Palestinian Authority at the start of the show's sixth season, the Chairman of the Palestinian Authority was the fictional Nizar Farad, not Arafat. (
By that time in the real world, Arafat was dead and a successor, Rawhi Fattuh, had been elected.)
Qumar
Qumar, a fictional oil-rich, terrorist-sponsoring Middle Eastern state, is repeatedly a source of trouble for the Bartlet administration.
According to maps on the show, Qumar is in southern Iran, directly across the important Strait of Hormuz.
After the September 11 attacks, it became the main venue for the show's terrorism subplots.
Jabal Nafusah (also the name of a real-life Libyan city) seems to be the largest city and the capital, according to maps shown of the country.
Qumar is an absolute monarchy, ruled by a sultan and his family.
The country is a former British protectorate.
The nation was first introduced in the third season where it was mentioned as a close ally of the United States.
Qumar continues on the show to be a U.S. ally, though the sultan and other officials were extremely troubled by the Bartlet administration's assassination of Defense Minister Abdul ibn Shareef, and a bombing campaign and invasion that followed Zoey Bartlet's abduction by Qumari extremists (ostensibly in retaliation for Shareef's murder).
As a result of the air strikes, gas pipelines were damaged, leading to economic troubles for the country and its European allies.
Equatorial Kundu
When Kundu was first mentioned in season 2, it is led by President Nimbala who is executed by the end of the episode.
In January 2003 of the series' timeline ("Inauguration, Part I"), the Arkutu-run government of President Nzele (described as a "sadistic madman") begins an ethnic cleansing campaign against the Induye in Bitanga, killing 200 people.
The violence soon spreads outside Bitanga and into the countryside.
In President Josiah Bartlet's second inaugural address ("Inauguration Over There"), he announces the new Bartlet Doctrine for the use of force: America shall intervene whenever there are humanitarian interests at stake.
With that new doctrine, Bartlet sends a brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division, the 101st Airborne Division, and a Marine Expeditionary Unit, a force of 11,000 troops in total, to Kundu ("The California 47th").
As of the episode "Twenty Five," US forces are still operating in Kundu.
In its original appearance, Kundu's location is somewhat ambiguous.
President Nimbala and his aide appear to speak Setswana, a Bantu language spoken in South Africa and Botswana, which would imply a Southern African setting.
The Season 4 appearance seems to more firmly place the country in West Africa, near to the Ivory Coast and Ghana.
Its capital city is Bitanga, which contains a major airport, TV station and a radio station.
Presidential elections
Fictional timeline
In general, The West Wing attempts to create an alternative reality, in which there is a subtly different set of historical truths in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.
In particular, the show tries to suggest that the last "real" president in its timeline is Richard Nixon, and to chart the careers of its principal players in the light of that decision.
Nevertheless, there are occasions in which more contemporary presidents are implied.
However, through timeline analysis, it can be assumed that while Richard Nixon was the last President to hold a real-life presidential term, Ronald Reagan was the last real-life President.
These are the Presidents and their terms in the West Wing universe:
Richard Nixon (R - 1969-1974)
Gerald Ford (R - 1974-1975)
Jimmy Carter (D - 1975-1979)
Ronald Reagan (R - 1979-1987)
D. Wire Newman (D - 1987-1991)
Owen Lassiter (R - 1991-1999)
Josiah "Jed" Bartlet (D - 1999-2007)
Glen Allen Walken (R - May 8-10, 2003)
Matt Santos (D - 2007-2015)
Skewed from reality
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.
1998 presidential election
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, who is assumed to be Lewis D. Eisenhower, the Vice President under Owen Lassiter and an immediate relative to former President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
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 was punching brick 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" 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.
2002 presidential election
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, Jeff Heston.
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 Staff Admiral Percy 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."
2006 presidential election
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 Reverend Don 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.
Santos organizes his administration, choosing 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.
President Bartlet's final act as President of the United States is pardoning Toby Ziegler.
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."
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.
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."
Similarities to 2008 U.S. presidential election
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," while actor Jimmy Smits says that Obama "was one of the people that I looked to draw upon."
Writer and producer Lawrence O'Donnell says that he partly modeled Vinick after McCain.
Obama's Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, is said to be the basis of the Josh Lyman character, who became Santos' Chief of Staff.
United States: Warner Bros
United Kingdom: More4 (Channel Four) and Warner Bros
Japan: NHK Official Homepage of The West Wing - Season 1 , Season 2 , Season 3 , and Season 4
Canada: CTV
Sweden: SVT
Netherlands: RTL4
Norway: NRK
The West Wing Transcripts or Fan Transcribed Scripts
The West Wing Episode Guide
The West Wing Episode Guide with consumer ratings
The West Wing Wiki
White House Museum: "The West Wing of The West Wing" with layout, pictures, and reviews comparing the TV West Wing to the real West Wing
Servite College is a high school in Perth, Western Australia.
It is in the suburb of Tuart Hill.
The school is Roman Catholic and teaches both boys and girls.
Members of the Servite Order came to Australia in late 1951 and by 1958 had established St. Philip’s Regional High School for Boys in Tuart Hill.
In 1968, the name was changed to Servite College.
In 1973, it became the first co-educational Catholic secondary school in Western Australia.
Alphonso I becomes first king of Portugal
Alphonse I or Alphonzo I (in Portuguese Afonso I) (25 July 1109 - 6 December 1185) was the first king of Portugal.
He is best known by his prince name Afonso Henriques.
He became King on 25 July 1139, after winning the Battle of Ourique.
He doubled the area of Portugal with the Reconquista and was nicknamed the Conqueror (Port.
o Conquistador).
He died on 6 December 1185 in Coimbra.
1109 births
1185 deaths
Kings and Queens of Portugal
Amália da Piedade Rebordão Rodrigues, known just by Amália Rodrigues (July 23, 1920 – October 6, 1999) was a Portuguese singer and actress.
She was called the "Rainha do Fado" ("Queen of Fado") and she was very important in making the fado popular all over the world.
Her younger sister, Celeste, was also a popular singer.
She was born in Lisbon.
Amália: uma estranha forma de vida
Portuguese movie actors
Edward E. "Ted" Kaufman (born March 15, 1939) is an American politician.
He was a U.S. Senator from Delaware.
He used to work for Joe Biden when Biden was a Senator.
Kaufman replaced Biden as Senator when Biden became Vice President of the United States in 2009.
Orrin Hatch (born March 22, 1934) is a former U.S. Senator from Utah.
He is a Republican and a Mormon.
After the Republicans won control of the Senate during the 2014 midterms, Hatch became President pro tempore on January 6, 2015 after the 114th United States Congress was sworn in.
Hatch was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on March 22, 1934.
His parents were Jesse Hatch and Helen Frances.
Hatch studied at Brigham Young University and at the University of Pittsburgh.
He worked as an attorney in Pittsburgh and in Utah.
United States senator (1977-2019)
In 1976, in his first run for public office, Hatch was elected to the United States Senate, defeating Democrat Frank Moss, a three-term incumbent.
Among other issues, Hatch criticized Moss' 18-year tenure in the Senate, saying "What do you call a Senator who's served in office for 18 years?
You call him home."
Hatch argued that many Senators, including Moss, had lost touch with the people who voted for them.
Hatch himself has now been in office for 40 years.
In 1995 Hatch was the leading figure behind the senate's anti-terrorism bill, to a large extent a response to the Oklahoma City Bombing.
As a senior member of the Senate Select Intelligence Committee, Hatch was also instrumental in the 2008 extension of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
He said, "This bipartisan bill will help defeat terrorism and keep America safe.
No, the legislation is not perfect, but it ensures that the increased expansion of the judiciary into foreign intelligence gathering doesn’t unnecessarily hamper our intelligence community.”
Hatch has been a longtime advocate of amending the United States Constitution to require that total spending of the federal government for any fiscal year not exceed total receipts.
He proposed the DREAM Act, which would provide a pathway to citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants, who were children when their parents came to the United States.
Senator Hatch co-sponsored the Restoring the 10th Amendment Act (S. 4020 111th Congress), which would strengthen state rights under the 10th Amendment.
The bill would provide special standing for state officials in challenging proposed regulations.
Possible Supreme Court nomination
Hatch has long expressed interest in serving on the U.S. Supreme Court, but due to his age decided not to express any interest anymore.
It was reported that he was on  Ronald Reagan's short list of candidates to succeed Lewis F. Powell, Jr. on the United States Supreme Court, but was passed over at least in part because of the Ineligibility Clause.
After Bork's and Douglas H. Ginsburg's nominations to the seat faltered, Anthony Kennedy was confirmed to fill the vacancy.
2000 presidential campaign
In 2000, Hatch made a failed bid for the Republican presidential nomination, losing to then-Texas Governor George W. Bush.
During the first Republican debate, Hatch made web usability a campaign issue, a first for a presidential candidate.
At least one web usability expert agreed.
Hatch married Elaine Hansen on August 28, 1957.
Hatch is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Hatch serves as a member of the board of directors of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Collected news and commentary  at The Salt Lake Tribune
Much of the work of the United States Senate is done in committees, or groups of about 15 Senators.
Each committee deals with a certain subject, such as farming or roads.
In general, most laws start in a committee before they are voted on by the Senate.
Also, when the Senate wants to ask the President or another important person questions, they usually do it in a committee.
Standing committees
Non-standing committees
There are five non-standing, select, or special committees.
They are similar to standing committees.
Johnny Rozsa is a well known New York photographer.
Rozsa was born and raised in Nairobi, and is of Jewish descent.
He arrived in London in the 1960s and, after college, ran a vintage shop in Covent Garden.
Here he met fashion editors, models, actors, and photographers on a daily basis.
Rozsa published a book in 2009 called Untouched, which included many of his photographs.
Lichens are a plant that grows on rocks.
They are a mixture of two very different things, a fungus and an algae.
The fungus lives with the algae, and they trade things with each other.
The lichen looks like a plant, but it is not.
Botanists did not know this until 1875.
Lichens are made up of three different living things.
The fungus gives them their shape and holds them together.
The algae gives them their color.
The cyanobacteria give them their food.
They are all different kinds of living things, so some scientists say they can't be classified together.
But some scientists say they can, because they are all living together and they are all doing the same thing.
So they have to be the same kind of living thing.20% (one in five) of fungal species live in lichens.
Lichen fungi belong to several different groups of fungi.
Most common (over 40%) are Ascomycetes, which produce spores in a sac-shaped container, the ascus.
Only a few types of alga occur within lichens; these algae also have their own names.
Algae may be sometimes the dominant partner in so-called 'jelly lichens', Collema and Leptogium, but this is rare.
More usually, the algae are the green alga Trebouxia.
Other species are the orange Trentepohli, and the cyanobacterium Nostoc.p9–10
Their life habit
Lichens can occur anywhere on land, and some can live in aquatic environments.
The nearest rock, wall or roof probably has lichen on it.
Often the lichen is mat-like, and clings to the surface.
Some are like little bushes: see the photos.
Lichens are famous for not needing a regular supply of water; their metabolism can go into suspension, and later revive.
When growing on mineral surfaces, some lichens slowly break down the substrate, and extract tiny amounts of mineral nutrient.
Fungi form the main part of the thallus (body), with the photobiont contributing 20% or less.p17 The photobiont is usually on the inside of the thallus.
Lichen thalli may grow together and fuse, and this may happen between different species and genera.p23 These are called 'mechanical hybrids'.
They get noticed when the two forms are differently colored.
Lichen do survive extreme conditions.
They are found in some of the most extreme places on Earth – the frozen north, hot deserts, rocky coasts.
They are common as epiphytes on leaves and branches in rain forests and temperate woods.
They can live on bare rock, walls and gravestones, and on exposed soil surfaces.p19 There are about 200 different kinds of lichens in Antarctica.
In the Horlick Mountains, at 86 degrees south, there are six different kinds of lichen.
In the Himalayas, they grow at altitudes up to 18,000 feet (~5500m).p216
The European Space Agency discovered that lichen can survive unprotected in space.
Two species of lichen were sealed in a capsule and launched on a Russian Soyuz rocket.
Once in orbit the capsules were opened.
Two species of lichen were exposed to the vacuum of space, to cosmic radiation and huge swings of temperature.
After 15 days the lichens were retrieved and were found to be in full health: no damage was found.
There are a huge number of lichen species in rainforests, far outnumbering flowering plants.
The lichen are mostly epiphytes, living on trees.
A single site in Costa Rica yielded about 300 species of lichen on leaves, in the understory of the rain forest; a single fallen Elaeocarpus tree in New Guinea held 173 species; the evergreen laurel Ocotea atirrensis was found with 50–80 lichen species on a single leaf.p60–61
Mutual benefits
When partnerships are very close, it is difficult to assign benefits to either partner.
Their success is as a pair (or trio).
Sometimes the partners can exist as separate organisms: certainly their close relatives can.
Probably most of the algae and all of the cyanobacteria can survive on their own, though in more restricted habitats.
The details vary according to the specific species or strains involved.
The man who first realised the nature of lichen, Simon Schwedener, thought of the partnership as one of controlled parasitism.
Obviously, the photobiont provides photosynthetic products: carbohydrates as sugar alcohols (green algae) or glucose (cyanobacteria).
The bacteria also convert atmospheric nitrogen (N2) to ammonium ions (NH4+) which the fungus can use in amino acids for proteins.p26
The alga certainly benefits from a supply of water (which the fungus is good at storing).
There is also general mechanical protection.
Algae get protection from ultraviolet light, which in some environments is quite significant.
Probably, algae get access to the minute amounts of minerals, which the fungus gets from the substrate or from dust settling on the thallus.
Algal cells are sometimes destroyed in the course of nutrient exchange, though the algal cells divide and replace them.
Above all, the partnership is a resounding success, and gets to places where few plants can survive.
Many lichens reproduce without sex (asexual reproduction).
They make small groups of algal cells surrounded by fungal filaments.
These soridia can be blown by wind.
Some lichens just break up into fragments when they dry.
Wind carries the pieces, which grow when moisture returns.
Also, lichen fungi can reproduce sexually by forming fruiting bodies containing spores.
These fruiting bodies are usually perennial, and may be long-lasting: some in the Swiss Alps have lived for over 50 years.
After dispersal by wind, such fungal spores must meet with an algal partner to form a lichen.p19–22
History on Earth
The fossil record for lichen dates back 400 million years for certain, and the signs are that earlier forms existed 600 million years ago.
They must have been one of the earliest life-forms on land.
It is thought, from the number of fungal and algal species involved, that the symbiosis must have taken place many times between different species.p46
It has been suggested that some or all of the Ediacaran biota might be lichen.
The proposal has been received with some skepticism.
Lichenometry is a method of dating exposed rock by using the growth of lichen.
It uses an estimate of how long the lichen's radius or width grows over time.
Many lichen are sensitive to changes around them.
For this reason, they are used by scientists to show changes in the environment, such as air pollution, ozone depletion, and metal contamination.
Lichens have also been used to make dyes, perfumes, and herbal medicines.
Some lichen produce natural antibiotics that kill bacteria.
Humans have used these compounds as natural antibiotics.
Extracts from many Usnea species were used to treat wounds in Russia in the mid-twentieth century.
The map lichen Rhizocarpon geographicum grows extremely slowly, and can reach an age of over 1000 years.
It may be used for dating: the diameter of the largest lichen of a species on a rock surface shows the time that the rock has been exposed.
Lichen are the main winter food for reindeer.
The deer can get at shrubby lichen under the snow.
In summer they have much more choice of food.
Some lichen are eaten by humans.
A kind of lichen, which is called Iwatake in Japanese and Seogi in Korean language, is collected from cliffs, and used in various Korean and Japanese foods.
Lichen have a high level of acid.
Care must be taken, as there are at least two kinds of lichen that are toxic.
The bacterial or algal partners produce pigments that absorb sunlight in photosynthesis.
There are reports dating back almost 2000 years of purple and red colours being extracted from lichens.
Lichens of the family Roccellaceae are commonly called 'orchella weed' .
They have been important in history, because they could supply orcein, a dye.