Josh Lyman
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Joshua Lyman | |
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Jewish | |
Alma mater | Harvard University Yale Law School |
Joshua Lyman is a fictional character played by
Josh is portrayed as having one of the sharpest minds on the President's staff; he is a witty, somewhat cocky, boyishly charming know-it-all.
Creation and development
In researching the role, Whitford said he found former Clinton communications director George Stephanopoulos's book All Too Human very helpful, "just because it gave a sense of the sort of smell and the texture and the level of intimacy with the president, which I was just unaware of."[4]
Josh shares his name with a character in the Garry Trudeau cartoon strip Doonesbury, a White House deputy cabinet liaison[5] encountered by Doonesbury regular Joanie Caucus. A framed copy of a Doonesbury strip hangs in Josh's office.[6] The character is said to be based in part on Rahm Emanuel,[7] although executive producer Lawrence O'Donnell denies this claim.[8] In the Season 1 episode, 'Mandatory Minimums', Josh is called "Rambo" by one of the staff after an intense telephone conversation. In other instances, the character is said to be based on former Clinton advisor Paul Begala who notes that some of Josh's experiences in the first season are some of the same experiences he went through.[9]
Character biography
Personal history
Josh comes from
Josh is a non-practicing Jew; his grandfather was held in the Nazi concentration camp Birkenau during World War II.[16] He had an elder sister, Joanie, who died when he was a child. She was babysitting him when a fire broke out in her home and died trying to put out the fire while Josh ran outside - an event which continues to haunt Josh.[17] His father, Noah Lyman, was a lawyer and old friend of Leo McGarry. Although Josh thinks his father would have preferred grandchildren to a son in politics, Noah was proud that Josh was working for Bartlet and often bragged about his son to his friends and neighbors. His father died in 1998 on the night of the Illinois primary, after developing an unexpected pulmonary embolism while undergoing chemotherapy for an unspecified form of cancer.[18] His mother splits her time between Westport and West Palm Beach, Florida, before she sells the Connecticut house.[19]
Though idealistic like every other member of the Bartlet administration, Josh is perhaps the most willing to resort to less-than-honorable tactics and on occasion suggests solutions and methods that others in the staff would not condone. It is known for Josh to resort to threats, intimidation, lies and even blackmail to achieve what needs to be done for the Bartlet administration.
Professional history
Before working for President
Shortly after joining the Bartlet for America campaign, Josh hires recent college dropout Donna Moss, who had been volunteering for the campaign, as his assistant.[18] Donna remains as Josh's assistant until the sixth season. A largely unspoken friendship, and romantic tension, exists between the two for the majority of the series. In the first-season finale, Josh is critically wounded by gunfire during an assassination attempt on African-American presidential aide Charlie Young. Josh undergoes fourteen hours of surgery and is subsequently put through intensive psychotherapy with psychiatrist Stanley Keyworth after displaying symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, including raising his voice to President Bartlet in the Oval Office and breaking a window in his apartment.[22]
Josh's position in the Bartlet administration is temporarily compromised after he leaks information to the press about an anonymous hold on military promotions placed by Idaho Senator Chris Carrick. Carrick tries to secure a promise from the White House that a missile defense system will be built in his home state, but Josh's competitive nature will not allow him to make a compromise. After the leak, Carrick releases the hold but resigns from the Democratic Party, informing Josh that he will seek re-election as a Republican and citing Josh as a key reason for his defection.
The resulting embarrassment to the administration and to the party leads Leo to leave Josh out of key budget negotiations, negotiations which eventually result in a complete shutdown of the federal government. Josh soon finds himself stripped of much of his political authority, as freelance political advisor Angela Blake takes up many of his duties. He eventually returns from isolation after the First Lady pointedly asks President Bartlet "Where's Josh?" Josh is the only senior staffer to support the President's firm stand against Speaker Jeff Haffley; the President's eventual political victory over Haffley during this conflict is largely due to Josh's advice.
After John Hoynes publishes an autobiography praising Josh for his time in Hoynes' campaign and trying to recruit Josh, he decides that he doesn't want Hoynes (or current Vice President Bob Russell) to be President, and instead convinces Texas Congressman
Going into the Democratic National Convention, no candidate has enough delegates to win the nomination, with delegates split among Russell, Santos, and Hoynes. At the convention, Pennsylvania Governor Eric Baker attempts an upstart campaign from the convention floor that further fractures the delegates. Ultimately Santos wins the nomination after an inspiring convention speech that was expected to be a concession, and behind-the-scenes maneuvering by President Bartlet. Josh is influential in recruiting Leo McGarry as the vice presidential nominee.
After Matt Santos is elected President of the United States in a narrow victory over Republican Senator Arnold Vinick, Josh becomes the White House Chief of Staff in the incoming Santos Administration. In his last appearance in the series, he is meeting privately with President Santos in the Oval Office.
Relationships with other characters and with the series
Leo McGarry
John Spencer, who played Leo McGarry, described his character's relationship with Josh as a mentoring one, with Leo regarding Josh as a younger version of himself.[23] Leo was an old friend of Josh's father, Noah Lyman. It is this connection that Leo uses to get Josh to travel and see then Governor Bartlet speak and later to join Bartlet's presidential campaign in the first place.[24]
Assistant
Donna Moss
Josh's assistant Donna Moss, portrayed by Janel Moloney, was originally slated to be a minor recurring character; however, the chemistry between the two actors caught producers' attention early on. After seeing Moloney and Whitford perform together in the pilot, Aaron Sorkin added a scene in which Donna argues with Josh to change his shirt before attending a meeting, eventually convincing him by saying that "All the girls think you look really hot in this shirt." Although Mandy Hampton was originally intended to be Josh's romantic interest, by the end of the show's first season the character had been written out and the role taken over by Donna.
During the first four seasons, the relationship remains in stasis, with neither daring to make any real romantic move on the other. Sorkin admits that he was more inclined to move the relationship forward, but every time he discussed the possibility fellow executive producer Thomas Schlamme would shout, "No! Wait another year!" "Besides", adds Sorkin, "Sexual and romantic tension is, to me, much more fun than taking the tension away by having the sex and romance."[30]
Other characters occasionally speculate on the pair's relationship. When Donna encourages Josh to ask Joey Lucas on a date, Joey guesses that Donna is attempting to cover her own feelings for Josh through misdirection.[31] During the same episode Josh and Sam Seaborn discuss why Donna was so pushy about asking out Joey; Josh comments that he wonders why Donna wouldn't be jealous to which Sam asked if Josh gets jealous when Donna dates. Josh says he doesn't but does everything in his power to stop or hinder the dates from happening. During her first meeting with Josh, Amy Gardner asks him if he is dating his assistant,[32] and later asks Donna directly, "Are you in love with Josh?", we do not see Donna's answer.[33] When Donna recruits Josh to help her get a date with Jack Reese, Josh's behavior leads Jack to wonder whether he is getting "in between anything".[34]
Following Sorkin and Schlamme's departure from the series at the end of the fourth season, the relationship takes some new turns, with Donna attempting to broaden her horizons past Josh and pursue her own social life outside of the White House. In season 5, when Donna is badly injured in a terrorist attack in Gaza, Josh rushes to keep vigil at her bedside at a military hospital in Germany. In the sixth-season episode "
In the Season 7 episode "
In the series finale "
Sam Seaborn
Sam is Josh's close friend, remarking that he "love[s] Josh like a brother."[35] After Leo recruits Josh to the campaign, Josh's first stop is to recruit Sam (who is working, unhappily, at a law firm) to join him.[24] As two of the youngest members of the senior staff, they occasionally get themselves in trouble for various schemes and incidents, usually with the best intentions.[36][37] Much like the relationship between Jed Bartlet and Leo McGarry, Josh and Sam's friendship extends far past their role as co-workers and the two are each other's confidants on personal matters and relationship troubles. They even spend some holidays together when not going home.[38]
After Sam leaves the White House at the end of Bartlet's first term to run for Congress, the role of Josh's counterpart is taken over by Toby Ziegler, although that relationship becomes frayed when Josh leaves the White House to run the presidential campaign of Matthew Santos. After Santos is elected, Josh quickly resolves to include Sam (who lost his congressional bid) by flying out to Los Angeles on a same day round trip and offering him the position of Deputy Chief of Staff. Sam is initially reluctant because he is engaged and aware of the job commitment involved but ultimately accepts, though after giving a frazzled Josh an ultimatum: get much-needed rest for a week or watch Sam return to California and never come back. Josh and Sam's last scene shows them together in the Oval Office for the new President's first briefing.[39]
President Bartlet
Throughout the series, Bartlet (along with Leo) appears as a fatherly figure to Josh. Although flashbacks reveal that President Bartlet initially had trouble remembering Josh's name and telling him apart from his other advisors, the President develops a special affection for Josh and even refers to Josh as his son in the season two finale "Two Cathedrals". When Josh's father dies, Josh books a plane trip back to Connecticut when Bartlet makes a surprise appearance at the airport terminal. Bartlet offers his condolences and asks Josh if he wants him to go to Connecticut with him, to which a visibly moved Josh says no. Josh tells Bartlet that his father was proud to have him working on the campaign, citing that his father wanted Bartlet to win the election. Bartlet regards his young Deputy Chief of Staff as an integral part of the machine that makes the White House run properly; the brain behind the political strategic planning of the administration. When a powerful but difficult Hollywood studio chief threatens to cancel a critical fundraiser over an issue, he bosses Josh around in the process and later prompts an infuriated Bartlet to demand that Josh be treated with respect. When Josh tells the President he wants to leave the Bartlet administration to run the Santos campaign, he says he had never imagined having the conversation, and tells Leo that he doesn't "know how to tell him." During the primary and general election, Josh works to keep Santos from making any comments that would put Bartlet in any form of negative light. An example of this is very early in the campaign, Bartlet gives Josh some New Hampshire dropout numbers for Santos to use when talking about education, urging Josh to have Santos say Bartlet hadn't done enough. Immediately after the conversation, Josh burns the numbers. After Leo's funeral, a grieving Josh confides to Bartlet that "Leo and I were supposed to be doing this together" upon working under the new Santos presidency. Bartlet responds with "Leo and I are the past. You are the future." Bartlet informs Josh that he can always call him if he needs advice.
President Santos
When Josh first meets then-Congressman
Reception
See also
- The West Wing
- List of characters on The West Wing
- List of episodes of The West Wing
References
- ^ Sorkin, Aaron (February 6, 1998). West Wing Pilot Draft. Retrieved on December 19, 2007.
- ISBN 1-55704-499-6
- ^ Whitford, David (May 2001). The Secret Life of an Actor. Esquire. Retrieved on December 16, 2007.
- ^ Whitford, Bradley (September 16, 2000). NewsHour with Jim Lehrer Archived 2008-12-29 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved on December 15, 2007.
- ^ May 11, 1993 strip
- ^ Doonesbury FAQ Archived 2008-09-19 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved on December 15, 2007.
- ^ "Like Barack Obama, Emanuel is a Chicago native with a strong connection to the city's political elite. Both have inspired characters on the television series The West Wing, with Emanuel providing the model for wunderkind aide Josh Lyman." ("Economic rescue plan main priority as new chief of staff named", The Guardian. Retrieved on November 7, 2008.
- Air America Radio. Archived from the originalon 2009-02-03.
- ^ Begala, Paul (February 7, 2006). [1],"The Washington Post". Retrieved on July 27, 2013.
- ^ The West Wing, Episode 1.01: Pilot. Original airdate: September 22, 1999.
- ^ The West Wing, Episode 1.15: Celestial Navigation. Original airdate: February 16, 2000.
- The Dogs of War. Original airdate: October 1, 2003.
- The Stormy Present. Original airdate: January 7, 2004. Josh mentions that one of his classmates was Akhil Amar
- ^ The West Wing, Episode 1.21: Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics. Original airdate: May 10, 2000.
- H. Con-172. Original airdate: January 9, 2002.
- Six Meetings Before Lunch. Original airdate: April 5, 2000.
- ^ The West Wing, Episode 1.05: The Crackpots and These Women. Original airdate: October 20, 1999.
- ^ In the Shadow of Two Gunmen, Part II. Original airdate: October 4, 2000.
- The Indians in the Lobby. Original airdate: November 21, 2001.
- Manchester Part II. Original airdate: October 17, 2001.
- In the Shadow of Two Gunmen, Part I. Original airdate: October 4, 2000.
- ^ 'The West Wing, Episode 2.10: Noël. Original airdate: December 20, 2000.
- ^ Spencer, John (June 27, 2002). John Spencer chatted about life as Leo McGarry Archived 2007-07-14 at the Wayback Machine. Channel 4. Retrieved on December 12, 2007.
- ^ In the Shadow of Two Gunmen
- ^ The West Wing, Episode 4.06: Game On. Original airdate: October 30, 2002.
- Guns Not Butter. Original airdate: January 8, 2003.
- ^ The West Wing, Episode 3.09: Bartlet for America. Original airdate: December 12, 2001.
- ^ The West Wing, Episode 2.10: Noël. Original airdate: December 20, 2000.
- ^ The West Wing, Episode 7.18: Requiem
- ^ Moore, Frazier (February 12, 2001). West Wing Lovers Are in Limbo Archived 2006-05-10 at the Wayback Machine. Associated Press. Retrieved on December 15, 2007.
- The War at Home. Original airdate: February 14, 2001.
- The Women of Qumar. Original airdate: November 28, 2001.
- Commencement. Original airdate: May 7, 2003.
- Arctic Radar. Original airdate: November 27, 2002.
- 20 Hours in America
- The Leadership Breakfast
- ^ The West Wing, Episode 1.10: In Excelsis Deo
- Shibboleth
- Tomorrow
- ^ Hesse, Monica (2018-02-27). "Perspective | Love-struck hero or creepy harasser? Suddenly we're seeing our favorite rom-coms in a new light". Washington Post. Retrieved 2021-02-01.
- ^ O'Keeffe, Kevin; Sims, David; Reid, Joe (2014-09-12). "A Definitive Ranking of Every Character on 'The West Wing'". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2021-02-01.
- ^ O'Keeffe, Kevin; Sims, David (2014-09-15). "Lemon/Lyman: Was The Wire Too Harsh on 'The West Wing's Josh?". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2021-02-01.
- ^ Lyons, Margaret; Dobbins, Amanda (22 June 2012). "From Sports Night to Studio 60: Vulture Ranks Aaron Sorkin's TV Characters". Vulture. Retrieved 2021-02-01.