Josh Lyman

Joshua 'Josh' Lyman, campaign manager for Matt Santos for President and former Deputy White House Chief of Staff, is a fictional character played by Bradley Whitford on the television serial drama The West Wing. The name "Josh Lyman" was first used in connection with the White House in the Garry Trudeau cartoon strip Doonesbury in 1993. The character was a White House media liaison officer working for President Bill Clinton, encountered by Doonesbury regular Joanie Caucus. Apart from the name and setting, there appears to be no other similarity with the West Wing character.

Related Topics:
Matt Santos - Deputy White House Chief of Staff - Fictional character - Bradley Whitford - Television - Serial - Drama - The West Wing - White House - Garry Trudeau - Doonesbury - 1993 - Bill Clinton - Joanie Caucus

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A native of Connecticut, (though by the third season his mother has moved to Florida), Josh originally worked for Senator John Hoynes, Bartlet's opponent for the Democratic nomination in 1998. However, at the request of Josh's father's old friend Leo McGarry, Josh went to New Hampshire to see Jed Bartlet speak, and immediately left Hoynes's campaign to work for Bartlet. Since Hoynes later became Bartlet's first Vice President, this was a source of tension between Josh and Hoynes in later episodes—with Hoynes specifically asking Josh in Season One if he thought that, had Josh not left the Hoynes team, he would have become President. Josh, with characteristic bravado and arrogance, replied that he didn't think Hoynes would be President—he knew.

Related Topics:
Connecticut - Florida - John Hoynes - Bartlet - Leo McGarry - New Hampshire - Vice President

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Shortly after Josh joined the Bartlet campaign, he hired college dropout Donnatella Moss as his assistant despite her total lack of qualification. Donna has been Josh's assistant, close friend, and possible object of his affections ever since.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On the night that Bartlet won the Illinois Primary, the key to winning the Democratic nomination, Josh's father died. Josh rushed to the airport to fly home as soon as possible, and in a powerful scene, Bartlet delayed giving his victory speech in order to follow Josh to the airport and make sure he was okay.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Josh was also seriously wounded in the finale of the first season by white supremacists trying to assassinate Presidential aide Charlie Young for his relationship with Zoey Bartlet, the President's daughter. Josh spent a substantial amount of time in the hospital, and was later diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder as a result of the shooting.

Related Topics:
Charlie Young - Zoey Bartlet - Posttraumatic stress disorder

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Josh left his position at the White House to run the dark horse presidential campaign of Representative Matt Santos (D-TX), and was succeeded by Clifford Calley as deputy White House chief of staff. The Santos campaign initially lost the Iowa caucus, came in third in the New Hampshire primary at 19% and went on to win a 'come from behind' victory in the California primary. Santos won the Texas primary and the final New Jersey primary by a slim margin. Going into the Democratic National Convention no candidate had enough delegates to win the nomination with delegates split between front runner Vice President Bob Russell, Rep. Santos and former Vice President John Hoynes. At the convention Gov. Eric Baker (D-PA) attempted an upstart campaign from the convention floor that further fractured the delegates. Ultimately Santos won the nomination after a stirring convention speech, that was expected to be his concession, and behind the scenes maneuvering by President Bartlet. Josh was influential in recruiting Leo McGarry as the vice presidential nominee, and rose to become campaign manager for the Santos/McGarry Campaign. It should be noted that the Santos nomination is very similar to the struggles then Governor Bartlet had in his dark horse victory over Senator Hoynes during the 1998 campaign.

Related Topics:
White House - Dark horse - Matt Santos - Clifford Calley - Iowa caucus - New Hampshire primary - Bob Russell - Eric Baker - 1998

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Josh was born sometime in or around 1961 due to the fact that he was 38 in 1999, is from Connecticut ("Whaler Pride!"), roots for the New York Mets, graduated from Harvard University, where he worked at the Harvard Crimson, and Yale Law School. Josh is a non-practicing Jew. His grandfather was held in the Nazi concentration camp, Birkenau, during World War II.

Related Topics:
Connecticut - Whaler Pride! - New York Mets - Harvard University - Harvard Crimson - Yale Law School - Jew - Nazi - Concentration camp - Birkenau - World War II

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~