Joshua Lyman is a fictional character played by Bradley Whitford on the television drama series The West Wing. The role earned Whitford the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2001. For most of the series, he is White House Deputy Chief of Staff and Chief Political Advisor in the Josiah Bartlet administration.
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 Aaron Sorkin, the creator of The West Wing, originally wrote Josh Lyman with long-time friend Whitford in mind. An early draft of the pilot script, dated February 6, 1998, describes Josh as being "a youthful 38" and "a highly regarded brain."Sorkin, Aaron (February 6, 1998). West Wing Pilot Draft. Retrieved on December 19, 2007. After reading the script, Whitford said he loved the character immediately and "desperately wanted" the part. While his audition impressed the show's executive producers, with Sorkin describing it as "simply the best audition for anything I'd ever seen,"Sorkin, Aaron (2002). The West Wing Script Book. New York: Newmarket Press. Warner Brothers casting director John Levey was not convinced Whitford had enough sex appeal to play a lead character and executive producer Thomas Schlamme was concerned that he did not have enough depth to carry the more dramatic scenes. After a second audition, Whitford was offered the role of Sam Seaborn. Whitford called Sorkin for help. "I just said, 'Aaron, I just feel this very strongly. This is not about me wanting a job. This is the only time in my life I will play this card. I am this guy; I am not the other guy.'" Sorkin was impressed, and soon after Whitford was cast as Josh.Whitford, David (May 2001). The Secret Life of an Actor. Esquire. Retrieved on December 16, 2007.
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."Whitford, Bradley (September 16, 2000). NewsHour with Jim Lehrer . Retrieved on December 15, 2007.
Josh shares his name with a character in the Garry Trudeau cartoon strip Doonesbury, a White House deputy cabinet liaisonMay 11, 1993 strip encountered by Doonesbury regular Joanie Caucus. A framed copy of a Doonesbury strip hangs in Josh's office.Doonesbury FAQ . Retrieved on December 15, 2007. The character is said to be based in part on Rahm Emanuel,"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 November 7, 2008.) although executive producer Lawrence O'Donnell denies this claim. 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.Begala, Paul (February 7, 2006). ,"The Washington Post". Retrieved on July 27, 2013.
Character biography
Personal history Josh was born and raised in Westport, Connecticut. A Fulbright scholar,The West Wing, Episode 1.01: Pilot. Original airdate: September 22, 1999. he graduated cum laude from Harvard University (where he worked at the Harvard Crimson), and Yale Law School,The West Wing, Episode 1.15: Celestial Navigation. Original airdate: February 16, 2000.The West Wing, Episode 5.02: The Dogs of War. Original airdate: October 1, 2003. graduating c. 1984.The West Wing, Episode 5.10: The Stormy Present. Original airdate: January 7, 2004. Josh mentions that one of his classmates was the law professor Akhil Amar. He received a 760 on the verbal section of the SAT, which he has been known to boast about.The West Wing, Episode 1.21: Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics. Original airdate: May 10, 2000. However, when trying to explain his lack of skill in serious relationships, he claims that his IQ does not "break the bank," so he had to work hard in college, quipping that "by the time [his] roommates notched their 100th party of the year, I think I got my first full night of sleep."The West Wing, Episode 3.10: H. Con-172. Original airdate: January 9, 2002.
Josh is a non-practicing Jew; his grandfather was held in the Nazi concentration camp Birkenau during World War II.The West Wing, Episode 1.18: Six Meetings Before Lunch. Original airdate: April 5, 2000. 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.The West Wing, Episode 1.05: The Crackpots and These Women. Original airdate: October 20, 1999. 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.The West Wing, Episode 2.02: In the Shadow of Two Gunmen, Part II. Original airdate: October 4, 2000. His mother splits her time between Westport and West Palm Beach, Florida, before she moves to Florida full-time.The West Wing, Episode 3.07: The Indians in the Lobby. Original airdate: November 21, 2001.
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. He sometimes resorts to threats, intimidation, lies and even blackmail to achieve what needs to be done for the Bartlet administration.
Professional history Before working for President Josiah Bartlet, Josh worked in several positions as an advisor and manager for Democratic politicians.The West Wing, Episode 3.02: Manchester Part II. Original airdate: October 17, 2001. Josh later became a staffer for then-Senator John Hoynes, the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination for president in the upcoming 1998 election. However, Hoynes's tendency to go against Josh's advice and to prioritize politics over his own ideas and convictions frustrated Josh. Thirteen weeks before the New Hampshire primary, Josh receives a visit from Leo McGarry, an old friend of his father's. At Leo's request, a skeptical Josh travels to New Hampshire to hear then-Governor Bartlet speak. After hearing Bartlet give a surprisingly honest answer to a politically sensitive question, Josh immediately leaves Hoynes' campaign to work for Bartlet; he also recruits his old friend Sam Seaborn to the campaign.The West Wing, Episode 2.01: In the Shadow of Two Gunmen, Part I. Original airdate: October 4, 2000.
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. 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.'The West Wing, Episode 2.10: Noël. Original airdate: December 20, 2000.
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, and 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 attempts to recruit Josh for another presidential run, he decides that he does not want Hoynes (or current Vice President Bob Russell) to be president, and instead convinces Texas Congressman Matt Santos to run for president, much in the same way Leo McGarry recruited Bartlet eight years earlier. Josh leaves his position at the White House to run Santos's presidential campaign, leaving his legislative portfolio to be taken up by Clifford Calley, a move encouraged by Leo after he and later C. J. Cregg notice that Clifford's personality and his skills are not unlike Josh. The Santos campaign initially loses the Iowa caucus, comes third in the New Hampshire primary and then goes on to win an upset victory in the California primary. Santos wins the Texas primary and the final New Jersey primary by a slim margin.
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.Spencer, John (June 27, 2002). John Spencer chatted about life as Leo McGarry . Channel 4. Retrieved December 12, 2007. 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.The West Wing, Episode 2.01: In the Shadow of Two Gunmen