Claudia Jean 'C.J.' Cregg, White House Chief of Staff, (formerly Press Secretary) to Democratic President Josiah Bartlet, is a fictional character, played by Allison Janney on the television serial drama The West Wing. The character is supposedly based on Clinton Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers, who has served as a consultant to the show.

C.J. held a six-figure income position at a prominent California public relations firm before coming to work for Bartlet's 1998 presidential campaign. Ironically, she was fired from that job on the same day that Toby came to California to ask her to join the Bartlet campaign. As White House Press Secretary, C.J. was sharp, well-spoken and witty.

During the third season, C.J. received a series of serious death threats, which led to her being placed under the protection of Secret Service agent Simon Donovan, with whom she became romantically involved. Shortly after going off-duty, Donovan was shot and killed after becoming caught up in the armed robbery of a grocery store in the episode "Posse Comitatus". C.J. has also had a long on-again, off-again flirtation with the White House correspondent for the Washington Post, Danny Concannon, although C.J. felt that they could not date because it would be a conflict of interest. C.J. succeeded Leo McGarry as White House Chief of Staff in the sixth season after McGarry suffered a heart attack outside Camp David. C.J.'s elevation to this post would make her the first woman to serve in this position in our universe - however, this may not be true in the world of The West Wing. In the final two episodes of Season 6, in plotline involving an oxygen leak at the International Space Station, a senior White House official leaked information to the New York Times about a top-secret military space shuttle that could rescue the astronauts onboard if none of the civillian shuttles could be readied in time. After the cliffhanger at the end of the season, many fans speculated that C.J. could be the leak, something that, if confirmed, could result in her facing a prison sentence of up to 10 years.

See also

• The West Wing
• Characters on The West Wing
• List of The West Wing episodes