Josiah Edward 'Jed' Bartlet, President of the United States is a fictional character played by Martin Sheen on the television serial drama The West Wing.

Although the show has an ensemble cast, the main character in the series has become the fictional U.S. President Bartlet. Bartlet represents, in many ways, an "ideal liberal president," endowed with a fierce intellect, great (though not infallible) personal integrity and toughness, but tempered with essential compassion for the less fortunate and a sense of humor.

President Bartlet is an accomplished economist, with a Masters and Ph.D. in economics from the London School of Economics and a Nobel Prize in Economics. He is a fictitious descendant of the real-life Josiah Bartlett, a signatory of the Declaration of Independence. Like his ancestor, Bartlet was a governor of New Hampshire. Prior to serving two terms as governor, Bartlet was a three-term member of the United States House of Representatives and either a representative or senator in the New Hampshire State Legislature (the show does not make which clear). Before entering politics Bartlet was a tenured professor of economics at Dartmouth University, where he received an honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters. He was elected President on the Democratic ticket, and as the series continued, was elected to a second term. He is a devout Catholic, a graduate of the University of Notre Dame who once considered becoming a priest. He is married to thoracic surgeon Abigail Bartlet. The President suffers from multiple sclerosis, which at one time put the future of his presidency in doubt. Bartlet was shot in the first season cliffhanger finale. The President's wounds were not serious and the assassination attempt was actually intended at his personal assistant, Charlie Young, not Bartlet.

In the Season Two finale Two Cathedrals, Bartlet announced to the country that he suffers from multiple sclerosis, and had been keeping it a secret, although this had been previously revealed to the viewers in the Season One episode He Shall, From Time to Time...

President Bartlet's daughter, Zoey, was kidnapped on the day of her graduation from Georgetown University, possibly due to the Bartlet-ordered assassination of the Qumari defense minister. While Zoey was missing, President Bartlet invoked Section 3 of the 25th Amendment, giving up the power of the presidency. Due to the resignation a few days earlier of Vice President John Hoynes, the Speaker of the House Glen Allen Walken, a Republican, became Acting President. Zoey was recovered with only minor injuries several days later and President Bartlet reassumed his office a few hours later. On a trip to China, Bartlet was left temporarily paralyzed by an attack of MS.

Bartlet is currently in the last year of his term, with elections likely to occur in November of this year (early in the show's seventh season). His potential successors are Rep. Matt Santos (D-TX) and Sen. Arnold Vinick (R-CA).

As a matter of trivia, the President was not originally intended to be a key member of the cast. He was only meant to make occasional appearances.

Appointments

Cabinet

Supreme Court appointments

Bartlet appointed the following Justices to the Supreme Court of the United States:

• Roberto Mendoza (Edward James Olmos) – 2000
• Evelyn Baker Lang (Glenn Close) – Chief Justice, 2004
• Christopher Mulready (William Fichtner ) – 2004

See also

• The West Wing
• List of The West Wing episodes
• Characters on The West Wing
• Equatorial Kundu
• Qumar