‘The West Wing’ was my inspiration. 25 years on I got to meet President Bartlet

Air Force One takeoffs are often a frantic moment for the reporters who travel with the president. You are loading onto the plane, stowing your bags, buckling in and then frantically dashing off a pool report documenting what the president did — or didn’t — say to the press before boarding.

You’re trying to do all of that before the massive blue and white Boeing 747 steeply climbs into the sky and out of the range of cell service. And for radio reporters like me, you’re often also trying to upload and share audio files of the president’s statements during that brief window of cell service.

But whenever I traveled with President Biden during my time covering the White House, I always made sure to take a quiet moment of reflection right after that manic flurry. I would slip on headphones, make sure none of the other reporters could see my cell phone screen and pull up … the theme of The West Wing.

Why? Because like so many other Millennials who now populate Washington, D.C., the late ‘90s/early aughts NBC drama was my entry point to the world of politics and government. It was a key factor in pushing me in the direction of spending my life reporting on politics. And it was always worth it to pause for that moment of appreciation of how my life had ended up in a place where I was inhabiting a corner of the show's real-life world.

I can still remember the first episode I ever watched (Season 2! Somebody’s Going To Emergency, Somebody’s Going To Jail). I remember channel surfing on our clunky big 2001 television, stumbling on it mid-episode, and immediately being sucked into the snappy, on-the-move dialogue — the idealism, the big ideas about what the country and what politics ought to be about.

I was hooked and stayed hooked. And when I went to college, the show was an easy early conversation point that helped me identify who my kind of people were in a new environment. The same cycle repeated itself when I graduated from college and started my first job in a new town. “You like The West Wing? Me too! Let’s watch it!” (I ended up married to one of the people I had one of those early West Wing-powered conversations with.)

Now, 25 years after the first season, the show can at times feel corny and dated. Real-life politics are far more cynical and disorganized. The tribal, existential nature of the Trump era makes the show feel like it’s of a different epoch.

But I still return to the comfort of The West Wing over and over again. And even though my DVD player is in a dark corner of my basement gathering dust, my wife and I know that neither of us will ever part with our duplicate collections of the show’s entire run. (She had all the individual seasons. I splurged for the blue faux briefcase series collection the week it came out. There was an immediate unspoken agreement when we moved in together that both collections would remain.)

So when NPR was offered the opportunity to interview President Jed Bartlet — er, I mean actor Martin Sheen — and co-star Melissa Fitzgerald about the show’s legacy, I dashed through the hallways of the newsroom with the excitement and energy the show’s characters displayed in their iconic Aaron Sorkin-powered “walk and talks.”

The occasion? A new book Fitzgerald co-wrote with fellow cast member Mary McCormack, called, What’s Next: A Backstage Pass to The West Wing, Its Cast and Crew, and Its Enduring Legacy of Service.

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Interview highlights

Scott Detrow: There's this whole generation of people who first caught the bug of politics or got the bug of public service watching this show when they were teenagers or early on in their careers. And they said, “I want to move to Washington.” Then they move to Washington. And a lot of it goes back to the show. And I'm wondering, Melissa, when did you first notice that and how have you seen that change over the years?

Melissa Fitzgerald: It is so heartening to hear so many young people — and even last night we were in a sandwich shop and a 20-year-old came up and said, “I was inspired to be here because of The West Wing.” I just find it was such a hopeful, aspirational show. And to see that this generation, several generations, have been inspired to come and live lives in public service, it’s a wonderful feeling. And walking around D.C. when Martin [Sheen] comes to town, it's like being with Elvis.

Detrow: And that's still the case now, 25 years after the first?

Fitzgerald: Perhaps even more so. Maybe not more so than when it was on the air, but now I mean, you've noticed it, too — there's so many young people.

Martin Sheen: A lot of young people now are being introduced to the show, and many of them tell us that it happened during the pandemic. That they were kind of locked indoors and that they began to look for things to inspire them or to entertain them. They found The West Wing, and in a lot of ways they found themselves, their true selves.

Detrow: One of the interesting things that’s in the book, and that’s — and Martin, this might embarrass you for a moment so just, you know, brace yourself accordingly — that Melissa and Mary write and quote so many people on the cast about how you purposely set a tone on set.

Fitzgerald: One of my first days at work, I remember coming on to set and seeing Martin and he was shaking hands with every single background artist and introducing himself and welcoming. It just felt like he was welcoming everyone to this family. And that's not usual on a set. It's who Martin is. He is the most inclusive, kind man who treats everybody with dignity and respect. And we have all benefited from that.

Sheen: And well, thank you very much. However, the only criticism that I had with Melissa and Mary was they have got to find people who simply do not like me and they didn't do enough research.

Detrow: One of the things you did was — and in all of the different podcasts and DVD extras I've consumed over the years I hadn't heard about this before — you organized an annual trip to Vegas?

Sheen: Yes, our bingo bus party. [It was] our Christmas gift to all of the people that you normally do not see on camera. They call them extras. I hate that term And so we wanted to celebrate them every Christmas. I started with one bus and by the second season we were at two buses, and we play bingo in the bus as we get to Vegas. It was great fun.

Detrow: In the spirit of the book, I want to ask both of you a few favorites. And, Melissa, I'll start with you. What's your favorite episode?

Fitzgerald: There are so many it is really hard for me to say, but I love In Excelsis Deo. I think that is a beautiful episode. And the themes of that, you know what we owe those who have given so much to our country. And, you know, it's the one about the veteran and Toby and everyone knows that episode because it's so beautifully done.

Sheen: My overall favorite hands down is In Excelsis Deo, and my brother Mike was a combat Marine and in Korea and I just could not stop thinking of him when we did it. It's still hard to talk about.

Detrow: My favorite episode is probably in 17 People, when Toby (Ziegler, played by Richard Schiff) figures out that the president is hiding a big secret. I recently rewatched the episode where that all comes to a head: Two Cathedrals. President Bartlet is debating whether or not to run for another term. And I watched this the other day and I just could not get over how line for line so many scenes in that episode could have applied to what we saw just play out with President Biden and Vice President Harris and this decision of whether or not to run for another term.

Sheen: That’s the most courageous decision I've ever seen a politician make in my lifetime.

Detrow: Why is that?

Sheen: Because he took the most powerful office in the world and he made it human. And he put it before his own ambition, before his own legacy.

Detrow: When you close your eyes and you think of The West Wing experience a quarter century later, what to you is The West Wing?

Sheen: The theme. I cannot hear that theme and not go right into it. And all those extraordinary young faces appear. And then it all floods back with gratitude and praise. I just can't believe that I was part of that.

Fitzgerald: I see the people and the family that was created from that show. That's been one of the greatest gifts of my whole life. If The West Wing was a love letter to public service, then What's Next is a love letter to The West Wing, the army of people it took to make it, the fans who loved it and the people who were inspired by it. And we hope that we honored our time together and we hope that the wingnuts love it.

The interview with Martin Sheen and Melissa Fitzgerald was produced by Karen Zamora and edited by William Troop.