Been having a dig around on the West Wing Wiki.
Here is what it says about Lewis Berryhill, (the man that could well challenge Santos for the nomination). (Some of this stuff has been fictionalised, so is not truly West Wing "Cannon" but never the less is very good, and helps flesh out the character), and why he could be a serious challenger to President Santos next Year.
Lewis Berryhill served as the United States Secretary of State under President
Josiah Bartlet from
1999 to
2007. Secretary Berryhill was a good tactician in foreign affairs but he had little support on Capitol Hill. When US Vice President
John Hoynes resigned in early 2004, Bartlet nominated Berryhill to fill the post of Vice President. However the nomination was blocked by then Speaker of the House
Jeff Haffley. Berryhill's future in the Santos administration is not known. Former Senator and Presidential Candidate
Arnold Vinick would succeed him in the Santos administration.
Berryhill was born in New York City in 1942. His father, Charles Berryhill, was a career diplomat who served as the U.S. Ambassador to Kenya under President John F. Kennedy. He is a 1964 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and served in the Army until his retirement in 1976. Berryhill completed three tours of duty in Vietnam, and won the Purple Heart and the Silver Star. He was discharged with the rank of Lt. Colonel.
From 1976 to 1977, he served as a Legislative Assistant to Jacob Javits, a Republican U.S. Senator from New York and a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Berryhill served in the Carter and Reagan administrations as the Assistant U.S. Secretary of Defense from 1977 to 1980, as the Deputy National Security Advisor from 1980 to 1981, as the U.S. Ambassador to Thailand from 1981 to 1983, and as the U.S. Ambassador to Israel from 1983 to 1987.
President D. Wire Newman appointed him to serve as the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency in 1987. He was the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations from 1990 to 1991.
From 1991 to 1992, Berryhill was a commentator on CNN, where he gained national attention during the Persian Gulf War. His book on American foreign policy, which sharply criticized President Owen Lassiter, was #1 on the New York Times bestseller list for eleven weeks.
In 1992, Berryhill left CNN to seek the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senator. He defeated former Democratic vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro and N.Y. Attorney General Bob Abrams in the primary. In the general election, Berryhill beat two-term Republican incumbent Alphonse D'Amato by a 51%-48% margin.
During 1997, he made several trips to New Hampshire and Iowa exploring a bid for the 1998 Democratic presidential nomination, but ultimately declined to run. He became an early supporter of New Hampshire Gov. Jed Bartlet, and delivered the nominating speech for Bartlet a the Democratic National Convention. He was re-elected to his Senate seat with 62% of the vote against Betsey McCaughey Ross, the Lt. Governor of New York.
After the election, Berryhill was nominated as the U.S. Secretary of State. he held that post until the end of the Bartlet administration in Janaury 2007.
Berryhill currently resides in New York, where he is a Professor of International Relations at Columbia University.