The West Wing Presidential Election (Timeline)

[Tim Thomason]

Wrong about Mr Willis from Ohio. He was never on any ticket and just took his wifes place for a while after she died.

That's pretty much what the episode implied. It's a very tight squeeze, given that his wife died only one month before, but I assume the DCCC simply nominated Mr. Willis in a Special election to get enough sympathy votes and had been in Congress a couple days by the time of the episode. Since he didn't do any campaigning, he considered himself "appointed" (and Democratic leadership understood the quasi-appointment status) and had no intention of running in the '00 midterms.

Wrong about Andie. She wasnt in the same car that exploded and unharmed. The episode shows her wawing at the camera while the father of her kids in a rare moment begs someone nicely.

Yeah, I know. I should probably change the wording, since she wasn't harmed in the same way Donna was. I merely meant to state that she was on the same CoDel as the killed congressmen.

Turn this into a Commander-in-Chief crossover in the next election.

As fun as that would be, I'm not sure I'm qualified. I barely ever watched Commander-in-Chief, and from what I understand, it exists in a universe with Al Gore and George W. Bush, something that would be very hard to merge with The West Wing world.

I know I have the benefit of hindsight, that was not quite apparently in 12/07, but... or say, Barack Obama taking on John McCain?

It's been stated before by Eli Attie that Santos was based on Obama (mainly his convention speech), and DVD commentary for "In God We Trust" that Vinick shares similarities to "straight-talk" McCain, I'd hesitate to suggest that The West Wing writers suggested this very same thing 2-to-3 years beforehand.

Tim Thomason, I must say I love your timeline, it really accounts for many loose ends!

Thanks. That was the main point, with an alternative history twist on it.

Superb, I attempted this once and gave up. I would have added Bartlet's birth (1940ish), John Hoynes was born 15 years later. Santos was born in 1961. Vinick was elected to the Senate in 1982. Also loved the moving of the election POD from 1974 to 1986, so it allowed Ford, Carter and Reagan.

I had a bunch of birth years up in an early draft, but removed, as they didn't seem "important" enough in a timeline showcasing important info, major differences, and relieving some historical nitpicks. I always pegged Bartlet's birth at around 1942 (given he entered college in 1960). I'm not sure I'd want Hoynes that young (Matheson was born in '47), but you seem certain on that.

The election POD is, in itself, a major difference from other fan-made timelines on the net. I kinda changed it with the hope that a Freshman Rep Josiah Bartlet was involved in passing the Special Election law.

Lassiter would have had to lost California in the 1990 and 1994 elections.

You're right, I never thought about that. That he was a Governor of California was established onscreen, but I assume he lost by close margins, and probably carried the South and other Republican strongholds.

I always had Newman as the 1987-1991 President. Also of course the Presidency would have changed hands right at the start of the Gulf War.

Interestingly, the last three Presidents (Bartlet, Lassiter, Newman) left three major conflicts (Kazahkstan, Phillippines, Persian Gulf) for their successors to immediately clean up.

One other thing Bartlet was elected Governor of New Hampshire in 1994 (Governors of New Hampsire only serve 2 year terms, unless this is changed).

Other timelines have placed it at '91. He was only known to be Governor for sure (AFAIK) in '96 and '98, so I have no problem with a shorter Governorship (gives him some time to brush up on his teaching between Congress and Concord). On the other hand, who knows how much the Pierces have changed and/or "modernized" internal New Hampshire politics.

I always believed that Lassister was the President before Bartlet.

I was always unsure that if Newman was a Governor or a Congressman (I believed Governor my-self, also we never got a state). Of course we know that no Senator had been elected President in the West Wing World since 1960 as per our world.

You know, I pegged Newman as a Congressman (and Speaker at that) in order to satiate some "President Carl Albert" fans and to give Santos a recent precedent that wasn't seen as a hindrance (as opposed to Vinick over his senatorship by Bruno).

That doesn't make sense - in "The Stormy Present" you see Lassiter's old staffers etc. at his funeral as a "geriatric brigade", and the way they talk about him is as if he was President twenty years ago.

Lassiter is Reagan.

Actually, I did try to address that. I stated that Reagan (and therefore Acting President Lassiter) had a staff of personnel mostly from the Nixon administration. If you assume that Lassiter retained this staff in his later presidency, then they would be quite up there by the end of his term in '99. Given that the political establishment was so against Bartlet's young, underexperienced staff in the early years, it kinda makes since.

 

[Electric Monk]

Hmm.

As I recall Lassiter was the Reagan analogue (although an earlier elected Reagan avoids some of his late-second term problems), Newman was the Carter analogue and we didn't know enough about others.

Personally I feel the 1960s is the POD (with no 25th), and a special election in '74 forced through by Carl Albert because Nixon was blocked attempting to get an ATL 25th so that he could nominate a VP but Albert was clear in that he wasn't going to remain President if Nixon stepped down.

My timeline of Presidents from earlier in the thread:

• 1968-1974 Nixon (Rep 1)
• 1974-1978 Ford (Rep 2) (Beats the Democrat in the general narrowly)
• 1978-1986 Reagan (Rep 3)
• 1986 Newman (Dem)
• 1990-1998 Lassiter (Rep 4)
• 1998-2006 Bartlett (Dem)
• 2006 Santos (Dem)

It assumes no 25th Amendment until after Nixon steps down, and Speaker Carl Albert forcing through a special '74 election. Ford comes from Nixon trying to get a Vice-President through Congress via an early attempt at the 25th Amendment which massively boosts his profile, and is enough for him to beat a disorganized Reagan in the abbreviated '74 primaries.

Ford decides not to run for President again, Reagan wins the primaries and the general. Newman beats Reagan's VP, Lassiter beats Newman four years later, and Bartlett beats whoever the '98 Republican is.

 

[Tim Thomason]

As I recall Lassiter was the Reagan analogue (although an earlier elected Reagan avoids some of his late-second term problems), Newman was the Carter analogue and we didn't know enough about others.

The Newman/Carter and Reagan/Lassiter analogs are obvious, but I don't think we can rule out two Carteresque and Reaganesque Presidents in recent history. Reagan still has a hospital named after him, and someone looking alot like Jimmy Carter has his picture up in the Situation Room (although, there's also a picture of someone looking alot like Bill Clinton).

Technically, there was a lot of Carter and Clinton traits in Bartlet. I believe the one episode showcasing Lassiter (in the past tense) painted him in a very Nixonian light. The letter-writing and phone-calling to future Presidents is something Nixon was noted for, up until his death. "The Stormy Present" aired five months before Reagan's death, so they mostly based it off of the Nixon funeral and death.

I don't think there's anything wrong with including Carter and Reagan, especially since I tried to paint them as separate figures in my timeline.

Personally I feel the 1960s is the POD (with no 25th), and a special election in '74 forced through by Carl Albert because Nixon was blocked attempting to get an ATL 25th so that he could nominate a VP but Albert was clear in that he wasn't going to remain President if Nixon stepped down.

Well, technically speaking, the POD has to be before 1913 and the birth of 90-year-old Joseph Furman. But yeah, the absense of the 25th amendment (for a brief time) does help necessitate a constitutional crisis, that would be the only real cause for an election cycle shift. Is Albert President in your timeline? It seems to be focused on cycles over years served.

I wish Bartlet was referred to by number (you know as the 42nd, 43rd, or 44th President). It'd make determining this easier/funner.

My timeline of Presidents from earlier in the thread:

• 1968-1974 Nixon (Rep 1)
• 1974-1978 Ford (Rep 2) (Beats the Democrat in the general narrowly)
• 1978-1986 Reagan (Rep 3)
• 1986 Newman (Dem)
• 1990-1998 Lassiter (Rep 4)
• 1998-2006 Bartlet (Dem)
• 2006 Santos (Dem)

It assumes no 25th Amendment until after Nixon steps down, and Speaker Carl Albert forcing through a special '74 election. Ford comes from Nixon trying to get a Vice-President through Congress via an early attempt at the 25th Amendment which massively boosts his profile, and is enough for him to beat a disorganized Reagan in the abbreviated '74 primaries.

Ford decides not to run for President again, Reagan wins the primaries and the general. Newman beats Reagan's VP, Lassiter beats Newman four years later, and Bartlet beats whoever the '98 Republican is.

It's nice that Ford won a presidential election. Maybe Reagan beat the incumbent Ford in the primaries (it'd be interesting for that to happen in the modern era).

Do you hold that Reagan and Ford died earlier than in our times, or were they simply unable to attend Lassiter's funeral? I'd understand Reagan would be, and Ford was often ill from 2000 onwards, so he may have been too sick to attend (He did in our timeline).

 

[Electric Monk]

The Newman/Carter and Reagan/Lassiter analogs are obvious, but I don't think we can rule out two Carteresque and Reaganesque Presidents in recent history. Reagan still has a hospital named after him, and someone looking alot like Jimmy Carter has his picture up in the Situation Room (although, there's also a picture of someone looking alot like Bill Clinton).

I agree to an extent, but with an election in '74 Carter doesn't have the time and by '78 anger over Watergate would have faded in favour of a tax revolt similar to OTL.

That said, Carter could have done something besides Governor of Georgia and Bill Clinton was destined for something (Newman's VP?).

Technically, there was a lot of Carter and Clinton traits in Bartlet.

Well, Bartlet (and the whole show) was basically Clinton as Carter if he was from New England so that's understandable.

Well, technically speaking, the POD has to be before 1913 and the birth of 90-year-old Joseph Furman. But yeah, the absense of the 25th amendment (for a brief time) does help necessitate a constitutional crisis, that would be the only real cause for an election cycle shift. Is Albert President in your timeline? It seems to be focused on cycles over years served.

Of course—we also need the fictional nations mentioned.

My supposition was that for whatever reason they don't pass the 25th in the '60s, accepting that the system worked as designed and a missing VP slot isn't something to be worked up about.

Watergate has to blow up a little early in order for Nixon to resign and Speaker Carl Albert to become President, force through the 25th (including a special election clause, I imagine), appoint Ford as VP, and resign promptly to give Ford the Presidency as was his stated intent.

The rapidness of the '74 election kneecaps Carter and whoever Ford faces (Mo' Udall? Scoop Jackson?) he beats.

It's nice that Ford won a presidential election. Maybe Reagan beat the incumbent Ford in the primaries (it'd be interesting for that to happen in the modern era).

I always liked Ford and indeed did assume that Reagan beat him in the '78 primaries, setting up a reason for modern Presidents to worry about a credible primary challenge (the pilot, where the guy Mandy works for is planning that exact situation).

Do you hold that Reagan and Ford died earlier than in our times, or were they simply unable to attend Lassiter's funeral? I'd understand Reagan would be, and Ford was often ill from 2000 onwards, so he may have been too sick to attend (He did in our timeline).

It doesn't matter, really, given that we're never offered concrete details on the Presidents in that episode. It's quite reasonable that either they died or were unable to attend.

 

[Tim Thomason]

The Commander-in-Chief's Office in the West Wing (open 24 Hours)

Turn this into a Commander-in-Chief crossover in the next election.

Just for the fun of it, I'll manufacture a pseudo-West Wing, Commander-in-Chief, 24 universe. Many dated events from Commander-in-Chief and 24 (such as Jack in Kosovo, or Templeton being Speaker in 1999) would have to be re-dated, and some facts (Taylor as first female president) would have to be ignored.

List of Presidents, 38 to 55
38. Gerald Ford (R-MI) - 1974-1977
39. Jimmy Carter (D-GA) - 1977-1981
40. Ronald Reagan (R-CA) - 1981-1987
-Acting. Owen Lassiter (R-CA) - 1981
-Acting. Owen Lassiter (R-CA) - 1984-1987
41. D. Wire Newman (D-AL) - 1987-1991
42. Owen Lassiter (R-CA) - 1991-1999
43. Josiah Bartlet (D-NH) - 1999-2007
-Acting. Glen Allen Walken (R-MO) - 2003
44. Matt Santos (D-TX) - 2007-2011
45. George W. Bush (R-TX) - 2011-2019
46. Teddy Bridges (R-CA) - 2019-2020
47. Mackenzie Allen (I-CT) - 2020-2027
-Acting. Nathan Templeton (R-FL) - 2021
48. Harry Barnes (R-MD) - 2027-2031
49. David Palmer (D-MD) - 2031-2035
-Acting. James Prescott (D-CA) - 2033
50. John Keeler (R-MD) - 2035-2036
-Acting. Charles Logan (R-CA) - 2036
51. Charles Logan (R-CA) - 2036-2037
-Acting. Hal Gardner (R-OH) - 2037
52. Hal Gardner (R-OH) - 2037-2039
53. Wayne Palmer (D-MD) - 2039
-Acting. Noah Daniels (D-TX) - 2039-2043
54. Allison Taylor (R-TN) - 2043-"Present"

 

[Strategos' Risk]

I'm not going to use that for my light crossover in the 2010 West Wing election thread, but good job in trying to make a cohesive combination. I haven't really watched Commander-in-Chief either but the show lasted for such a short time and there's not a lot of characters so I think I can fit a lot of it in with some modifications.

 

[Jay Cruger]

Hmm.

As I recall Lassiter was the Reagan analogue (although an earlier elected Reagan avoids some of his late-second term problems), Newman was the Carter analogue and we didn't know enough about others.

Personally I feel the 1960s is the POD (with no 25th), and a special election in '74 forced through by Carl Albert because Nixon was blocked attempting to get an ATL 25th so that he could nominate a VP but Albert was clear in that he wasn't going to remain President if Nixon stepped down.

My timeline of Presidents from earlier in the thread:

• 1968-1974 Nixon (Rep 1)
• 1974-1978 Ford (Rep 2) (Beats the Democrat in the general narrowly)
• 1978-1986 Reagan (Rep 3)
• 1986 Newman (Dem)
• 1990-1998 Lassiter (Rep 4)
• 1998-2006 Bartlett (Dem)
• 2006 Santos (Dem)

It assumes no 25th Amendment until after Nixon steps down, and Speaker Carl Albert forcing through a special '74 election. Ford comes from Nixon trying to get a Vice-President through Congress via an early attempt at the 25th Amendment which massively boosts his profile, and is enough for him to beat a disorganized Reagan in the abbreviated '74 primaries.

Ford decides not to run for President again, Reagan wins the primaries and the general. Newman beats Reagan's VP, Lassiter beats Newman four years later, and Bartlett beats whoever the '98 Republican is.

To me Lassiter serves as a Reagan imitation so the need for the actual Reagan is illiminated

This is my assumption

1974-1979 Gerald Ford
1979-1987 John Conally
1987-1991 D. Wire Newman
1991-1999 Owen Lassiter
1999-2007 Josiah Bartlet ( Glen Allen Walken acting 2005)
2007- Matt Santos

 

[Kevycanavan]

Hi there

I was during the west wing wikia and came across this quote in the D Wire Newman article -
"Due to these successes and despite being known as a liberal Democrat, he was offered the position Secretary of Transportation in Republican President Charles Wexler's administration. D.W. however turned down the offer as he intended to run for re-election as Governor of Pennsylvania."

There is no mention of a Predident Wexler in either the Wikia's list of former presidents, or anywhere in this thread.

Can anybody shed any light on this for me?

 

[Marky Bunny]

Hi there

I was during the west wing wikia and came across this quote in the D Wire Newman article -
"Due to these successes and despite being known as a liberal Democrat, he was offered the position Secretary of Transportation in Republican President Charles Wexler's administration. D.W. however turned down the offer as he intended to run for re-election as Governor of Pennsylvania."

There is no mention of a Predident Wexler in either the Wikia's list of former presidents, or anywhere in this thread.

Can anybody shed any light on this for me?

I would not take much notice of the West Wing Wiki. It has bits of the election writing that I done for my thread the "2010 Presidential Election" which is a continuation of the series after 2007 from late 2008 onwards.

On our thread, I tried with others to make sense of the West Wing history given in the show, it is not the "real history" or "correct history" but just a version that fits the facts.

We have DW Newman as the Governor of Alabama not Pennsylvania as an example.

 

[Prometheus_2300]

Hi there

I was during the west wing wikia and came across this quote in the D Wire Newman article -
"Due to these successes and despite being known as a liberal Democrat, he was offered the position Secretary of Transportation in Republican President Charles Wexler's administration. D.W. however turned down the offer as he intended to run for re-election as Governor of Pennsylvania."

There is no mention of a Predident Wexler in either the Wikia's list of former presidents, or anywhere in this thread.

Can anybody shed any light on this for me?

Wexler was never mentioned on the show. Someone's trying to make headcanon or fan fiction canon.

The west wing wiki is notoriously inaccurate. I wrote Owen Lassiter's history for Marky's thread, and within a month it had been taken As fact on the wiki.

You'll have better luck just going through episode transcripts.

Wexler has also weaseled his name into Wikipedia's fictional presidents article.

 

[Marky Bunny]

Wexler was never mentioned on the show. Someone's trying to make headcanon or fan fiction canon.

The west wing wiki is notoriously inaccurate. I wrote Owen Lassiter's history for Marky's thread, and within a month it had been taken As fact on the wiki.

You'll have better luck just going through episode transcripts.

Wexler has also weaseled his name into Wikipedia's fictional presidents article.

I have just edited Wikipedia and taken Wexler's name off the fictional Presidents list.