Abbey Bartlet
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| Abigail Ann Bartlet | |
|---|---|
 Stockard Channing as Abbey Bartlet |
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| First appearance | The State Dinner |
| Last appearance | Tomorrow spoilers below |
| Statistics | |
| Occupation | First Lady (Seasons 1-7) |
| Spouse | Josiah Bartlet |
| Children | Elizabeth Bartlet Westin Eleanor "Ellie" Bartlet Zoey Bartlet |
| Relatives | Doug Westin (son-in-law) Vic Faison (son-in-law) |
| Portrayed by | Stockard Channing |
| Created by | Aaron Sorkin and Paul Redford |
Dr. Abigail Ann 'Abbey' Bartlet, M.D., former First Lady of the United States, was a fictional character played by Stockard Channing on the television serial drama The West Wing.
Abbey is a world-class physician and wife of more than thirty years to President Bartlet (in the first season episode "Five Votes Down," President Bartlet mentioned to Charlie they had been married 32 years). Her maiden name is Barrington. The location of her undergraduate education is unknown. However, President Bartlet once confided with C.J. Cregg (his then press secretary) that he changed his mind about becoming a priest during his undergrad years at Notre Dame when he met Abbey. It is unlikely however that Abbey herself attended Notre Dame because the University did not admit female students before 1972.
She received her M.D. from Harvard Medical School. Her specializations are in internal medicine and thoracic surgery. She began practicing medicine some twenty-five years before the start of the series, and is on the staff of both Boston Mercy Hospital (fictitious) and Columbia Presbyterian Hospital. She is Adjunct Professor of Thoracic Surgery at Harvard Medical School.
She and her husband have three daughters: Elizabeth, Ellie, and Zoey. At the beginning of the series, Zoey is said to be 19 but this was retconned at the end of season 2 to being closer to 17. In season 2, Ellie was in medical school at Johns Hopkins University. Elizabeth is a bit older than Ellie and is the only one who is married with children throughout the series (Abbey once said in season sixth that she had Liz very young). In the fourth season episode "Inauguration: Over There", it was established that Abbey never let the children have sugar (specifically candy) growing up, but that Jed gave it to them all the time behind her back.
To protect the secret of her husband's multiple sclerosis, Abbey gave the President doses of betaseron, which helped keep his MS in check. It was only after he collapsed and was confronted by Leo that she revealed their secret to a member of the White House senior staff. Her decision to medicate her husband, in violation of several American Medical Association rules, caused her to decide to give up her medical license for the duration of her stay in the White House. However, she has begun to do some volunteer work at a local clinic.
Abbey had forced her husband into a "deal" with her that he would only run for one term because of his MS. She was distraught and very angry with Jed when he broke this promise and proceeded to run for reelection anyway. Things were tense between the two for the latter half of the second season but as the third season progressed they worked through it.
Abbey was a recurring character during the first two seasons, and the seventh and last season. She appeared as a regular during the third through sixth seasons, despite the fact that there are many episodes in which she does not appear, a fact consistent with real life, where the First Lady must perform official duties all over the country and therefore cannot stay constantly with her husband at the White House.
| Preceded by: Unknown |
First Lady of the United States, The West Wing 1999–2006 |
Succeeded by: Helen Santos |
| The Bartlet Administration | ||
|---|---|---|
| The President: Josiah Bartlet First Lady: Abigail Bartlet |
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| The Vice President John Hoynes (Seasons 1–4) Bob Russell (Seasons 5–7) Chief of Staff to the Vice President Will Bailey (Seasons 5–7) National Security Advisor Nancy McNally (Seasons 2–7) Deputy National Security Advisor Kate Harper (Seasons 5–7) Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Percy Fitzwallace (Seasons 1–5) General Nicholas Alexander (Seasons 6–7) |
White House Chief of Staff Leo McGarry (Seasons 1–5) C.J. Cregg (Seasons 6–7) Assistant to the Chief of Staff Margaret Hooper (Seasons 1–7) Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman (Seasons 1–6) Assistant to the Deputy Chief of Staff Donna Moss (Seasons 1–6) Presidential Secretary Delores Landingham (Seasons 1–2) Deborah Fiderer (Seasons 4–7) Personal Aide to the President Charlie Young (Seasons 1–6) Chief of Staff to the First Lady Amy Gardner (Seasons 4–5) |
White House Communications Director Toby Ziegler (Seasons 1–7) Will Bailey (Season 7) Deputy Communications Director Sam Seaborn (Seasons 1–4) Will Bailey (Seasons 4–5) White House Press Secretary C.J. Cregg (Seasons 1–5) Deputy Press Secretary Annabeth Schott (Season 6) Media Director Mandy Hampton (Season 1) |
| These are the main characters on The West Wing. For a longer and more complete list of characters, see List of characters on The West Wing. |
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