Amy Gardner
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| Amelia Gardner | |
|---|---|
 Mary-Louise Parker as Amy Gardner |
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| First appearance | The Women of Qumar |
| Last appearance | The Last Hurrah spoilers below |
| Statistics | |
| Occupation | Director of the Women's Leadership Coalition (Season 3), Chief of Staff to the First Lady (Seasons 4-5), Director of Legislative Affairs (end of Season 7) |
| Portrayed by | Mary-Louise Parker |
| Created by | Aaron Sorkin, Felicia Wilson, Laura Glasser, and Julia Dahl |
Amelia "Amy" Gardner is the fictional Director of Legislative Affairs in the Matt Santos administration and a women's rights activist on US television's The West Wing. Her character is played by Mary-Louise Parker.
Amy attended Brown University and Yale Law School. She is a prominent women's rights activist, first appearing in the third season as the Director of the Women's Leadership Coalition, a fictional interest group. She was also Issues Director for the National Organization of Women, Political Director of EMILY's List, and founder of the Democratic Women's Forum. She and Josh Lyman are old friends, as they both attended Yale Law School, where she dated his roommate. Their flirtation, and subsequent relationship, took up much of the storyline in season three. Amy's passion for her work, and place in Josh's life, delighted some - such as First Lady Abigail Bartlet - and troubled others, such as Josh's assistant (and, for many fans, his long-hoped-for love interest) Donna Moss.
In the finale for the third season, Josh placed his loyalty to his job over his relationship with Amy by sabotaging her efforts to defeat a welfare reauthorization bill supported by the President. Josh's success meant the end of her Directorship of the Women's Leadership Coalition, causing Amy to end her relationship with Josh.
Amy returned in season four as an advisor to Democratic Senator Howard Stackhouse during his independent bid for the presidency during the 2002 Presidential campaign. After Stackhouse dropped out and endorsed President Bartlet, she provided unofficial assistance to the President's reelection efforts, working through Josh. She also helped Deputy Communications Director Sam Seaborn fundraise in his failed run for a seat in the House of Representatives. She later served as Chief of Staff to First Lady Abigail Bartlet.
It was rumored that show creator Aaron Sorkin wanted to add Parker to the main cast, but she was unable to commit to the show because of her role in the film Angels in America.
When Parker became pregnant, Amy was written out of the show in the fifth season episode Constituency of One. After coming into conflict with President Bartlet over an appropriations bill for the Department of Health and Human Services, she realized that her methods did not suit a position at the White House--she preferred to pursue her own agenda instead of furthering someone else's political career. She resigned her station as Chief of Staff to the First Lady and ended her second relationship with Josh.
Amy reappeared in the sixth season episode Freedonia to help prepare Congressman Matt Santos of Texas for a debate between Democratic candidates for President, though she was eventually fired by Josh, who was then the campaign manager for the Santos campaign.
Prior to the meeting of the Electoral College, Amy lobbied for a female Congresswoman from Florida to be selected as Vice President over Santos' first choice, Pennsylvania Governor Eric Baker. While Santos was not swayed by her arguments, he offered her the post of Director of Legislative Affairs in the new administration, which she accepted.
| 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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