Kate Harper
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| Kate Harper | |
|---|---|
 Mary McCormack as Kate Harper (left) and Anna Deavere Smith as Dr. Nancy McNally |
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| First appearance | Talking Points |
| Last appearance | Tomorrow spoilers below |
| Statistics | |
| Occupation | Deputy National Security Advisor (Seasons 5-7) |
| Portrayed by | Mary McCormack |
| Created by | Eli Attie |
Kate Harper is a fictional character on the television show The West Wing. She is played by Mary McCormack. Harper is a commander in the United States Navy, and serves as the Deputy National Security Advisor (under Dr. Nancy McNally) to President Josiah Bartlet.
Kate Harper was born into a Navy family, and grew up at various naval bases in Florida, in rather poor living conditions.
She joined the Navy and claims to have one time served aboard a submarine. She was recruited into the Central Intelligence Agency. During this time, she was involved in covert operations in Iran, Cuba, Africa, Kosovo and North Korea, which were subsequently blacked out of her official file. In 2004, she was assigned to the White House, to her current post as Deputy National Security Advisor.
Harper came to prominence during the events leading up to President Bartlet's landmark Israeli-Palestinian peace summit at Camp David. She and then-White House Press Secretary C.J. Cregg were Bartlet's only supporters among senior administration officials for pressing ahead with the peace talks in the face of opposition from Chief of Staff Leo McGarry and Secretary of Defense Miles Hutchinson. During the actual summit, Harper was one of the key negotiators with the Chairman of the Palestinian Authority.
Following the summit, she continued as an advisor to President Bartlet, most notably when he considered reopening American relations with Cuba. This incident brought to the forefront her past dealings as an officer in the CIA.
She has an ex-husband who works for the U.S. Department of State as an undersecretary, and she speaks fluent Arabic, as well as Mandarin Chinese at, by her own admission, "a second-grade vocabulary." (Toby Ziegler notes that, despite this, her vocabulary contains the words for "hydraulic lift.")
Starting in the 7th season and through the end of the series, she is in a romantic relationship with White House Communications Director Will Bailey. She has stated that she does not "live and die with the Democratic Party", despite working for a liberal White House and dating the equally liberal Will Bailey, hinting to him that she might have voted for moderate Republican presidential candidate Arnold Vinick, and that her position as Deputy National Security Advisor would not be threatened by a party-change in the White House.
By the time of the dedication of the Bartlet presidential library in New Hampshire, several years after Bartlet has left the White House, Harper has written a book, at least part of which concerns the European Union.
[edit] See also
- The West Wing
- List of characters on The West Wing
- List of politicians on The West Wing
- List of The West Wing episodes
| 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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