Deborah Fiderer

Deborah Fiderer is a character in the NBC television series The West Wing. She is Executive Assistant to the President, and is portrayed by noted actor and comedienne Lily Tomlin. The character first appeared during the program's third season and remained until its finale.

After the death of President Josiah Bartlet's previous private secretary Mrs. Delores Landingham, Bartlet was extremely reluctant to come to terms with her death fully by hiring a permanent replacement. Finally prevailed upon to do so by the White House staff, most of the proposed candidates did not meet with the President's approval. Although they were all highly qualified, they lacked the character and sense of humour that the President was looking for. In contrast, Fiderer was opinionated, strong willed, perhaps eccentric and in any case very much her own woman.

Before her initial interview with President Bartlet, Deborah took anti-anxiety medication; when it didn't seem to work, she took another, and by the time of the interview she was intoxicated. She revealed that she was an alpaca farmer and a professional gambler. Before that, she had worked in the White House personnel office, and when Pres. Bartlet asked what happened, she said she had been "screwed with her pants on". In reality, she had been fired for recommending Charlie Young as Bartlet's personal assistant, instead of the son of a powerful Democratic Party contributor.

In response to the administration's position on water supplies in the Third World, she had suggested in a letter sent to the White House that arsenic should be put 'in President Bartlet's water', Bartlet was apparently impressed by her show of respect for the Office of the President, remarking that she'd said President Bartlet, and concluded she was a "class act".

After the First Lady, she is perhaps the character most concerned about preventing the President from being overworked in the light of his multiple sclerosis, to the point of having new telephone functions installed and creating and keeping an incredibly strict schedule for senior staff.

The character was previously referred to as Debbie DiLaguardia; she became Debbie Fiderer after a divorce. She was first referred to in dialogue during the first season episode "A Proportional Response" as the White House personnel office worker that recommends Charlie Young to serve as the President's personal assistant.

She says that she admires Harry S Truman. When asked her musical preference, she said she was "a Crazy Horse kind of girl." She also confessed to "a tempestuous affair with a rodeo cowboy during the Summer of Love that the Hollies played a significant role in."

Critical reception

Tomlin was nominated three times for a Screen Actors Guild Award for her role as Fiderer. In 2003, she received two nominations, one for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Dramatic Series and for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Dramatic Series (shared with other West Wing co-stars). In 2005, Tomlin received another SAG nomination for Outstanding Ensemble, shared with her co-stars.[1]

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