| Jack Reese | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | Election Night |
| Last appearance | Arctic Radar |
| Created by | Aaron Sorkin, David Gerken and David Handelman |
| Portrayed by | Christian Slater |
| Information | |
| Occupation | Military aide to the National Security Advisor (Season 4) |
| Title | Lieutenant Commander |
Lieutenant Commander Jack Reese, U.S. Navy, is a fictional character played by Christian Slater on television serial drama, The West Wing.
Upon commissioning, he evidently entered the Navy's Submarine Service. At some point in his career, he served on one or more Los Angeles class submarines, and prior to his appointment as the military aide to National Security Advisor Nancy McNally Reese served as Regional Director for the Offices of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Southeast Asia.
Reese was first introduced in the fourth season when he met Donna Moss outside a Washington, D.C. polling place on Election Day 2002. Donna had filed an absentee ballot to vote in that year's presidential election in her home state of Wisconsin. However, Donna had accidentally voted for all Republican candidates, including Robert Richie, the Republican candidate for president, instead of Jed Bartlet, as she had intended. She was searching for a person voting for Richie to trade votes with her, vote for Bartlet instead of Richie, to make it even. Reese was the one who finally agreed to do this.
That evening, he moved into the White House for his first shift as watch commander in the Situation Room. During his first shift, there is a coup in Venezuela.
Following much awkwardness between Donna and Jack, they began seeing each other and on Christmas Eve, Jack booked a room at an exclusive bed and breakfast in Washington, D.C. for the couple to spend the holidays. Jack was due to attend the President's second Inauguration with Donna, but was transferred to Aviano Air Base in Italy due to events detailed below.
Following the President's Inaugural Address, the United States engaged in a conflict in the fictional country of Equatorial Kundu in order to stop the genocide, similar to the 1994 Rwandan genocide. The President asked Jack to complete a force depletion report without informing Secretary of Defense Miles Hutchinson. Jack did this, but later was transferred out of the White House to Italy because Leo McGarry accidentally revealed to the Secretary that he had seen a force depletion report prepared by Reese without the Secretary's knowledge.