Template:Character
Bio
Abigail Ann 'Abbey' Bartlet, First Lady, is a fictional character played by Stockard Channing on the television serial drama The West Wing.
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
Abbey is a world-class physician and wife of more than thirty years to President Bartlet. Her maiden name has never been revealed on the program. She received her M.D. from Harvard Medical School. Her specialties 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 and Columbia Presbyterian Hospital. She is Adjunct Professor of Thoracic Surgery at Harvard Medical School.
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 was a recurring character during the first two seasons and has been a regular since the third, 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.
Jed and Abbey have three daughters together, Liz, Ellie, Zoey.
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- Adjuncy Professor Thoracic Surgery - Harvard Medical School
- First Lady of the United States