C.J. Cregg

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C.J. Cregg
Record
From	Dayton
Titles	White House Press Secretary (1999-2005) White House Chief of Staff (2005-2007)
Backstage
Portrayed by	Allison Janney
Season(s)	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
First seen	Pilot
Last seen	Tomorrow

Claudia Jean "C.J." Cregg was the former White House Chief of Staff and Press Secretary to President Josiah Bartlet.

Biography

Pre-Bartlet

Originally from Dayton, Ohio, C.J. attended U.C. Berkeley. Her father (Talmidge Cregg) was a high school math teacher. C.J. has a couple of older brothers (The Black Vera Wang) and a niece, Hogan. She was paid $550,000/year for her work at a prominent California public relations firm before coming to work for Governor Bartlet's 1998 presidential campaign, making a modest $600/week (In the Shadow of Two Gunmen).

Bartlet's Terms

Coincidentally, she was fired from her job the same day that Toby came to California to ask her to join the Bartlet campaign. Toby arrives at her house seemingly just a few minutes before she gets home. Telling her he called her office and they had told him that she no longer worked there. As C.J. walks through her gate to her yard, she sees someone waiting for her, but is unable to clearly make out who it is since she could not put in her contacts that morning. Toby mentions it's him, indicating they know each other reasonably well. During the conversation that follows, he mentions the Governor likes the work she did for Emily's List. C.J. asks if the Governor even knows who she is, Toby replies that he does not but Leo McGarry does. The conversation indicates Toby was highly influential in recruiting the campaign staff and chose C.J. to be Press Secretary. A conversation held in a previous episode suggests that, following Bartlet's election victory, C.J. was appointed to the West Wing staff before Ziegler was appointed Communications Director.

Administration Work

As White House Press Secretary, C.J. was sharp, well-spoken and witty. She was less than pleased to discover that her Secret Service codename was "Flamingo", a bird which C.J. described as being "ridiculous-looking". On festive occasions, C.J. can be persuaded to perform her dead-on lip synch of The Jackal by Ronnie Jordan, which Sam Seaborn described as "Shakespeare the way it's meant to be done."

During the third season, C.J. received a series of death threats, which led to her being placed under the protection of Secret Service agent Simon Donovan, with whom she became romantically involved. As President Bartlet and his entourage visit New York to watch 'The War of the Roses', Simon is told that the FBI has detained the perpetrator. Simon pulls C.J. out of the crowd and tells her privately, both seem happy to be able to get this behind them. Shortly after leaving C.J., Agent Donovan visits a local grocery shop which is quietly being robbed. He detains one gunman, but is shot and killed by a second gunman he was not aware of.(Posse Comitatus). C.J. has also had a long on-again, off-again flirtation with the White House correspondent for The Washington Post, Danny Concannon, although C.J. felt that they could not date because it would be a conflict of interest. A "flash-forward" three years into the future, shown at the beginning of the Season 7 premiere at the dedication of the Bartlet Presidential Library, establishes that C.J. married Danny Concannon, and they had a child.

In the fourth season CJ returns home to deliver a speech at her 20th high school reunion. CJ finds her dad, who is suffering from Alzheimer's, is struggling to cope with life. His third wife, previously CJ's English teacher, struggled to care for him and has left him. CJ struggles to come to terms with the deterioration of her dad's condition. After a near miss car incident CJ and her dad visit a doctor friend. CJ also visits her step-mother, who later returns to care for her husband. CJ is called back to Washington when bad news breaks during her speech.

Promotion to Chief of Staff

C.J. resigns as Press Secretary.

C.J. succeeded Leo McGarry as White House Chief of Staff in the sixth season, after Leo McGarry suffered a heart attack at Camp David. C.J.'s elevation to this post was on McGarry's recommendation and would make her the first woman to serve in this position in the "real world" - however, this may not be true in the world of The West Wing.

Post-Bartlet

As the Bartlet Administration winds down, C.J. is forced to consider her future career. Shunning a series of lucrative offers, she is equally tempted by offers from a billionaire philanthropist Frank Hollis and President Elect Santos. Eventually, after advice from Danny, C.J. chooses to take the offer from Hollis.

Resume

Education

• National Merit Scholar
• Master's degree in Political Science - University of California at Berkeley

Work History

• 1998 Triton-Day Public Relations Agent at a California public relations firm
• 2007-present : Manager of Frank Hollis' $10 billion charitable foundation

Political History

• Member of EMILY's List
• 1998 Campaign Spokeswoman for the "Bartlet for America" presidential campaign
• 1999-2005: White House Press Secretary
• 2005-2007: White House Chief of Staff

Behind the scenes

• The character is supposedly loosely based on Clinton Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers, who served as a consultant to the show.