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Charlie Young was the Deputy Special Assistant to Chief of Staff and formerly the Personal Aide to the President of the United States during the Bartlet Administration.
Biography[]
Young's mother was a police officer in Washington, D.C. who was killed in the line of duty in 1999, five months before he began working for the Bartlet Administration. He takes care of his sister, Deana Young, as his father is "long gone".[1] Charlie graduated from Theodore Roosevelt High School, a public school in D.C., but later said that he would have preferred to go to Gonzaga High, a Catholic school with a better academic reputation and a comparatively crime-free history. Though he had high grades at school, Charlie decided not to go to college until Deana finished school. However, after a year at the White House, Charlie decides to take courses at Georgetown University while still keeping up with the demands of his job.
Work[]
Charlie applied for a part-time job as a messenger at the White House, but he went into the wrong office and started talking to Debbie DeLaguardia, who had been asked to keep an eye out for someone to replace President Bartlet's previous bodyman Ted Miller. Debbie recommended him to Josh Lyman, who interviewed him, and he was hired after he found Bartlet's glasses.[1] He began dating Zoey Bartlet, the President's youngest daughter and became the target of an assassination attempt by a white supremacist group.
Charlie became like a son to Bartlet. Bartlet passed down his family's carving knife to Charlie,[2] and he encouraged him to go back to school because he knew how much Charlie wanted to attend law school. Charlie realized the Bartlets might have broken the law when Abigail Bartlet signed a family health history for Zoey's college application that didn't mention her father's multiple sclerosis.[3] During the investigation, Charlie was advised to accept immunity due to his closeness with Bartlet, but he refused because it might make Bartlet look guilty.[4]
Charlie served as a mentor to Anthony Marcus, a troubled young man whose "Big Brother," Simon Donovan (a Secret Service Agent assigned to protect C.J. Cregg), was killed in Spring 2002.
After graduating from Georgetown, Charlie was forced to make good on a promise he made to the President to move on and leave his job as the President's body man once he graduated. Charlie found it hard to leave the White House and began passing his résumé around the West Wing. C.J. Cregg, the newly appointed Chief of Staff, asked Charlie to stay in the West Wing as a special aide to the Chief of Staff.
In 2006, Charlie was accepted to Georgetown Law School, thanks in part to a personal letter of recommendation from President Bartlet.
2009[]
At the dedication of the Bartlet Presidential Library, Charlie congratulated Bartlet for his role in peace talks in Jakarta, Indonesia.[5]
Personality[]
Charlie at first appears to be an affable, modest young man severely out of his depth in the White House. However, his intelligence (which is of an order to enable him to engage in debates with almost everyone in the building) soon shows itself in his deduction of the President's location when he lost his glasses. ("A Proportional Response") Charlie rapidly demonstrates a fearlessness whether it's guarding a man a foot taller than him on the basketball court ("The Crackpots and These Women"), defusing a situation and defending Zoey at a bar ("Mr. Willis of Ohio") or standing up to various influential people who want to get into the Oval Office.
Resume[]
EDUCATION
- 2005: Bachelor's Degree - Georgetown University
WORK
- 1999-2005: Personal Aide to the President of the United States
- 2005-2007: Special Aide to the Chief of Staff
- 2007-: Juris Doctor - Georgetown University Law Center
Relationships[]
Zoey and Charlie start dating shortly after meeting at the White House in 1999. They later break up, though Charlie professes his love for her, much to her chagrin (and secret delight). Charlie briefly sees someone else, but eventually asks Zoey out on a date and they were later sighted sitting next to one another at Zoey's birthday party in the East Room watching Penn and Teller burn a flag. They reunite, as evidenced by Charlie sneaking out of Zoey's room and being caught by the President.
Behind the scenes[]
- The character's name may be a tribute to Charles Young, the first ever black Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army.
- Dulé Hill made only a few appearances in Season 7, as he began starring in another TV show: Psych.
Photos[]
References[]
| PREDECESSOR Ted Miller |
Personal Aide to the President Charlie Young |
SUCCESSOR Curtis Carruthers |