Donna Moss

Donna Moss
Record
Date of Birth	1974
From	Madison
Titles	Senior Assistant to the Deputy Chief of Staff (1999–2005) Press Secretary for the Russell Campaign (2005–2006) Press Secretary for the Santos Campaign (2006) Chief of Staff to the First Lady (2007)
Backstage
Portrayed by	Janel Moloney
Season(s)	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
First seen	Pilot
Last seen	Tomorrow

Donatella Moss was the Chief of Staff to First Lady, Helen Santos. She previously held the position of Senior Assistant to Deputy White House Chief of Staff Josh Lyman and worked on both the Russell and Santos presidential campaigns in 2006.

Biography

Donna was Josh Lyman's assistant until she quit her job. (Impact Winter) The new position she had taken was that of senior aide to Will Bailey - Vice President Bob Russell's presidential campaign manager. Her new position placed her in direct conflict with Josh, who resigned to run the campaign of retiring US Congressman Matt Santos, whom he had convinced to run for President. (Faith Based Initiative) After Matt Santos won the nomination, Donna applied to work for Josh at the Santos campaign. However, all of the personal attacks on Santos that Donna made as Russell's press secretary forced Josh to refuse her application.

Donna was born in northern Minnesota. She found out in the third season that she is a no longer a United States citizen, after the Minnesota town in which she was born ended up in Canada due to border changes. However, her citizenship was granted to her again after the discovery of a grandfather clause in the law. She later moved to Wisconsin where she came from when she joined the Bartlet administration.

Donna was a recurring character during the first season, although she appeared in every episode, and has been a regular since the second. She was seriously injured as a result of a terrorist attack on the American convoy carrying her and others in Gaza. At the end of the fifth season, it was revealed that Donna suffered from a pulmonary embolism and had to undergo life-threatening surgery, which she survived.

Later, on the Santos campaign trail, Donna was hired (unbeknownst to Josh) by Communications Director Louise "Lou" Thornton as a campaign spokesperson. She is currently employed by the first lady, Helen Santos, as chief of staff.

Resume

Education

• University of Wisconsin-Madison (dropped out after two years to work full-time and support her boyfriend who was a med-student)

Political History

• 1998 : Campaign Aide to Political Director Josh Lyman for the "Bartlet for America" presidential campaign
• 1999-2005 : Senior Assistant to the Deputy White House Chief of Staff for Strategic Planning
• 2005-2006 : Campaign Aide to Campaign Manager Will Bailey for the "Bob Russell for America" presidential campaign
• 2006 : Press Secretary for the "Bob Russell for America" presidential campaign
• 2006 : Press Secretary for the "Santos/McGarry for a Brighter America" presidential campaign
• 2007-present : Chief of Staff to the First Lady of the United States

See Also

• Josh and Donna's Relationship

PREDECESSOR Jeff Johnson

Senior Assistant to the Deputy White House Chief of Staff for Strategic Planning 1999-2005

SUCCESSOR Marla Whorisky (temp)

PREDECESSOR Amy Gardner

Chief of Staff to the First Lady of the United States 2007-present

SUCCESSOR Incumbent