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Lewis Berryhill serves as the United States Secretary of State during the Bartlet administration. Josh Lyman considered him the most popular Secretary of State since William H. Seward.[3] He was a military veteran, "war hero" and had a long record of government service, but had never run for or held elected office.[4]
Career
In 1999, after the death of 60 Air Force personnel, President Bartlet would strongly send orders to Secretary Berryhill, something that alarmed White House Chief of Staff Leo McGarry.[5] During the crisis, Bartlet became increasingly concerned that Berryhill was intentionally delaying his orders.[6]
After the Josiah Bartlet assassination attempt, Berryhill was listed by C.J. Cregg as one of the officials in charge, along with Vice President Hoynes, Dr. McNally, Secretary Hutchinson, one of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Leo McGarry.[7]
It was later stated that Berryhill was unsure of the chain of command following the attempt.[8]
Berryhill, along with the President and Secretary Hutchinson was a proponent of the War Crimes Tribunal.[9]
In 2000, White House Press Secretary C.J. Cregg had to assure the press that Secretary Berryhill would not be meeting foreign politician Vasily Konanov, nor would any other Cabinet official.[10]
In 2001, President Bartlet contacted Berryhill in order to begin the rescue of Haitian President Dessaline.[11]
In preparation for a presidential address to the United Nations General Assembly, White House Communications Director Toby Ziegler consulted Secretary Berryhill on harsh language related to Islamic fundamentalists. He was given approval, even though Congressional leaders disagreed with it.[12]
After his customary resignation from the Cabinet at the end of Bartlet's first term, Berryhill was the first hired back.[13]
Along with the other members of the Cabinet, Berryhill agreed to invoke the 25th Amendment after the Zoey Bartlet kidnapping.[14]
When news of the Abdul ibn Shareef assassination broke, Berryhill received many irate calls from other nations, and reported it to the White House.[15]
During the bombings of Qumar by Acting President Walken, Berryhill and Leo McGarry met with Qumari Ambassador Umar Usef. He also expressed his dismay over the bombings.[16] He later joined the Acting President in the Situation Room where he expressed his interest in rounding up support at the United Nations for further action in Qumar.[17]
After addressing the UN, approval of Berryhill spiked, and the Bartlet administration decided to vet him for the spot of Vice President, vacated by the resigned Hoynes.[18] Senate Majority Leader Robert Royce initailly suggested there would be no problem in confirming Berryhill, but Speaker Jeff Haffley said he would be unconfirmable (due to his potential strength as 2006 Democratic nominee) and congressional Democratic leaders also objected to Berryhill (due to his lack of an electoral record and a sense that he wasn't a "team player", though Josh speculated it was because Senate Minority Leader Triplehorn planned to run for president himself).[19] Although very eager for the job, Berryhill was soon dropped as a nominee.[20]
In 2003, Berryhill briefed the President about an upcoming meeting with Germany Chancellor Weisman.[21]When President Bartlet was spending too much time consoling disaster survivors in Oklahoma, Berryhill was among those urging the President to return to Washington and continue his work, including the meeting with Chancellor Weisman. [22] He was replaced by Arnold Vinick after the 2006 election.
Episodes
Notes and references
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| PREDECESSOR unknown (eventually Henry Kissinger) |
United States Secretary of State 1999 - 2007 |
SUCCESSOR Arnold Vinick (designate) |
