Miles Hutchinson serves as the Secretary of Defense to President Bartlet for the duration of the Bartlet Administration's two terms.
Career[]
Secretary Hutchinson is mentioned throughout President Bartlet's first term, frequently mentioned alongside Secretary Berryhill, the Secretary of State. At the start of the MS scandal, a political operative mentions Hutchinson as a presumptive possible presidential candidate, if President Bartlet should choose not to run for re-election, which seems plausible at that moment.[1]
Hutchinson advises the President on the hostage situation in Haiti, although he was clearly never as influential as Admiral Percy Fitzwallace or National Security Advisor Dr. Nancy McNally. However, he has always been more influential than Berryhill.
Hutchinson made his first onscreen appearance in the Season Four episode "Inauguration (Part I)" where he clashed with the President. He was said to lack respect for Bartlet because the President had never served in the military.
Following the retirement of Admiral Fitzwallace, and the increased absence of Dr. McNally, Hutchinson's relative influence in the Situation Room increased dramatically, and he advised President Bartlet on various crises in Saudi Arabia, Israel, Bolivia, and Iran.
Hutchinson more than once came into conflict with rookie White House Chief of Staff C.J. Cregg, over, for example, the handling a crisis involving stolen Georgian nuclear material, and whether or not to use a secret space shuttle to rescue astronauts from the damaged International Space Station. Additionally former White House Chief of Staff Leo McGarry and Hutchinson also clashed during McGarry's tenure on more than one occasion. One notable case is over the potential deployment of troops to Equatorial Kundu, and disagreement over the accuracy of the force depletion report that Hutchinson provided.
Notes and references[]
bartlet cabinet | ||
---|---|---|
Vice President | John Hoynes • Bob Russell | |
Secretary of State | Lewis Berryhill | |
Secretary of the Treasury | Ken Kato • Karen Browning | |
Secretary of Defense | Miles Hutchinson | |
Attorney General | Dan Larson • Alan Fisk | |
Secretary of the Interior | Bill Horton | |
Secretary of Agriculture | Roger Tribbey | |
Secretary of Commerce | Mitch Bryce | |
Secretary of Labor | Carl Reid • Jack Buckland | |
Secretary of Health and Human Services | Blieden | |
Secretary of Education | Jim Kane | |
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development | Deborah O'Leary • Bill Fisher | |
Secretary of Transportation | Keaton | |
Secretary of Energy | Bill Trotter • Ben Zaharian • Gerald Deloit | |
Secretary of Veterans Affairs | Jason Weaver | |
White House Chief of Staff | Leo McGarry • C.J. Cregg | |
Director of Central Intelligence | Tom • Rob Konrad • George Rollie |