- 〉Education is the silver bullet. Education is everything. We don’t need little changes. We need gigantic revolutionary changes. Schools should be palaces. Competition for the best teachers should be fierce. They should be getting six-figure salaries. Schools should be incredibly expensive for government and absolutely free of charge for its citizens, just like national defense. That is my position. I just haven’t figured out how to do it yet〈
- —Sam to Mallory[src]
Sam Seaborn works as the Deputy White House Communications Director and a speechwriter for the Bartlet Administration, as well as being a key senior advisor to the President.
Character[]
Sam is generally the idealist of the group, and often the most politically earnest, leading him to clash with other members of the Senior Staff at times.
Sam is a perfectionist, as shown when he feels the need to rewrite and polish a birthday message for the Deputy Secretary for Transportation, even though the whole assignment is simply a way for Leo to sabotage his date with Mallory. She proceeds to declare that he's 'just like him (Leo)', which Sam takes as 'the nicest thing you've ever said to me' (Enemies).
Sam states in The Stackhouse Filibuster that his favorite writer is Toby and his favorite fiction writer is Charles Dickens. This may be part of a general Anglophilia, since he was also Secretary of the Princeton Gilbert and Sullivan Society for three years (And It's Surely to Their Credit).
Biography[]
Sam was born in Laguna Beach, Orange County, California in the mid-1960s (possibly 1966). Sam attended Princeton University, although his undergraduate major is unclear. He makes repeated references to his alma mater, especially in the earlier seasons, indicating a certain pride in his attendance there. "Princeton" is his Secret Service code name, and he mentions being the recording secretary of the Princeton Gilbert & Sullivan Society. Sam graduated in 1991[1] from Duke Law School, where he was an editor of the Duke Law Review. He also worked at the law firm of Dewey Ballantine in New York City before joining Gage Whitney Pace, the second biggest law firm in New York City. Sam worked there for seven years before leaving to become a speech writer for Josiah Bartlet during Bartlet's campaign for the presidency. He also worked in Democratic politics as a congressional aide, DCCC staffer and on a New York State Assembly campaign, and ghost-wrote for senators, movie stars and "the King of Belgium, one time". Sam was about to be made partner before he joined the campaign on the recommendation of his old friend Josh Lyman, who had just gone to see the Governor speak and believed Bartlet was "the real thing".
Under Bartlet[]
After he joined the campaign, Sam broke up with his fiance Lisa Sherborne, whom he was planning to marry in October of that year. In a later episode, C.J. jokingly asks Sam, "Did she break up with you because her name would be Lisa Sherborne-Seaborn?" Sam's other romantic relationships include a "highly priced call girl" named Laurie (whom he slept with without knowledge of her profession), a flirtation with Leo McGarry's daughter Mallory, a school teacher, and Ainsley Hayes, a White House Associate Counsel.
Sam's greatest strength is his unflinching idealism, although this can also work to his disadvantage. He firmly believes in the efficacy and importance of the American political process. Sam also has great faith in people, although this is challenged when he learns of his father's 28-year affair during his marriage to Sam's mother. In a Season Three episode, President Bartlet tells Sam that he will run for President later on in his career and that he should not be afraid when he does so. As the Deputy White House Communications Director, Sam helps Toby Ziegler write all of the President's speeches and addresses, as well as many of the White House's press releases. Sam and Toby often disagree on how best to write a particular speech, usually with Sam advocating for more poetic language and Toby more worried about political implications of minute phrases ("The Portland Trip", "The Fall's Gonna Kill You"). When Leo's drug addiction becomes public, Sam doesn't hesitate to help him, drafting a statement of support for the President to read in spite of Leo's reluctance.
Sam's talent for writing is exceptional; he is one of the few people Toby recognizes as an equal in his field. In many episodes, Sam rewrites speeches over and over again, unwilling to put words in the President's mouth that he isn't completely satisfied with. Sam is also incredibly skilled at writing statements on the fly, as seen after a pipe bomb explodes at a university in "20 Hours in America, Part II" that killed forty-four people. Bartlet's speech, written by Sam, includes the following:
"...More than any time in recent history, America's destiny is not of our own choosing. We did not seek nor did we provoke an assault on our freedoms and our way of life. We did not expect nor did we invite a confrontation with evil. Yet the true measure of a people's strength is how they rise to master that moment when it does arrive. Forty-four people were killed a couple hours ago at Kennison State University; three swimmers from the men's team were killed and two others are in critical condition; when after having heard the explosion from their practice facility they ran into the fire to help get people out... ran into the fire. The streets of heaven are too crowded with angels tonight. They're our students and our teachers and our parents and our friends. The streets of heaven are too crowded with angels, but every time we think we have measured our capacity to meet a challenge, we look up and we're reminded that that capacity may well be limitless. This is a time for American heroes. We will do what is hard. We will achieve what is great. This is a time for American heroes and we reach for the stars. God bless their memory, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America."
Bartlet campaign advisor Bruno Gianelli asks Sam when he wrote the last part. He replies, "In the car," prompting Bruno to respond with "Freak."
In "Galileo", Sam wants to rewrite the introduction done by NASA Public Affairs, but the NASA representative refuses. The President reads it and gets only a few sentences in before he stops and asks Sam to fix it. Sam gladly begins, dictating the following:
“Good morning. Eleven months ago a 1200 pound spacecraft blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Eighteen hours ago... it landed on the planet Mars. You, me, and 60,000 of your fellow students across the country along with astroscientists and engineers from the Jet Propulsion Lab in Southern California, NASA in Houston, and right here at the White House, are going to be the first to see what it sees, and to chronicle the extraordinary voyage of an unmanned ship called Galileo V.”
Sam is considered one of the brightest young minds in the Democratic Party and is noted for his well-versed argumentation. He is often assigned to do opposition research on key issues like education. He wrote a paper on advocating for school vouchers as a part of this, and continues to argue with Mallory O'Brien over the issue, despite his opposition to it. In fact, so impressive was Sam's debating prowess that he was trusted to help prepare President Bartlet for the upcoming presidential debates by portraying Bartlet's opponent Robert Ritchie. However, Sam does acknowledges his lack of expertise in many subjects when he has to staff the President, saying he isn't sure what to do - his skill has depth instead of the breadth that Josh has. In early 2002 following a chess game and a discussion of the president's response to Chinese provocations in the Taiwan Strait, Bartlet candidly told Sam that he would one day run for president, saying "don't be scared, you can do it - I believe in you".[2]
Congressional Campaign[]
During the fourth season, Sam decides to run for Congress in his home district—the California 47th in Orange County, California — in an early 2003 special election held after deceased Democratic candidate Horton Wilde posthumously makes history by defeating arch-conservative Republican incumbent Chuck Webb. Sam first became familiar with the congressional race when he was sent on behalf of the Democratic Party to talk to Wilde's campaign manager, Will Bailey, to convince him to drop the campaign. Will had continued running the campaign with earnestness and energy after Wilde died, an act that was seen as bizarre and pointless—or, as Sam put it to him, "a national joke." After seeing firsthand how dedicated Will was, and realizing that he was a public servant in the mold of Bartlet's own senior staff, Sam became impressed with how he ran Wilde's campaign and offered his own name as a replacement candidate for election night in case Wilde won, not thinking he would ever have to honor the promise. When Wilde did win, Sam decided not to back out and to use this opportunity to promote a truly liberal agenda in the traditionally conservative district. He went to California with the blessing of Bartlet and his fellow White House staffers. Once he learned that Will Bailey was not going to stay on to manage his campaign, he recommended him as a temporary replacement for himself to help Toby write Bartlet's second inaugural address.
Sam was stated to be 8 points down in the polls, with his favorability below 50% and the Republicans making the campaign about "values". It was never explicitly revealed whether Sam won or lost the election, but he was expected to lose by a landslide. Josiah Bartlet came out to California to lend his support, bringing with him Sam's friends on the senior staff, who believed campaign manager Scott Holcomb was wasting Sam's time by having him run a safe, timid campaign. In the midst of the visit, Sam learned that Bartlet was putting off announcing the Democratic budget plan Sam himself had helped design so that Sam wouldn't feel pressured to support it and further stigmatize himself during the election. Sam was appalled and decided to put things right. While introducing the president at a campaign event, he added that the audience shouldn't "let him off this stage" until he had announced the budget plan. Backstage, Bartlet watched Scott Holcomb react with distress and asked why he was running Sam's campaign the way he was. Holcomb admitted that he was anticipating Sam's loss and trying to smooth the way for a less divisive candidate the next time around, prompting Bartlet to (unofficially) fire him and get Toby to take over the campaign for the final weeks. Toby runs a thoroughly honest and liberal campaign, not until the very end of which does Sam realize, "I'm going to lose." Toby confirms it, explaining, "They're going to throw rocks at you next week, and I wanted to be standing next to you when they did." They hug, and this is the last scene in which Sam appears until the end of the final season.
In Inauguration: Part 2 Toby recommends to Leo that Bartlet appoint Will Bailey as Sam's replacement for Deputy Communications Director, and to promote Sam to Senior Counselor, explaining that this move would "take the knucklehead stuff off [Sam's] desk, the way he did for me for four years," and noting that, "it's well past his time." This shows Toby's appreciation for Sam's work.
Santos Administration[]
In 2007, after Matt Santos' campaign is victorious, Josh Lyman asks Sam to become Santos' Deputy Chief of Staff. Sam accepts, under the condition that Josh take a vacation first, saying, "If you get on a plane, you're back in a week. If I get on a plane, I'm gone for good." The series ends with Sam, as Josh puts it, playing "Josh" to his "Leo". Sam was inspired to work for Santos by his record of bipartisanship, but was cautious about whether he should deploy more troops to Kazakhstan.
Resume[]
- Princeton University (graduated magna cum laude)
- Duke Law School
EMPLOYMENT
- Lawyer for Dewey Ballantine Law Firm
- 1991-1998: Lawyer for Gage Whitney Pace Law Firm
- 2003-2006: Lawyer for a corporate law firm in Los Angeles
POLITICAL HISTORY
- Staff member for a New York State Assembly campaign
- Aide for several Congressional Representatives
- Staff member for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
- 1998 : Speechwriter for the "Bartlet for America" campaign
- 1999-2002 : Deputy White House Communications Director
- 2003: Democratic Candidate for 47th Congressional District Special Election in California
- 2007-??? : Deputy White House Chief of Staff
Quotes[]
- 〉It's about the next twenty years. The '20s and '30s it was the role of government, '50s and '60s it was civil rights, the next two decades are gonna be privacy! I'm talking about the internet. I'm talking about cell phones, I'm talking about health records and who's gay and who's not. And moreover: in a country born on the will to be free, what could be more fundamental than this?〈
- —Sam[src]
Media[]
- “It’s a Birthday Message”: The Best Sam Seaborn Episodes of ‘The West Wing’ (DECIDER • MARCH 2017)
Notes and references[]
- ↑ Pilot (1.1)
- ↑ Hartsfields Landing
| PREDECESSOR n/a |
Deputy White House Communications Director 1999-2002 |
SUCCESSOR Will Bailey |
| PREDECESSOR Horton Wilde |
Democratic Candidate for California's 47th District 2002 |
SUCCESSOR n/a |
| PREDECESSOR Cliff Calley |
Deputy White House Chief of Staff 2007-present |
SUCCESSOR n/a |