Timeline

This is a timeline of the events of The West Wing.

Before the show

Because the writers did not map out a historical backstory for the show, there is no definite timeline that can be created. Often times due to production oversight, there are contradictions and plot holes. Many people over the years have used scraps of information scattered throughout the series to create their own backstories between the resignation of Richard Nixon and the election of Jed Bartlet. There are presumably several fictional Presidents after Nixon, but most have never been mentioned in the show. Only two former presidents are revealed: D. Wire Newman, a one-term Democrat, and Owen Lassiter, a two-term Republican. Newman and Lassiter were designed similarly to real-life presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, respectively. The placements of their presidencies are ambiguous, but there are hints. Newman used the same Air Force One plane as Bartlet, indicating a presidency during the late '80s. Lassiter and his staff members are all very elderly in 2004, so his presidency could be placed in the late '70s or early '80s.

Timeline

YEAR	DATE	INFO	EPISODE(S)
1966	September	Operation Rolling Thunder; Leo hits a target that's supposed to be a bridge. In reality it's a dam with 11 civilian casualties. Leo is informed of this by General Alan Adamley in October 2001.	War Crimes
1969 (app.)	n/a	Leo and Bartlet meet for the first time	Bartlet for America
1990		Bartlet and Leo begin a friendship.	Bartlet for America
	November 6	1990 Presidential Election
		Josiah Bartlet is elected Governor of New Hampshire.	In the Shadow of Two Gunmen (Part I)
		John Hoynes is elected to the Senate from Texas.	20 Hours in L.A.
1991	January 20	Presidential inauguration
		Leo McGarry begins serving as Secretary of Labor.
	January-February 1991	Gulf War: US forces liberate Iraqi-occupied Kuwait, including Army General Ed Barrie and Marine Corps pilot Matt Santos
1992
1993	June	Leo McGarry admits himself into rehab to treat his addictions to alcohol and valium.	He Shall, from Time to Time...
1994		Josiah Bartlet is diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.	Bartlet for America
	November 8	1994 Presidential Election
1995	January 20	Presidential inauguration
		Leo McGarry, while drunk, encounters Kate Harper in Florida. He later forgets this event.	Ninety Miles Away
		Leo McGarry's term as Labor Secretary ends.
1996	November 5	1996 Midterm elections. The Democratic Party loses control of the House of Representatives.	Requiem
1997	October	• Leo visits Josh and asks him to come to Nashua. • On his way there, Josh stops by Gage Whitney in New York to see his friend, Sam. • Josiah Bartlet speaks at a campaign event in Nashua, NH. Toby Ziegler thinks he's getting fired from the campaign. He and Jed Bartlet haven't known each other that long. • Josh, Sam and C.J. join the Bartlet for America (1998) campaign	In the Shadow of Two Gunmen (Part I)
	November	Leo asks Josiah Bartlet to run for President	Bartlet for America
1998	Summer	• Bartlet wins the Illinois primary. • Josh Lyman's father dies.	In the Shadow of Two Gunmen (Part II)
		• Democratic National Convention • Bartlet asks John Hoynes to be his running mate.	Bartlet for America
	October 30	Leo meets with three possible investors, CEOs, for the last stretch of the campaign, as the election is too close to call. Leo relapses and drinks. Only Josh and the President know about it.	Bartlet for America
	November 3	• 1998 Presidential Election • Josiah Bartlet is elected President of the United States
1999
	January 15	Cornell Rooker becomes the nominee for United States Attorney General. Andy and Toby are married and trying to have a baby.	Debate Camp
	January 20	Josiah Bartlet is sworn in as President of the United States	Debate Camp
	January 22	C.J. learns that Rooker is for racial profiling. The President learns that he can select historic art to loan for the White House and that there's a door from Leo's office to the Oval Office.	Debate Camp
	February 2	Donna plays an elaborate prank on Josh to get him back for 'Bambiesque', making him think the NSA is investigating her.	Debate Camp
	June	Charlie's mother is shot and killed in the line of duty.	The Midterms
	August	President Bartlet rides his bicycle into a tree.	Pilot
	October	Charlie applies for a messenger job and is hired as Personal Aide to the President of the United States.	A Proportional Response
	December	President Bartlet nominates Roberto Mendoza to the Supreme Court.	The Short List
2000	March	Josh tells Mandy that he's been working at the White House for 14 months	Let Bartlet Be Bartlet
	August 7	• Rosslyn, Virginia shooting	What Kind of Day Has It Been?
	August 14	• It's been 1 week since the shooting, meaning it's Monday and the shooting took place August 7, 2000. • 12 weeks until the midterm elections • Charlie and Zoey have been dating for 9 months	The Midterms
	November 7	2000 Midterm elections
	December 19	Yo-Yo Ma plays at the Congressional Christmas party. Josh's anxiety culminates and he breaks a window in his apartment.	Noël
2001	April	• Hoynes gives remarks distancing himself from Big Oil; Toby is confused by Hoynes intentions and spends a week figuring out that Hoynes doesn't think the President is running again. The President tells Toby the truth, about having Multiple Sclerosis • C.J.'s father turns 70	The Stackhouse Filibuster • 17 People
	Mid-May	Mrs. Landingham is killed by a drunk driver. The President reveals that he suffers from Multiple Sclerosis and that he is running for re-election.	18th and Potomac • Two Cathedrals
	Mid-June	C.J. is considering resigning; Leo has brought in Bruno Gianelli, who brought in his associates Connie Tate and Doug Wegland to help with the re-election campaign.	Manchester (Part I)
	October 4	Cliff and Donna go on a date	Ways and Means • War Crimes
	October 5	Cliff and Donna spend the night together; the next morning, Cliff sees Donna's diary	War Crimes
	October	C.J. mentions in her briefing that it's the President's first veto since taking office 33 months prior	On the Day Before
	December 23	Leo goes in for his first testimony with Congress.	Bartlet for America
2002	Before January 5	Leo and Jordon meet with Cliff Calley, who offers to end the hearings if the President agrees to Congressional Censure, by which Leo is appalled. 2 days later, the President agrees to the Censure.	H.Con - 172
	Mid-January	The State of the Union	100,000 Airplanes
	May 1	C.J. Cregg is assigned Secret Service protection after receiving death threats.	Enemies Foreign and Domestic
	May 22	• Simon Donovan is shot and killed during an armed robbery. • Abdul Shareef is assassinated in Bermuda.	Posse Comitatus
	Summer	• Republican National Convention • Democratic National Convention
	September	An explosion kills 44 people at Kennison State University	20 Hours in America (Part II)
	October 23	2002 United States Presidential Debate in San Diego, CA	Game On
	November 5	• 2002 Presidential election • Josiah Bartlet is re-elected President of the United States	Election Night
2003	January 20	Second Inauguration of Josiah Bartlet	Inauguration
	May 2	John Hoynes resigns as Vice President after it is revealed that he had been having an affair.	Life On Mars
	May 7	• Huck and Molly Ziegler are born. • Zoey Bartlet is kidnapped on the night of her graduation from Georgetown. • Josiah Bartlet invokes the 25th amendment, Glen Allen Walken becomes Acting President.	Commencement • Twenty-Five
	May 10	• Zoey Bartlet is rescued and reunited with her family. • Josiah Bartlet resumes the duties of the presidency.	The Dogs of War
	July	• Robert Russell becomes the new Vice President of the United States. • Will Bailey signs on as Chief Strategist and Senior Counselor to Vice President Russell.	Han • A Constituency of One
	November	President Bartlet refuses to sign a continuing resolution for the government budget; the US government is shut down.	Shutdown
2004	January	Death of former president Owen Lassiter	The Stormy Present
	March	President Bartlet nominates Evelyn Baker Lang and Christopher Mulready to the Supreme Court.	The Supremes
	November	2004 midterm elections	Sometime between Slow News Day (referenced to be upcoming) and Liftoff (referenced as having taken place "last year")
2005	May	An explosion in the Gaza Strip kills Percy Fitzwallace and seriously injures Donna Moss.	Gaza
	June	• President Bartlet holds an Israeli-Palestinian peace summit at Camp David. • Leo McGarry has a heart attack.	NSF Thurmont • The Birnam Wood
	December	• Arnold Vinick announces that he is running for president. • President Bartlet is paralyzed by an MS attack on the way to a summit in China.	In The Room
		Matthew Santos announces that he is running for president.	Faith Based Initiative
2006	March 7	Matthew Santos wins the California primary on Super Tuesday.	La Palabra
	July	• Arnold Vinick secures the Republican nomination.	In God We Trust
		• Republican National Convention • The International Space Station begins losing oxygen.	Things Fall Apart
	July 21 - 24	Democratic National Convention	2162 Votes
	July 24	Matthew Santos becomes the Democratic nominee for president. Leo McGarry is nominated for Vice President.
	October	• The San Andreo nuclear power plant in California nearly melts down.	Duck and Cover
	November 7	• United States Presidential Election (2006) • Leo McGarry dies of a heart attack. • Matthew Santos is elected President of the United States.	Election Day (Part II)
	November/December	• Josh Lyman asks Sam Seaborn to become Deputy Chief of Staff. • President-elect Santos decides to choose Eric Baker for Vice President, and Arnold Vinick for Secretary of State.	Transition • The Last Hurrah
2007	January 20	• Inauguration of Matthew Santos. • Former president Bartlet returns to New Hampshire.	Tomorrow
2008	November 4	• 2008 Midterm elections. • Will Bailey is elected to Congress from Oregon.	The Ticket
2009		Opening of the Josiah Bartlet Presidential Library in New Hampshire.	The Ticket

Gap theories

As Richard Nixon is the last President to be referred to in the show, the most popular timeline is that President Nixon resigned before he appointed Gerald Ford as his new VP or that his VP nominee was not confirmed by the Senate, therefore, there was no Vice President to assume the presidency. The theory goes on to say that the Speaker of the House (Carl Albert at the time) took office while the country decided to hold a special election to elect a new President rather than have the Speaker finish off Nixon's term. It is established in the West Wing universe that the Watergate scandal occured.

This means that a Presidential election was held in November of 1974, and the winner was sworn-in on January 20, 1975, less than two years after Nixon resigned from office. This resets the election cycle every four years, with elections in 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, and 2006 in the show (midterm years in real-life).

While real-world federal law does not currently provide a way to change which years are presidential election years, there is historic precedence for such a law existing. The Presidential Succession Act of 1792 established that if there was a vacancy in both the offices of President and Vice President, another person in the line of succession would take office as acting president, and a special election would be called to fill both offices for a full four-year term to begin the following March 4th (the original presidential inauguration date). This provision was never used, as there was no time where both the presidency and vice presidency were simultaneously vacant. The provision was repealed with passage of the Presidential Succession Act of 1886.

Known Facts

The following facts can be proven by information in the show.

• Nixon is the last real-life President to be mentioned.
• Between 1970 and 2000, there were four Republican Presidents.
• Owen Lassiter was a two-term, conservative Republican.
• D. Wire Newman was a one-term Democrat.
• Bartlet's predecessor was likely a two-term moderate Republican.

Real-time vs. "West Wing"

While many historical events are mentioned throughout the show, we find that the show itself does not follow the real-life timeline. Bartlet was elected in 1998, 2 years prior to the election of George W. Bush. The show ends with the election victory of Matt Santos in 2006, 2 years prior to the election of Barack Obama. The creators of the show left the timeline ambiguous in order to separate it from real-life, and to create their own alternate universe. In the series, no president after Richard Nixon exists in real-life. There are overlaps, as many policies implemented throughout the '70s and '80s exist in the show, but the presidents who created them do not.