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Bio

William 'Will' Bailey, White House Communications Director, is a fictional character played by Joshua Malina on the television serial drama The West Wing.


Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.



Will was originally introduced as the manager of the Horton Wilde campaign to represent California's 47th Congressional District, the seat for which Sam Seaborn later ran. Following his departure from the White House, Sam recommended Will to replace him as Deputy White House Communications Director with a note to Toby Ziegler that read: "Toby — He's one of us." Toby, after first meeting him, characterized Will as "deeply schooled in Eastern philosophy". His father was the former Supreme Commander NATO Allied Forces Europe, in whose ideological footsteps he seems to follow in while making a name for himself with quiet resolve. Will is also an Air Force reservist, a fact that President Josiah Bartlet applauds. It can be assumed Will attended Carnegie Mellon University after he was seen wearing a Carnegie Mellon shirt while jogging at Camp David. He appears also to have attended the University of Cambridge, since he claims he was "President of Cambridge Union Society" on a Marshall Scholarship.

He was added to the show's White House staff over the course of a few episodes. There was the requisite amount of hazing when he was first hired and moved into Sam's old office for a temporary three-week contract to help with the President's second inaugural address. He slowly began to win everyone over, and Bartlet eventually appointed him as a presidential assistant.

Will left President Bartlet's staff soon after the appointment of Representative VP_Bob Russell (D-CO) as Vice President of the United States, when he accepted Russell's offer to become his chief of staff. The main reason for his move to Russell's office was to prepare the Vice President for a possible run in the 2006 Presidential Campaign. When Russell lost the Democratic nomination to U.S. Rep. Matt Santos (D-TX), Bailey remained on Russell's staff. However, he left his job when White House Chief of Staff C.J. Cregg "dragooned" him on very short notice to become White House Communications Director after the firing of Toby Ziegler for his role in the military space shuttle leak.

By the time of the dedication of the Bartlet Presidential Library in New Hampshire several years later, Will has become a Congressman who sits on Ways and Means as a "back bencher who may have a shot at chairman in 32 years."

Resume

  • Campaign Manager for Senator Horton Wilde (D-CA)
  • White House Deputy Communications Director
  • Vice President Chief of Staff

References

  • Bartlet White House
  • Relationship between Will and Kate
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