Josiah Bartlet - Creation and Development

Creation and Development

Show creator Aaron Sorkin had not initially intended to feature the president, having envisioned the series as being focused on the White House senior staff who execute and advise on major policy and political matters. "Then I felt that would become hokey," he says. "We'll constantly be just missing the president. As he walks around the corner, we'll see the back of his head." The character of Josiah Bartlet was then created as a recurring figure, and Martin Sheen was signed to appear in four episodes. Alan Alda (who went on to portray Senator Vinick), Jason Robards and Sidney Poitier were also considered for the role. After seeing Sheen's dailies, the producers were so impressed that they asked him to join the regular cast. "They realized that people might catch on that I'd be there only once a month, so they talked to me about a longer commitment," says Sheen. The actor says that part of the reason he took on the role of Bartlet is because of his involvement in social issues.

Sorkin's main interest in writing for the character was in exploring the side of the president that the public does not generally see. Sheen describes the character as being drawn largely from Bill Clinton: "He's bright, astute and filled with all the negative foibles that make him very human," he told Radio Times. Sheen said elsewhere that he adored Clinton and was welcomed into the Clinton White House for visits during the brief period between the show's beginning in the fall of 1999 and the inauguration of George W. Bush as President in January 2001. Sorkin has said he takes some of Bartlet's characteristics from his own father, namely his "great love of education and literature all things old," his " in a genuine goodness in people," and his "'Aw, Dad' sense of humor."

In the middle of the show's first season, it was revealed that Bartlet was suffering from multiple sclerosis. According to Sorkin, this was not planned; the plot came about because he wanted to write an episode in which the president was in bed watching a soap opera and the audience discovered that the first lady was a physician. "When I wrote the pilot, I didn't have any idea what was going to happen in Episode 2, much less 12," he says.