Sam Seaborn

Sam Seaborn

Samuel Norman "Sam" Seaborn is a fictional character portrayed by Rob Lowe on the television serial drama The West Wing. He is best known for being Deputy White House Communications Director in the Josiah Bartlet administration throughout the first four seasons of the series.

Notably, the show was designed with him as the main character, and as such he is the protagonist of the pilot episode, and remains a focal point and lens for the show through at least the first season. However, by his departure his significance in the plot had decreased as the show started to focus more on the President's ability to govern despite obstacles such the season two multiple sclerosis scandal and the second Bartlet for America campaign in seasons three and four, and increased focus on foreign policy and terrorism in these seasons. These were areas Sam had never been strongest in and was not well suited to being involved with considering his position in the hierarchy of the West Wing, resulting in the elevation of Martin Sheen's character President Josiah Bartlet simultaneously with Sam's decline.