More than twenty years after its debut, The West Wing is still popular among fans. From the smart dialogue to the inside-look of what goes on at the Oval Office, the series did a lot things right. Its popularity was also helped by the fact that it first aired toward the end of the Clinton administration and was a palm to liberal viewers during the Bush years.
One way The West Wing differed from other political dramas was that the characters were genuinely moral people who tried to do the right thing--something starkly different from similarly political shows like Veep and House of Cards. That is not to say they are always right. Here are the ten worst things The West Wing characters ever did, ranked:
10 Hazing
The least awful item on this list is relatively tame, but still has real consequences. To be specific, serveral characters are hazed throughout the show. After CJ takes a copy of the President's schedule from CJ without signing it out, he gets her in trouble with Secret Service and damages her office, but at least the two of them know and like each other.
When Will Bailey starts his new job as a speech writer at the White House, his office becomes filled with bikes and even barnyard animals, making one of the hardest jobs in the world even harder. A similar thing happens to Amy Gardner begins working for Mrs. Bartlet and her office is also messed with.
9 Sexual Harassment & Inappropriate Behavior
Harassment is, sadly, a common problem on The West Wing. A lot of the male characters try to flirt with female characters and their flirtations are wildly inappropriate. Sam and Josh frequently comment on women's bodies and looks, including women who work for them and whose careers depend on the bosses using their power to act inappropriately.
The worst of this was directed at Ainsley Hayes, a blonde Republican lawyer who was both hazed and sexually harassed. While Hayes expressed being open to some flirtations, a number of the things done to her on her very first day were so mean-spirited that she almost had an emotional breakdown.
8 Suppressing A Grieving Parents' Opinions
In the episode "Take Out the Trash Day," the White House responded to the murder of a boy who was the target of a hate crime. The boy was killed for being gay, which is an incident echoing the real-world murder of Matthew Shepard.
Here, the parents of the boy are invited to the White House, but C. J. Cregg is alerted that there might be a problem. She fears the father could be homophobic. In truth, he is an actual believer in the rights of gay people and gives a spirited speech demanding to know why his son couldn't marry or join the military. For his belief in equal rights, the White House staff (who claimed to be against homophobia) silence him.
7 Defrauding The American Electorate
Jed Bartlet suffers from multiple sclerosis--something he hides from the America electorate while running for President. While his medical condition is absolutely his business as a private citizen, his ability to perform his duties are impacted by his disease.
As multiple sclerosis is a degenerative disease that is exacerbated by stress, it is particularly relevant to his ability to perform one of the most high-stress jobs in the world. While Jed receives a censure from Congress, he could have expected worse, as he essentially lies to the American people to win an election.
6 Denying Refuge To An Asylum Seeker
Several times throughout the show, refugees travel to the United States seeking asylum, including a group of Cubans who make the overseas crossing in the very first episode. Every time asylum seekers arrive, people among the President's staff discuss the possibility of denying them asylum, despite this being in violation of international law.
In the episode "Han," a North Korean boy who asks to defect is told not to and not informed of his legal rights. This is attempted to secure North Korea's cooperation on an international deal, but the deal falls through. In other words, the boy's life is ruined for nothing.
5 Suppressing Medical Findings
A number of times throughout the series, the President's staff in The West Wing make decisions to suppress medical evidence. In the episode "Take Out the Trash Day," the characters agree to hide the findings of a report about sexual education to keep Leo McGary from being investigated for his past struggles addictions.
Later, in the Season 2 episode "Ellie," the Surgeon General is ordered to resign after answering questions honestly about marijuana's medical realities. All those pregnant teenagers and people locked up for the nonviolent crime of marijuana possession must really feel comforted to know the Bartlet administration cares about them.
4 Supporting Brutal Middle Eastern Dictatorships
In the real world, the United States has maintained its interests abroad by destabilizing some nations while supporting puppet dictators in others that use international human rights laws for target practice--part of a particularly predatory political ideology known as political realism. This is also something the characters in The West Wing are also guilty of.
The fictional country of Qumar seems to be The West Wing's pastiche of Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan, nations ruled by a large royal family where women are horribly mistreated and to whom America sells arms. Later, when the show actually includes Saudi Arabia instead of a fictional country, the characters fail to stop a democratic uprising from being brutally quashed by the Saudi Royal Family.
3 Supporting The Coal Industry
This one could arguably be the worst item on the whole list as to this day the use of coal is contributing to a climate apocalypse that was completely preventable. In the episode "A Constituency of On," Leo McGarry pushes for "clean coal"--a talking point that politicians are still using in the real world, despite C. J. Cregg pointing out that there is no such thing as clean coal when this episode aired back in 2003.
To cut to the chase, coal is one of the dirtiest energy sources on the planet. Knowing how much damage coal does to the environment and people's health, Leo McGarry's decision to overrule EPA findings to support the Coal Industry is blatantly evil.
2 Ordering An Assassination In A Foreign Country
The fictional country of Qumar is a long-time ally of the Unites States. Abdul ibn Shareef is the Prime Minister of Defense for Qumar and brother to the Qumari Sultan. He is also a terrorist, directly funding the Bahji terrorists who attempt to detonate the Golden Gate Bridge.
Upon learning this, Jed Bartlet orders the assassination of Abdul Shareef. Needless to say, this is against international law. While Shareef would be sheltered from facing consequences for his actions by his brother the Sultan, murdering foreign diplomats is pretty much the behavior one expects from a rogue nation.
1 Enabling A Genocidal Dictator
The West Wing uses the fictional country of Equatorial Kundu--which seems to be a mixture of Rwanda and Equatorial Guinea--to discuss the real-life tragedy of the Rwandan Genocide.
Despite a genocide taking place in an industrial country, the President's briefings on international developments start out incredibly spotty. When people are evacuated from the country, those evacuated are foreign nationals, not the citizens of Kundu who are at risk of being exterminated. While President Bartlet finally intervenes, it's only after much deliberation. When Bartlet asks "Why does a Kundanse life worth less to me than an American life?" he is answered by Will Bailey with the words "I don't know, sir, but it is.
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