From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Donna Moss
Donna Moss
Donnatella Moss grounds, Donna is the most well-defined and frequently
featured staff member on the assistant level, and her dif-
The West Wing character ficult, semi-romantic relationship with Josh is a major
plot device during the later seasons of the show.
Character biography
Donna was born outside of Warroad, Minnesota, to an
Irish-American father and an Italian-American mother.
Donna’s United States citizenship was briefly revoked af-
ter the Minnesota town in which she was born ended
up in Canada due to border changes. However, her cit-
izenship was quickly restored after the discovery of a
grandfather clause in the law. Donna has been identified
by Josh as Protestant. He also made a remark about her
Catholic school uniform, although it could have been his
sarcasm.
She later moved to Wisconsin where she attended
University of Wisconsin–Madison and dropped out half-
way through to support her boyfriend as he went
through medical school. After breaking up with her
Janel Maloney as Donna Moss
boyfriend, Donna left Madison and drove to New Hamp-
First Pilot shire to work for the "Bartlet for America" campaign,
appearance even going so far as to pretend she’d already been hired
Created by Aaron Sorkin as Josh Lyman’s assistant. Josh discovered the deception
but was somewhat amused by it, and impressed by her
Portrayed Janel Moloney initiative, eventually hiring her. It is mentioned that she
by
briefly left the campaign to return to her boyfriend, but
Information returned following an incident when, after Donna
sprained her ankle in a car accident, her boyfriend chose
Gender Female
to meet his friends for a drink rather than immediately
Occupation Senior Assistant to the Deputy White House pick her up from the hospital.
Chief of Staff (Seasons 1-6), Russell Campaign Donna remained Josh’s assistant during Josiah Bart-
Senior Aide (Season 6), Santos Campaign
Spokeswoman (Season 7), Chief of Staff to
let’s first presidential term and the beginning of his sec-
the First Lady (end of Season 7) ond. Her job during this time usually took the form of
little more than a secretary (albeit in an unusually chal-
Religion Protestant, denomination unspecified
lenging and glorified environment) until Josh sent her
Nationality American/Canadian[1] as an observer for an American diplomatic mission to
Gaza in response to her request for opportunities for job
Donnatella "Donna" Moss is a fictional character played growth. While in Gaza, Donna was seriously injured as a
by Janel Moloney on the television serial drama The West result of a terrorist attack on the American convoy. She
Wing. Donna is a recurring character during the first sea- gradually recovered from these injuries.
son, although she appears in every episode, making her a Donna returned to her duties at the White House but
de facto regular. She becomes part of the regular cast the eventually quit her job (as depicted in the season 6
beginning of the second season. episode "Impact Winter") to become senior aide to Will
For most of the series, Donna is Senior Assistant to Bailey - Vice President Bob Russell’s presidential cam-
Deputy White House Chief of Staff Josh Lyman (or, as she paign manager (as revealed in the episode "Faith-Based
jokingly calls herself in one episode, the "Deputy Deputy Initiative"). Her new position placed her in direct conflict
Chief of Staff"). Although all of the senior staff’s assis- with Josh, who had convinced US Congressman Matt San-
tants are continuing characters with personal back- tos to also run for the Democratic nomination, with him-
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Donna Moss
self as campaign manager. After Santos won the nomina- with Jack Reese, Josh’s behavior leads Jack to wonder
tion, Donna applied to work for Josh at the Santos cam- whether he is getting "in between anything".[6]
paign. However, all of the personal attacks on Santos that Following Sorkin and Schlamme’s departure from the
Donna made as Russell’s press secretary forced Josh to series at the end of the fourth season, the relationship
refuse her application. takes some new turns, with Donna attempting to broaden
Later, on the Santos campaign trail, Donna was hired her horizons past Josh and pursue her own social life out-
(unbeknownst to Josh) by Communications Director side of the White House. When Donna is badly injured in
Louise "Lou" Thornton as a campaign spokesperson. a terrorist attack in Gaza, Josh rushes overseas to keep
After Santos’s victory, Donna was offered a position in vigil at her bedside at a military hospital in Germany. In
the new administration as Deputy White House Press the sixth season episode "Impact Winter", Donna finally
Secretary. However, having become close with Helen breaks loose and quits her job as assistant to Josh, see-
Santos during the campaign, she was also offered the ing no chance of career advancement. She joins the Rus-
position as Chief of Staff to the First Lady. She chose sell campaign, which later puts her in direct confronta-
to accept this offer, as she felt she could not work for tion with her former boss.
Josh while something was also happening between them After Santos beats Russell for the Democratic nomi-
personally. Her large White House office, which she was nation, Donna wants to return as Josh’s deputy in season
shocked to see, symbolizes her growth since the begin- 7 premiere "The Ticket," but he finds himself forced to
ning of the series, when her place of work was a cubicle reject her as she is on record trashing his candidate while
in Josh’s bullpen. she was still working for the other team. During their
Donna is a Democrat, but is sometimes critical of the conversation he reveals that he misses her "every day."
logic behind various Democratic Party policies. Her po- Donna is eventually hired anyway.
litical debates with Josh, which are often left unresolved, In the season seven episode "The Cold", Josh and Don-
are one of the show’s trademark methods of exploring na kiss passionately as she brings him the good news that
multiple sides of an issue. Congressman Santos has caught up to Vinick and that
they are tied in the national tracking polls. Josh apol-
Relationship with Josh Lyman ogizes, saying the kiss was "inappropriate", but Donna
The chemistry between Janel Moloney and Bradley Whit- says "it was bound to happen sometime." Donna talks to
ford, who portrayed Josh Lyman, caught producers’ at- Will, who says pursuing a relationship with Josh wouldn’t
tention early in the series. After seeing Moloney and be inappropriate, and to C.J. about the matter. Later in
Whitford perform together in the pilot, Aaron Sorkin the episode, Donna discreetly leaves the key to her hotel
added a scene in which Donna argues with Josh to change room on the table for Josh, but Ronna Beckman notices
his shirt before attending a meeting, eventually convinc- the key before Josh can retrieve it and Edith Ortega re-
ing him by saying, "All the girls think you look really hot turns the key to Donna.
in this shirt." Although Mandy Hampton was originally In "Election Day", Josh and Donna consummate their
intended to be Josh’s romantic interest, by the end of the relationship, sleeping together twice, both times on her
show’s first season the character has been written out initiative. In "Transition", Donna gives Josh four weeks
and the role taken over by Donna. to figure out "what they want from each other." She in-
During the first four seasons, the relationship re- sists that if this cannot happen within four weeks, their
mains in stasis, with neither daring to make any real ro- relationship will remain in a constant state of ambiguity,
mantic move on the other. Sorkin admits that he was which is not what Donna wants. After Josh blows up at
more inclined to move the relationship forward, but Otto concerning the location of Josh’s BlackBerry, his
every time he discussed the possibility fellow executive deputy-of-choice Sam Seaborn threatens Josh that he
producer Thomas Schlamme would shout, "No! Wait an- won’t stay on unless Josh takes a vacation. Josh wisely de-
other year!" Besides, adds Sorkin, "Sexual and romantic cides to take a break from work before the inauguration
tension is, to me, much more fun than taking the tension and at the end of the episode Josh and Donna go on vaca-
away by having the sex and romance."[2] tion together.
Other characters occasionally speculate on the pair’s In the series finale "Tomorrow", Josh and Donna
relationship. When Donna encourages Josh to ask Joey wake up in bed together on the morning of Inauguration
Lucas on a date, Joey guesses that Donna is attempting to Day.
cover her own feelings for Josh through misdirection.[3]
During her first meeting with Josh, Amy Gardner asks See also
him if he is dating his assistant,[4] and later asks Donna
directly, "Are you in love with Josh?", although the show • List of characters on The West Wing
cuts to another scene before viewers can see the an- • List of politicians on The West Wing
swer.[5] When Donna recruits Josh to help her get a date • List of The West Wing episodes
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Donna Moss
References [3] The West Wing, Episode 2.14: The War at Home.
Original airdate: February 14, 2001.
[1] "Dead Irish Writers". Writer: Aaron Sorkin & Paul [4] The West Wing, Episode 3.08: The Women of Qumar.
Redford Director: Alex Graves. The West WIng. Original airdate: November 28, 2001.
March 6, 2002. No. 15, season 3. [5] The West Wing, Episode 4.22: Commencement.
[2] Moore, Frazier (February 12, 2001). West Wing Original airdate: May 7, 2003.
Lovers Are in Limbo. Associated Press. Retrieved on [6] The West Wing, Episode 4.10: Arctic Radar. Original
December 15, 2007. airdate: November 27, 2002.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Donna_Moss&oldid=454255986"
Categories:
• The West Wing characters
• Fictional secretaries
• Fictional Democrats (United States)
• Fictional American people of Irish descent
• Fictional characters from Minnesota
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