Kate protects Leo and keeps his secret, earning goodwill from the audience. As the building is being secured, Kate tells Josh that she once endured a 77-hour lockdown, hinting at a dynamic past outside the White House's walls.One of these CIA missions involved monitoring trade negotiations with Cuba, putting Kate in the path of White House chief of staff Leo McGarry (John Spencer) during one of the lowest moments of his life. It's not until Kate and Josh Lyman (Bradley Whitford) are stuck together during a security drill that we begin to learn more about her. She immediately gets off on the wrong foot, overstepping her boundaries with Bartlet and removing a joke from Presidential remarks. Let's catch up with the main cast members of 'The West Wing' and rank each from worst to best.Kate HarperFormer CIA agent Kate Harper (Mary McCormack) enters the Bartlet White House near the end of the fifth season, when the series was undergoing a massive overhaul following the departure of its creators, Aaron Sorkin and Tommy Schlamme.

Rather, Sorkin's intent was to follow the staffers, assistants, secretaries, and security guards of the executive branch, creating a workplace dramedy set in the world's most powerful office. Over the course of seven seasons, many minor players began to find their footing, growing into some of the most beloved characters in television history.

In fact, originally, the president wasn't supposed to be on the show at all.

Airing in the early days of peak TV, the network drama was unique in its verisimilitude, lack of studio interference, and inclusion of characters who looked, felt, and acted like real people.You'd think that a show about the White House would revolve around its most famous occupant, but POTUS is just one of its many compelling characters. It's an idealistic - some would say naive - depiction of politics that feels like a fantasy in the divided America of today. Aaron Sorkin's groundbreaking political drama follows President Josiah Bartlet (Martin Sheen) and his senior staff as they strive to make the world a better place during two terms in the nation's highest office. Watching 'The West Wing' now feels like revisiting a moment in time.

Under one wing