We have always felt lucky to have been part of The West Wing. Writing this book has meant reliving every moment of those days and feeling lucky all over again. In particular, we are indebted to the myriad brilliant, helpful, good-humored, patient minds who helped us so lovingly and so often. And Josh Malina.
It would have been impossible to write this without so many of you, but special thanks must be given to the brilliant people whose names were on the front row of video village for so many years, John Wells and Tommy Schlamme. Your generosity in supporting this book has been so meaningful and has inspired us to keep striving to make this the best version of our story. Peter Roth, you have always believed in The West Wing. Your green light of this book was just the latest in a long line of green lights from 1999 to today, which made everything possible. And especially to Aaron Sorkin, whose unfathomable and frankly unreasonable talent made everything possible in the first place. Thank you for encouraging us. Without your kindness, without your support, without your very first “yes,” there would most certainly be no book.
Our brilliant and accomplished, warm and funny castmates—and Josh Malina—thank you for walking-and-talking down memory lane with us. We’ve loved it, and we couldn’t have done it without you. And to our wonderful, witty, and wise crew, thank you for sharing your memories with us.
Our own personal Sit Room at Dutton was helmed by our superb, positive, and blessedly patient editor, Jill Schwartzman, a national security advisor if there ever was one, and her unflappable and talented deputy, Charlotte Peters. Alongside them sat the unfailing guiding hand of John Parsley, our marketers Stephanie Cooper and Isabel DaSilva, publicist Emily Canders, cover designer Jason Booher, and the army of editors, copy editors, proofreaders, and more. If this were the real Sit Room, you would all wear rows of medals.
Thank you to our fearless agents at Javelin, Dylan Colligan and Matt Latimer, who convinced us (without much resistance) that this whole book thing would be a good idea.
Thank you to the prodigiously great John Levey for sharing with us many of your memories and some of your secrets.
Thank you to our own personal West Wing staff, our own Joshes and Tobys and C.J.s: Michael Morris, thank you for your unending support, and for wielding your scalpel with kindness. Your steadfast commitment to pitch-perfect tone, your constant steering toward quality and what is essential, are unparalleled. We are so lucky and so grateful; James Rudnick, thank you for bringing your unrivaled knowledge of all things West Wing to the table, time and time and time again. Theresa Bruno, queen of the hashtag, and neo-Wingnut Theo Cockrell, thank you for living and breathing all things West Wing for more than thirty-six months. Thank you for your incredible patience and forbearance.
And to John Cockrell, you deserve your own Oval Office. Your years-long dedication to the cause of this book, your endless sense of humor, and your blessed devotion to the five-hour phone call are all unmatched, as is your talent. Thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
There are, of course, far too many people to thank individually, but as Snuffy’s music plays and the credits roll, you might glance up and see thanks to Lauren Lohman for your support and belief in us and this project, to Julie DeJoie for never screening our calls despite knowing that picking up would mean answering more and more…and more questions; and to one of our most essential political voices, Lawrence O’Donnell. Thank you for your endless support for our West Wing family, on air and off; to Tori Nevens, researcher extraordinaire, for expertly taking on whatever we sent her way; to Blanche Sindelar, property master for The West Wing, for taking and sharing photos of the archived props you know better than anyone; to Mindy Kanaskie, for going above and beyond as you always have; to Julie Dillard and Ned Haspel at John Wells Productions for being there for us time and time again; to our friends at the Warner Bros. Corporate Archive, archivist Mark Greenhalgh, Robert Sandoval, Matthew Truex, and Maria Cazarez; to Steve Bingen, whose excellent book Warner Bros. Hollywood’s Ultimate Backlot provided invaluable historical context; to CNN’s David Daniel: thank you for giving us permission to quote from your beautiful interview with our dear friend John Spencer. Thanks to Andrew Bernstein, Eli Attie, Michael Holland, Daniel Penchina, and Jessica Gardner for always saying yes when asked to read draft after draft; to Amy Dacey for her invaluable insights and advice, and to Kevin Walling, whose persistence and confidence in us makes him in so many ways the godfather of this book.
From MELISSA: To my DC family, Eric Fanning, Ben Masri-Cohen, Evie, Judi, and Maggie, for living through every minute of this process; to my All Rise family for your support throughout the writing of this book; to Shannon McMahon-Lichte for being the best cheerleader for everything, including this book; and to the rest of my GADA family, you know who you are, you know what you did. To West Huddleston for taking a chance on me. To my family of friends, thank you for always lifting me up. And finally to my family family: Mom and Dad, Jamie, Craig, Mary, James, Russell, Mac, Joe, Luke, and Stanley for your endless support and understanding of missed dinners, games, and celebrations.
From MARY: Endless, undying, and forever thanks to my husband, Michael, and to Margaret, Rose, and Lillian for bingeing the series yet again with their mother, and for understanding why Mama was always busy. And thank you to my family: Bill and Judith, Norah and Gordon, Bridget, Will, for teaching me by example the meaning of the word “service.” And an extra thanks to my big sister, Bridget, for being my own personal true-life West Wing character.
Hrishikesh Hirway, thanks to you and your brilliant production team at The West Wing Weekly podcast. What you accomplished continues to amaze us, and you blazed a trail for this book without which we would have been lost. And also Josh Malina.
Perhaps most importantly, thank you to the millions of West Wing fans from around the world, who keep coming back to the show, who keep the community alive and thriving. Without you there would exist neither seven seasons of a television show, nor this book. Wingnuts of the world, we salute you. Whether you have expressed your love for the show in incredible fan-made projects like WestWingTranscripts.com, or Fandom’s West Wing Wiki, or simply watched, rewatched, remembered lines and details and quotes, please know that you inspired What’s Next. We hope you have enjoyed it. It was for you.
A final thank-you to anyone and everyone who has devoted some or all of their lives to service. It is true, ultimately, that to live is to serve. Whether it is an hour a week, or a lifetime, the act of stepping outside of oneself, and making oneself available to others, is something that enriches all of us. Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for caring enough to make the world better.