Toby Ziegler

File:Schiffwiki2.jpg Richard Schiff on the set of The West Wing as Toby Ziegler

Tobias Zachary 'Toby' Ziegler, former White House Communications Director, was a fictional character played by Richard Schiff on the television serial drama The West Wing.

Toby was born December 23, 1954. His childhood and family details are not fully known; he was from a lower-class background, and grew up in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, New York City. His father, Jules Ziegler, who, according to one episode, "needed the G.I. Bill," probably fought in the Korean War, but went on to work for Murder Incorporated and later served time in prison, complicating their relationship somewhat (note: the episode "Holy Night" suggests that "Julie" Ziegler was still involved with Murder, Inc. at the time of Toby's birth - however, in reality, Murder, Inc. had largely disappeared by the end of the 1940s). Toby's other relatives were less visible on the show; he mentioned at one point that his sisters took him to protest rallies in the mid-1960s. Toby also had a younger brother, David, who was a mission specialist at NASA and who later committed suicide after learning he had a terminal illness. Toby was a rather morose, cynical fellow, a characteristic that is reflected in his typical wardrobe - usually dull shades of grey and brown. He seldom smiles and yells often, yet he is something of an idealist, often less willing than his colleagues (President Josiah Bartlet included) to compromise on his political values.

A committed Jew, Toby regularly attended synagogue on Saturdays. Some details, including the presence of a female cantor and an organ, suggest that he attended a Reform temple.

Toby's education was less well-established than that of his colleagues, although he often seemed to know more than almost every other cast member except the President. He seems to have a particular fondness for grammatical correctness: he is able to name all types of punctuation from memory, and claimed to have discovered a possible typographical error in the Constitution which, he believes, could change the interpretation of the document. He attended the City College of New York, but his undergraduate major is unknown, and comments made by other staff members suggest that Toby may be a lawyer. The diploma on the wall of his office indicated that he had a doctorate in Communications, though the issuing school is unknown. Before joining the Bartlet for America presidential campaign, Ziegler was a political consultant who worked for various political campaigns such as New York City Council seats, Bronx borough president and U.S. House and Senate races. Toby claims that he had never worked for a winning campaign prior to the Barlet campaign, although this comment may only be self-deprecation.

Toby was a fan of the New York Yankees. He claimed to have attended 441 games at Yankee Stadium. If he saw his first game there at the age of seven, in the 1962 season, and the show progressed in real time, this works out to about eleven games per season, though it is not clear if he could keep up this pace once he began working at the White House.

Toby's ex-wife, Andrea 'Andie' Wyatt, was a U.S. Congresswoman and liberal Democrat from Maryland. During the show's fourth season, she and Toby conceived twins together. His ex-wife was later sued by a conservative group on the grounds that her nondisclosure of her pregnancy during her campaign for re-election constituted election fraud. She repeatedly turned down Toby's proposals for re-marriage, calling Toby too "sad." Toby and Andrea's children were born the same day Zoey Bartlet, President Bartlet's daughter, was kidnapped. They were named Huckleberry and Molly. Huck is named after his maternal great-grandfather, and Molly is named after the Secret Service agent who was killed attempting to prevent Zoey's kidnapping.

The end of Toby's tenure at the White House came when he revealed classified information about a secret military space shuttle to Greg Brock, a reporter for The New York Times. After heading the investigation to find the source of the leak, he eventually confessed to C. J. Cregg that he himself had been the leak. Bartlet, furious, would not accept Toby's resignation and fired him instead. Despite being indicted, Toby was instrumental as a behind-the-scenes player during the 2006 presidential campaign, secretly advising his friend and former colleague Josh Lyman of the Matt Santos campaign by phone, using an alias. Toby attended Leo McGarry's funeral, but decided to sit in the back of the church to avoid press coverage. He was similarly unable to attend Leo's burial at Arlington National Cemetery because of the press circus his attendance may have caused. He pled guilty in federal court and was sentenced to six years in prison at the Federal Correctional Institution in Petersburg, Virginia. Despite strong mixed emotions, Bartlet's final official act as President of the United States was to pardon Toby and thus spare him from having to serve his prison sentence.

It was revealed that, at the time of the dedication of Bartlet's presidential library three years later, Toby was a professor at Columbia University.

Toby and Bartlet

Toby is the only member of the West Wing staff other than Leo McGarry to have been with Bartlet since the beginning of his first campaign for the presidency. On the night that Josh Lyman came to hear Bartlet speak in New Hampshire, Leo fired everyone on Bartlet's staff except for Toby, counter to the expectations of all parties involved, including Toby himself. This incited the ire of then-Governor Bartlet, who protested that Leo had fired everyone but the only staffer whose name he hadn't learned yet.

Toby's relationship with Bartlet was intense and often strained; Toby was seen as the most critical of the staffers, and the most willing to challenge the President's judgment and question his actions. Toby was also one of the most liberal staffers. This was not always apparent in his policy advice, though, as he was also an advocate of free trade and despised the radical anti-globalization movement. In season one, it was revealed that Toby was not the President's first choice for Communications Director, though the President confided in the same episode how grateful he was that his first choice turned down the job.

Template:Characters on The West Wing (TV series)

See also

• The West Wing
• List of characters on The West Wing
• List of politicians on The West Wing
• List of The West Wing episodes