Professional Backgound
- Abbey Bartlet is a medical doctor [1.12] with an M.D. from Harvard, she is board certified in internal medicine and thoracic surgery, she is an adjunct professor of thoracic surgery at Harvard Medical Center and is on staff at Boston Mercy Hospital and Columbia Presbyterian. She has been practicing medicine for 26 years [2.20]. Jed claims he never saw her study in med school [1.12].
- The first lady is leading the charge against child labor [1.17], and was upset when the president weakened the language on Social Security and Medicare, and dropped the Violence Against Women Act from his State of the Union address [2.13].
- An AS335 F1 Twinstar medivac helicopter was named after her [2.20], and she attended the dedication of a statue to Nellie Bly in Cochrans Mills, Pennsylvania [2.5].
- During the campaign, she violated the medical ethics of the state boards of Arizona, Missouri and New Hampshire [2.21] by prescribing drugs for herself and then administering them to her husband [3.6].
- Abbey did not keep written records of her treatment of the president, which was also a violation of medical ethics [2.21].
- She prefers being called Dr. Bartlet, although she started referring to herself as Mrs. Bartlet during the campaign [2.21].
- According to Josh and Amy Gardner, Abbey feels guilty because she's not doing enough for women [3.8].
- The first lady's chief of staff was Lilly Mays [1.17]. Then it was her nephew, Max, whom Josh repeatedly trounced in the political arena, leaving the First Lady's agenda largely ignored. To fix the problem, Abbey hires Amy Gardner [4.17].
- During the 2002 campaign, Abbey remarked that "Right now, I'm just a wife and mother." This comment caused a minor uproar, including protestors in aprons and brandishing rolling pins, and a commentator dismissing Abbey as a "liberal elitist feminist" [4.1].
- Abbey wants to kill Josh when he's acting egotistical [4.17].
- After hiring Amy Gardner to be her Chief of Staff, Abbey decided that she wants to take a more active role in her husband's administration [4.18].
- Abbey doesn't think the United States should try to export religious doctrine along with foreign aid [4.18].
- While youngest daughter Zoey was in the hands of her kidnappers, Abbey answered all the calls of well-wishers, and ended up comforting them [5.1].
- Eventually, Abbey grew tired of not using her medical background and decided to volunteer at a southeast D.C. free clinic [5.14].
