« Backstage at the White House | Main | The Political Party »
May 15, 2006
Exit, stage West
One reporter -- and former White House regular -- looks back as 'Wing' takes flight.
By Chris Matthews
Hollywood Reporter
Editor's Note: Chris Matthews, host of MSNBC's "Hardball With Chris Matthews" and the syndicated "The Chris Matthews Show," was a speechwriter for President Jimmy Carter and a top aide to former U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill. He segued into journalism as the Washington bureau chief for the San Francisco Examiner and also has written four best-sellers about politics. Last year, he appeared in "The West Wing" episode "Message of the Week" as himself, interviewing presidential aspirant Sen. Arnold Vinick (Alan Alda). Matthews recently shared with The Hollywood Reporter his thoughts about the ending of this unique program.
Tip O'Neill, my old boss, used to say, "Loyalty is everything in this business." He also used to say, "Timing is everything is this business."
He was right in both cases, of course, and he was especially right on the shining success of (NBC's) "The West Wing."
The show displayed the wondrous thing about working in the White House: the deeply personal loyalty of the staff for the man in the Oval Office. Anyone who has been lucky enough to work there knows the intimate truth of that fact. We are there for the president of the U.S. and our country.
The timing of "The West Wing" was also a winner. It came right in the aftermath of the Monica Lewinsky mess. Even for liberal Democrats, this was a tough time. But for all Americans, it was a time when we realized -- through an otherwise estimable president's misconduct -- the reverence we attach to the White House.
I'm talking about the office but also the place itself. I remember walking over from the West Wing through the basement of the Executive Mansion itself. As you passed the portraits of past presidents and their first ladies, the scent of the foliage and the paint -- both of which were forever fresh -- you were reminded anew that we were working in a place hallowed by history.
There were so many episodes of "The West Wing" when I have been reminded of such times, of the dedication of the people working there.
It is not precisely as it appears on-air, I must admit.
Those selected by the president to serve in such close quarters with him do not constitute a thoroughfare. Unlike the television version, the actual West Wing is not home to some endless troupe of unnamed people walking to and fro. In real life, it is a small maze of compact offices on three floors filled by an extremely limited number of top presidential aides.
In real life, the hallways and staircases are tranquil and surprisingly empty. The real West Wing exists, after all, for the convenience of one person who wants only those whom he needs and wants working close to him. As Niccolo Machiavelli prescribed, it would be unwise to have any but the most trusted in a position to question, much less criticize, his decisions.
But the power of "The West Wing" shines through this small matter of theatrical license. The show has worked all these years because it has been, at its heart, the genuine article: a saga of loyalty that came to us just at the right time.
Published May 12, 2006
Posted by Jo at May 15, 2006 02:50 PM