A Brief History of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s ‘West Wing’ Obsession

By Joe Reid @joereid
Published July 20, 2016, 11:48 a.m. ET

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The West Wing

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A work of art about American politics. A vision of Washington D.C. that’s as much about the mythology of America as it is about watching the sausage get made, though it offers plenty of both. A production that cements its creator as one of this century’s most important writers in his medium. And in the finale, the main character gets shot. All true about the Broadway sensation, Tony-winner, Pulitzer Prize-winner, all-around obsession Hamilton. All also true about The West Wing, the TV series that hugely inspired Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda.
If Miranda weren’t primarily defined by his prolific talents, he’d certainly be defined by his boundless enthusiasm. For his own projects, for musical theater as a whole, and in one particular case, for the fictional Bartlet White House in The West Wing. He’s such a fan that when he took his bows after his final performance in the role of Alexander Hamilton on July 9th, they played the West Wing theme music for him.

This bit of West Wing adoration came as no surprise to anyone who’s followed Miranda’s career (or Twitter feed). Back in 2015, Miranda told Vulture that The West Wing was one of the top influences in his artistic vision for Hamilton:

[…] it pulls back the curtain on how decision-making happens at the highest level, or at least how you hope it would be. The amount of information Aaron Sorkin packs into a scene gave me this courage to trust the audience to keep up.

As far back as 2011, Miranda was up on his Twitter, fantasy casting a West Wing musical:

And, sure, lots of people make Jef Bartlet references on Twitter. But just in case you thought he was only familiar with the main characters, he busts a Nancy McNally on your ass.

Appreciation of Nancy McNally, National Security Advisor to the Bartlet administration and the show’s best recurring character this side of Lord John Marbury, is essentially a shibboleth for true West Wing nuts. (As is the term “shibboleth.”) Casting Tony Award-magnet Audra McDonald as her in this hypothetical (but AMAZING-sounding) West Wing musical only shows how much respect Miranda has for her. As he should.
He’s also a big enough Sorkin fan that he even gave The Newsroom a chance. THE NEWSROOM!

He’s tweeted about streaming West Wing episodes as comfort food, he’s talked endlessly about favorite characters and episodes and lines. And lest you think Miranda is blind to the shows flaws …

This West Wing obsession became so widely known that when the Hamilton cast was invited to the White House earlier this year, the cast staged a Sorkin-esque (or Tommy Schlamme-esque, to more accurately credit The West Wing‘s longtime director) walk-and-talk scene, complete with rapid-fire dialogue, adapted to the Hamilton story, of course.

The beauty of Miranda’s West Wing fandom isn’t just “he likes what I like!” (Though he does! He likes what I like!) Rather, it’s the deep affection he has for the show that informs so much of his own artistry. The utter lack of cynicism, for one thing. The arms-wide-open embrace of a piece of art, for another. The West Wing is a fantasy of America at its best, and if you’ve seen or listened to Hamilton, it’s not hard to see why that might have an appeal to an artist like Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Nancy McNally Fans 4ever.