Leo McGarry
| Character | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Leo McGarry |
| Occupation: | politician |
| Relationships: | divorced |
| Fandom: | The West Wing |
| Other: |  |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Leo McGarry is a character in The West Wing. He was the former United States Secretary of Labor, the White House Chief of Staff under the Bartlet administration, and eventually the Vice Presidential candidate for Matt Santos. He is President Josiah Bartlet's best friend and a father figure to the Senior Staff, particularly Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman. He is divorced, a recovering alcoholic, and has had several heart attacks. His death on the show (necessitated by actor John Spencer's actual unexpected death in 2005) devastated actors, characters, and fans alike.
Fanworks
In fanfiction, Leo is typically slashed with Jed Bartlet (Jed/Leo) or put into a threesome with Jed and his wife Abbey (Jed/Leo/Abbey). Slash writers typically attend to the tender kiss Bartlet gives Leo in "In the Shadow of Two Gunmen," as well as on the parallels between Jed and Leo, and Sam and Josh (another big West Wing slash pairing.)
He is also a favorite character in gen.
The Leo McGarry Ficathon
The Leo McGarry Ficathon was set up as a tribute to John Spencer and his character of Leo McGarry. As the organizer notes, "I hope people aren't offended by it. It came about by accident really, when I was reading some journal entries after John Spencer's death, and people were linking to good Leo fan-fic - only, it was hard to find any. Leo, I think, is one of the underused characters in the fandom, so it would be nice to have more fic. :)" [1]
Sadly, the hosting journal has been deleted and purged. Stories produced for the ficathon include:
- War Chest by littleloonlost
- Two Fathers by thehousekeeper
- An Inclination To Believe by scrollgirl
- These Fragile Times by Elorie 'Kam
- Epiphany by Speranza
- Seven Summers by raedbard
- Round Three by helsinkibaby