25 Mind-Blowing Facts About The West Wing

9. President Bartlet Was Largely Based On Bill Clinton... Although He Did Also Contain Some Of JFK's Characteristics

Sorkin revealed that he aimed to base President Josiah Bartlet on Bill Clinton - a Democrat who he believed to be a fascinating personality. He said of Clinton: "He's bright, astute and filled with all the negative foibles that make him very human." Martin Sheen, who played Bartlet, later admitted to being a huge Clinton fan and he had been welcomed by the former President into the White House on several occasions during the first few series of the show.

Bartlet's hidden multiple sclerosis is also believed to have been thought-up in order to have a White House scandal similar to the Monica Lewinsky affair that led to Clinton becoming only the second-ever President to be served with Articles of Impeachment by Congress.

Despite the character largely being based on Clinton, President John F Kennedy's characteristics are also displayed by Bartlet. Indeed even the final shot of President Bartlet in the opening credits show him standing in an almost-identical pose to a famous photograph of JFK leaning on the desk in the Oval Office.