Mandy Hampton

Mandy Hampton
The West Wing character
Moira Kelly as Madeline Hampton
First appearance	"Pilot" (episode 1.01)
Last appearance	"What Kind of Day Has It Been" (episode 1.22)
Created by	Aaron Sorkin
Portrayed by	Moira Kelly
Information
Nickname(s)	Mandy
Gender	Female
Occupation	White House media consultant (Bartlet administration; season 1)
Title	Madeline Hampton, Ph.D.
Nationality	American

Dr. Madeline "Mandy" Hampton is a fictional character from the American serial drama The West Wing, portrayed by Moira Kelly. She was White House media consultant during the first season of the show and the former girlfriend of Deputy White House Chief of Staff Josh Lyman, with whom she often clashed. A savvy political strategist and no-nonsense negotiator, the character was said to have been based on real-life political media adviser Mandy Grunwald.

One of the character's major subplots involved the public disclosure of a secret memo she wrote criticizing President Josiah Bartlet, which created a public embarrassment for the administration. Although Kelly was a primary cast member during the first season, Mandy was featured infrequently as the episodes progressed, and removed from the series altogether by the end of the first season. Series creator Aaron Sorkin said the character was not working out and the departure was an amicable decision with Kelly.

Mandy Hampton is a political consultant who left a high-paying and prestigious public relations firm to work for top politicians in the public sphere. Extremely ambitious, Mandy has a reputation as a savvy political strategist and no-nonsense negotiator. She has a bachelor's degree in art history, a master's degree in communications and a Ph.D. in political science. Mandy starts out the show as an advisor to Democratic Senator Lloyd Russell, a political challenger to President Josiah Bartlet who opposes many of his policies. She was also dating the senator, which angered Deputy White House Chief of Staff Josh Lyman, who used to date her himself. In the second episode, "Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc", Mandy ultimately leaves the senator, and stops dating him, when he defies her wishes and tables a bill in committee that she planned to fight vigorously for. As a result, Mandy is hired as a media consultant for Bartlet, much to the chagrin of Josh. In her new capacity, she reports directly to Toby Ziegler, the White House communications director and Josh Lyman, the White House deputy chief of staff.