The White House Chief Of Staff
John Spencer played White House Chief Of Staff Leo McGarry and later a vice presidential candidate. He won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in 2002 for his role on the show. Spencer and his character were both recovering alcoholics. Ironically, Spencer’s character nearly died of heart attack on the show, and about a year later the actor died of an actual heart attack. Martin Sheen paid tribute to Sheen in a brief message prior to the airing of the episode “Running Mates,” which aired just after Spencer died. The death of McGarry was addressed in the 2006 episode “Election Day.”
