John Hoynes - Similarities To Lyndon Johnson

Similarities To Lyndon Johnson

It has been noted that the character of John Hoynes has some parallels to President Lyndon B. Johnson. Like Johnson, Hoynes is a U.S. Senator from Texas and became Democratic floor leader after serving in the Senate for a short time. Also like Johnson, Hoynes ran for the Democratic nomination for President, only to be defeated by a much less qualified New England Democrat. In Johnson's case this was U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy, in Hoynes' case this was New Hampshire Governor Josiah Bartlet. Johnson was also in the race with a western Democrat Senator Wayne Morse of Oregon, similarly Hoynes was running against Senator William Wiley of Washington.

Hoynes, like Johnson, became the candidate for vice president after the presidential candidate begged him to accept in order to gain support in the South and win the general election. Hoynes was treated dismissively by members of the Bartlet administration. Johnson was treated similarly by JFK, members of the Kennedy administration and members of the Kennedy family.

Unlike Johnson and Kennedy, however, Hoynes served in a time when a politician's marital infidelity was aggressively reported by mainstream media outlets.


The West Wing
  • Episodes
  • Season 1
  • Season 2
  • Season 3
  • Season 4
  • Season 5
  • Season 6
  • Season 7
Main characters
  • Josiah Bartlet
  • Leo McGarry
  • Josh Lyman
  • Toby Ziegler
  • Sam Seaborn
  • C. J. Cregg
  • Charlie Young
  • Donna Moss
  • Abbey Bartlet
  • Will Bailey
  • Matt Santos
  • Arnold Vinick
  • Mandy Hampton
  • Annabeth Schott
Recurring characters
  • Elizabeth Bartlet
  • Ellie Bartlet
  • Zoey Bartlet
  • Danny Concannon
  • Debbie Fiderer
  • Percy Fitzwallace
  • Amy Gardner
  • John Hoynes
  • Joey Lucas
  • Bob Russell
  • Andrea Wyatt
Related articles
  • Aaron Sorkin
  • Thomas Schlamme
  • John Wells
  • W. G. Snuffy Walden
  • List of characters on The West Wing
  • List of politicians on The West Wing

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