Claudia Jean "C.J." Cregg

C.J. Cregg is the White House Press Secretary, standing at the podium each day to spin, dodge, and occasionally out-maneuver a press corps that knows every one of her tells. Tall, funny, and fiercely smart, she keeps the building's secrets while insisting on knowing them herself, allergic to being managed or lied to by the men around her.

Aaron Sorkin gives her the room's fastest mouth and its conscience in equal measure, and Allison Janney plays both without ever softening one for the other. Her comic timing is genuine, but what makes C.J. last is the flash of fury underneath the wit whenever someone assumes press secretary means pushover.