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Charles 'Charlie' Young is a fictional character played by Dulé Hill on the television serial drama The West Wing. For the majority of the series, he is the Personal Aide to President Josiah Bartlet.

Beginning in season one, Charlie is President Bartlet's "body man", his personal assistant and works closely with the President's Secretary to ensure the smooth operation of the Oval Office. He originally came to the White House to get a part-time job as a messenger, but was suggested by Ms. De LaGuardia (Deborah Fiderer, later to become the President's secretary) as a replacement for the President's previous personal aide Ted Miller, and was interviewed by Josh Lyman for the job.

Young's mother was a police officer in Washington D.C. who was killed in the line of duty (revealed in the episode "A Proportional Response"). He takes care of his sister, Deena (known later as Deanna), as his father is "long gone". Charlie graduated from Theodore Roosevelt High School, a public school in D.C., but later said that he would have preferred to go to Gonzaga College High School, a Catholic school with a better academic reputation and a comparatively crime-free history. Though he had high grades at school, Charlie decided not to go to college until Deena finished school. However, during Season 2, he decided (at the urging of the President) to take courses at Georgetown University while still keeping up with the demands of his job.

After graduating from Georgetown, Charlie was forced to make good on a promise he made to the President to move on and leave his job as the President's bodyman once he graduated. Charlie found it hard to leave the White House and began passing his resumé around the West Wing. C.J. Cregg, the newly appointed Chief of Staff, asked Charlie to stay in the West Wing as a special aide to the Chief of Staff. A man named Curtis replaced Charlie as President Bartlet's bodyman.

Charlie began dating Zoey Bartlet, the President's youngest daughter, in Season 1. Because of this, he was the target of an assassination attempt by a white supremacist group at the end of Season 1. He and Zoey later broke up, though he often professed his love for her, much to her chagrin (and secret delight). As Season 5 progressed, Charlie briefly had a new love interest. At first there was no clear indication on whether Charlie and Zoey would reunite, although he asked her out on a date and they were later sighted sitting next to one another at Zoey's birthday party in the East Room watching Penn and Teller burn a flag. Later in Season Six, it was revealed that they have gotten back together, as evidenced by Charlie sneaking out of Zoey's room and being caught by the President. The next day, Charlie hinted he was planning on asking Zoey to marry him, but the show never revisited this plot.

Charlie is also a mentor to Anthony, a troubled young man whose "Big Brother", Simon Donovan (a Secret Service Agent assigned to protect C.J. Cregg), was killed (at the end of Season 3).

At the dedication of the Bartlet presidential library three years after the election of Matthew Santos to the presidency, Charlie congratulates Bartlet for his role in peace talks in Jakarta, Indonesia, although his specific role was not defined.

On a number of occasions, Bartlet's behaviour to Charlie has revealed that the President regards him as more than just an aide. While Zoey Bartlet was abducted the Bartlet family attended a private mass with Charlie the only non-family member in attendance.

Just prior to Thanksgiving, Charlie was sent around Washington on an exhausting quest for the 'ultimate carving knife' for the Bartlet family celebrations. After finding many and having them all rejected by his boss, Charlie finally asked why it was so important, only to be told that a knife should be an heirloom which is passed from father to son. Charlie asked why, in that case, Bartlet himself didn't have one, and Bartlet replied that he had, but was giving it away. When Charlie asked to whom, Bartlet handed the knife - two hundred years old and made for Bartlet's family by Paul Revere - to him.

On the last day of Bartlet's tenure as President of the United States, Charlie revealed to President Barlet that he had been accepted to the early admission program of Georgetown Law School. Bartlet gave Charlie one final gift: a copy of the United States Constitution that Bartlet's father had given to him when he was in high school.

The character's name may be a tribute to Charles Young, the first ever black Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army.

See also

• The West Wing
• List of characters on The West Wing
• List of politicians on The West Wing
• List of The West Wing episodes

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