Arnold Vinick
Arnold Vinick is a fictional character on the television series The West Wing played by Alan Alda. Vinick is a Republican member of the United States Senate from California, a social liberal and fiscal conservative with a maverick streak and a direct manner. Vinick seems to be loosely based on Senator John McCain, although, unlike McCain, Vinick is pro-choice. He is, however, opposed to late-term abortion. Vinick has also been described as a deficit hawk, like McCain.
In one episode, Arnold Vinick mentioned growing up in a "citrus-growing" community. In response to this, the town of Santa Paula, which is famous for citrus growing and is often referred to as the "Citrus Capital of the World", wrote to The West Wing's production company, asking that Santa Paula be made Arnold Vinick's hometown. The production company promised to keep Santa Paula in mind for any campaign filming. In the meantime, the city council decided to organize a campaign for Arnold Vinick, including the opening of an Arnold Vinick Presidential Campaign Headquarters. The town was eventually officially chosen as Vinick's hometown.
Biography
Vinick was born in New York Methodist Hospital in Brooklyn. His father, Richard, was a public school teacher in the New York City School District. His mother, Patricia, was a community activist and a devoted parent. After the birth of his younger brother four years later, Arnold's life took a dramatic turn. His father relocated the family to southern California, to farm orange groves in a small town called Santa Paula, California.
Richard and Patricia wanted their boys to grow up outside the pressures and politics of a sprawling urban scene. In Santa Paula, Arnold learned the value of hard work and responsibility, laboring during the summers alongside his friends in the citrus groves. He volunteered at the public library, entrenching himself in the history of his home state. In these formative years, Arnold gained an appreciation for family and community, which he carries with him to this day.
After graduating from Yale and Stanford Law School, Arnold returned to Santa Paula to open a law practice for the community. Local townspeople had more in mind for their native son, however. Arnold was elected City Councilmember in the town's first write-in victory. He served one term on City Council, overseeing numerous community projects, including the refurbishment of the California Oil Museum where he'd spent many afternoons as a teenager. Shortly thereafter, Vinick sought and won a seat in the California State Assembly. Throughout Ventura County, Arnold Vinick was quickly known as a forceful advocate for families, farmers, the environment, and his State of California.
When Arnold was elected to the United States Senate in 1982he won with 6.9 million votes – the highest total for any Senate candidate at the time.
Skilled as a local politician, Arnold still applies his sense of humanitarian responsibility and his community values to the national arena. In his four terms, Arnold has fought to protect the rights of patients and to promote affordable healthcare for all Americans. He has worked to preserve the safety and stability of retiring Americans through social security and pension protection acts. He has continually supported agricultural programs, such as his "Freedom to Farm" initiative to protect the rights of small farmers against bureaucratic subsidies.
Senator Vinick currently serves as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, and serves on the Committees on Foreign Relations, and Environment and Public Works.
Arnold Vinick was married for thirty-four years to Catherine Vinick, who passed away three years ago. He has four children and nine grandchildren.
In addition to being chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Vinick is possibly on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and is a friend to Pennsylvania Governor Eric Baker, who was a staff member on the Senate Judiciary Committee when Vinick was a freshman senator. Vinick was offered the post of Ambassador to the United Nations by President Josiah Bartlet's Deputy Chief of Staff, Josh Lyman, but declined as he intended to run for President. Lyman and former White House Chief of Staff Leo McGarry were concerned that Vinick, as an articulate and appealing candidate, offered the Republicans a real chance to win back the White House after Democrat Bartlet's two terms. However, both wondered if he was conservative enough to win the Republican nomination.
Vinick opposes federal funding for ethanol as an alcohol fuel, considering it a political boondoggle. He once told Josh Lyman, half-seriously, that he trusts no one who doesn't shine his own shoes. Vinick is a widower with one brother, four children and nine grandchildren. In the primaries, Vinick defeated the Reverend Don Butler and former Speaker of the House and Acting President Glen Allen Walken for the Republican nomination in the 2006 presidential election. Shortly after winning the nomination, Senator Vinick met with President Bartlet to discuss a deal to raise both the federal debt ceiling and the national minimum wage. They ate ice cream together at the White House. They do not always agree, but they seem to get along well and share a certain measure of respect for each other.
After the Reverend Butler declined to be his running mate in the 2006 election, due to Butler's strong pro-life views, Vinick, who felt he needed a staunch conservative to balance the ticket, selected Governor Ray Sullivan of West Virginia.
Vinick may be an atheist or an agnostic or other religious skeptic. Though this has been hinted it in his public statements, he has not actually made this public knowledge. Vinick may also be a book collector, having received a 17th century King James Bible from his late wife. Her untimely death, and the harsh requirements of Old Testament Judaic law which he discovered when he read the Bible in depth, made him question his own religious beliefs.
In the seventh season of the show, Senator Vinick and Governor Sullivan are running against U.S. Rep. Matt Santos of Texas, the Democratic Party's presidential nominee, and his running mate, former White House Chief of Staff and Secretary of Labor Leo McGarry.