<P> Sam attended Duke Law School and was the editor of the Duke Law Review (which, in reality, is known as the Duke Law Journal). He was a staffer for several congressmen and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee . He was also a practicing lawyer, working at the law firm of Dewey Ballantine in New York City before joining the fictional Gage Whitney Pace (aka "Gage Whitney"), reputedly the second biggest law firm in New York City . Sam worked there for seven years and is concentrating on helping an oil company with a deal that would protect them from litigation in the event of an oil spill when old friend Josh Lyman comes to visit him . Josh is running John Hoynes' presidential campaign and comes to try to recruit Sam as a speechwriter . Sam declines, explaining that he is about to be made partner and is getting married soon (the engagement later fell through). Sam returns to work but, feeling guilty about the deal he is making, begins trying to convince the oil company to buy newer, better tankers than the ones they want, unleashing the wrath of his boss and jeopardizing his promotion to partner . In the midst of this, Josh returns from a trip to New Hampshire during which he has seen Hoynes' dark - horse challenger, Jed Bartlet, speak to a small audience of voters . Josh has been sufficiently inspired to abandon Hoynes' campaign and go work for Bartlet, which in turn convinces Sam to do the same . Sam becomes part of the talented team of staffers who help Bartlet to a very unlikely victory in 1998 . After the election, Sam attains the position of Deputy White House Communications Director in the Bartlet Administration, often collaborating with White House Communications Director Toby Ziegler to write the President's most important public addresses, most notably States of the Union and his first inaugural address . </P> <P> Sam's tragically flawed romantic relationships are something of a theme of the series with Josh once describing Sam's love life as "a moveable feast". After joining the campaign, Sam broke up with his fiancée, Lisa Sherborne, whom he was planning to marry in September of that year (the joke was that they broke up so that her name wouldn't become Lisa Sherborne Seaborn). Sam's other romantic relationships include a high - priced call girl named Laurie, played by Lisa Edelstein (with whom he slept without knowledge of her profession), and Leo McGarry's daughter, Mallory O'Brien, a fourth - grade teacher--a relationship Leo jokingly tries to sabotage, telling Sam, "I don't mind you dating my' only' daughter, but you can't expect me not to have some fun along the way ." </P> <P> Sam's trademark--both his greatest strength and greatest flaw--is his unflinching idealism . His unwavering faith in and love for the American political process and the positive impact that government can have in its citizens' lives define his character . Sam believes in doing the right thing simply because it is right, even when the consequences might be politically disastrous . This often causes him to clash with the other members of the senior staff, who tend to be more practical when approaching political problems . Occasionally Sam's idealism and faith in people are disappointed, to which he reacts very strongly . In the second - season episode "Somebody's Going to Emergency, Somebody's Going to Jail", Sam finds out that his father has been having a 28 - year affair while married to his mother, a revelation that deeply shakes his sense of what he can and cannot count on . This feeling is reinforced by his discovery that a White House staffer convicted of treason during the Cold War, who Sam has always believed was innocent, actually had been a spy . </P> <P> Another trademark of Sam is his ability as a speechwriter . He is an extremely talented writer, one of the very few people Toby recognizes as an equal in his field . Sam is seen in many episodes to rewrite speeches over and over, unwilling to put words in the President's mouth that he isn't completely satisfied with . After a pipe bomb explodes at a university in "20 Hours in America, Part II", killing 44 people, including three swimmers, Bartlet gives a speech, written by Sam, that includes the following: </P>

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