Editing Sam Seaborn (section)

=== Personality ===
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."

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.

Another trademark of Sam is his ability as a speechwriter. He is an extremely talented writer, one of the very few people Toby recognises 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. 

<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:samcampaignbartlet.jpg|thumb|left|200 px|Bartlet campaigning for Sam in the [[California's 47th congressional district|California 47th]].]] -->