If President Bartlet s ancestors were among the original families of New Hampshire, how come he s Catholic?
It s true that the Founding Fathers were overwhelmingly Protestant. This is another case of an actor bringing his own perspective to a character. When Aaron Sorkin originally conceived President Bartlet he was not Catholic (in one early script he is described as the son of a minister). But Martin Sheen campaigned hard to have the character share his Catholicism and Sorkin eventually consented. The result is Bartlet s moving crisis of conscience in Take This Sabbath Day. Sorkin eventually explained Bartlet’s faith in the season two finale, “Two Cathedrals,” where Jed’s father, shown in flashbacks, disdainfully refers to his wife’s Catholicism.
