However, she kept appearing in more and more episodes at the requests of the producers; this eventually resulted in Amy's romance with Josh Lyman, the White House Deputy Chief of Staff.

[8] Amy held multiple jobs over the course of the show, including chief of staff to the first lady, a campaign consultant and political operative, and the White House Director of Legislative Affairs.

[7] Amy is introduced to the show as a hardline feminist; her first scene places her as an executive from a women's political action group, asked to meet with Josh Lyman in her office about a United Nations prostitution treaty.

Amy continually presses Josh on an issue in the treaty, eventually threatening to stall the judicial nominations made by President Josiah Bartlet.

[11] In the third-season episode, "We Killed Yamamoto", Amy and Josh are spending an evening together, watching a baseball game and cooking stew, when a dispute arises over a "marriage incentives" attachment on an otherwise beneficial bill.

The dispute poses a threat to their relationship and when Josh tries to call the White House to organize a counter push, Amy tosses his phone in the stew.

However, the article also criticized the show for the stilted and on-and-off nature of the relationship, given Josh's pre-existing chemistry with Donna, and how it harmed Amy's character arc.

[19] The character of Freya Gardner on 2013 British television series The Politician's Husband takes her name from Amy, along with several other West Wing surnames found in the show.

[20] Amy's onscreen relationship also struck a chord with viewers; Parker recounted in a 2020 interview that fans would frequently approach her in public, sometimes telling her that "she's stealing him from Donna".