Claudia Jean Cregg is a fictional character played by Allison Janney on the American television drama The West Wing.

Her onscreen romance with Danny Concannon (Timothy Busfield), a senior White House reporter, was also criticized by commentators as giving the impression she was betraying her coworkers.

The character proved to be Janney's breakthrough role and earned her widespread critical acclaim, as well as multiple offers to enter the real-life American political realm.

[11] She notes that politics overwhelm her, unlike her savvy and well-adapted character,[11] and recalled that fans of the show initially expect her to behave like C. J. before discovering who she really is.

To convey a casual feel, a dove grey or beige blouse would be included under the pantsuit, as well as an occasional dark tank top.

's height was the subject of multiple jokes on the show, including being assigned the Secret Service code name "Flamingo" during her time in the White House.

[15] Paolo also remarked on a podcast that the clothing was designed to not distract from the show; in one episode set in a gala, a reporter asks what C. J. is wearing.

The jewelry was sent to Lyn Paolo for free by the designer's public relations firm; the Universal Press Syndicate referred to it as "fall's No.

[19] She had joined Bartlet's first presidential campaign after being fired from her job at an entertainment industry public relations firm in Beverly Hills.

[24] According to Aaron Sorkin, C. J. was designed to stand out from other female characters of the era; he writes in the pilot of the West Wing Script Book that C. J.

[27] Patrick Webster, in his book Windows into The West Wing, attributed this partially to the acting ability of Allison Janney.

[30][31][32] Since The West Wing frequently mixes the personal lives and professional careers of its characters, this tendency has the effect of letting her feelings influence her views on policy.

She has a deep-seated emotional reaction to this news throughout the episode, culminating in a scene in her office with the National Security Advisor, Nancy McNally.

[33][34] McNally is not swayed by this reasoning, arguing that the base is strategically pragmatic, and after C. J. unsuccessfully counters with a long-winded analogy to apartheid, she simply pleaded, "they're beating the women, Nancy!

Webster opined that although this scene allowed for a powerful emotional statement on the issue for the viewer, it also revealed a gender bias in the writing of C. J.

[31] Author Shawn Parry-Giles commented that scenes like these play into the stereotype in which women are portrayed as too subjective and emotional for rational, political decision-making.

[36] One of the great mysteries of Hollywood – nay, of life – is that Aaron Sorkin is a fairly condescending and certainly problematic writer of women.

She was shown to be clueless with respect to basic government functions, needing to be informed of the purpose of the U.S. census by Sam Seaborn in one first-season episode.

[32] Her romance with White House reporter Danny Concannon also entangles with her job, causing her colleagues to distrust her; in the first-season episode "Lord John Marbury", the senior staff chooses to lie to her about troop movement in an Indo-Pakistani conflict, because they thought that she was too friendly with the press, particularly Danny, and would not be able to lie from the podium.

[38][39] Also, in the first-season episode "Mandatory Minimums", C. J. receives the staff's blame when Danny publishes a memo from a staffer, criticizing the president's performance.

[32] Drawing on the previous incident in "Lord John Marbury", C. J. lies to the press in the first-season finale "What Kind of Day Has It Been", confidently delivering the misinformation directly to Danny.

[41][42] In "The Leadership Breakfast", C. J. correctly assesses that Toby Ziegler is ordering her to make a political mistake, which results in a congressman directly criticizing the president during a joint presidential and congressional press conference.

"[44] As well as her on-again-off-again romance with Danny, C. J. has another love interest throughout the third season – a secret service agent named Simon Donovan (Mark Harmon), assigned to protect her after she receives death threats.

[46][47] In the final season premiere, "The Ticket", a scene showing the characters "three years later" forecast C. J. as married to Danny with one child.

[54] In "Ways and Means", C. J. is sexualized by Bruno Gianelli, manager of the president's re-election campaign, who remarks "man, you have got a killer body, you know that?

[56] In 2014, The Atlantic ranked C. J. highest on their list of the 144 best characters on The West Wing, writer Joe Reid commenting that "her capability and combination of strength and simple compassion represented the fantasy of the Bartlet White House better than anyone".

In an interview with Empire magazine, Martin Sheen (who played President Bartlet) recounted an instance in which the cast, in a confidential, anonymous poll, unanimously agreed that Janney was "the very best among us".

[11] After the show ended in 2006, Allison Janney was offered political punditry roles in several news organizations,[29] as well as several requests to campaign for Democratic candidates.

[78] Psaki was compared favorably to C. J. online for her dry wit, as well as her straightforward answers, Allison Janney commenting that she was "flattered" by the comparison.