to go against Josh's advice, and to prioritize politics over Hoynes' own ideas and convictions, frustrates Josh. Thirteen weeks before the New Hampshire primary, Josh receives a visit from Leo McGarry, an old friend of his father's. At Leo's request, a skeptical Josh travels to New Hampshire to hear Bartlet speak. After hearing Bartlet give a surprisingly honest answer to a politically sensitive question Josh immediately leaves Hoynes' campaign to work for Bartlet; he also recruits his old friend Sam Seaborn to the campaign. Shortly after joining the Bartlet for America campaign, Josh hires recent college dropout Donna Moss, who had been volunteering for the campaign, as his assistant. Donna remains as Josh's assistant until the sixth season. A largely unspoken friendship, and romantic tension, exists between the two for the majority of the series. In the first-season finale, Josh is critically wounded by gunfire during an assassination attempt on African-American presidential aide Charlie Young. Josh undergoes fourteen hours of surgery and is subsequently put through intensive psychotherapy with psychiatrist Stanley Keyworth after displaying symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, including raising his voice to President Bartlet in the Oval Office and breaking a window in his apartment. Josh's position in the Bartlet administration is temporarily compromised after he leaks information to the press about an anonymous hold on military promotions placed by Idaho Senator Chris Carrick. Carrick tries to secure a promise from the White House that a missile defense system will be built in his home state, but Josh's competitive nature will not allow him to make a compromise. After the leak, Carrick releases the hold but resigns from the Democratic Party, informing Josh that he will seek re-election as a Republican and citing Josh as a key reason for his defection. The resulting embarrassment to the administration and to the party leads Leo to leave Josh out of key budget negotiations, negotiations which eventually result in a complete shutdown of the federal government. Josh soon finds himself stripped of much of his political authority, as freelance political advisor Angela Blake takes up many of his duties. He eventually returns from isolation after the First Lady pointedly asks President Bartlet "Where's Josh?". Josh is the only senior staffer to support the President's firm stand against Speaker Jeff Haffley; the President's eventual political victory over Haffley during this conflict is largely due to Josh's advice. After John Hoynes publishes an