Charles Young is a fictional character played by Dulé Hill on the television serial drama The West Wing. For the majority of the series, he is the Personal Aide to President Josiah Bartlet. Creation and development The character of Charlie Young was originally to appear in the pilot, with a draft dated February 6, 1998, describing him as a "fresh-faced" 19-year-old who is taking a year off from Georgetown University to work as the President's personal aide. The character was written out of later drafts, and was not introduced in the show until The West Wings third episode after the all-Caucasian main cast came under criticism from the NAACP. Aged 21 when he enters the White House, the character that made it into the show is slightly older than the early pilot draft called for, and has a somewhat modified history. Actor Dulé Hill said he decided to audition for the role due to the involvement of Martin Sheen (who portrayed President Bartlet) and show creator Aaron Sorkin, whose work he admired. In preparing for the role, Hill met with his character's real-life counterpart, Kris Engskov, then personal aide to President Bill Clinton. Hill said the experience helped him realize how important and potentially powerful the job was. Charlie's interracial romance with President Bartlet's daughter sparked hate mail from some viewers, inspiring the season one cliffhanger in which the President and his staff are fired upon by white supremacists. The character shares his name with that of African American historical figure Charles Young, the first African-descended American to earn the title of Colonel in the United States Army and the third to graduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point. Character biography Charlie Young is introduced in the episode "A Proportional Response" as a young man applying at the White House personnel office for a part-time job as a messenger. He is interviewed by Deborah De LaGuardia who recommends him to Josh Lyman for another job, as the President's personal aide. Prior to this, he had worked as a waiter at the Gramercy Club and for three summers as a golf caddy at Sandy Hook. Charlie's mother was a police officer in Washington, D.C., who was killed in the line of duty in June 1999. She was not supposed to be working on the night of her death, having been persuaded to switch shifts by Charlie. His father