Who played Vice President John Hoynes?

Tim Matheson played Vice President John Hoynes in The West Wing. Hoynes is President Josiah Bartlet's first vice president and a powerful Democratic politician from Texas.

Before serving as vice president, Hoynes was a U.S. senator and a major rival for the 1998 Democratic presidential nomination. Bartlet defeated him for the nomination, then selected him as his running mate. Their partnership is uneasy: Hoynes often feels undermined, while Bartlet and his staff question Hoynes's judgment and political reliability.

Hoynes eventually resigns after leaking classified information to a woman with whom he was having an affair. Matheson's performance made the character more complicated than a simple political antagonist, showing Hoynes as ambitious, experienced, and capable of genuine policy insight. He is sometimes confused with other senior figures: Martin Sheen played President Bartlet, Richard Schiff played Toby Ziegler, and John Spencer played Leo McGarry.