Governor of Michigan (unnamed, off‑stage — S1E12 'He Shall, From Time To Time...')

An institutional state chief executive who rarely appears onstage yet exerts decisive procedural power over federal–state interactions. The Unnamed Governor anchors contingency timelines — for example, the formal authority to act in succession and to convert political choices into enforceable deadlines — forcing the presidency and its staff to react. In the current episode the office functions as a rostered locus of responsibility, invoked by President Bartlet to test legal boundaries and to externalize political risk, remaining remote but constitutionally potent across episodes.