There's nothing I can say, I was really shocked as well. That scene from the pilot also grabbed me. He had such a sincere and wonderful way of acting.

Just so you know Leo's character got to me so much, I'm not sure if you remember but recently when I was seeing if I could explore other employment opportunities, I wrote to a couple of former bosses with the following:

Have you ever watched The West Wing? I've decided that I'm Leo McGarry, Chief of Staff. The problem with law firms is that they expect everyone to want to be the president when some of us prefer being the chief of staff - the power behind the throne as such. A friend queried me on this and said that surely after a while I'd be tired of being one of the backstage hands. A lot of partners haven't believed me, thinking that surely everyone has ambitions to be the president.

The thing is, my ego is satisfied when the 'president' for whom I'm responsible looks good. I like being the trouble-shooter, I like running a team, solving problems, co-ordinating projects and making myself generally indispensable to my president. I just don't want to be the one who has to be in the limelight making big decisions and doing all of the PR.

The first guy wrote back and had no clue what I was talking about (probably never watched The the West Wing). The second woman wrote and said:

If you want to be Leo, you need to find your President Bartlett. You need to find someone with whom you have that rapport – who trusts you implicitly and who you can be honest with – I remember Leo in one episode being the only guy to tell the President he was an idiot.

She totally won my heart by demonstrating she knew what I was saying, but also demonstrating a familiarity with the characters. It's a credit to the performances of the actors that their characters come across as being so 'real'.

I'm sure both John Spencer and Leo McGarry will be greatly missed by all. Thanks for sharing the post..... and I didn't think it was that long ... ;)