A California native, he's been a golden boy pretty much his entire life. Graduated from Princeton and went to Duke law, he was then hired by Gage-Whitney, one of the largest and most prominent law firms in Manhattan, where he was just about to make partner before quitting. He was an extremely talented lawyer, with a special talent in mergers/acquisitions and liability laws. He lived in the city with his fiancee, Lisa, about whom we know nothing. Lisa has since disappeared into the murky depths of "We Hope They Forget About Her", the land that Mandy the Whore made famous. His father and mother still live in California, and his father has been having an affair with another woman for 28 years.

In his spare time he enjoys sailing (and tends to fall out of boats), and doesn't seem to like playing basketball with everyone else. Sam and Josh are very good friends, though it has never been explained where they met. He worked as a Congressional aide, and joined the Bartlet campaign after Josh heard Bartlet speak in Nashua. Idealistic and young, he is often treated so, and season two has been a pretty unfriendly-Sam season.

Sam is afraid of his assistant, Cathy, who steals donuts off his desk, though he thinks of her as a younger sister. He has never seen Cathy naked. (Thank the high holy heavens.) He sometimes quotes Mao, and thinks that great oratory should knock the socks off of people. He honestly believes words have the power to change the world and his command of the language is nothing sort of sophisticated eloquence.

He has had relationships with Laurie (a call girl) and Mallory (Leo's daughter) and has definite tension with Ainsley Hayes (the Republican), who whipped his ass on Capital Beat. His favorite fiction writer is Dickens, he's a sucker for dental hygeine, wears glasses, and doesn't seem to like wearing suit jackets very often. Sam also enjoys changing his middle name frequently from Norman to things like "The Housekeeper."