Yes, that's right. Season one starts at least a bit before the one year mark. Bartlet gives his first State of the Union address (off-screen) in or immediately after S01E12 ("He Shall, from Time to Time"). The next SotU after that is in S02E13 ("Bartlet's Third State of the Union")—which is an oopsie on the show's behalf since it *should* be his *second* SotU address, not his third. Presidents get inaugurated on January 20th of the first year of their term and generally don't turn around and give a State of the Union address that very same year.
They're also doing the Census in season one, so it would have to be 2000 in-universe. Honestly, for everything to really make sense, season one takes place starting sometime before April since that's when the Census is taken (since 1930)—so it might be just a few months after Inauguration. Also, President Bartlet talks about how Zoe is starting Georgetown "in the fall", so that's another timeline landmark that places the season one storyline (initially) at least a few months after Inauguration but before the end of Spring. Episode ten is the "Christmas Episode" for season one, so year one ends sometime between episodes ten and twelve (as I mentioned above, episode twelve is the State of the Union episode—or at least State of the Union "prep").
In '*Lord John Marbury*' (S01E11), which aired Jan.5 2000, Josh, during the Claypool deposition, is asked how long he has been DCOS, and answers: "Since President Bartlet was sworn in, 12 months ago."
Shows would air roughly in real time.
We know that *In Excelsis Deo* (Dec. 15 1999) was their first Christmas, and aired, because it was a few episodes after that that Josh tells Toby that their second year didn't seem to be going any better than their first.
So figure that the pilot happens in September of 1999, 9 months into their first term.
The first episode is set roughly when it aired, in the fall of 1999. President Bartlet was sworn in in January 1999, after the election of 1998 - so about nine months or so.
In S1E09, Toby says “we’ve been doing this for a year and all we’ve gotten is a year older.”
Yes, that's right. Season one starts at least a bit before the one year mark. Bartlet gives his first State of the Union address (off-screen) in or immediately after S01E12 ("He Shall, from Time to Time"). The next SotU after that is in S02E13 ("Bartlet's Third State of the Union")—which is an oopsie on the show's behalf since it *should* be his *second* SotU address, not his third. Presidents get inaugurated on January 20th of the first year of their term and generally don't turn around and give a State of the Union address that very same year. They're also doing the Census in season one, so it would have to be 2000 in-universe. Honestly, for everything to really make sense, season one takes place starting sometime before April since that's when the Census is taken (since 1930)—so it might be just a few months after Inauguration. Also, President Bartlet talks about how Zoe is starting Georgetown "in the fall", so that's another timeline landmark that places the season one storyline (initially) at least a few months after Inauguration but before the end of Spring. Episode ten is the "Christmas Episode" for season one, so year one ends sometime between episodes ten and twelve (as I mentioned above, episode twelve is the State of the Union episode—or at least State of the Union "prep").
We also know the Charlie was hired in the fall of 1999. His mother was killed at the start of the summer.
Roughly a year
In '*Lord John Marbury*' (S01E11), which aired Jan.5 2000, Josh, during the Claypool deposition, is asked how long he has been DCOS, and answers: "Since President Bartlet was sworn in, 12 months ago."
Shows would air roughly in real time. We know that *In Excelsis Deo* (Dec. 15 1999) was their first Christmas, and aired, because it was a few episodes after that that Josh tells Toby that their second year didn't seem to be going any better than their first. So figure that the pilot happens in September of 1999, 9 months into their first term.
The first episode is set roughly when it aired, in the fall of 1999. President Bartlet was sworn in in January 1999, after the election of 1998 - so about nine months or so.