Leslie Knope got her start in politics as the deputy director of the Pawnee Parks & Recreation Department, serving under the vehemently anti-government Ron Swanson.
Her first major undertaking was trying to fill a dangerous hole in Pawnee, Indiana, after Andy Dwyer (Chris Pratt) had fallen into the pit and broke his legs.
She was always trying to do good in her community. In Season 3, for instance, she brought a famous (for Pawnee) miniature horse to the Harvest Festival, hoping it would help her raise money for the town.
Knope eventually ran for city councilor, running on a pro-government platform, as she believes her function as a government employee is to serve the people.
She was elected city councilor on Season 4 by 21 votes, and her new mission was to make Pawnee healthier.
Among her proposals was a soda tax, which she thought would help lower her town’s obesity rate.
Despite her own feelings toward her hometown’s arch-rival, Leslie saved Eagleton from bankruptcy by merging the two towns together.
She was also was a big fan of being prepared, as exhibited when she led her town through an emergency preparedness drill (launched, of course, by her arch-rival Jeremy Jamm).
Throughout, she of course always stayed committed to cleaning up the parks.
But the citizens didn’t like her changes and in Season 5 she was voted out of office in a recall election. She would then rejoin her old friends in the Parks Department.
But Knope was recruited by the federal government to serve a greater purpose — to become deputy director of the Midwestern branch of the National Parks Service.
Knope then set her mind on a new goal: to bring a national park to her beloved town of Pawnee, Indiana.
But what’s next for the hopelessly optomistic politician? How will it all end? She did always hope to become the first female president of the United States.
