Art, Orders, and a Political Landmine
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Mrs. Landingham and President Bartlet discuss selecting artwork from the National Gallery for the White House, revealing Bartlet's playful yet distracted demeanor.
Bartlet expresses his frustration with the overwhelming tasks of his new presidency, including signing Executive Orders he doesn't fully understand.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Anxious and professional; urgently seeking to alert senior staff while managing the embarrassment of interrupting a private moment.
C.J. appears at the door, apologizes for intruding, and delivers the crucial discovery: a reporter connected to Rooker and a damaging transcript. She reads the quoted line, framing the comment as politically explosive and abruptly ending the levity in the room.
- • Inform the President and Leo immediately about the transcript
- • Establish the credibility of the reporter and the danger of the quote
- • Trigger an immediate staff response to assess and contain damage
- • Speed of disclosure matters more than preserving a momentary decorum
- • Staff must be forthright about damaging information even when it intrudes on private time
- • A reporter's local tie to Rooker increases the transcript's credibility
Pleasant, focused on the small task at hand, mildly amused by Bartlet's tangents, then quietly discomfited as the mood tightens.
Mrs. Landingham calmly leads the art-selection conversation, names specific prints and institutions, and gently challenges Bartlet's impatience; her domestic steadiness contrasts the fragile order that shatters when C.J. brings bad news.
- • Find a tasteful print to hang in the Oval
- • Keep the President engaged in ordinary, stabilizing routines
- • Small domestic rituals restore normalcy amid political chaos
- • Tasteful art confers dignity and continuity to the office
Bemused and impatient on the surface; distracted and quietly frustrated by administrative overload, shifting to sardonic disbelief when the transcript surfaces.
Bartlet trades light barbs with Mrs. Landingham about pictures, blurts out that he's signing six executive orders he doesn't understand, attempts to keep banter alive, then pivots to angered incredulity and irony when C.J. delivers the Rooker transcript.
- • Maintain a familiar, calming private ritual with Mrs. Landingham
- • Get through meeting obligations without losing control of the room
- • Assess the political significance of the newly revealed transcript
- • The presidency requires juggling dull administrative tasks with higher-level leadership
- • Small private rituals (art selection) matter for sanity and optics
- • A damaging transcript can instantly change the tone and stakes of the day
Implicated and exposed in absentia; the scene forces his past remarks into the present political frame.
Rooker is absent but is the subject of the transcript C.J. reads; his past words become the immediate political liability that shifts the room from domestic to defensive posture.
- • (Inferred) Defend reputation and explain past remarks
- • (Inferred) Avoid confirmation hearings derailed by damaging quotes
- • (Inferred) Past pragmatic statements can be re-framed as politically dangerous
- • (Inferred) Local endorsements or views may be misread as official policy
Not directly observed; implied professional curiosity and intent to surface a politically consequential remark.
The reporter is not on screen but is described by C.J. as having introduced himself, served on a city council with Rooker in Miami, and expressed support for Rooker's position — positioning him as the discoverer and conveyor of the damaging quote.
- • Report a politically relevant transcript linking Rooker to racial profiling
- • Leverage personal connection for credibility and a scoop
- • The public interest is served by exposing controversial past statements
- • Local ties between reporter and subject strengthen the reporting
Alert and concerned, moving from procedural focus to crisis-management mode as new information arrives.
Leo storms in with businesslike urgency to run through the executive orders; listens as C.J. outlines the reporter's link to Rooker, registering concern and preparing mentally to shift from internal review to political damage-control.
- • Ensure the President understands and signs appropriate executive documents
- • Contain any political fallout from Rooker's transcript
- • Prepare the team for immediate damage-control actions
- • Rapid, disciplined staff response prevents small problems from becoming disasters
- • Political vulnerabilities must be triaged quickly and ruthlessly
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The DaVinci print 'Madonna and Child with a Pomegranate' is presented verbally by Mrs. Landingham as one of the loanable options from the National Gallery; it functions as a prop in the banter, symbolizing normalcy and the domesticity of the Oval before the crisis interrupts.
Botticelli's 'Adoration of the Magi' is named as another loanable option during the lighthearted selection. It helps establish the ritualized domestic moment and the President's attempt to cling to ordinary decisions amid administrative overload.
Bartlet mentions signing six Executive Orders he doesn't understand; later Leo arrives expressly to 'run through these Executive Orders.' The orders function as the immediate administrative burden framing Bartlet's distraction and providing a tangible symbol of presidential overload.
The transcript of Rooker's remarks is the catalytic object: C.J. reports its discovery and quotes a line indicating Rooker's praise of racial profiling. The document converts private banter into public liability and sets the staff on a defensive trajectory.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The Smithsonian is named as an alternative source for prints, broadening the pool of cultural artifacts the White House could request; its invocation amplifies the domestic ritual into a matter of institutional coordination.
The National Gallery is referenced as the source of potential prints for the Oval; its mention supplies cultural legitimacy and normal administrative options the President might tap to humanize the office.
Organizations Involved
Institutional presence and influence
The Smithsonian (as organization) is invoked as an additional institutional source for Oval art loans; it functions narratively to expand the President's benign, cultural options before the political emergency intrudes.
The National Gallery (as organization) is referenced as the lender of potential artwork for the Oval; its invocation supplies cultural gravitas and a low-stakes example of everyday presidential decision-making that is interrupted by higher-stakes politics.
The Conservative Christian Magazine figures as the employer of the reporter who discovered and publicized Rooker's remarks; it operates as the vector by which local political history reaches national scrutiny in the Oval.
Miami City Council appears only as the prior workplace that connects the reporter and Rooker; this local government's mention serves to bolster the reporter's credibility and the authenticity of the transcript.
Law enforcement is the subject of Rooker's quoted line; it functions as the institutional arena where the moral and policy implications of the transcript will cause friction and political risk for the administration.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Bill Stark's revelation about Rooker leads directly to C.J. uncovering and reporting the critical transcripts."
"Bill Stark's revelation about Rooker leads directly to C.J. uncovering and reporting the critical transcripts."
"Bartlet's earlier acknowledgment of Rooker's gravity sets up his later acceptance of responsibility."
"Bartlet's earlier acknowledgment of Rooker's gravity sets up his later acceptance of responsibility."
"Bartlet's earlier acknowledgment of Rooker's gravity sets up his later acceptance of responsibility."
Key Dialogue
"BARTLET: "I'm meeting with the leadership, I'm signing six Executive Orders I don't yet understand...""
"C.J.: "The reporter said that he liked Rooker's position on racial profiling.""
"BARTLET: "It's our second day, how do you think it's going so far?""