From Doctrine to Deployment: Bartlet Announces Khundu Intervention and Commissions Will
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Bartlet enters the room with Charlie and greets his senior staff, setting the stage for an important announcement.
Bartlet acknowledges the criticism of his new doctrine but celebrates its seriousness with his team.
Bartlet reveals the deployment of military units to Khundu, turning the doctrine into action.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Warmly amused and protective of staff camaraderie; using humor to defuse tension.
Josh contributes light-hearted, affectionate banter about deputyship, helps domesticate the moment and ease Will's disorientation while signaling collegial support.
- • Put Will at ease and normalize the promotion.
- • Maintain team cohesion under stress.
- • Lighten the mood so staff can focus on next steps.
- • Humor helps manage the psychological load of high-pressure moments.
- • Staff unity is crucial during a policy-to-action pivot.
- • Personal relationships underpin effective White House teams.
Playfully attentive, proud of colleagues and slightly giddy at the ceremonial atmosphere.
Donna whispers to Josh, reacts with light amusement to the deputy anecdotes, and is present during the commissioning and the President's announcement, embodying junior-staff immediacy.
- • Support Josh and the communications team socially and logistically.
- • Absorb the staffing change and anticipate its practical effects.
- • Stay connected to the flow of information for follow-up tasks.
- • Relationships and loyalty structure how the office functions day-to-day.
- • Being well-informed positions her to serve effectively.
- • Ceremony is also a morale event for junior staff.
Supportive and alert—pleased for Will but keenly aware of the press implications of the deployments.
C.J. stands among the group, applauds Will, shares the light banter about deputyship, and absorbs the Khundu order—immediately parsing its communications consequences even if not speaking policy at length.
- • Protect the administration's messaging cohesion as a new doctrine becomes action.
- • Prepare for rapid-response press guidance following the military order.
- • Support staff morale while converting the order into talking points.
- • Language and definitions will shape public reaction and Congressional scrutiny.
- • Immediate deployments will require tight, legalistic communications framing.
- • Moral conviction must be balanced with operational clarity in public statements.
Not present; his persona provides contextual gravitas for Will's credibility.
Tom Bailey is invoked by Bartlet to confer credibility on Will through family military prestige; he is not physically present but functions as reputational ballast.
- • (Implied) Represent a legacy of military leadership tied to the Bailey name.
- • Provide indirect legitimacy to Will's appointment.
- • Family legacy informs public perception of competence.
- • Military titles carry persuasive weight in security decisions.
Not on-screen; implied readiness and obligation to implement presidential directives.
Percy Fitzwallace is named as the military official tasked with executing Bartlet's order (via UCOMM); he is not present but his staff and command will mobilize the units Bartlet orders.
- • Execute presidential orders through the military chain of command.
- • Safely and effectively deploy forces to accomplish mission objectives.
- • Civilian leadership sets military missions that must be translated into operations.
- • Chain of command and procedural discipline are paramount.
Not depicted directly; referenced as a political variable in personnel decisions.
Sam is referenced as part of Bartlet's personnel calculus (his promotion contingent on losing the 47th), contributing to the background logic for Will's appointment though he is not present.
- • Serve the administration in the role offered if circumstances dictate.
- • Maintain continuity in counsel to the President.
- • Staff appointments are entangled with electoral realities.
- • Experienced counsel must be positioned where it's most needed.
Quietly approving and professionally satisfied that a recommended staff appointment was accepted.
Toby is present as the sponsor of Will's promotion, watches the commissioning, and stands by as Bartlet explains the source of the order; he receives the implicit confirmation of his staffing choice.
- • Ensure communications leadership is staffed with a reliable deputy.
- • See that the President's doctrine is translated into disciplined messaging and action.
- • Maintain control over how the new appointment is presented publicly.
- • Staff structure matters for handling the coming political fallout.
- • A competent deputy will stabilize communications under crisis.
- • Procedural correctness (commission, signature) strengthens authority.
Professional and focused—proud to facilitate the procedural aspects of both the commissioning and the presidential order.
Charlie escorts the President into the room, hands Bartlet the certificate, pen, and stamp, assists with formalities, and facilitates the quick transition from ceremony to crisis instruction.
- • Ensure the formalities are executed without error.
- • Support the President's movement and timing during a sensitive moment.
- • Keep the room's logistics smooth so decisions can proceed.
- • Correct procedures underpin the office's legitimacy.
- • Small, precise actions (handing a pen, a stamp) help translate intent into tangible authority.
- • Discretion and reliability are essential to the aide role.
Resolute with a flash of private warmth; playful toward staff but solemn and unflinching when confronting human suffering.
Josiah Bartlet enters the private room, banters about pundits, formally designates and signs Will's commission, stamps it with the Seal, reads an intelligence summary aloud, and issues immediate deployment orders for Khundu.
- • Formally install trusted staff (Will) to solidify communications team.
- • Translate moral doctrine into immediate, tangible action to protect civilians.
- • Project calm and control to senior staff while initiating military movement.
- • The President must act when civilian lives are at stake.
- • Public rhetoric (doctrine) must be backed by operational commitment to maintain credibility.
- • Ceremony and ceremony's symbols (seal, signature) matter for legitimacy even during crisis.
Pragmatically supportive; ready to manage administrative and interbranch consequences of the order.
Leo watches the commissioning and the order, offers a stabilizing presence; his brief response to Will ('That's you too') confirms political and personnel continuity as troops are ordered.
- • Ensure the chain of command and administrative follow-through for the deployments.
- • Protect the President and staff from avoidable political damage.
- • Reinforce morale and clarity among senior aides.
- • Operational orders must be supported by executive staff to be effective.
- • Political fallout is manageable if leadership shows unity and competence.
- • Personnel appointments matter in crisis management.
Suffering and brave; their plight induces moral outrage and urgency in the President.
Khundunese civilians (represented by the line 'Mothers are standing in front of tanks') function as the moral catalyst; they are the absent, vulnerable beneficiaries of the President's decision.
- • Survive the violence and protect their children.
- • Attract international attention sufficient to stop the killing.
- • Their lives and resistance matter morally and should compel outside intervention.
- • Visibility of suffering can prompt action from distant powers.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Bartlet references intelligence on Khundu which may have come from materials in his briefing folder; the folder (and its contained summary/paper) functions as the material trigger that converts rhetoric into an operational order.
Will Bailey's commission certificate is ceremonially signed by the President, handed to Will, and becomes the physical token of his new office—both a morale artifact and a formal authority instrument in the middle of crisis.
Bartlet's pen is handed to him by Charlie for the formal signing; the pen mediates the transfer of presidential intent into written authority during the intimate commission.
The Seal of the United States is applied via a stamp by Bartlet to formalize the commission; symbolically it legitimizes the appointment even as the President issues a consequential military order in the same breath.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The private room provides an intimate, dimly lit setting where celebration and command collide: aides gather for a quiet commissioning, and the President converts doctrine into concrete orders without public fanfare.
Camp Lejeune is referenced as the recent training site for parts of the 22nd M.E.U.; it functions as the logistical and readiness context that makes the urgent deployment plausible.
Organizations Involved
Institutional presence and influence
NATO Allied Forces Europe is invoked indirectly through reference to Tom Bailey's past role, lending prestige and strategic credibility to Will's family background and the administration's security posture.
FOX is invoked as the critical media voice mocking the President's doctrine, providing the adversarial public narrative Bartlet lightly parries before ordering troops.
The 82nd Airborne is explicitly named as one of the deploying units; its presence turns the President's doctrinal language into rapid combat-capable movement and signals a significant escalation.
The United States, as the governing state, is the ultimate actor ordering the deployment; the President's decision activates national military and diplomatic machinery.
The 101st Air Assault (the Screaming Eagles) is named as a lead deploying formation; invoking their nickname adds moral weight and immediate tactical capacity to the order.
The 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit is named as the Marine component assigned to the operation; the reference to their recent training at Camp Lejeune underscores readiness and the human element being committed.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Toby's advocacy for Will's formal appointment directly results in Bartlet announcing Will's promotion, showcasing Toby's influence and recognition of Will's potential."
"Toby's advocacy for Will's formal appointment directly results in Bartlet announcing Will's promotion, showcasing Toby's influence and recognition of Will's potential."
"Will's earlier conversation with the President about the value of Khundunese lives is echoed when Bartlet highlights Will's military family background during his promotion, tying his personal beliefs to his professional role."
"Will's earlier conversation with the President about the value of Khundunese lives is echoed when Bartlet highlights Will's military family background during his promotion, tying his personal beliefs to his professional role."
"Will's earlier conversation with the President about the value of Khundunese lives is echoed when Bartlet highlights Will's military family background during his promotion, tying his personal beliefs to his professional role."
"Bartlet's comparison of wooden soldiers to real soldiers foreshadows his later decision to deploy actual military units, symbolizing the transition from theoretical to real-world action."
"Bartlet's comparison of wooden soldiers to real soldiers foreshadows his later decision to deploy actual military units, symbolizing the transition from theoretical to real-world action."
"Bartlet's defining doctrine on global intervention narratively follows his team's immediate action, culminating in the concrete deployment of military units to Khundu."
"Bartlet's defining doctrine on global intervention narratively follows his team's immediate action, culminating in the concrete deployment of military units to Khundu."
"C.J.'s moral dilemma about intervening in violence is thematically paralleled in Bartlet's decision to deploy military units to Khundu, both grappling with the human cost of action versus inaction."
"C.J.'s moral dilemma about intervening in violence is thematically paralleled in Bartlet's decision to deploy military units to Khundu, both grappling with the human cost of action versus inaction."
"Will's promotion and the military deployment to Khundu are symbolically paralleled in the final scene where Bartlet and his staff walk through the inauguration ball, representing both personal and collective burdens of their decisions."
Key Dialogue
"BARTLET: They're saying I'm rewriting the Constitution on the back of a napkin. They're saying on FOX that a guy who couldn't run a local sheriff's department wants to send troops around the world. They're saying it's liberalism with a grenade launcher. But they're not saying it was badly written, so that's something. And they sure as hell know I was serious, so that's something else."
"BARTLET: William Bailey, reposing special trust and confidence in your integrity, prudence and ability, I designate you to the post of Deputy White House Director of Communications and Special Assistant to the President. And I do authorize you to execute and fulfill the duties of that office with all the powers and privileges and subject to the conditions prescribed."
"BARTLET: You know, it's easy to watch the news and think of Khundunese as either hapless victims or crazed butchers, and it turns out that's not true. I got this intelligence summary this afternoon. 'Mothers are standing in front of tanks.' And we're going to go get their backs. An hour ago, I ordered Fitzwallace to have UCOMM deploy a brigade of the 82nd Airborne, the 101st Air Assault, and a Marine Expeditionary Unit to Khundu to stop the violence."