Seymour Little

technocratic pragmatic oppositional concise

Seymour Little serves as the trucking industry’s onstage management representative, translating corporate competitiveness concerns into terse, technical testimony during high‑stakes Roosevelt Room negotiations. He frames disputes around cost structures and market displacement by FedEx/UPS, rail, and air, resists measures he judges inflationary or legally precarious (including nationalization), and maintains a controlled, oppositional posture. Little operates as a pragmatic industry spokesman whose loyalty runs to sectoral viability and fiscal stability, repeatedly clashing with labor and pressing the administration to weigh economic trade‑offs.

6 appearances

Also known as: Mr. Little, Seymour, Little

Seymour Little's Journey

A timeline through the narrative

6 moments

S1E7 · The State Dinner

Midnight Ultimatum: Leo Breaks the Stalemate

Defensive and anxious — trying to translate economic pressures into policy reasons to resist labor's demands.

Seymour Little speaks as management's technical spokesman, laying out competition arguments (FedEx, UPS, rail, airlines) and warning that higher wage costs would undercut the industry's ability to compete.

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S1E7 · The State Dinner

Standing Orders: Bartlet Breaks the Union Standoff

Controlled and obstinate — measured surface calm masking determination to defend management's proposal.

Seymour Little responds tersely to Russo's charge with 'I disagree,' embodying a short, stubborn management stance; he remains the pragmatic counterpoint, refusing rhetorical escalation and signaling that management will not …

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S1E7 · The State Dinner

Bartlet Breaks the Deadlock

Weary pragmatism — tired of the back‑and‑forth but focused on technical or economic arguments rather than emotive appeals.

Seymour Little, representing management/industry interests, responds bluntly that he disagrees with the union's framing and reports to the President that the negotiation is at an impasse; he remains composed, concise, …

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S1E7 · The State Dinner

Midnight Ultimatum: Bartlet Threatens to Nationalize the Truckers

Alarmed, indignant, and incredulous—trying to use expertise and precedent to blunt the President's rhetorical move.

Seymour Little, the trucking industry representative, is interrupted mid-briefing, tries to reclaim speaking time, objects to the legality and prudence of nationalization, and registers incredulity and alarm as Bartlet escalates …

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S4E21 · Life on Mars

Double Leak: NASA Suppression and DOJ Settlement Force Leo's Hand

Not present; implicated as part of the informed group (inferred).

Seymour Little appears in Leo's roll-call of officials who knew about the settlement — his inclusion helps define the leak's narrow scope and political reach.

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S4E21 · Life on Mars

Leo Converts Rumor into Crisis: Mars, Money and the Leak

Implicated and potentially anxious (inferred).

Seymour Little is cited in Leo's roll-call of those who knew the settlement, making him part of the small leak-suspect circle; he is not physically present but his name narrows …

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