Mother Teresa

altruistic humanitarian selfless

Toby Ziegler summons Mother Teresa's legacy to ridicule a foreign policy doctrine merging moral imperatives with military power. During a tense debate in his office, Will pushes Bartlet's old values-driven language amid the Khundu crisis; Toby snaps it embodies 'Mother Theresa with first-strike capabilities.' She personifies selfless humanitarianism—the Missionaries of Charity founder who aided Calcutta's dying—now comically weaponized. Toby deploys her as a foil to expose the dangers of idealism unbound by realism.

2 appearances

Also known as: Mother Theresa

Mother Teresa's Journey

A timeline through the narrative

2 moments

S4E14 · Inauguration Part I

Recovered Doctrine — Values, Force, and Khundu

Not an emotional actor here; functions as a rhetorical foil to expose irony.

Invoked metaphorically by Toby ('Like Mother Theresa with first-strike capabilities') to highlight the dangerous incongruity of combining pure humanitarianism with military force.

View full event

S4E14 · Inauguration Part I

Who Owns the Doctrine?

Not applicable — used as rhetorical contrast to highlight perceived danger when moralism is paired with militarism.

Mother Teresa is invoked metaphorically by Toby as the foil for the proposed doctrine; she is not present but her moral authority is weaponized rhetorically to expose a perceived contradiction.

View full event