The West Wing
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Triplehorn

combative aggressive influential adversarial persistent
Senator Triplehorn pressures the Bartlet administration as a sharp Senate adversary. Toby reports Triplehorn leaked to the AP that Josh Lyman doomed a prescription drugs deal. Josh patches up ongoing disputes with him, counters accusations that he secretly aids Vice President Hoynes, and notes Triplehorn's power to stall White House agendas. Leo orders Josh to assure Triplehorn that precinct captain interference stands resolved. His targeted attacks on Josh force rapid damage control across negotiations, leaks, and campaign ground games.
10 appearances

Triplehorn's Journey

A timeline through the narrative

10 moments
S4E9 · Swiss Diplomacy
Rapid Triage — Josh Delegates, Donna Defuses

Not present but positioned as provocateur — confident and adversarial, aiming to damage Josh politically.

Triplehorn is the named source of the accusation (via Toby reading the note); his action — telling the AP Josh is to blame — functions as the external political grenade …

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S4E9 · Swiss Diplomacy
Toby Brings Bad Press — Parks Problem Revealed

Calculating and accusatory by implication; uses public accusation as leverage.

Not present but invoked via Toby's reading of a note — portrayed as the originator of the AP accusation that pins a failed drug deal on Josh, acting as an …

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S4E9 · Swiss Diplomacy
Triplehorn's Ultimatum in the Lobby

Righteously indignant and urgent; plainly worried the party's ideological future is at risk and willing to use pressure.

Senator Triplehorn emerges from a hallway, confronts Josh directly, accuses the White House (and Hoynes) of locking up precinct captains, demands partisanship grounded in principle, and threatens unspecified consequences if …

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S4E9 · Swiss Diplomacy
Policing the Word, Closing the Door

Aggrieved/hostile toward administration (inferred).

Referenced indirectly — Triplehorn is the senator Josh is negotiating with, a political friction point shaping appointment calculations though he does not appear.

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S4E9 · Swiss Diplomacy
Kroft Nomination Dies; Toby Scrambles for Safe Slots

Combative/critical toward the White House (inferred).

Triplehorn is invoked as the adversarial senator Josh is handling; he is off-stage but his stance informs the administration's cautious posture.

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S4E9 · Swiss Diplomacy
Accusation Sparks Political Liability

Aggressive and combative in intention; portrayed as an adversary seeking leverage.

Referenced by Josh and Toby as the senator actively building a case and publicly accusing Josh of working for Hoynes; his actions are the catalytic pressure in the scene.

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S4E9 · Swiss Diplomacy
Gossip Becomes Strategy: Containing Hoynes' Surge

Accusatory and combative (as described), seeking political advantage.

Referenced by Josh and Toby as 'on fire'—actively building a case and ready to use the Rackley anecdote as evidence against Josh and the administration.

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S4E9 · Swiss Diplomacy
Vacation Small Talk Turns Political Knife

Not present; functions as a projected threat causing anxiety in Josh.

Triplehorn is named by Josh as a looming political threat who could 'tie us in knots,' functioning as the specter motivating Josh's urgency; he is not present.

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S4E9 · Swiss Diplomacy
Hoynes' Quiet Undercut

Not present; functions as a rhetorical threat that raises stakes for Josh's plea.

Triplehorn is invoked by Josh as a looming external threat — an antagonistic senator capable of entangling the administration; he is referenced strategically but does not appear.

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S4E9 · Swiss Diplomacy
Leo Takes Charge of the Precinct Crisis

Expectant and possibly suspicious — a stakeholder likely seeking assurance or leverage, now placated by Leo's instruction but still a latent pressure point.

Senator Triplehorn is not present but is the immediate political audience for the decision; Josh asks what to tell him and Leo instructs that the problem be presented as solved, …

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Affiliation

Senate Leadership