Real Soldiers

Real soldiers march in formation across television footage that President Bartlet watches alone in the Oval Office late at night. Their disciplined movement plays alongside a VCR tape of wooden toy soldiers rewinding and marching, creating a stark visual contrast. Bartlet glances back and forth between the screens, absorbing the human reality behind military abstraction. This silent footage prompts his quiet resolve—he picks up the phone and calls Leo McGarry, shifting from reflection to action on policy implications.