Character

Dalai Lama

revered elusive symbolic

The Dalai Lama surges into Leo McGarry's strategic arsenal as the ghost of a masterstroke from his Labor Secretary tenure. Beijing slams doors on presidential contact; White House cracks one open via low-level parley, luring Bartlet into feigned serendipity. This invoked ruse electrifies Josh's shock, blueprints the Konanov gambit, and etches the Dalai Lama as timeless cipher for sly diplomacy—Beijing's pariah morphs into leverage, morality frays at the hinges, past ploy ignites present brinkmanship.

3 appearances

Geopolitical Diplomacy

Dalai Lama's Journey

A timeline through the narrative

3 moments

S2E6 · The Lame Duck Congress

Margaret's Slow Protest Quashed; Leo and Josh Devise Konanov 'Accident'

Neutral emblem of diplomacy

Cited in Leo's Labor Secretary anecdote as precedent for 'accidental' low-level meet ploy to enable covert POTUS contact, blueprinting Konanov strategy.

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S2E6 · The Lame Duck Congress

Leo's 'Dalai Lama' Ploy Shocks Josh Amid Lame-Duck Ethics Clash

Neutral historical exemplar

Dalai Lama cited by Leo as blueprint for ploy: low-level meet with open door for Presidential 'wander-by,' normalizing sly diplomacy.

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S2E6 · The Lame Duck Congress

Margaret's Slow-Type Protest and Donna's 'Beard' Recruitment

Neutral historical reference

Dalai Lama invoked by Leo as past Labor Secretary precedent for staging 'accidental' Presidential encounters via open-door low-level meetings, blueprinting the Konanov ruse.

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Affiliation

Bartlet Administration (Executive Office of the President)

Executive governance, West Wing operations, presidential communications, crisis management, and logistical coordination