He Shall, From Time To Time...
President Josiah Bartlet races to deliver a decisive State of the Union while hiding a feverish collapse and a long‑concealed diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, juggling a potential India–Pakistan flashpoint and staff political crises that could cost him everything.
The story opens with the President standing at the podium, reading from the TelePrompTer until a flub — saying “million” instead of “billion” — and visible perspiration signal that something is wrong. Bartlet coughs, staggers, and collapses after a broken Steuben glass, leaving his senior staff scrambling: Josh, C.J., Toby, Sam and Leo race from television monitors to the Oval. A Secret Service agent calls, “Liberty's down. We're in the Oval,” and the private panic detonates into the public calendar: the State of the Union looms in less than two days.
Medical reality sharpens. Admiral Hackett records a 101.9°F temperature and presses for a cardiogram, bloodwork, and chest x‑ray; Bartlet insists he has the flu. Abbey returns from Andrews, switches into doctor mode, orders IV saline and Flumadine, and probes memories of previous episodes. She reveals to Leo — under pressure and with tearful integrity — that Bartlet suffers from multiple sclerosis, a relapsing–remitting course managed with Betaseron and vulnerable to fever and stress. Abbott to the bone, Abbey warns that a fever could turn life‑threatening.
Political reality collides with private fragility. In the Situation Room Bartlet absorbs urgent intelligence: Indian troops have moved toward Pakistan along a cease‑fire line; Bazin has placed nuclear command control in the field. The Joint Chiefs prepare B‑1s and reconnaissance. Lord Marbury, the British ambassador, advises “buy them off” with infrastructure and economic carrots; Bartlet and Leo craft a stick‑and‑carrot policy — threaten sanctions and asset seizures unless recon photos show Indian divisions retreating within 24 hours.
Back in the West Wing, staff dynamics ignite. Josh and Sam spar with Toby about the speech line, “the era of big government is over.” Toby insists on reclaiming an affirmative case for government’s role; Josh initially pushes the populist jab but yields. Sam, who wrote an eloquent supportive statement for Leo, disobeys orders in the name of loyalty; Leo explodes, insisting that if he falls he will fall alone. Leo then faces his own public reckoning: reporters press him at a podium and he reads a confession — he voluntarily admitted himself to Sierra‑Tucson in 1993 for alcoholism and Valium addiction. He bares the private wound to blunt an incoming story and to control the fallout, declaring himself a recovering alcoholic and drug addict.
Interpersonal threads braid through the crisis. Donna and Josh enact the weird practicalities of governing — “pick a guy” from the line of succession — and Josh nominates Roger Tribby, the quiet Secretary of Agriculture, to stay in the residence so the chain of command survives a catastrophic attack on the Capitol. C.J. and Danny finally consummate a long, fraught tension with a decisive kiss; Sam and Mallory move their awkward flirtation forward with an impulsive public kiss; Abbey and Bartlet trade flirtation, tenderness and professional urgency as she tends his fever. These small human combustions underscore the day’s moral arithmetic: love, loyalty, and secrecy all hold the building together.
As the clock tightens, Lord Marbury carries photographs that appear to show Indian units in retreat; Marbury hurries to Rikki, the Indian Prime Minister, to broker a settlement and to demand infrastructure concessions as the “carrot.” Bartlet demands recon photos within 24 hours and orders Fitzwallace to make clear the economic and military penalties if the movement does not occur. Meanwhile Bartlet practices lines with staff, ribbing them about typographical errors and poking fun at the TelePrompTer, even as he rehearses the constitutional duty he quotes from a Latin translation of the Constitution: “He shall, from time to time, give to the Congress information on the state of the union.”
The play ends on a tightly controlled mixture of triumph and threat. Bartlet outfits Roger Tribby with emergency instructions — how to appoint acting officials, scramble commanders, bring the National Guard — and places the weight of continuity on a man who happens to be the agriculture secretary. The staff files into the Mural Room; friends and aides clap for Tobias Ziegler and Sam Seaborn, the speechwriters. Bartlet, still fragile but willed forward, takes the steps toward the podium to give the State of the Union, having held his private illness close while organizing national deterrence and managing political pain.
Throughout, the episode propels two converging themes: the moral cost of concealment and the craft of governance under strain. Bartlet’s secrecy about MS — born from an urgent desire to be elected and to lead — fractures trust but preserves operational focus; Leo’s public confession models a different, sacrificial transparency. Rhetoric and reality collide in the speechroom debates: whether to proclaim the end of big government or reclaim its capacity to do good. International brinksmanship forces the administration to calibrate coercion and concession, while the human scenes — a broken pitcher, a wife’s bedside needle, a private kiss in an office — keep the stakes painfully intimate. The West Wing locks public spectacle and private vulnerability together, showing leadership as a choreography of disclosure, command and care where the fate of lives and alliances turns, quite literally, on a physician’s thermometer and a secretary’s ability to “jiggle the handle.”
Events in This Episode
The narrative beats that drive the story
President Bartlet, rehearsing the State of the Union, falters dramatically, his words stumbling, his body betraying a feverish state. Josh and C.J. watch, their concern a tight knot of apprehension, as Bartlet dismisses his obvious illness with characteristic wit, even joking about 'euthanasia' instead of taking his prescribed pills. This forced levity cracks under the mounting pressure of typos and misspoken lines, exposing his profound fatigue. The tension snaps when a sharp CRASH echoes from the Oval Office. Staffers rush in to find the President collapsed, unconscious, the shattered Steuben glass pitcher a stark symbol of his broken facade. The Secret Service agent's terse declaration, 'Liberty's down. We're in the Oval,' detonates the private crisis into a national emergency, setting the stage for a desperate race against time and truth. The immediate threat to the President's health collides violently with the looming public spectacle, plunging the West Wing into chaos. This opening salvo establishes the central conflict: a leader's hidden vulnerability against the immense demands of his office.
During a late-night State of the Union run-through, President Bartlet's practiced composure frays under fever and exhaustion. Small misreads and teleprompter typos spark nervous corrections and wry deflection; staffers watch …
During a late-night State of the Union run-through, President Bartlet’s practiced humor and deflection crack into visible illness. Josh and C.J., watching on a monitor, press him in the hallway …
During pre-State of the Union preparations, a seemingly small copyedit explodes into an ideological fight: Toby demands the speech defend government’s role while Josh pushes a populist, 'big government is …
In the Situation Room the Joint Chiefs brief President Bartlet and Leo on a dangerous escalation along the India–Pakistan cease‑fire line. Photo‑recon shows India moving new units to the border …
President Bartlet enters the Situation Room and, faced with a briefing on troubling Indian troop movements and Pakistan's nuclear posturing, deliberately deflects with an offhand question about the Celtics. Admiral …
A breezy, flirtatious moment between Mandy and Danny over Danny’s beard is abruptly shut down when C.J. enters, reasserts proprietorship of her office, and brusquely ejects Danny. Mandy calls out …
A private, flirtatious moment in C.J.'s office snaps into a political emergency when Mandy bluntly tells C.J. that Leo's story will 'break tomorrow' and that it's already on the Internet. …
Bartlet, now conscious but still feverish at 101.9°F, defiantly dismisses Admiral Hackett's medical recommendations for a cardiogram and blood work, insisting it's 'just the flu.' His bravado cracks as he nearly collapses again, a stark visual of his failing strength. The international arena demands attention: in the Situation Room, Bartlet learns of India and Pakistan's escalating tensions, with Bazin moving nuclear command to the field, forcing him to confront a global flashpoint while battling his own body. Abbey Bartlet arrives from Andrews, immediately seizing control, her doctor's instincts overriding all protocol. She orders IV saline and Flumadine, her professional urgency masking a deeper, personal fear. Her quiet, insistent questions about past fainting spells—Nantucket, her parents' house—begin to unravel the long-held secret of his true condition. As Bartlet finally succumbs to sleep, Abbey's silent, tearful struggle reveals the profound, hidden burden she carries, a testament to years of concealment and the ever-present threat of his illness. This act plunges the audience deeper into the dual crises, personal and geopolitical, while tightening the emotional screws on Abbey.
Margaret confronts Leo about why she and he were omitted from a crucial meeting, invoking constitutional protocol while exposing Leo's evasiveness. Rather than explain, Leo shrugs the legalism aside and …
C.J. bursts into Leo's office to confirm Abbey is returning and delivers a cold, political fact: the story about Leo's past is already leaking online. The exchange condenses private panic …
In the President's bedroom Bartlet continues to manage crises by phone even as Admiral Hackett draws blood and Abbey arrives to take clinical command. Bartlet deflects with charm and minimization; …
Abbey arrives in the President's bedroom and immediately converts intimacy into clinical command: she reads his vitals, orders an IV and Flumadine, and administers an injection while Jed Bartlet keeps …
The West Wing hums with the grim practicalities of crisis management. Josh and Donna navigate the 'designated survivor' protocol, selecting the obscure Secretary of Agriculture, Roger Tribby, a chilling reminder of the potential for a catastrophic attack on the Capitol. Leo McGarry, facing his own public reckoning, stoically prepares for a press conference where he will confess his past struggles with alcoholism and Valium addiction, a courageous act of preemptive transparency. His resolve hardens during a furious confrontation with Sam and Josh, who drafted an unauthorized statement of support for him. Leo, fiercely independent, insists he will 'go down alone,' refusing to let his personal crisis compromise the President or his staff. Meanwhile, Abbey continues her vigilant care for Bartlet, his persistent dizziness and her unwavering concern underscoring the severity of his undisclosed illness. The act culminates in a devastating, tearful confession: Abbey reveals to Leo that Bartlet suffers from multiple sclerosis, a relapsing-remitting course exacerbated by fever and stress, transforming the medical emergency into a profound betrayal of trust and a life-threatening secret now shared. This revelation detonates the central conflict, exposing the moral cost of concealment.
In a brisk hallway exchange Josh and Donna cold‑assign Roger Tribby — the obscure Secretary of Agriculture — as the 'designated survivor,' a wry, chilling ritual that underlines the very …
In a brisk hallway-to-Roosevelt Room exchange, Toby squares off with Congressman Burns and colleagues over the State of the Union's tone and scope. Burns warns that parts of the speech …
Leo silently kills the television feed—an almost reflexive attempt to close off the public narrative—just before Margaret and his daughter Mallory enter. Mallory, wanting to support him, reveals she’s seen …
In Leo's office, a private, tense moment turns public: after furtively killing the TV feed, Leo is confronted by his daughter Mallory, who tells him she has seen a moving, …
The profound revelation of Bartlet's MS diagnosis to Leo shatters their long-standing trust, forcing a raw, emotional confrontation. Bartlet, still in bed, explains his 'relapsing-remitting' course and the triggers of fever and stress, admitting his desperate ambition to be President fueled the seven-year concealment. Leo grapples with the betrayal, lamenting the lost opportunity for true friendship, a wound laid bare. Simultaneously, the administration confronts the India-Pakistan crisis with Lord Marbury's pragmatic 'stick and carrot' diplomacy: offering infrastructure development as an economic incentive while threatening severe sanctions and military action if Indian troops do not retreat within 24 hours. This dual strategy calibrates coercion and concession on the global stage. Back in the West Wing, Toby Ziegler fights fiercely for the soul of the State of the Union speech, challenging the populist 'era of big government is over' line. He champions an affirmative case for government's capacity to do good, ultimately swaying Bartlet and Josh. This act sees the President and his inner circle begin to process the weight of the secret while simultaneously orchestrating complex international and domestic policy, showcasing the immense pressure of governance under duress.
A warm, teasing moment between Abbey and Mallory is abruptly closed when Leo arrives and Mallory leaves, shifting the room from familial lightness to guarded urgency. Alone, Abbey and Leo …
In Leo McGarry's office a domestic, joking moment with Mallory collapses into a private crisis: Abbey, finally unable to contain herself, tells Leo that the President has long concealed a …
A domestic, low-stakes morning — Bartlet watching a soap and trading light banter with Charlie — is ruptured when Leo arrives and Bartlet quietly confesses a long-hidden diagnosis of multiple …
In an intimate, explosive bedroom confrontation, President Josiah Bartlet admits to Leo McGarry that he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis seven years earlier and has been concealing it to protect …
In the President's bedroom a private rupture comes to a head: Bartlet finally admits his long‑hidden MS diagnosis and justifies secrecy with the blunt line, 'I wanted to be the …
A short, combustible policy meeting erupts into a culture‑war confrontation when Congressman Burns attacks the President's proposed 50% NEA increase. Toby answers with dry fiscal perspective and international comparison, then …
In the Roosevelt Room Toby publicly corrects a Congressman who clumsily misattributes canonical works while arguing against N.E.A. funding. Toby's brusque factual correction — naming Rodgers & Hammerstein, Arthur Miller …
The final hours before the State of the Union pulse with a tightly controlled mixture of triumph and lingering threat. Personal connections, long simmering, finally ignite: Sam and Mallory share an impulsive, public kiss, resolving their awkward flirtation, while C.J. and Danny consummate their fraught tension with a decisive, passionate embrace. These human combustions underscore the day's moral arithmetic: love and loyalty holding the building together. Diplomacy yields results as Lord Marbury delivers reconnaissance photographs confirming Indian troops are retreating, de-escalating the India-Pakistan flashpoint. Bartlet, still fragile but willed forward, commends Toby and Sam for their extraordinary speechwriting, acknowledging the craft of governance under strain. In a moment of profound gravity, Bartlet privately instructs Roger Tribby, the Secretary of Agriculture and designated survivor, on the precise protocols for assuming the presidency in the event of a catastrophic attack on the Capitol. He imparts the weight of continuity, including the poignant detail about having to 'jiggle the handle' on the residence bathroom, grounding the immense responsibility in intimate, human terms. As the staff files into the Mural Room, Bartlet, having held his private illness close while organizing national deterrence and managing political pain, takes the steps toward the podium, embodying leadership as a choreography of disclosure, command, and care. The narrative culminates in a precarious triumph, where the fate of lives and alliances turns on a physician’s thermometer and a secretary’s ability to “jiggle the handle.”
In the President's bedroom Lord Marbury lays out a blunt realpolitik plan — the 'carrot' of infrastructure and technology assistance to bend India away from escalation — and Bartlet and …
In the President's bedroom, a brisk policy and moral triangulation plays out: Lord Marbury outlines a pragmatic "carrot-and-stick" approach to the India crisis, then Toby and Josh arrive to settle …
As the West Wing holds its breath before the State of the Union, private tensions bleed into the workplace. Josh teases C.J. about Danny flirting with Mandy; Sam is left …
Waiting for the State of the Union, Sam admits aloud that his relationship with Mallory is stuck in ambiguity. Mallory confronts him about his public defense of her father, then …
Abbey, in her dual role as First Lady and physician, fusses over a feverish President Bartlet — repeatedly insisting on one more temperature check. Bartlet deflects with light, self‑deprecating humor, …
In a small, intimate beat in the President's bedroom Abbey insists on one more temperature check; Bartlet deflects with humor and a kiss. The mood shifts when Abbey, reading the …
Alone in C.J.'s office late at night, C.J. reframes a long-standing personal impulse as a pragmatic, work-driven tactic: she'll kiss Danny once to 'get past it' and return to her …
C.J. deliberately stages a quick, pragmatic kiss with Danny in her office at night to purge a distracting attraction and reclaim professional focus. Their banter — light, self-aware and slightly …
A brief, human moment dissolves international tension: in the Mural Room Abbey and Lord Marbury trade wry, intimate banter while Bartlet and Leo arrive with photographs proving Indian troop withdrawals. …
In a brief, humanizing counterpoint to the high-stakes prep, President Bartlet stops the room to publicly praise his speechwriters—using wit, warmth, and a little self-deprecation to steady nerves and rally …
Standing in his office doorway to fetch his coat, Leo pauses and listens as President Bartlet converts a constitutional drill into a moral test: rather than ask about résumé or …
President Bartlet reduces the enormity of the presidency to a human, practical lesson: how to use the Oval bathroom handle — and then tests Roger's sense of loyalty by asking …