The Resignation: Hoynes Walks Away
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Hoynes declares his intention to resign, stunning Bartlet and Leo.
Hoynes explains his resignation is due to legal and political repercussions, including leaking classified information.
Bartlet and Leo attempt to persuade Hoynes to reconsider, citing his political future and the party's needs.
Leo passionately argues that Hoynes is too significant to be taken down by the scandal, urging him to fight.
Hoynes reaffirms his decision to resign, prioritizing his family and the party over his political career.
Bartlet reluctantly accepts Hoynes's decision but asks him to sleep on it, leaving the finality of the resignation uncertain.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Offstage and unreadable in this scene; narratively positioned as opportunistic and decisive.
Suzanne is invoked repeatedly as the source of the disclosures; she does not appear but her forthcoming book functions as the catalytic actor whose actions force Hoynes's confession and resignation.
- • Publish revelations that will expose Hoynes's behavior and sell the book.
- • Maximize the personal and political consequences of the disclosures (implied).
- • The public will be interested in the revelations regardless of counterclaims.
- • Exposure will not be derailed by attempts at denial or cover-up.
Pressed and betrayed on the surface; furious and disappointed but trying to switch to pragmatic, protective leadership beneath the anger.
President Bartlet stands on the portico, alternately pleading, shaming, and strategizing — urging Hoynes to fight, apologize publicly, and to think now about preserving the administration while expressing genuine hurt and disbelief.
- • Convince Hoynes to fight the charges or at least to craft a public apology that preserves political viability.
- • Protect the administration's agenda by preventing an immediate destabilizing resignation if possible.
- • A public, controlled response can blunt the political damage and allow recovery.
- • Hoynes still has political value and should not be abandoned without fight.
Deflated and weary; shame and protective instincts override political ambition, producing a calm, final resolve to step down.
Vice President Hoynes responds quietly and resignedly, admitting he leaked classified information, refusing to deny the charges, and announcing his decision to resign to spare his family and the party further damage.
- • Remove the immediate threat to his family by refusing a public fight.
- • Limit collateral damage to the party and the President by resigning quickly.
- • Public denial will only prolong and amplify the harm to his family and the party.
- • He cannot withstand the sustained personal and political scrutiny required to survive this scandal.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The classified information that Hoynes admits to leaking is the decisive object: it converts political gossip into a criminal admission, frames Suzanne's forthcoming revelations as evidentiary, and turns internal crisis-management into legal and moral reckoning.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The East Wing portico functions as the intimate, exposed setting where private accountability plays out publicly. Its open night air and isolation make the confrontation feel raw and final — removed from cameras yet heavy with institutional consequence.
Macy's window is never physically visited in this scene but is invoked by Leo as shorthand for public voyeurism — the cheap spectacle that will line up to watch a political figure be humiliated.
Organizations Involved
Institutional presence and influence
The White House is the institutional stake-holder whose protocols, phone records, and political capital structure the confrontation. It supplies the evidentiary leverage (call logs), the political need for damage control, and the chain-of-command pressure that shapes Hoynes's choice.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Hoynes's admission of his indiscretions to his staff foreshadows his later decision to resign."
"Hoynes's admission of his indiscretions to his staff foreshadows his later decision to resign."
"Hoynes's admission of his indiscretions to his staff foreshadows his later decision to resign."
"Leo's passionate plea for Hoynes to fight mirrors Hoynes's own internal conflict about resigning."
"Hoynes's isolation at the window symbolizes his political and personal downfall, mirrored by Bartlet's reluctant acceptance of his resignation."
"Hoynes's isolation at the window symbolizes his political and personal downfall, mirrored by Bartlet's reluctant acceptance of his resignation."
"Hoynes's isolation at the window symbolizes his political and personal downfall, mirrored by Bartlet's reluctant acceptance of his resignation."
"Leo's passionate plea for Hoynes to fight mirrors Hoynes's own internal conflict about resigning."
Part of Larger Arcs
Key Dialogue
"LEO: "I'll tell you what, Mr. Vice President. For this moment, tonight, I'm going to be in charge of deciding what matters. 47 phone calls? Did you not know that the White House keeps records of phone calls? Did you not know that? How many times? When did it start?""
"HOYNES: "We're not going to weather this.""
"BARTLET: "You can't resign, John. It's a terrible signal to send.""