Prompter Politics and the Missing Washington Bible
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
President Bartlet mocks C.J. about the inaugural ceremony details while requesting foreign policy text on the prompter.
Charlie informs Bartlet about logistical issues with the George Washington Bible for the inauguration, highlighting the absurdity amidst serious discussions.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Not directly observed; implied aging and quirky judicial temperament.
Not present physically but present as the author of the poetic dissent that becomes a humorous and humanizing beat in the rehearsal; his eccentricity is remarked upon by staff.
- • Influence the Court's jurisprudence (implied).
- • Provide subtext that reveals institutional personality in the presidency's daily life.
- • The judiciary maintains an enduring cultural presence that can surprise executive staff.
- • Legal opinions can carry personality and rhetorical flourish.
Playful outwardly, attentive and steady beneath the banter.
Plays foil and confidante: teases Bartlet, responds to teleprompter cues, listens to legal-metric banter, and receives Charlie's Bible logistics note, remaining professionally supportive.
- • Keep the rehearsal moving smoothly and deflect minor disruptions.
- • Manage optics and ceremonial details so the President can focus on substance.
- • Small procedural matters must be handled so larger policy work can continue.
- • Maintaining a calm, composed front for the press and staff is essential.
Amused by the dissent's meter; professionally alert to linguistic precision and interagency friction.
Produces comic relief and textual fuel: reads and explains the Chief Justice's dissent in trochaic tetrameter, cues the prompter item 144, hands Bartlet the fax, and frames the State Department's conservative phrasing.
- • Ensure the President's speech language is vetted and precise.
- • Protect institutional norms by involving State Department counterpart in wording.
- • Bureaucratic processes and interagency consultation exist for good reasons.
- • Rhetoric must be carefully crafted; idealism without craft is dangerous.
Slightly embarrassed about the snag but focused on offering fixes.
Pops in with logistical information: reports the Freemasons hold the George Washington Bible and that they require notice, offers to coordinate retrieval and archive searches for Will, then exits.
- • Resolve the Bible logistics quickly to keep the inauguration on schedule.
- • Support speechwriting research by connecting staff to archival resources.
- • Practical problems must be solved by staff discretion and hustle.
- • Personal connections and institutional contacts (Hollowman, archives) will solve ceremonial problems.
Focused and neutral; performing technical duties without visible stress.
Receives a direct cue to 'pull foreign policy' and to load item 144 on the teleprompter, enabling the room to view the draft language during the exchange.
- • Execute teleprompter commands accurately and quickly.
- • Ensure the President and staff can see the drafted language for immediate discussion.
- • Technical precision matters in rehearsals for public delivery.
- • Quick responsiveness to the Oval Office's commands is expected.
Impatient with bureaucratic blandness; quietly unsettled by the Khundu news; protective about ritual and voice.
Presiding over the rehearsal, Bartlet directs the prompter, critiques State Department phrasing, reads Toby's handed paper, processes Leo's Khundu cable, and decisively chooses the Bartlet family Bible for the oath.
- • Force inaugural rhetoric to have moral specificity and meaning.
- • Maintain control of ceremonial details to preserve authenticity and continuity.
- • Words in a presidential address must matter and reflect moral commitments.
- • Rituals (like the Bible used) matter to legitimacy and personal identity.
Concerned but controlled; frustrated with the constant need to triage crises amid ceremonial duties.
Delivers the Khundu security cable, summarizes casualties and trapped Americans, exchanges wry banter with Bartlet about the Chief Justice, and exits to his office after briefing the President.
- • Inform the President quickly and accurately about the Khundu situation.
- • Keep the staff focused and ensure follow-ups (evacuation, forced-depletion estimates) are assigned.
- • Operational reality (massacres, evacuations) must intrude on ceremonial theater when lives are at stake.
- • Staff must shift rapidly from pageantry to policy in real crises.
Not directly observed; implied procedural insistence.
Mentioned by Charlie as the Freemasons' contact who controls access to the George Washington Bible; not present but functionally responsible for the logistical delay.
- • Maintain custodial control over the Washington Bible by enforcing procedures.
- • Require notice before releasing a historical artifact to ensure proper handling.
- • Historical artifacts require custodial safeguards and protocol.
- • Exclusive control over ceremony-related objects is part of organizational identity.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Leo's short security cable about Khundu is placed on the Oval Office table; Bartlet scans it and the room pivots from rhetoric to crisis. The cable supplies casualty figures and details that immediately change the meeting's stakes.
Bartlet's Oval Office desk functions as the hub where the Khundu cable is dropped and scanned; it anchors the practical shift from ceremonial language to urgent operational briefing.
The George Washington Bible is invoked as a ceremonial object whose custodial constraints intrude on inauguration logistics; its unavailability forces the President to select an alternative (the Bartlet family Bible).
The Press Briefing Room podium is the immediate physical locus during the reading and handoff of papers; Toby ascends to it to hand Bartlet a paper, lending theatricality to the exchange between legal curiosity and presidential command.
A faxed dissent/document addressed to Will is referenced by Toby ('A guy just faxed this to Will'), indicating the document's circulation fuels the textual joke and establishes inter-staff lines of communication.
Toby's faxed copy of the Chief Justice's dissent is read aloud, handed to Bartlet, and sparks levity and textual analysis. It functions as a humanizing counterpoint to policy talk and reveals staff dynamics around language.
The Oval Office teleprompter is the immediate staging device for the foreign-policy text (item 144). It is cued so the President and staff can read and critique State Department phrasing, making rhetoric a visible, editable object.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The West Wing hallway functions as the transitional corridor where Bartlet and Leo step out to continue their exchange after the rehearsal; the hallway carries informal banter and quick debriefs between spaces.
The New Hampshire Historical Society is invoked as the repository holding the Bartlet family Bible — a local, personal counterpoint to the national George Washington Bible and the practical alternative selected by the President.
Organizations Involved
Institutional presence and influence
The State Department is invoked as the source of the cautious, boilerplate foreign-policy language Bartlet rejects; Toby must coordinate with State's Communications Director to negotiate wording, highlighting interagency friction.
The New York Freemasons, through their custodial control of the George Washington Bible, create a practical obstacle to the President's ceremonial preference and thus force a symbolic decision about which Bible to use.
The Induye are cited as the victim community suffering mass killings in Bitanga; their plight supplies the moral imperative that reframes the President's rhetorical choices.
The New Hampshire State House is invoked as a repository for Governor Bartlet's past public statements; it becomes a practical resource Will requests to match the President's authentic voice.
The Library of Congress is offered as the place to find copies of Bartlet's floor speeches; it is presented as the scholarly repository that the White House will tap to craft authentic inaugural language.
The Arkutu-directed forces are referenced as the perpetrators of violence in Khundu; their actions drive the security cable's urgency and create the moral emergency intruding on the inauguration rehearsal.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Leo's briefing on the escalating violence in Khundu prompts Bartlet to order a forced depletion report."
"Charlie's initial logistical issues with the Bible lead to Bartlet's later decision to change his mind about which Bible to use."
"Charlie's initial logistical issues with the Bible lead to Bartlet's later decision to change his mind about which Bible to use."
"Bartlet's dissatisfaction with State Department's conservative language parallels Will's proposal of a bold new doctrine based on American values."
"Bartlet's dissatisfaction with State Department's conservative language parallels Will's proposal of a bold new doctrine based on American values."
Key Dialogue
"BARTLET: "Can we pull foreign policy up on the prompter?""
"CHARLIE: "Mr. Hollowman says if you want to use the Goerge Washington Bible, they need some time to get it here.""
"WILL: "There's a... partnership, sir, that can develop between someone and his speechwriter. It happens over time. You get to know just where he likes his commas and why he says self-government instead of governement.""