Will Calls Out Interns, Reasserts Control
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Will critiques the interns' speech drafts, highlighting their lack of political acumen and frustration with their amateurish attempts to integrate the tax plan.
Will challenges Cassie about the authenticity of the National Headache Foundation, revealing his investigative efforts into the interns' backgrounds.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Not present; implied responsibility for scheduling choices and their political consequences.
Referenced by Toby as the staffer who booked Sam into the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce; his scheduling decision is the proximate cause of the campaign conversation but he is not present.
- • Arrange local campaign appearances to benefit Sam's prospects
- • Coordinate logistics with White House and campaign team
- • Local venues like the Chamber matter to voter outreach
- • Scheduling must balance local and national optics
Not present in scene; implied anxiousness about campaign and reliance on White House support.
Mentioned as the campaign candidate whose schedule and optics are the subject of the phone call; he is offstage but his electoral vulnerability drives the triage.
- • Win the Orange County congressional race
- • Maintain appropriate distance or alignment with the White House as politically necessary
- • White House backing can make or break a tight local race
- • Optics of events matter to voters in the 47th
Impatient and focused; prioritizes electoral strategy over academic perfectionism.
On the phone; briskly re-frames Will's priorities away from speech edits toward urgent campaign logistics for Sam McGarry, requests the swearing-in copy, and presses Will to polish it quickly.
- • Protect and prioritize Sam McGarry's vulnerable campaign
- • Get usable, polished remarks ready for immediate use
- • Campaign survival takes precedence over routine speech edits
- • Clear, fast execution matters more than protracted editorial debate in crises
Mildly amused and relieved; comfortable with Will's toughness and confident in the group's ability to absorb it.
Sits with the interns, responds with wry amusement to Will's critiques, offers a relieved aside when the phone interrupts the intensity of the drill, acting as a small emotional buffer for the group.
- • Diffuse tension and keep interns' morale from collapsing
- • Support Will's teaching in a way that preserves the team's cohesion
- • Tough critique is part of learning in this environment
- • Maintaining morale matters as much as correcting errors
Critical and controlled on the surface; quietly exasperated with sloppy work, but able to pivot into professional triage when the campaign call arrives.
Circulates around a table of interns, reading aloud and dismantling their drafts line by line, calls out fabricated organizations, asserts investigative authority by citing looked-up facts, then answers the ringing phone and shifts to reading swearing-in remarks for immediate polishing.
- • Expose and correct factual errors and amateurish phrasing in interns' remarks
- • Protect institutional credibility by policing accuracy
- • Rapidly shift resources to prioritize Sam McGarry's campaign needs when instructed
- • Credibility and factual accuracy are essential and non-negotiable in White House speechwriting
- • Political exigencies (Sam's campaign) can legitimately override routine editorial processes
- • Intern errors are correctable with firm instruction
Irritated and embarrassed; trying to protect her competence while absorbing humiliating correction.
Defensive when Will calls her by number, reacts irritably as he questions the existence of organizations she cited, asserts her academic credentials to defend herself, and is publicly put on the spot by the senior staff critique.
- • Preserve personal credibility in front of senior staff
- • Explain and justify the research behind her drafts
- • Learn quickly to avoid repeated public corrections
- • Her academic background (University of Texas) should earn her credibility
- • Being caught for an invented detail undermines future trust and opportunities
Neutral and cooperative; focused on doing the small tasks that keep the room functioning.
Sits among the interns (author of one set of remarks), listens as Will praises the opening lines, and notifies Will that the ringing phone is for him—practically facilitating the scene's tonal pivot.
- • Keep the process moving by relaying logistical information
- • Absorb critique to improve future drafts
- • Hierarchy and quick communication matter in crisis moments
- • Being useful in small ways is how interns contribute
Insecure and chastened; hopeful but shaken by the senior staff's blunt appraisal.
Clustered in jerseys at a table, they present rough drafts, absorb Will's harsh feedback, shrink under public correction, and witness the swift re-prioritization when the call about Sam's scheduling arrives.
- • Produce usable remarks for White House appearances
- • Learn rapidly from senior staff critique
- • Avoid making avoidable factual or invented claims
- • Working at the White House requires both polish and factual accuracy
- • Senior staff critique, though harsh, is meant to train them
Not present; referenced neutrally as the beneficiary of polished remarks.
Referenced only as the subject of the swearing-in remarks Will reads to Toby; his presence is the content task that competes with campaign triage.
- • Be properly introduced and positioned to foster US-Hungary cooperation
- • Receive a respectful and polished swearing-in from the White House
- • Ceremonial remarks shape diplomatic reception
- • White House wording can influence bilateral tone
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The West Wing office telephone begins to ring during Will's critique and functions as the narrative pivot: its ring interrupts the pedagogical pressure, brings Toby into the scene, and forces an immediate shift from editorial correction to campaign triage.
The interns' jerseys are a visible, repeated image on the interns gathered around the table—signaling their junior status and team identity and visually contrasting with the seriousness of Will's critique.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
A late-night West Wing office serves as the crucible for this scene: a small, interior workspace where experienced staff train juniors, triage political problems, and perform the private labor of governance and messaging under pressure.
Organizations Involved
Institutional presence and influence
The AFT Leadership Breakfast is the ostensible audience for one intern's draft—its name anchors the exercise in a real-world policy venue and reveals the stakes of sloppy speechwriting when a union audience is involved.
The London School of Ballet is invoked by Will as an example of a possibly fabricated credential an intern supplied; its mention serves to puncture the intern's credibility and illustrate the ease of inventing organizations in draft copy.
The University of Texas is cited by Cassie as her academic credential to defend herself; it functions as a source of claimed legitimacy in the face of public correction.
The Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce is referenced as the location Toby and Will discuss; its booking of Sam crystallizes the tension between national message control and local campaign optics.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Toby's firing of the speechwriting staff forces Will to manage inexperienced interns, showcasing his struggle and growth in leadership."
Key Dialogue
"WILL: "In remarks to the National Headache Foundation said... Is there really a National Headache Foundation or did you just make that up, like the London School of Ballet?""
"CASSIE [#24]: "Yeah. I was an American Studies major at the University of Texas." / WILL: "Yes. I know you were. You don't know I know how to retreive information." / CASSIE: "What were you doing looking me up?" / WILL: "What was I doing? My job, okay? That's what I was doing.""
"TOBY [on phone]: "Did I tell you to worry about the speeches or did I tell you to worry about Sam's campaign?" / WILL: "I worry about Sam's campaign without anyone telling me to.""