Between Storm and Ceremony — 'What Do I Do Now?'
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Bartlet presses Leo for details about Hurricane Sarah's sudden shift, showing immediate concern for its unexpected trajectory.
Bartlet checks on the FBI negotiator's condition and reveals his uncertainty, asking Leo, 'What do I do now?'—showing the emotional toll of simultaneous crises.
Leo directs Bartlet back to the party, forcing the President to juggle public ceremony and private crisis.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Momentarily overwhelmed and exposed; a mixture of urgency, helplessness, and the weight of command that breaks through presidential composure.
President Jed Bartlet arrives from the dinner, listens to a terse operational briefing, asks direct tactical and human questions, seeks contact with the fleet commander, and utters a raw, vulnerable 'What do I do now?'.
- • Obtain immediate, actionable information to protect sailors and ships.
- • Establish direct communication with the fleet commander to influence operational decisions.
- • Balance operational intervention with the ongoing public/diplomatic event.
- • His decisions matter and can affect lives at sea.
- • He is accountable for protecting American service members even while constrained by public responsibilities.
- • Direct presidential contact with field commanders can change outcomes.
Controlled, coldly pragmatic; masks any personal panic behind quick, managerial decisions aimed at preserving institutional stability.
Leo escorts the President into the briefing, interprets the situation succinctly, confirms the medical status of an injured FBI agent, and issues the hard, pragmatic command to return to the party rather than act visibly — prioritizing institutional optics and damage control.
- • Preserve the administration's public performance and minimize panic.
- • Shield the President from distractions that could damage optics or morale.
- • Manage operational information flow so staff can handle the crisis without presidential theatrics.
- • Public ceremonies and appearances serve political and national stability and must not collapse under chaos.
- • The staff can and should absorb and execute the messy operational work while the President maintains necessary appearances.
- • Political perception in moments of crisis is itself a form of national leadership.
Professional urgency — focused and steady; projects competence to contain presidential alarm and provide usable information.
The Naval briefing officer (captain) calmly presents the carrier group's composition and the human scale of the threat, provides a time estimate ('About 20 minutes'), and offers to patch the President through to the fleet commander from the briefing room.
- • Convey accurate, actionable operational details to civilian leadership.
- • Establish direct communications with fleet command quickly.
- • Protect the ships and crews by enabling prompt decisions and orders.
- • Clear, concise information reduces decision latency in crises.
- • Chain-of-command communications can materially affect operational safety.
- • Civilian leaders deserve immediate, factual briefings even during formal events.
Neutral, professional — detached from the policy stakes while enforcing ritual procedure.
A pair of military guards perform ceremonial duty by opening the doors for Bartlet and Leo as they leave the briefing — a physical reminder of ritual continuity even as crisis information is exchanged.
- • Maintain ceremonial protocol for the President's movement.
- • Provide unobtrusive physical support for senior staff transitions.
- • Signal institutional normalcy through ritual gestures.
- • Ceremonial duties reinforce institutional continuity.
- • Visible ritual calms observers and signals order.
- • Their presence must be unobtrusive yet exact.
Referenced by Leo as being prepped for surgery, the unnamed FBI agent is an offstage casualty whose condition briefly redirects …
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Large-format weather maps and computer displays provide the hard data that drives the briefing, translating the storm's sudden shift into contours, timelines, and the decisive 'about 20 minutes' prognostic that triggers the President's question.
A heavy institutional door (the scene's exit threshold) is functionally used when Bartlet and Leo leave the briefing; the door's opening, executed by guards, punctuates the movement from private crisis back to public ceremony.
The two destroyers are enumerated as part of the escort force, widening the implied risk beyond the carrier and reinforcing the scale of personnel and assets at stake in twenty minutes' time.
The USS John F. Kennedy is named as the carrier at the center of the crisis, quantified as carrying 5,000 men and anchoring the emotional scale of the briefing; it functions narratively as the human focal point for the President's responsibility.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The Formal Dining Room is the public setting anchoring the night's ceremony; although the urgent briefing happens in an adjacent space, the dining room's presence looms as the competing demand that forces Leo's decision to prioritize optics and send the President back.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"The ongoing toast debate between Toby and Sam continues through Bartlet's distraction by the naval crisis, showing competing priorities."
"The ongoing toast debate between Toby and Sam continues through Bartlet's distraction by the naval crisis, showing competing priorities."
"Bartlet's 'What do I do now?' helplessness transforms into his sustained human connection with Harold—showcasing leadership's limits and power."
"Bartlet's 'What do I do now?' helplessness transforms into his sustained human connection with Harold—showcasing leadership's limits and power."
Key Dialogue
"BARTLET: "The hurricane just shifted direction without any warning?""
"CAPTAIN: "About 20 minutes.""
"LEO: "Go back to the party.""