Commissioned and Charged: Will's Promotion Amid a Deployment Order
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Bartlet introduces Will's military family background to highlight the significance of his upcoming promotion.
Bartlet officially announces Will's appointment as Deputy White House Director of Communications and Special Assistant to the President.
Bartlet formally commissions Will with a certificate and the Seal of the United States.
Bartlet and his senior staff exit the room, leaving Will to process his new role and responsibilities.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Playful in banter but quickly turned concerned and protective when the deployment is announced.
Josh participates in the light banter around promotion and offers Will an informal reassurance; he watches the exchange and the President's shift to operational command with characteristic blend of levity and concern.
- • Support Will personally and maintain staff camaraderie.
- • Anticipate political implications and be ready to manage fallout.
- • Team cohesion matters in crisis.
- • Political costs must be balanced against moral imperatives.
Supportive but quickly sober — briefly amused by the ritual, then aware of the communications nightmare and human stakes ahead.
C.J. stands among staff, shares wry supportive remarks about promotions, and witnesses the pivot from celebration to crisis; she is both personally invested and professionally alert to messaging consequences.
- • Welcome and signal support for the new deputy in front of staff.
- • Begin mentally framing public messaging about intervention and humanitarian rationale.
- • Words and timing matter politically and morally.
- • Communications must protect both policy flexibility and moral clarity.
Not present; mentioned as a reputational bolster for Will and the decision.
Tom Bailey is referenced by Bartlet to underline Will's pedigree and the symbolic weight of his appointment; his presence is evoked though he is off-stage.
- • (Implied) To be a standard of military leadership Will is measured against.
- • (Implied) To lend gravitas to Will's appointment in others' eyes.
- • Family military legacy confers credibility.
- • Names and titles carry political weight.
Not present; invoked as the institutional executor of the President's decision.
Percy Fitzwallace is named by Bartlet as the officer Bartlet ordered to effect the deployments; he is not present, but the President's invocation makes Fitzwallace the operational executor of the order.
- • (Implied) To execute the President's orders through military channels.
- • (Implied) To marshal forces quickly and professionally.
- • Chain of command and military readiness enable rapid response.
- • Military leaders will operationalize political decisions within rules of engagement.
Not present; mentioned in supportive context which frames internal staffing politics.
Sam is referenced by the President as the likely special promotion contingent on his electoral outcome; he is not present but his career is used as a rhetorical point in the ceremony.
- • (Implied) To continue serving if circumstances permit.
- • (Implied) To be positioned for advancement depending on electoral outcome.
- • Valued staff should be positioned strategically.
- • Political contingencies affect personnel decisions.
Quietly approving — gratified that his recommendation was accepted, pragmatic about the policy implications that follow.
Toby is present and is explicitly credited by the President for requesting Will's commission; he stands as the advocate whose political and professional judgment is validated.
- • See Will formally elevated to a position he recommended.
- • Ensure communications team is staffed to handle the political fallout of the Khundu deployment.
- • Competence and loyalty should be rewarded within the White House team.
- • Effective communications leadership is critical when the administration commits military force.
Duty-focused and calm — attentive to ceremonial detail and rapid logistical needs of the moment.
Charlie functions as the quiet aide: he brings the certificate, pen, and stamp, handing them to the President and assisting in the formalities that make the promotion official.
- • Provide the physical instruments (certificate, pen, stamp) needed to formalize the commission.
- • Ensure the ceremony proceeds smoothly and that Bartlet has what he needs to transition to operational business.
- • Small practical actions enable high-level decisions.
- • Orderly procedure matters even in crisis.
Resolute and solemn — proud in recognizing Will, quickly shifting to focused resolve and moral urgency when faced with civilian suffering.
President Josiah Bartlet leads the event: he enters, delivers the commissioning language, signs and seals the commission, and then reads an intelligence summary aloud before issuing an order to deploy forces to Khundu.
- • Formally install a trusted communications deputy to shore up staff talent and optics.
- • Respond decisively to fresh intelligence and protect civilians in Khundu by ordering military action.
- • Leadership requires both symbolic acts (ceremony) and immediate moral action.
- • The United States has the responsibility and the capability to prevent mass slaughter.
Teasing and light in the moment, then quietly concerned as the gravity of the Khundu order settles over the room.
Donna leans in to whisper jokingly to Josh during the ceremony; she then watches Will receive the certificate and absorb the weight of the President's announcement.
- • Maintain team warmth and morale in an intense late-night gathering.
- • Support Josh and Will emotionally through the sudden change of tone.
- • Personal bonds help the staff function under stress.
- • Individual actions (leaks, comments) have consequences in crises.
Approving and alert — pleased at the staffing choice but immediately attentive to the real-world consequences of the deployment order.
Leo attends the small ceremony, reacts audibly to Will's appointment, and accepts the gravity of the immediate operational order, providing a stabilizing, approving presence.
- • Support Bartlet's staffing decision and maintain White House morale.
- • Help translate the President's order into coordinated administrative action.
- • Competent staffing underpins crisis management.
- • Timely executive action requires clear chain-of-command and follow-through.
Not present physically in the room; emotionally invoked as desperate and in need of protection.
Khundunese civilians are the object of the President's moral concern — the intelligence line about mothers standing before tanks drives the decision to deploy U.S. forces.
- • (Implied) To survive and be protected from slaughter.
- • (Implied) To prompt international attention and intervention through their plight.
- • Their lives matter and require action.
- • Publicizing human suffering compels international response.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Bartlet's Briefing Folder functions as the repository for the intelligence summary; the President holds a piece of paper from it and reads the chilling line about mothers before tanks, which triggers the deployment order.
Will Bailey's Commission Certificate is physically presented, signed by the President, stamped with the Seal, and handed to Will as the formal instrument of appointment, converting the informal recommendation into official authority.
Bartlet's pen is used to sign the commission, a small but consequential act that converts intent into formal presidential authorization; the pen is also handed to Will as part of the ritual transfer.
The Seal of the United States (applied via a stamp) is affixed to the commission to formalize and legitimize the appointment, transforming a spoken blessing into an official executive act.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The Republic of Equatorial Khundu is the distant battleground named in the President's order; though off-screen, it is the moral and operational destination for the forces Bartlet commits in response to the intelligence.
The Private Room is the intimate, dimly lit space where the staff gathers for a quiet, ceremonial commissioning that is immediately converted into an operational huddle when the President reads intelligence and issues orders.
Camp Lejeune is referenced as the recent training site for the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit; it anchors the narrative's claim that some Marines deployed are newly trained and ready.
Organizations Involved
Institutional presence and influence
NATO Allied Forces Europe is referenced indirectly via Tom Bailey's past title to bolster Will's pedigree; its invocation gives Will's appointment historic and international resonance.
FOX is invoked earlier in the scene as a source of criticism framing the administration's doctrine as reckless; its mention contextualizes the political vulnerability attendant to the President's deployment decision.
The 82nd Airborne is named as one of the brigades ordered to deploy; its invocation signals a high-readiness, rapid-response U.S. military capability being committed to protect Khundunese civilians.
The United States, as the sovereign actor, is the entity ordering and projecting military force; the President's action is an exercise of national policy and power on behalf of the country.
The 101st Air Assault (the Screaming Eagles) is identified as a principal deploying unit, lending urgency and specific military character to the President's orders.
The 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit is listed as the Marine contingent ordered to the crisis, with a direct mention of recent Camp Lejeune training to stress readiness.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Toby's advocacy for Will's formal appointment directly results in Bartlet announcing Will's promotion, showcasing Toby's influence and recognition of Will's potential."
"Toby's advocacy for Will's formal appointment directly results in Bartlet announcing Will's promotion, showcasing Toby's influence and recognition of Will's potential."
"Will's earlier conversation with the President about the value of Khundunese lives is echoed when Bartlet highlights Will's military family background during his promotion, tying his personal beliefs to his professional role."
"Will's earlier conversation with the President about the value of Khundunese lives is echoed when Bartlet highlights Will's military family background during his promotion, tying his personal beliefs to his professional role."
"Will's earlier conversation with the President about the value of Khundunese lives is echoed when Bartlet highlights Will's military family background during his promotion, tying his personal beliefs to his professional role."
"Bartlet's comparison of wooden soldiers to real soldiers foreshadows his later decision to deploy actual military units, symbolizing the transition from theoretical to real-world action."
"Bartlet's comparison of wooden soldiers to real soldiers foreshadows his later decision to deploy actual military units, symbolizing the transition from theoretical to real-world action."
"Bartlet's defining doctrine on global intervention narratively follows his team's immediate action, culminating in the concrete deployment of military units to Khundu."
"Bartlet's defining doctrine on global intervention narratively follows his team's immediate action, culminating in the concrete deployment of military units to Khundu."
"C.J.'s moral dilemma about intervening in violence is thematically paralleled in Bartlet's decision to deploy military units to Khundu, both grappling with the human cost of action versus inaction."
"C.J.'s moral dilemma about intervening in violence is thematically paralleled in Bartlet's decision to deploy military units to Khundu, both grappling with the human cost of action versus inaction."
"Will's promotion and the military deployment to Khundu are symbolically paralleled in the final scene where Bartlet and his staff walk through the inauguration ball, representing both personal and collective burdens of their decisions."
Key Dialogue
"Bartlet: Actually, I meant he could be here now when I tell you Toby's asked me to commission you as his deputy."
"Bartlet: William Bailey, reposing special trust and confidence in your integrety, prudence and ability, I designate you to the post of Deputy White House Director of Communications and Special Assistant to the President. And I do authorize you to execute and fulfill the duties of that office with all the powers and privileges and subject to the conditions prescribed. It is affirmed by my signature..."
"Bartlet: You know, it's easy to watch the news and think of Khundunese as either hapless victims or crazed butchers, and it turns out that's not true. I got this intelligence summary this afternoon. "Mothers are standing in front of tanks." And we're going to go get their backs. An hour ago, I ordered Fitzwallace to have UCOMM deploy a brigade of the 82nd Airborne, the 101st Air Assualt, and a Marine Expeditionary Unit to Khundu to stop the violence."