Invoking Twenty-Five: Walken Steps In
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
President Bartlet announces his decision to the Cabinet, emphasizing unity and the temporary nature of the power transfer.
Speaker Glenallen Walken arrives, resigns his congressional seat, and prepares to assume the acting presidency.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Worried and resentful — fear that necessary procedure will have long-term political cost.
Enters with other staff, presses the political risk of invoking the 25th — worries aloud about elevating the most powerful Republican and the electoral consequences, challenging the procedural framing.
- • Prevent or mitigate political fallout from temporary transfer of power.
- • Force consideration of electoral consequences in the decision-making.
- • Protect the President's political legacy where possible.
- • Republicans will exploit any opening given them.
- • Good intentions don't immunize political consequences.
- • Procedural acts are also political acts with electoral ripple effects.
Apprehensive and alert — focused on the practical danger of split authority.
Voices a constitutional and operational worry aloud: if conflicting orders come from the President and acting president, staff (specifically Leo) could be forced into an impossible position, risking 'two governments.'
- • Prevent scenarios where staff must choose between two competing sets of orders.
- • Ensure clarity and unanimity in the Cabinet where possible.
- • Protect the institutional chain of command from fragmentation.
- • Some officials might continue to follow the President despite a formal transfer.
- • Ambiguity in the chain of command will produce chaos in a crisis.
- • Legal and practical safeguards must be put in place immediately.
Agitated then relieved and supportive — family-first anger tempered into institutional backing.
Rushes in breathless, confirms that his newborns are safe, issues a fierce protective aside about his willingness to retaliate for harm to family, then quickly endorses the invocation and Leo's role.
- • Ensure the President's safety and that of the First Family.
- • Support decisions that keep governance steady during crisis.
- • Reassure himself and others that responsible actors will manage the transfer.
- • Protecting family must be paramount even amid national crisis.
- • Leo will be able to handle any conflicting orders.
- • A temporary transfer is an act of patriotism in this context.
Tense, focused on execution — personal worry subordinated to immediate tasks.
Arrives as Margaret leaves, receives Leo's orders to instruct the Staff Secretary's Office to hold all nonessential paper and to bring a federal judge immediately; looks at the Constitution booklet before exiting to execute the tasks.
- • Implement Leo's freeze on documents swiftly and without error.
- • Locate and summon a federal judge to provide procedural legitimacy.
- • Prevent paperwork from creating downstream authority conflicts.
- • Procedural discipline will limit chaos.
- • He must do exactly what Leo orders to maintain order.
- • Legal presence (judge) will neutralize disputes over legitimacy.
Grieving and solemn but ceremonially resolute — sacrificing visible authority for the good of the nation.
Formally reads a written declaration invoking Section Three of the 25th Amendment, calls the roll of Cabinet members, affirms he will not be giving orders, and frames the transfer as a clear statement of support for the acting president.
- • Ensure a clear, lawful transfer of presidential powers to preserve governance.
- • Signal institutional unity behind the acting president.
- • Avoid personal interference that could create chaos or split loyalties.
- • The Constitution provides the right tools for continuity in crisis.
- • Personal pain must not compromise national command and control.
- • A formal, public procedure will help prevent confusion or insubordination.
Controlled fatigue masking acute grief — resolute and pragmatic in order to protect institutional continuity.
Sits on a bench outside the White House, accepts Margaret's coffee, sets the cup beside a Constitution booklet, issues a surgical order to freeze all nonessential paperwork and instructs Charlie to fetch a federal judge, then greets and escorts Speaker Walken indoors.
- • Reduce the operational scope of the Oval Office to limit risk and confusion.
- • Create legal and procedural cover for a temporary transfer of power.
- • Preserve a clear chain of command so staff can operate without contradictory directives.
- • Constitutional and procedural safeguards are the best way to preserve the country during personal crisis.
- • Staff need tight, practical orders rather than emotional discussion to function.
- • He (Leo) must convert panic into logistics to prevent institutional collapse.
Controlled and authoritative — presenting steadiness to temper staff anxiety while stepping into adversarial political space.
Arrives with a small retinue and motorcade, approaches the White House, calms tense staff with a measured 'Relax, everybody,' exchanges a greeting with Leo, and prepares to enter the Oval Office to assume acting presidential duties.
- • Assume acting presidential authority smoothly and with institutional legitimacy.
- • Reassure the President's staff and avoid appearing opportunistic.
- • Project steadiness to reduce panic and preserve governmental function.
- • Institutional roles must be honored for national stability.
- • A calm demeanor will neutralize perceptions of partisan advantage.
- • Cooperation with White House staff is necessary to maintain order.
Focused and procedural — operating to secure the scene and enable safe transfer of personnel.
Provide security and protocol: open doors for the arriving Speaker and Cabinet, facilitate the approach down stairs and corridor, and enable the motorcade's arrival and escort into the White House.
- • Ensure safe, orderly arrival of the acting president and Cabinet members.
- • Maintain perimeter security while allowing essential access.
- • Follow chain-of-command directives without drawing attention.
- • Protocol and access control prevent breaches during high-risk moments.
- • Their role is to enable safe, calm transitions of people and power.
- • Visibility of security should be functional, not inflammatory.
Solemn and attentive — aware of institutional weight of the roll call.
Called during the President's roll call of Cabinet members; present as part of the assembled Cabinet and positioned to participate in formal affirmation or dissent regarding the invocation.
- • Represent departmental and Cabinet interest in continuity.
- • Provide consent or voice concerns during the formal procedure.
- • Cabinet participation matters for the legitimacy of transfer.
- • A clear record of Cabinet presence helps prevent later disputes.
Not present; represented as a stabilizing legal presence to be called to action.
Mentioned by Leo as someone to be summoned immediately to the White House to provide judicial oversight and a legal imprimatur for the invocation of Section Three; not physically present in scene.
- • Provide legal legitimacy and oversight for constitutional transfer.
- • Serve as an independent arbiter should disputes arise over authority.
- • Judicial presence reduces legal ambiguity and reassures stakeholders.
- • Courts can provide necessary procedural checks during extraordinary transfers.
Practical and pressured — focused on halting routine processes to protect continuity.
Subject of Leo's instruction — the Staff Secretary's Office is ordered to hold all nonessential paperwork for presidential signature; implied to be mobilizing to freeze the flow of documents and signatures.
- • Immediately halt movement of nonessential executive paperwork.
- • Prevent accidental signatures or orders that could complicate the transfer.
- • Maintain a clear, auditable record of what is and isn't progressed.
- • Paperwork dictates authority; controlling it controls outcomes.
- • A document freeze is a simple, effective risk-reduction step.
- • Procedural rigor is essential when the chain of command is altered.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Margaret hands Leo a cup of coffee which he sets down on a table next to a Constitution booklet. The cup functions as a small humanizing prop — a momentary comfort and an anchor to Leo's physical presence while he gives decisive, bureaucratic orders.
A stationary police motorcade — motorcycles and cars with lights and sirens — transports and escorts Speaker Walken and his party to the White House. It visually signals the arrival of the acting president and punctuates the transition with public, ceremonial force.
Represents the pile of nonessential paperwork, executive orders, correspondence and legislation that Leo explicitly orders frozen. The documents are the practical target of his effort to downsize the Oval Office's active authority, preventing new directives or signatures from complicating the transfer.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The United States Capitol is visible in the background as the motorcade approaches, operating as a visual reminder of legislative authority and the institutional origin of the Speaker's power — a distant, ominous silhouette that underscores the political stakes of the transfer.
The Oval Office (and its immediate exterior) functions as the ceremonial and operational locus for the transfer of power — the President reads the Section Three declaration there, staff gather just outside it for briefing, and the Speaker is escorted in. It is the physical seat of authority being temporarily contracted and passed.
Organizations Involved
Institutional presence and influence
The U.S. House of Representatives is implicated through its Speaker, who is called upon to assume acting presidential authority. The institution's power is the constitutional foundation for Walken's elevation and therefore central to the political stakes of the transfer.
The Staff Secretary's Office is the administrative node ordered to halt all nonessential paperwork and signatures, executing the freeze that materially reduces the Oval Office's operational footprint during the transfer of power.
Law Enforcement provides the physical escort and security architecture for the acting president's arrival — coordinating the motorcade, safeguarding access routes, and controlling ingress to the White House during the constitutional transfer.
The Full Cabinet assembles at the President's behest to receive the Section Three declaration and to provide the collective affirmation the President requests. Members voice practical constitutional concerns and test the space between legal formality and political reality.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
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Part of Larger Arcs
Key Dialogue
"LEO: "He's invoking the 25th Amendment. He's invoking twenty-five.""
"PRESIDENT BARTLET: "availing myself of the constitutional option offered to this office by Section Three of the 25th Amendment which permits, through written declaration, to temporarily transfer all powers of the presidency to the next in the constitutional line of succession.""
"JOSH: "We're gonna be handing the Republicans the election.""