Found: The Donnie's Motel Bible
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Bartlet discloses his missing Bible crisis, contrasting trivial logistics with the weighty foreign policy leak.
Bartlet receives the motel Bible from Charlie, resolving the ceremonial crisis with ironic humor.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Alert and concerned — balancing brisk political alarm with dry humor to diffuse tension.
Informs Bartlet of the leak, reframes the Bible problem practically (notes no legal requirement), jokes about a swimsuit issue, and volunteers to locate Charlie — acting as the pragmatic fixer and political sounding board.
- • Minimize the operational fallout of the leak.
- • Solve immediate problems (find Bible/Charlie) to allow the oath to proceed.
- • Shield the President from needless additional stress.
- • Operational competence can blunt political damage.
- • Small practical solutions matter in ceremonies as much as policy substance.
- • The staff should handle noise so the President can focus.
Playful and steadying — uses warmth to anchor the President briefly amid bustle.
Opens the interaction in the lobby with small logistics about balls, offers a quick, intimate support (a kiss on the cheek), and contributes light, morale-boosting presence as the President faces logistical and political pressure.
- • Provide personal reassurance to the President.
- • Keep ceremony planning focused and upbeat.
- • Project calm to the surrounding staff.
- • Small gestures cut through political stress.
- • The President benefits from a mix of political counsel and human steadiness.
- • Logistics and optics matter to the public perception of the inauguration.
Relieved and quietly proud — pleased to have solved a problem and relieved to return order to the room.
Returns triumphantly with a battered House-library Bible stamped 'Donnie's Motel,' presents it to the President without fanfare, and stands by as Bartlet inspects it — the practical rescuer of the moment.
- • Provide the President with a Bible quickly so the ceremony can proceed.
- • Reassure the President and staff by resolving a small but visible crisis.
- • Maintain the smooth flow of inauguration logistics.
- • Practical action matters more than ceremonial perfection.
- • Small acts of service are the right way to support leadership.
- • Tradition can be satisfied with whatever the institution provides.
Professional and unobtrusive — intent on preserving the ritual's integrity.
Arrives at the end of the exchange with formal courtesy to administer the oath; his approach shifts the moment from private scramble back into official ceremony.
- • Administer the oath on schedule and according to protocol.
- • Signal the transition from backstage tension to public ceremony.
- • Maintain dignity of the judiciary's role in the inauguration.
- • Procedural correctness matters above all in the oath-taking moment.
- • Ceremony must proceed on time regardless of backstage noise.
- • The presence of trappings (a bible) completes the ritual even if improvised.
Controlled anxiety with wry humor — outwardly calm but privately unsettled by simultaneous ceremonial and policy crises.
Announces the surprising logistical problem (no Bible), keeps composure while joking, inspects the battered Bible Charlie brings, reads the 'Donnie's Motel' stamp aloud and prepares mentally as the Chief Justice approaches.
- • Secure a Bible so the ceremony can proceed with dignity.
- • Preserve the ritual authority of the inauguration despite distractions.
- • Maintain staff morale and deflect panic caused by leaks.
- • Ceremony and symbolism matter to public authority and must be preserved.
- • Personal touches (a family or historic Bible) matter but are subordinate to the need to proceed.
- • He can use humor and modesty to steady the room.
Concerned and brisk — aware of political stakes and trying to keep immediate focus on moving parts.
Joins Bartlet in the Green Room, trades quick banter about Abbey's dress, acknowledges leaks and political trouble, and is present as the men leave and Charlie hands the Bible — managing crisis while preserving levity.
- • Contain the fallout from leaks and preserve the President's options.
- • Keep staff focused on necessary tasks for the inauguration.
- • Deflect and manage inquiries from the Hill and press.
- • Damage control is a necessary, immediate priority.
- • Personal touches (like Abbey's dress) are part of maintaining normalcy.
- • Timing of leaks can be maliciously consequential and must be handled.
Neutral and professional — fulfilling protocol without interpersonal involvement.
Stand nearby with formal bearing while Bartlet talks; they depart when Leo approaches, clearing space for staff interaction and the quiet handoff of the Bible.
- • Maintain ceremonial order and security presence.
- • Ensure a clear space for senior staff interactions and the President.
- • Exit politely when staff movement requires privacy.
- • Protocol and order must be maintained.
- • Physical presence signals institutional stability even during chaos.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The George Washington Bible is invoked as Bartlet's preferred symbolic choice but is unavailable due to custody issues with the New York Freemasons, triggering the scramble that leads to the House-library substitute and framing the ironic undercut of historical ceremony.
Referenced by Josh as a joking, absurd legal alternative (Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue) to highlight the arbitrariness of the object used in the oath — serves purely comic and rhetorical purposes to diffuse tension.
The Forced Depletion Report is referenced in surrounding dialogue (Leo and Josh) as part of the leak landscape that heightens the stakes and explains staff urgency—its exposure provides the political backdrop that makes the Bible scramble feel both comic and precarious.
A battered House-library Bible stamped 'Donnie's Motel' is produced by Charlie as the substitute for the unavailable George Washington Bible. It functions as the tangible fix for the immediate ceremonial problem, supplies a comic human detail, and briefly humanizes the high-pressure atmosphere before the oath.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The Capitol Building Lobby functions as the initial space where staff and the President trade small logistical arguments about inaugural balls and where the mood of public performance slices into private concern — the first beats of the scramble that leads to the Green Room exchange.
The Larger Green Room is the primary physical setting for the Bible handoff: a crowded pre-ceremony holding area where the President, senior staff, men in uniform, and legal authorities mingle. It is the final backstage space before the oath, compressing ceremony, politics, and humanity into a single domestic tableau.
The House Library is the literal source of the substitute Bible; its institutional role as keeper of ceremonial artifacts allows Charlie to fetch a volume quickly, demonstrating how bureaucratic repositories solve improvisational needs on short notice.
Organizations Involved
Institutional presence and influence
The White House is the operational and emotional center for the President and staff: its personnel (Josh, C.J., Leo, Charlie) perform the urgent work that resolves the ritual gap. The institution's need to project continuity underlies every pragmatic action in the Green Room.
The New York Freemasons are implicated as the custodians of the George Washington Bible and the reason Bartlet's preferred historic Bible is unavailable, introducing an external procedural obstacle that triggers the comic scramble.
The House Library functions as the institutional source for the physical Bible used — its role is practical and procedural: maintain a repository of ceremonial items that the administration can call upon at short notice.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"The leak of Bartlet's foreign policy shift directly leads to Senator Beckwith confronting Leo about the rumored doctrine."
"The leak of Bartlet's foreign policy shift directly leads to Senator Beckwith confronting Leo about the rumored doctrine."
"The leak of Bartlet's foreign policy shift directly leads to Senator Beckwith confronting Leo about the rumored doctrine."
"The leak of Bartlet's foreign policy shift directly leads to Senator Beckwith confronting Leo about the rumored doctrine."
Key Dialogue
"BARTLET: I don't have a bible."
"JOSH: You can be sworn in on a Sports Illustrated swimsuit Issue."
"BARTLET: Donnie's Motel?"