Shot, Photo, and the Burden of Command
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Bartlet jokes with Morris about staying in Jordan, revealing his folksy charm amidst the political tension.
Morris shares a photo of his newborn daughter, Corey, with Bartlet, creating a moment of personal connection.
Bartlet confides in Morris about his discomfort with the Joint Chiefs, revealing his insecurities as Commander-in-Chief.
Morris advises Bartlet on how to earn the Joint Chiefs' respect, blending medical advice with political wisdom.
Bartlet and Morris share a final moment reflecting on family pride before Morris departs for Jordan.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Task-focused calm
Carol enters to hand Bartlet a morning file, confirms its timeliness, and departs swiftly, injecting workflow amid banter without lingering.
- • Provide essential briefing material
- • Seamless info flow sustains operations
Professionally neutral
Nancy enters briefly to inform Bartlet of Andrews touchdown, receives acknowledgment, and exits, punctuating the intimate medical moment with external urgency.
- • Deliver time-sensitive update
- • Protocol demands prompt scheduling alerts
Professionally steady with quiet paternal pride
Morris conducts physical—blood pressure, temperature, pulse check, flu shot—while trading deadpan banter on assignment to Amman, sharing Corey's photo, teasing Bartlet's health habits, and offering sage naval advice on Joint Chiefs with paternal family reminders before departing.
- • Complete medical duties efficiently
- • Bolster President's confidence amid doubts
- • Personal rapport earns military loyalty over resume
- • Family anchors vulnerability in high-stakes roles
Playfully defensive masking profound unease about leadership and force
Bartlet reclines for his physical, bantering lightly about Morris's assignment, newborn photo, diet, and military past; winces from flu shot, confesses vulnerability to Joint Chiefs and aversion to violence, receives counsel while holding the photo tenderly before returning it.
- • Seek reassurance on military rapport
- • Forge personal bond with Morris through family shared moment
- • Folksy charm sustains popularity despite gaffes
- • Intellectual prowess trumps martial experience but Joint Chiefs demand personal respect
Innocent emblem of new life
Corey manifests solely as a cherished ten-day-old baby photograph passed between Morris and Bartlet, inspected admiringly, praised for beauty, and returned, humanizing Morris and softening the Oval's intensity.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
A manila file is handed to the President by Carol during the medical visit; it interrupts the private rhythm briefly and grounds the scene in ongoing administrative reality, reminding Bartlet of concurrent business.
Two Dewars on the rocks exist here as a referenced prop in Bartlet's joke about Mrs. Landingham; they function as a comedic reminder of private comforts and the President's indulgences even during serious conversation.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
Jordan is referenced conversationally as the national context for Morris's upcoming medical mission; it functions as the offstage destination that compresses time and heightens stakes for Morris and, by extension, the President.
Amman Teaching Hospital is mentioned specifically as Morris's destination; its invocation converts Morris's family anecdote into a mission context and foreshadows later medical tragedy that will escalate the administration's stakes.
Andrews Air Force Base is invoked via Nancy's update — 'they just touched down at Andrews' — converting private Oval intimacy into the present flow of arrivals and official logistics.
The Rose Bowl is mentioned jokingly in relation to physical exertion affecting the President's pulse; it functions as a colorful aside that contrasts public spectacle with this private medical moment.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Bartlet's earlier admission of discomfort with the Joint Chiefs contrasts sharply with his later vow of fierce retaliation, showing his personal and political transformation."
"Bartlet's earlier admission of discomfort with the Joint Chiefs contrasts sharply with his later vow of fierce retaliation, showing his personal and political transformation."
"Bartlet's warm interaction with Dr. Morris Tolliver earlier in the day makes his death later that night all the more poignant, highlighting the personal stakes in an otherwise political narrative."
"Bartlet's warm interaction with Dr. Morris Tolliver earlier in the day makes his death later that night all the more poignant, highlighting the personal stakes in an otherwise political narrative."
Key Dialogue
"BARTLET: I'm an accomplished man, Morris. I can sit comfortably with prime ministers and Presidents, even the pope. Why is it every time I sit with the Joint Chiefs, I feel like I'm back at my father's dinner table."
"MORRIS: In the meantime, you outrank them. So don't worry about it so much, and cut back on the dairy."
"BARTLET: How do I know this isn't the start of a military coup? MORRIS: In the event of a military coup, sir, what makes you think the Secret Service is gonna be on your side?"