Bartlet's Wearied Vent and Deflection to Leo
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Leo enters and questions Bartlet's early departure, hinting at concern for the President's well-being.
Bartlet reveals his frustration over losing the library site and the challenges of his presidency.
Leo probes for deeper issues, but Bartlet deflects, maintaining his composure while hinting at unresolved concerns.
Bartlet exits, leaving Leo with unspoken worries as the scene ends on a note of unresolved tension.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Calmly professional, attuned to presidential fatigue without intrusion
Enters promptly upon Bartlet's call, affirms rerouting calls to the residence, crisply confirms late memos are placed on the desk, thanks implied in efficiency, and exits unobtrusively as Leo engages the President, embodying seamless support amid tension.
- • Facilitate Bartlet's early retreat by confirming work logistics
- • Maintain operational continuity with precise memo update
- • Presidential directives demand immediate, unquestioning execution
- • Subtle reconnaissance of mood strengthens staff loyalty
wearied and frustrated
instructs Charlie on calls and memos, announces early departure, vents frustration over failed library sites and presidency's learning curve, pauses reflectively, deflects Leo's probing, and exits abruptly
- • express ongoing frustration from library site obstructions (continuing prior bureaucratic battles)
- • deflect deeper discussion of personal burdens
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Charlie confirms the late memos' placement on the desk, positioning it as the weary repository of unfinished presidential duties; it anchors Bartlet's fatigue-fueled pivot to residence work, symbolizing the Oval's burdensome legacy amid library frustrations and broader crises.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
Bartlet redirects calls and work to the Residence, framing it as a shadowed sanctuary from Oval exhaustion; invoked as refuge for continuing labor, it underscores his craving for domestic hush against duty's siege, heightening the intimacy of his weary deflection.
Bartlet cites the wooded land on the Connecticut River as a backup library site torpedoed by Abenaki burial claims, fueling his outburst on futile negotiations; it crystallizes political ambition's collision with sacred history, amplifying frustration over immovable barriers.
Described by Bartlet as a magnificent bluff overlooking Orford's orchard, offered for donation but stalled by the owner's imprisonment; it embodies visionary promise twisted into agony, another dead-end in library chess that provokes Bartlet's raw presidential lament.
Bartlet reveals the Orford bluff owner's 40-month securities fraud sentence at Allenwood as the snag dooming the donation; the prison's distant clang reverberates in Oval frustration, recasting a felon's cage as a barbed presidential hurdle.
Organizations Involved
Institutional presence and influence
Bartlet vents fury over the Abenaki Indians' unyielding claim on Connecticut River woods as ancient burial grounds, derailing library plans; their assertion thrusts indigenous rights into Oval crosshairs, embodying the presidency's brutal tangle with ancestral sovereignty.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Bartlet's sardonic dismissal of bureaucratic formalities continues into his later, more profound frustration with the challenges of his presidency."
"Bartlet's sardonic dismissal of bureaucratic formalities continues into his later, more profound frustration with the challenges of his presidency."
Key Dialogue
"LEO: "At 7:30?""
"BARTLET: "This is the last job I've ever going to have. This is the last time I'm going to come to work with people. I swear to God, I feel like I was just starting to get good at it.""
"LEO: "Mr. President, is there anything we need to talk about?" BARTLET: "Not yet, okay?""