Diverted UN Call — The Rwanda Memo Arrives
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Nancy interrupts with a call from the Secretary-General, which Charlie intercepts to delay due to an unseen memo on Rwanda.
The meeting concludes with Charlie handing Bartlet a memo, seemingly about Rwanda, setting up the next scene.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Not shown — represented as a diplomatic actor whose outreach demands protocol but can be postponed for briefing.
The Unnamed UN Secretary‑General is the source of the incoming call; not directly heard, but his impending call triggers the procedural decision to be deferred until Bartlet reads the Rwanda memo.
- • Communicate the UN's concern or protocol regarding an issue (presumably related to the President or diplomatic practicalities)
- • Secure direct engagement with the President
- • High‑level diplomatic contacts should be routed promptly to leaders
- • The UN expects timely responses on matters concerning its members
Cordially attentive — participating in introductions and listening for policy implications.
Josh is present, introduced to Commander Reese, and remains a largely neutral observer as the room shifts from an optics argument to a military briefing and memo handoff.
- • Monitor the flow of information for political implications
- • Support staff coordination without interrupting operational briefings
- • Information flow in the Oval has direct political consequences
- • Introductions and protocol matter even in rapid meetings
Firm and slightly affronted — standing her ground on optics while deflecting the President's anger and then being sidelined by a substantive interruption.
C.J. defends her decision to shift news‑magazine seating and promises to reposition a camera; she stands firm against Bartlet's snark while losing the room to the incoming memo and call drama.
- • Protect the visual optics of the press briefing for television
- • Avoid being publicly reproached by the President over routine operational choices
- • Camera presentation matters significantly for messaging
- • Operational fixes (camera repositioning) are preferable to public admonishment
Off‑screen urgency — his implied authority shapes staff behavior even in absentia.
Toby is not present in the room but is invoked as the author/requester of the Rwanda memo; his editorial control is the motive given for Charlie's interception and the memo's priority.
- • Ensure the President reads the Rwanda memo before responding to the Secretary‑General
- • Control the narrative and timing of presidential exposure to sensitive information
- • The President must be briefed on facts first to avoid diplomatic missteps
- • Triage of information (who hears what first) materially affects outcomes
Determined and authoritative — calm control used to shape the President’s immediate intake of information.
Charlie intercepts the incoming call, asserts that the President cannot take it now, explains that Toby wanted Bartlet to see a Rwanda memo first, and physically hands Bartlet the memo — an act of procedural gatekeeping that redirects the meeting's priorities.
- • Prevent the President from being distracted or preempted by the UN call
- • Ensure the President sees the Rwanda memo before speaking to the Secretary‑General
- • Order of information matters — the President should be briefed on facts before diplomatic engagement
- • Protecting the President’s attention is part of his role, even if it requires blunt intervention
Businesslike and composed — she delivers a sensitive diplomatic cue without dramatics and withdraws when the President defers.
Nancy enters to announce the incoming call from the Secretary‑General, acknowledges Bartlet's decision when told they'll return the call, and exits as instructed, performing a brief diplomatic relay role.
- • Inform the President of the incoming call from the Secretary‑General
- • Respect the President's decision about whether to take the call now
- • Protocol requires immediate notification of high‑level calls
- • The President's scheduling priorities override routine diplomatic outreach
Neutral and procedural — attentive but not intervening in the moment.
Other staffers are present, largely silent during the exchange; they acknowledge the President at the close, acting as background witnesses to the reprioritization of the meeting's agenda.
- • Stay informed about evolving priorities
- • Maintain decorum during the President's meeting
- • Senior staff manage the agenda and interruptions
- • They should not intrude on the President’s directives
Irritated by trivia but pragmatically refocuses to policy — surface humor masking a readiness to confront substantive crises.
President Bartlet presides over a petty argument about press‑room seats, is irritated, attempts a brusque quip about telling reporters where to sit, then is handed and accepts a memo on Rwanda after Charlie intercepts the Secretary‑General's call.
- • Address what he perceives as trivial manipulation of optics in the briefing room
- • Receive and process any urgent foreign‑policy information requiring his attention
- • Public theatrics (seating/camera tricks) are beneath presidential time and invite cynicism
- • He should be briefed first on pressing foreign matters before engaging diplomatically
Calmly professional — focused on delivering technical/military information amid the informal staff dispute.
Commander Jack Reese enters to deliver the CEC briefing immediately after the seating dispute and memo handoff; he confirms Nancy's reading on the North Sea exercise and answers Bartlet's questions professionally.
- • Deliver the requested CEC briefing accurately and succinctly
- • Affirm the military assessment that France will cooperate after the North Sea exercise
- • Tactical measures (exercises) influence diplomatic responses
- • Clear, direct military briefings are needed to orient decision makers
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Press Gallery News Magazines are the tangible justification for seat movement; referenced as institutional props whose absence produced empty seats on camera and started the argument.
The phone carrying the incoming U.N. call is the mediated threat that prompts Charlie's intervention; its arrival forces a decision about what the President should hear first and serves as the procedural object Charlie blocks or defers.
The briefing room camera is invoked by C.J. as the practical fix for optics that Bartlet criticizes; it is the technical countermeasure she promises to reposition in response to the President's complaint.
Toby's memo on Rwanda functions as the narrative pivot: Charlie insists the President read it before taking the UN call, physically handing it to Bartlet and thereby reordering priorities from optics to foreign crisis. The memo materializes urgency and justifies procedural gatekeeping.
The White House switchboard is the invisible infrastructure whose miscommunication Charlie admits (he 'forgot to tell the switchboard'), making it the procedural weakness that allowed the UN call to approach the President before the memo was seen.
The force level data‑fusion network is named by Bartlet as the subject of the CEC briefing; it serves as a technical object around which the military briefing and strategic assessment cohere.
The CEC briefing is introduced immediately after the seating spat and memo handoff; it functions as the consequential policy content that follows the memo, bringing military/tactical information into the room.
Press Briefing Room seats are the source of the petty argument that forms the scene’s opening tension; their repositioning for camera optics catalyzes the domestic squabble that Charlie interrupts with the memo.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
Rwanda exists as the subject that transforms the scene from internecine staff tiff to urgent foreign policy moment: the memo's topic dictates the procedural choice to defer the UN call and reorders priorities.
The North Sea Exercise is invoked during the subsequent CEC briefing as a tactical lever expected to influence French behavior; it frames the military assessment that follows the memo and call deferral.
The Press Briefing Room is the absent-but-discussed site whose visual presentation (empty seats, news magazines, camera placement) sparks the initial argument in the Oval. It functions as the media stage whose optics drive staff behavior and presidential irritation.
Organizations Involved
Institutional presence and influence
The French Government is referenced as the foreign actor whose cooperation may be swayed by military exercises; it factors into the strategic calculus discussed immediately after the memo interrupts the optics debate.
The CEC (Combined/Coordinated Element for Command) is the organization behind the military briefing introduced by Commander Reese; its assessment provides the operational backbone that follows the memo interruption and frames expectations about allied behavior.
The News Magazines organization represents the press corps subgroup whose absent personnel and moved seats triggered the initial dispute; they operate as institutional press stakeholders whose visibility is managed by the press office.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Charlie's earlier diversion of the UN call directly precedes Bartlet's eventual comical rant about the parking tickets."
"Charlie's earlier diversion of the UN call directly precedes Bartlet's eventual comical rant about the parking tickets."
Key Dialogue
"NANCY: "The Secretary-General.""
"CHARLIE: "Yes, sir, you can't take that call yet.""
"CHARLIE: "I'm sorry. Toby wanted you to see a new memo on Rwanda before you spoke to the Secretary-General and I forgot to tell the switchboard.""