Family Calls and a Decertification Order
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Bartlet approaches Will, handing him materials to assist with notifying families of the fallen soldiers.
Bartlet tasks Will with researching the consequences of decertifying Colombia, showing his proactive stance despite the crisis.
Will expresses surprise at the request to research decertification, indicating his awareness of the political sensitivity.
Bartlet updates Will on the extended fly-by schedule, reinforcing the prolonged nature of the crisis.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Implied readiness and professional focus, expected to move quickly from receipt to press management.
Referenced as the intended recipient of the Colombia briefing; implicitly charged with handling the press and briefings once Will delivers the material. C.J.'s role is invoked but she is not physically present in the cabin during this exchange.
- • Prepare a coherent press posture if decertification becomes policy news.
- • Coordinate messaging that balances sensitivity to the families with institutional caution.
- • Press must be controlled to prevent panic or speculation.
- • Timely, accurate briefing material enables calm and authoritative public response.
Resolute and quietly burdened—publicly composed but personally engaged with grief; uses purpose and action to channel emotion.
Approaches Will in the staff cabin, announces he'll call the bereaved families, instructs Will to help process incoming information, hands off a Colombia briefing to be passed to C.J., and directs research into the consequences of decertifying Colombia.
- • Offer personal consolation by calling the families and ensure accurate information is gathered for those calls.
- • Begin immediate fact-finding on the legal/political consequences of not certifying/decertifying Colombia.
- • Keep the staff busy and focused during an uncertain flight interval to avoid paralysis.
- • The President must personally connect with grieving families; such acts are both moral and politically necessary.
- • Policy choices (like decertification) cannot wait for calm—early research and positioning are essential even amid personal crisis.
- • Staff should be used efficiently; action is an antidote to helplessness.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
A Colombia decertification briefing packet is handed (or pointed to) by Bartlet to Will as he instructs that it be given to C.J. and read en route. The object functions as the concrete bridge between private decision and public action, carrying the facts that will enable rapid policy research and media choreography.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The Staff Cabin serves as the private, cramped setting where the President withdraws from the public cabin to pair intimate condolence with swift policy action. Its close quarters concentrate urgency and force quick transitions between empathetic duties and bureaucratic commands.
Organizations Involved
Institutional presence and influence
The Colombian Government is the subject of Bartlet's offhand but urgent instruction: staff must research the consequences of non-certification or decertification. It functions here as a remote actor whose legal/political status will be directly affected by the President's decision.
The families of the men lost in the friendly-fire incident are the immediate human focus: Bartlet announces he will call them and that they'll be sending up information. They are directly acted upon and will shape the President's personal and public response.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
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Key Dialogue
"BARTLET: "I'm going to call the families now. They're going to send up some information. Can you help me out?""
"BARTLET: "Do me a favor. Find out what happens if I don't certify Columbia. Find out what happens if I decertify Columbua.""
"WILL: "Really?""