Object

Tokyo Exchange (broadsheet)

A folded broadsheet titled "Tokyo Exchange": off‑white newsprint printed in black serif type, narrow columns and dense financial tables visible along the fold. The paper bears handling creases and softened edges, roughly the size of a standard broadsheet when unfolded. It rests among Oval Office papers or on a nearby surface; aides glance at its headline or thumb its fold, and Nancy offers it to be sent to the President's bedroom as reading material.

2 appearances

Purpose

To present printed news and international financial/market information for reading and quick reference by the President and staff.

Significance

Functions as a mundane, tangible informational cue within a high‑stakes evening: its intended transfer to the President’s bedroom registers as routine business but becomes narratively sidelined when Leo's personal announcement shatters the room's mood. The newspaper underscores the clash between ordinary office logistics and an erupting private crisis.

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

2 moments

S1E6 · Mr. Willis of Ohio

Parting Tone — Leo's Divorce Revealed

The folded 'Tokyo Exchange' newspaper functions as a mundane domestic prop offered by Nancy and accepted by Bartlet, signaling his desire to shift from work to home life. It punctuates the ordinary routines that contrast with the sudden emotional rupture when Leo arrives.

Before: Folded and in the Oval Office in Nancy's possession, presented as reading material to be sent to the President's bedroom.

After: Accepted verbally by Bartlet ('Yeah. Sure.') and implied to be sent to the residence; unchanged physically but narratively displaced by the conversation that follows.

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S1E6 · Mr. Willis of Ohio

Legislative Victory, Personal Rupture

The folded Tokyo Exchange is offered by Nancy as bedside reading for the President; its casual offering anchors the domestic routine that the President is trying to preserve even as private crisis intrudes. It momentarily frames the scene's movement from quotidian care to personal rupture.

Before: Folded on the Oval Office papers or desk, handled by residence staff and ready to be delivered.

After: Accepted by the President ('Yeah. Sure.') and slated to be sent to his bedroom; remains a mundane constant amid the emotional collapse.

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