Object

Final Draft of President's Portland Morning Speech

Absence ignites fury in Air Force One's presidential cabin—Bartlet lunges verbally at the overdue final draft, voice slicing through post-confession haze. Leo parries, exposing Toby and Sam's feverish refinements: Sam spikes his own sharp version, plunging back for another pass. Pages unseen yet omnipresent, their delay coils tension between raw staff fractures and tomorrow's Portland podium demands.

3 appearances

Purpose

Working draft of President Bartlet's speech for delivery in Portland the following morning

Significance

Overdue status erupts perfectionist clashes in speechwriting team, yanking dialogue from Leo's divorce vulnerability to administration's relentless policy grind mid-flight

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

3 moments

S2E7 · The Portland Trip

Bartlet Presses Leo on Overdue Speech Draft

The final draft serves as the event's narrative fulcrum, its overdue status sparking Bartlet's demand and Leo's explanation; it embodies the speechwriting team's tensions, with Sam's rejection underscoring perfectionism vital to the administration's education policy push, heightening stakes en route to Portland.

Before: Incomplete and under revision by Toby and Sam elsewhere on Air Force One

After: Still in progress, with Sam embarking on another draft iteration

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S2E7 · The Portland Trip

Toby Rebuffs Sam's Mao-Fueled Call for Revolutionary Oratory

The Final Draft of the President's Portland speech functions as the contested core artifact; Sam reads it aloud for review, self-critiques its uninspired tone by crossing out phrases like 'none of the above,' and proposes infusing it with Mao's 'permanent revolution' rhetoric, driving the ideological clash toward revision amid deadline pressure.

Before: Unedited, pedestrian draft held by Sam in the staff cabin

After: Partially marked up with crossings-out, still incomplete and demanding further collaborative overhaul

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S2E7 · The Portland Trip

Toby Declares Speech Done, Sam Immediately Objects

The Final Draft of President's Portland Morning Speech serves as the explosive core of the confrontation—Toby explicitly deems it 'fine now,' attempting to seal its fate after iterative refinements, while Sam's terse rebuttal keeps it in limbo; narratively, it embodies the staff's high-stakes creative crucible, fueling the administration's education policy push amid Air Force One's airborne urgency.

Before: Under collaborative revision in staff cabin, iteratively refined by Toby and Sam

After: Deemed finalized by Toby but contested by Sam, status unresolved

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