Raggedy Ann Doll with Knife

A child-sized Raggedy Ann cloth doll: matted red yarn hair, a faded gingham dress with threadbare seams, stuffing peeking through worn cloth, and a small kitchen knife crudely lodged through the doll's throat. Dark stains rim the wound as if dried blood stained the fabric. The doll arrives packaged as a message; White House aides handle it gingerly, recoil at its brutality, and present it to the President as physical evidence and a confrontational token.

2 appearances

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

2 moments

S1E1 · Pilot

Apology, Accusation, and Bartlet's Reckoning

Referenced by President Bartlet as physical evidence and a threatening token sent to his granddaughter: the Raggedy Ann doll with a knife crystallizes the moral stakes, transforms abstract outrage into a personal attack, and is invoked to demand public denunciation of The Lambs of God.

Before: In the narrative record/White House awareness as a received threat; physically in evidence files or with protective staff prior to this meeting.

After: Remains part of the incident record and symbolic basis for demanding a denunciation; ownership/veneration by security and executive staff for further investigation.

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S1E1 · Pilot

Bartlet Forces Christian Leaders to Denounce the Lambs of God

The Raggedy Ann doll with a knife is the violent token Bartlet describes that was sent to his twelve‑year‑old granddaughter by the Lambs of God; it functions as the concrete evidence and emotional pivot that transforms political tit‑for‑tat into a moral outrage demanding denunciation.

Before: In unknown possession of the Lambs of God; mentioned in a distressing phone call to the President's family but not physically present in the room.

After: Remains an offstage threat and a public accusation used by the President to force a denunciation; its existence escalates the confrontation.

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