Inauguration Part II: Over There
At his inauguration, President Bartlet pushes a new doctrine of humanitarian intervention to stop atrocities in Khundu while his senior staff contain leaks, internal dissent, and defend the political costs—stakes: American credibility and lives.
The episode begins with the White House speechwriters polishing the President's inaugural address and arguing about the moral language that will define administration policy. Will Bailey, a young communications aide with a military family background, admits to Toby that he engaged the President in a casual conversation about whether a Khundunese life matters as much as an American life. Toby scolds Will for getting too close to the President on a topic that could haunt him; still, Will finishes a draft that insists on America’s responsibility to act for “humanity’s promise.”
Late that night the press pool tests the terminology: C.J. and the press corps debate the legal distinction between acts of genocide and genocide itself. Danny Concannon worries about a Pentagon memo and reports that suggest internal fissures between political appointees and career officers; a staff leak exposes a researcher who quoted a White House aide on the record, escalating tensions about who talks to whom. Josh, Toby and C.J. race through a string of edits and political tradeoffs—changing diction from “mankind” to “humankind,” softening language to keep Cabinet and foreign relations concerns manageable—while behind the scenes Leo and Bartlet argue about whether recent National Security Council directives amount to a threat from the military’s hawks.
The pressure escalates into personal and professional crisis points. A headline drop implicates a White House aide in a story about Pentagon friction; the team suspects a young researcher and a reassigned Navy lieutenant commander are involved. Donna becomes a focal point when the reporter’s researcher reveals she was one of the background sources who gave an off-the-record quote. Josh and the team confront Donna late at night at her apartment; she apologizes, explains the source’s misunderstanding, and accepts responsibility for misplaced trust. The episode balances the operational scramble with quieter domestic moments: Bartlet and Abbey deal with inauguration logistics (including a last-minute problem finding a Bible) and he confers privately with Leo about the political fallout of any military action.
On inauguration morning, small logistical humiliations — frozen Metroliner tracks, three hotel rooms for Freemasons, the missing Bible — underscore the human scale of a sweeping policy moment. Charlie locates a Bible in the Capitol Library so the oath can proceed. Will, queasy from nerves, vomits backstage; the scene humanizes the senior staff amid the pomp. In private, Bartlet delivers the doctrine: he publicly frames the U.S. as committed to freedom from tyranny everywhere and refuses to limit intervention to purely strategic interest. Bartlet orders immediate military deployments to Khundu—a brigade from the 82nd Airborne, the 101st Air Assault, and a Marine Expeditionary Unit (the 22nd M.E.U.), with references to Camp Lejeune—transforming the rhetorical doctrine into concrete action.
The episode resolves both policy and personnel arcs. Toby, who advocates fiercely for principled language, recommends Will for a senior communications role; Leo endorses the appointment and Bartlet names Will Deputy White House Director of Communications and Special Assistant to the President. Will accepts the commission and the staff celebrates the promotion amid the strain of sudden, consequential decisions. The team recognizes that political blowback will follow—Fox pundits, Pentagon leaks about casualty estimates, and congressional scrutiny—but they also accept responsibility for putting American power behind humanitarian aims.
Thematically, the episode stages a recurring West Wing tension: moral obligation versus the human cost of using force. It shows a modern administration juggling media, personal loyalties, legal nuance (the distinction between Executive Orders and NSC Presidential Decision Directives), interagency turf battles, and the spectacle of public ritual. The narrative ties the intimate—Donna’s remorse, Will’s queasiness, Charlie’s resourcefulness—to the global: mothers standing in front of tanks, an administration deciding to “go get their backs.” By episode’s end the speech becomes doctrine, the doctrine becomes orders, and a junior aide becomes a principal actor—leaving the White House consolidated but exposed, morally decisive but politically vulnerable.
Events in This Episode
The narrative beats that drive the story
The episode opens with a tense exchange between Toby Ziegler and Will Bailey three days before the Presidential Inauguration. Toby confronts Will about a casual conversation with President Bartlet regarding the moral equivalence of Khundunese and American lives, expressing concern that Will is getting too close to the President on a sensitive topic. Will, an idealist, defends his perspective on America's responsibility to act for 'humanity's promise,' despite Toby's pragmatic view of foreign policy as 'bloodless, compromising and half a loaf.' Their disagreement over the speech's language on humanitarian intervention escalates, culminating in Will, frustrated, shattering the window between their offices, an act previously associated only with Toby's peak frustration. This incident underscores the intense pressure and the personal investment in the policy debate. Later, President Bartlet, alone in the Oval Office, watches military footage and calls Leo McGarry, signaling a critical decision point is approaching. This teaser establishes the central moral and political dilemma of the episode and introduces Will's passionate, if politically naive, character.
Toby breaks Will's concentration by tossing a rubber ball against the office window and pulls him into a terse, urgent conversation about a casual remark Will made to the President. …
In Toby's office a light, intimate confrontation crystallizes the episode's moral axis. After Toby summons Will (opening with a tossed ball and banter), Will admits he told President Bartlet that …
Toby corners Will after learning Will casually told the President that a Khundunese life "is worth less" than an American life. The exchange crystallizes the ethical and political stakes of …
At a late-night briefing C.J. uses deliberately precise, legalistic language to deflect reporters pressing the administration to label atrocities as "genocide," invoking the U.N. Convention's fine distinction between "acts of …
After a tightly controlled press briefing where C.J. delicately distinguishes 'acts of genocide' from 'genocide,' persistent reporter Danny corners her in the hallway and then her office. What begins as …
Late at night in Toby's office the senior staff runs final edits on the inaugural address while an ideological fault line quietly widens. Will stays behind, obsessively protecting the speech's …
Late-night edits on the inaugural address devolve from copy‑polish to moral argument as Will, Toby and Josh clash over language that would commit the U.S. to humanitarian intervention. Toby and …
In a quiet late-night Oval exchange Bartlet whimsically changes his mind about which Bible to use for the inauguration, prompting Charlie to reveal a ridiculous but real logistical snag: the …
After a lighthearted exchange about the inauguration Bible, Leo pulls President Bartlet aside on the portico to raise a technical but dangerous point: an NSC Presidential Decision Directive was routed …
Act One plunges the White House staff into the immediate political fallout of the impending inaugural address. C.J. Cregg navigates a press briefing, fending off questions about the nuanced legal distinction between 'acts of genocide' and 'genocide,' a distinction the State Department insists upon. Reporter Danny Concannon raises concerns about internal Pentagon rifts and a leak suggesting the President rescinded Executive Orders related to foreign leader assassination, hinting at deeper inter-agency conflicts. Concurrently, Josh Lyman, Toby, and Will struggle to finalize the inaugural speech, debating word choices like 'mankind' versus 'humankind' and the controversial 'humanity's promise' line. Josh warns Will about the political cost of risking 'American blood,' citing voter sentiment. The pressure on Will is palpable, culminating in his frustrated act of shattering the window. Away from the policy debate, President Bartlet faces logistical challenges with the missing Washington Bible for the inauguration oath. Leo McGarry confirms the Pentagon leak to Bartlet, revealing it as a deliberate 'shot across the bow' from military hawks, not a mere oversight. The act concludes with C.J., Toby, and Josh debating the moral imperative of intervention at a club, with C.J. passionately arguing that inaction in the face of atrocities makes them 'accomplices,' while Toby emphasizes the cost of 'sending other people's kids.' Bartlet, alone in the Oval Office, makes a decisive call to Leo, setting the stage for his major policy announcement. This act meticulously builds the external and internal pressures surrounding the intervention doctrine, highlighting both the political and personal stakes.
President Bartlet returns to find Abbey asleep in his private study, gently wakes her with a teasing confession that he secretly gave the children candy. The small, playful exchange exposes …
Late at night in the private study Bartlet finds Abbey half-asleep and exchanges a warm, teasing domestic moment about giving the children candy. Instead of joining her, he stays up—announcing …
In the dim, public space of Club Iota—Jill Sobule singing about imperfect heroes—C.J., Toby and Josh carry a private, urgent debate about humanitarian intervention. C.J. argues from moral duty and …
At Club Iota a pop song and a casual drink order frame a suddenly raw argument: C.J. forces the moral case for intervention—framing soldiers as "someone's kids" and arguing that …
Alone late in the Oval Office, President Bartlet flips through a wall of television images—tanks, an infomercial, the weather—until a VCR tape of wooden toy soldiers rewinds and plays. The …
Late in the Oval, President Bartlet, exhausted and private, flips through distracting television images until a VCR tape of wooden toy soldiers rewinds and begins to march. The childish, mechanized …
At Club Iota Josh and Toby trade a terse, morally fraught debate about a new humanitarian-intervention doctrine — Josh arguing for American responsibility, Toby cautioning about precedent and political cost. …
During a late-night celebration at Club Iota—where Jill Sobule’s melancholy song underscoring a tense policy debate—C.J. abruptly announces she must return to the office, blaming Danny and an internal staffer …
Act Two accelerates the narrative, transitioning from debate to crisis and decisive action. At Club Iota, Josh and Toby continue their intense discussion on intervention, just as C.J. receives urgent news: Danny Concannon has published a story implicating a White House staffer in a Pentagon leak. This triggers a cascade of urgent calls and pages, summoning the senior staff to the White House in the middle of the night. Will Bailey experiences the high-stakes reality of his temporary role when he receives a direct call from Charlie Young, on behalf of the President. C.J. confronts Danny, who reveals his editor and researcher dropped in the damaging quote, possibly from Donna Moss, who was angry about her boyfriend Jack Reese's reassignment from the White House. The team gathers in the Oval Office, where President Bartlet, with resolute conviction, delivers a powerful declaration of his new doctrine: America will champion 'freedom from tyranny everywhere' and meet it with 'strength,' ending the historical precedent of non-intervention for purely humanitarian interests. This declaration immediately galvanizes the staff into action, initiating damage control and strategic planning. The internal leak crisis escalates as C.J. confirms Donna's admission of giving the quote, intensifying Josh's frustration and the team's scramble. The act concludes with Bartlet and Leo accepting the inevitable political blowback and human cost of their decision, setting the stage for Inauguration Day, which begins with a series of minor logistical humiliations—frozen Metroliner tracks delaying the Washington Bible, and Will Bailey's nervous vomiting backstage—underscoring the human scale of the monumental policy moment.
In the Outer Oval late at night, a brittle standoff between ideology and caution plays out as Toby pins the political fallout for the President's tough language on Will while …
In the Outer Oval at night President Bartlet publicly frames a new doctrine: America will intervene where tyranny and mass atrocities threaten lives and U.S. credibility. His moral clarity — …
Act Three focuses on the resolution of the internal personnel crisis and the recognition of individual contributions amidst the grand policy shifts. In the festive ballroom, Toby Ziegler, recognizing Will Bailey's principled stand and talent, advocates passionately to Leo McGarry for Will's permanent appointment as Deputy White House Director of Communications. Leo, initially hesitant due to political sensitivities, eventually agrees to advise the President on the promotion, acknowledging Will's potential and Toby's endorsement. Simultaneously, Danny Concannon approaches Josh Lyman to apologize for the leak story, inadvertently revealing the full extent of Donna's quote, which implicates the White House in rejecting funds for the Department of Defense. This revelation infuriates Josh, who vows to confront Donna. The act culminates in a late-night, dramatic confrontation at Donna's apartment, where Josh, Toby, Charlie, Will, and Danny collectively throw snowballs at her window to get her attention. Donna, dressed in her ball gown, descends to face them. She apologizes, explains that her boyfriend Jack Reese was the original source of the information, and takes full responsibility for her misplaced trust and for giving the off-the-record quote, protecting Jack's career. The scene blends humor with genuine remorse and accountability, humanizing the high-pressure environment. The group, including a now-vindicated and contrite Donna, then heads to the inauguration balls, signifying a collective acceptance of responsibility and a renewed sense of team cohesion, even as Charlie humorously laments his romantic prospects.
In the Oval, President Bartlet frames the looming Khundu decision in explicitly moral language—quoting Isaiah as if to recast intervention as duty rather than strategy. Leo registers discomfort at the …
In the Oval Office at night Bartlet frames the Khundu intervention in moral terms—reciting Isaiah and softening tension with a private toast—while Leo brings the hard political reality: the Pentagon …
In the limousine Bartlet and Abbey trade intimate, teasing barbs about cancelling the inaugural parade — a small, comic contest that exposes Bartlet's stubborn pride and Abbey's talent for puncturing …
As the motorcade pulls into an underground parking lot during the inauguration procession, Charlie informs Bartlet the ceremonial Bible never arrived—frozen train tracks stranded the Metroliner in Philadelphia. Bartlet meets …
Act Four brings the episode to its powerful climax and resolution, solidifying both policy and personnel arcs. At the inauguration ball, C.J. and Leo discuss the anticipated surge of dissent following the President's doctrine, with C.J. emphasizing the need for full transparency to effectively manage the press. Bartlet gathers his senior staff, congratulating them on the successful articulation of the new doctrine, acknowledging the political backlash but affirming its seriousness. In a pivotal moment, Bartlet formally announces Will Bailey's appointment as Deputy White House Director of Communications and Special Assistant to the President, fulfilling Toby's earlier advocacy. Will, overwhelmed by the promotion, accepts, marking his full integration into the administration's inner circle. Immediately following this, Bartlet reveals the concrete, immediate consequence of their doctrine: he has ordered the deployment of a brigade from the 82nd Airborne, the 101st Air Assault, and a Marine Expeditionary Unit to Khundu to stop the violence, citing intelligence about 'Mothers standing in front of tanks.' This pronouncement transforms the rhetorical commitment into tangible military action, underscoring the immense stakes. The episode concludes with Bartlet and Abbey, followed by his senior staff, walking through the dancing crowd, their faces reflecting the gravity and collective burden of their decisions. The final image leaves the White House consolidated in its moral stance but exposed to the political and human costs of its bold intervention.
At the height of the inauguration scramble, President Bartlet bluntly calls out his team for arguing over the ‘order of the balls,’ exposing his impatience with trivia while larger moral …
Moments before the oath, the administration's public pageantry gives way to a private, human beat: Will stumbles out of a bathroom, pale and vomiting for the third time — a …
Backstage at the Capitol, a tiny but urgent crisis crystallizes the staff's anxiety: the ceremonial Bible for Bartlet's inauguration is missing. As staffers bicker over trivialities and swallow nerves, Josh …
At the inaugural ballroom, Toby and Leo quietly settle staffing and messaging: Leo worries about State's displeasure with Will Bailey, but Toby insists on a public promotion—naming Will Deputy—and defuses …
At the inauguration ballroom Josh runs into reporter Danny, who apologizes for yesterday's story and produces a copy of the published piece. As Josh scans the article he discovers Donna's …
On a snowy night Josh assembles Toby, Will, Charlie and reporter Danny outside Donna's building to force a reckoning over a damaging off-the-record quote. Josh stage-manages a good-cop/bad-cop ritual — …
On a snowy night Josh marshals senior staff to Donna's apartment in a deliberate good-cop/bad-cop sting to force accountability for a damaging leak. After buzzer theatrics devolve into snowball-throwing, Donna …
Josh leads a small, determined squad to Donna's apartment to force a reckoning over a damaging leak. After raucous snowballing brings her to the window, a public, emotional confrontation unfolds …
In an intimate late-night private room, President Bartlet converts a provocative inaugural doctrine into immediate action. After riffing on the pundits and taking a moment of warmth with Abbey, he …
In a cramped private room after the inauguration, President Bartlet ceremonially appoints Will Bailey Deputy White House Director of Communications, linking Will's military family pedigree to the gravity of the …