Toby Ziegler presses President Bartlet to abandon a 'folksy' campaign facade and embrace his authentic intellectual heavyweight persona, confronting underlying fears of vulnerability and assassination trauma amid crisis pressures.
Toby Ziegler presses President Bartlet to abandon a 'folksy' campaign facade and embrace his authentic intellectual heavyweight persona, confronting underlying fears of vulnerability and assassination trauma amid crisis pressures.
Events in This Arc
In the Oval Office at night, amid the Taiwan Strait crisis, President Bartlet and Toby Ziegler resume their chess match. Bartlet delivers sly, backhanded praise—lauding Toby's 'spunk' and 'pluck' while …
In the Oval Office at night, Bartlet pours coffee as Toby recounts Abbey's story of his post-Nobel humility—bragging about Ellie's multiplication tables to King Gustav—urging him to drop the 'folksy' …
In a rare lighthearted moment amid White House intensity, Toby greets security guard Janice warmly by her first name and insists she drop the formal 'Mr. Ziegler' for 'Toby.' He …
In Toby's office, a State Department official intercepts him, bluntly questioning the Helsinki summit's viability amid Russian provocations like the Iran reactor deal. Toby pivots to defending credentials for Ludmila …
Ludmila Koss enters Toby's office, where he efficiently hands her credentials and tickets for summit events—plane, Palace, press conferences, Arctic Peoples exhibit, Hall of Flags—honoring his advocacy for press access …