President Bartlet's paternal anxiety and moral tension: the private cost of decisions that produced the covert hit collides with his public duties as the threat becomes personal (his daughter endangered). He must reconcile leadership authority, legal/p...
President Bartlet's paternal anxiety and moral tension: the private cost of decisions that produced the covert hit collides with his public duties as the threat becomes personal (his daughter endangered). He must reconcile leadership authority, legal/political exposure, and fatherhood.
Events in This Arc
In a single, breathless stretch in the Oval, private and public crises collide. Leo and Toby share a clipped, intimate exchange about Andy's imminent induction — Leo's joking, fatherly prodding …
President Bartlet confronts the intimacy of his office's protective mission when he inspects the Secret Service team assigned to his daughter Zoey. He demands 'overwhelming force' in a half-teasing, half-terrified …
On the staircase outside Georgetown's hall, President Bartlet and Will trade last-minute tonal choices for a commencement speech while Bartlet's light humor masks a deeper paternal anxiety. Will notes the …