Susan Thomas

assertive loyal principled defensive determined

Susan Thomas advises Senator Howard Stackhouse on his presidential bid, driving advocacy for federal needle exchange funding as a moral imperative. She accuses Amy Gardner of divided loyalties from White House ties, urges Stackhouse to seize moments like the AMA speech for impact, and defends his independent process against procedural complaints from allies like Jason Weaver. Assertive in debates, she balances insistence with apologies for tensions, maintaining focus on public health ethics amid strategic pressures from Josh Lyman and others.

8 appearances

Susan Thomas's Journey

A timeline through the narrative

8 moments

S4E4 · The Red Mass

Loyalty Accused; Amy Calls the Bait

Indignant and impatient; righteous about the public-health imperative and suspicious of political hedging.

Susan Thomas openly accuses Amy of divided loyalties, presses Stackhouse to call for federal needle-exchange funding at the AMA, and frames Ritchie's remarks as a tactical opening that must be …

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S4E4 · The Red Mass

Don't Take the Bait: Stackhouse Teased into Restraint

Righteous and frustrated—driven by moral urgency and impatient with perceived hedging.

Susan Thomas presses Stackhouse to seize the AMA as a platform for federal needle-exchange funding, apologizes for an earlier awkward moment, and accuses Amy (and by extension White House ties) …

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S4E4 · The Red Mass

Endorsement Standoff at Stackhouse Headquarters

Irritated and protective; she defends Stackhouse's procedural autonomy and resists reductive tactical grilling.

Susan Thomas interrupts to minimize procedural bickering, deflecting Jason Weaver's framing as 'tedious' while defending the Senator's process and pushing the group away from persecutorial questioning.

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S4E4 · The Red Mass

Josh Steps Out to Watch the Stackhouse Pressure Session

Defensive and prickly — protective of Stackhouse's autonomy and impatient with what she sees as procedural nagging.

Susan Thomas interrupts Weaver's line of questioning as tedious, defends Stackhouse's process, and rebukes attempts to crowd the conversation with procedural demands.

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S4E4 · The Red Mass

Small-Room Grudge, Big-Scale Stakes

Perceived by participants as provoking irritation; no direct emotional display in-scene.

Not present physically in the room but invoked by Josh and Amy as a potential troublemaker; functions as the focal point for criticism and strategic concern during their exchange.

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S4E4 · The Red Mass

Amy's Parting Confrontation — Don't Take the Bait

Mentioned as 'troubled' or 'a pain in the ass' — not emotionally present but cast as a complicating factor in Josh and Amy's strategic calculus.

Susan Thomas is invoked in Josh's opening question as a potential problem or 'troubled' operator; she is not present but the reference frames part of the tactical conversation and suggests …

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S4E4 · The Red Mass

Panic, Prep, and a Quiet Endorsement

Urgent but controlled — pushing access because she believes the interaction matters politically and ethically.

Appears in the foyer to catch C.J.'s attention and insists that the Senator be allowed a quick word with the President, helping to facilitate the private endorsement exchange.

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S4E4 · The Red Mass

Pilot's Signal: Stackhouse's Quiet Endorsement and Bartlet's Public Choice

Purposeful and controlled — quietly urgent but confident in timing and leverage.

Susan appears in the foyer, finds C.J., insists the Senator have a quick word with the President and effectively engineers the private meeting on the church steps that enables the …

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Affiliation

American Medical Association