C.J. Assigned the Lydells; Bartlet Postpones Sex‑Ed Decision
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
C.J. enters to lighthearted teasing about Toby's cooking show habits, instantly puncturing the formal atmosphere before the conversation pivots to the serious Lydell family situation.
Bartlet reveals his core political concern: Jonathan Lydell's potential embarrassment about his son's homosexuality could sabotage the hate-crimes bill signing, forcing C.J. to manage the grieving father carefully.
C.J. pushes the President on the urgent sex-education report, seeking immediate action on its dramatic findings about abstinence-only education failures, but Bartlet delays until end of day.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Tightly controlled empathy — personally affected by the family's loss yet aware of the political minefields, trying to balance humane outreach with message discipline.
C.J. confirms she'll meet the Lydells, presses the President about the Sex Education report's presentation, and accepts Bartlet's instruction to buy time and manage messaging and potential leaks.
- • Provide a sympathetic, steady presence for the Lydells to prevent a public backlash
- • Shape the framing and timing of the Sex Education report to avoid a damaging narrative
- • Buy time for the President to read before making a public decision
- • How the administration handles grieving families will shape public perception
- • Releasing incendiary material without presidential approval will be politically dangerous
- • A personal, careful outreach by a senior communicator can blunt outrage or missteps
Controlled and brisk — outwardly genial but insistently purposeful; protective of Leo and the institution while impatient with distractions.
President Bartlet takes command of the room's tempo, issues targeted orders: asks C.J. to sit with the Lydells, defers the Sex Education report for personal review, and instructs Josh and Sam to block any hearing into Leo.
- • Contain political damage to the administration and Leo's family
- • Delay public release or framing of the Sex Education report until he can review it
- • Prevent a congressional hearing that would publicize internal vulnerabilities
- • Institutional stability and protecting staff reputation are paramount
- • Uncontrolled public spectacle (e.g., a withdrawn father forced into the limelight or a premature sex‑ed release) will harm policy goals
- • He should personally make final judgments on combustible documents
Composed but attentive — aware of stakes and ready to support messaging or counsel the President if called.
Toby is present and briefly engaged in the CPB/bananas thread; in this event he listens and remains a guard for message discipline though he does not drive the Lydell or hearing directives.
- • Protect the administration's messaging around policy appointments
- • Maintain rhetorical discipline on contentious topics
- • Support colleagues in navigating political pitfalls
- • Language and framing determine public reaction
- • Institutional appointments (like CPB) deserve careful defense
- • He should be the steward of precise messages
Uneasy and solicitous — protective of relationships but aware of political peril, quietly worried about reputational risk to his family and himself.
Leo reports the facts about the Lydells and Simon Blye, asks for counsel, and implicitly asks Bartlet to intervene; he also relays Mandy's assessment of the grieving father's withdrawal.
- • Obtain advice and protection for himself and his family
- • Ensure the President understands the sensitivity of the Lydells' situation
- • Secure a trustworthy interlocutor for his personal concerns (hence the meeting with Simon)
- • Personal friendships can provide the counsel he needs when political channels feel insufficient
- • He is vulnerable to political attack and needs protection
- • Bartlet's judgment and intervention carry decisive weight
Quietly dutiful — performing her role in the background, knowing small details matter and are noticed by senior staff.
Margaret is the backstage administrative source who fed Bartlet the scheduling gossip (Simon meeting); her small logistical work ripples into trust and suspicion about Leo's private counsel.
- • Support Leo by transmitting practical information
- • Keep the Chief of Staff's schedule organized and confidential
- • Ensure senior staff have the details they need
- • Small administrative details can have political consequence
- • Discretion is part of her role
- • Her fidelity to Leo matters
Alert and ready — braced for a political fight on the Hill, absorbing instructions with the promise of action and some suppressed irritation.
Josh is present at the Oval; Bartlet pulls him (and Sam) into the hallway and tasks them with pre‑empting any congressional hearing into Leo, warning them not to make deals without consulting the President.
- • Block or blunt any hearing that would expose Leo or the administration
- • Negotiate with Congressional actors to remove or limit leverage against the White House
- • Keep options open and not accept concessions without presidential sign‑off
- • Hearings are a political weapon that must be neutralized
- • Political actors ('Let's Make a Deal') will try to extract concessions
- • Protecting senior aides preserves the President's ability to govern
Jonathon Lydell is referenced as the public face of the family who will be met by C.J.; his likely reticence …
Simon Blye is discussed (not physically present) as Leo's outside confidant; Bartlet expresses distrust and frames Simon's presence as a …
The grieving father is not present in the room but is the object of the President's and C.J.'s concern — …
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The Sex Education report is spoken of as a combustible policy packet that could be politically dramatic; Bartlet postpones reading it, making the report a narrative pressure point and forcing subordinates to buy time and manage leaks or optics.
Bartlet humorously claims to have broken into Leo's schedule compartment and taken infrared photos with his compact camera; the camera functions as a prop to puncture tension and to reveal Bartlet's playful intrusion into staff private spaces.
Mentioned by Toby as part of a comic assurance of cultural competence ('I was raised on Brideshead Revisited'), the cultural reference functions as rhetorical padding to reassure Bartlet about handling CPB appointees and to humanize Toby's competence.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The Portico is the entry point through which Bartlet and Leo arrive, giving the scene a spatial rhythm of arrival and immediate transition into business; its brief mention frames movement and the ritual of presidential approach.
The West Wing Hallway is used briefly when Bartlet pulls Josh and Sam aside for a private directive; it functions as a corridor where privacy is partial and urgency is compressed into quick tactical orders.
The Outer Oval Office serves as the initial staging area where Bartlet and Leo enter, exchange banter with Mrs. Landingham and Nancy, and from which the staff transition into the Oval. It frames social ritual and backstage maneuvering, a threshold between intimacy and formal authority.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Bartlet's protective loyalty to Leo remains consistent across both moments."
"Bartlet's protective loyalty to Leo remains consistent across both moments."
Key Dialogue
"BARTLET: "This is no time to out a guy in front and center who's embarrassed that his son was gay.""
"C.J.: "Mr. President, I was wondering if you had an opportunity to look at the Sex Education report?""
"BARTLET: "I want to pre-empt a hearing. I don't want it. I don't want it for Leo. I don't want it for his family. I don't want it for us.""