Pocketed Anxiety — Final Edits and the Walk to Commencement
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
An aide interrupts to signal that it's time for Bartlet to proceed with the commencement, marking a transition from preparation to execution.
Bartlet and the Chancellor discuss the logistics of the speech delivery, with Bartlet humorously noting his lack of access to his speech notes in his pockets.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Warmly approving and celebratory; unaware of the President's private worry.
Applauds and cheers as Bartlet and the Chancellor appear; their enthusiasm sanctifies the ritual and contrasts with Bartlet's private tension.
- • Celebrate the graduates and honored guests
- • Respond appropriately to ceremonial cues (applaud, cheer)
- • Public ceremonies are moments to collectively honor achievement
- • Visible enthusiasm affirms institutional rituals
Detached professionalism; focused on correct, ceremonious delivery.
Provides the formal voiceover introduction that bridges the private stairwell talk to the public ceremony, cueing the procession and marking the moment's official start.
- • Clearly introduce the President and university president to the assembled audience
- • Maintain ceremonial tone and timing for the procession
- • Ceremony requires formal vocal framing to structure the event
- • A neutral, authoritative announcer calms and focuses the crowd
Urgent professionalism: alert and focused on timing and the President's readiness with minimal fuss.
An aide approaches, signals 'it's time', and places/adjusts something on Bartlet (microphone/lapel), moving him from preparation into performance readiness with quiet professionalism.
- • Ensure the President is technically and physically ready to appear
- • Keep the ceremony on schedule and error-free
- • Small technical preparations are crucial for a smooth public appearance
- • The President must be shielded from logistical distraction
Controlled, wry composure overlaying real anxiety about Zoey's departure; uses humor to deflect and steady himself publicly.
Standing at the staircase, Bartlet debates quote selection, acknowledges Will's assessment, allows an aide to prepare him, jokes about napkins, and descends with the Chancellor into the ceremony while masking paternal fear.
- • Finalize a speech that reads well and resonates with graduates
- • Maintain public composure and presidential dignity
- • Hide or contain private anxiety about Zoey from the public
- • Ensure the transition onto the stage proceeds smoothly
- • A well-crafted line matters but cannot solve private problems (e.g., stopping Zoey from leaving)
- • The presidency requires appearing confident and prepared in public
- • Small humor and ritual will steady both him and the audience
Anticipatory and formal, focused on the ritual of commencement.
As part of the larger assembled body, the graduates occupy the staging area below and provide the ceremonial context for Bartlet's address, their silent presence heightening the formality.
- • Hear the commencement address
- • Participate in the ritual marking academic transition
- • Commencement is a shared rite of passage
- • The presence of dignitaries like the President confers significance
Not applicable — referenced as a textual authority shaping the President's rhetorical choice.
Mentioned indirectly as the source of the preferred quotation; her words function as the rhetorical choice that shapes the speech's tone.
- • Provide a literary turn of phrase suitable for the speech
- • Frame the speech toward American literary tradition rather than a foreign philosophical register
- • A domestic literary voice will better fit the ceremony and the President's sensibility
- • Quotations shape public perception of a speaker
Not applicable — invoked as rhetorical contrast.
Mentioned as the alternative quotation source (Gandhi); invoked in the debate over tone and cultural resonance for the address.
- • Offer an internationally recognized aphorism that could inspire graduates
- • Provide concise, moral framing for the speech
- • Familiar moral aphorisms have power in commencement rhetoric
- • Cultural origin of a quotation affects perceived fit
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The teleprompter is present as an unused technical aid; the Chancellor asks if Bartlet will use it, establishing that Bartlet intends a more personal, un-cued delivery and reinforcing his desire for directness.
Small napkins are referenced as the president's informal, crumpled jotting place for bits of his speech — the joke about them defuses tension and signals a human, impromptu side beneath the formal address.
Zoey's compact camera is pulled out in the crowd and used to snap a quick, candid photograph of Bartlet — a private, affectionate act that punctuates the public ritual and visually records a human father-son/daughter moment.
The double doors function as the physical threshold Bartlet and the Chancellor pass through from private preparation to public exposure; they structure the transition and the beat of applause as the pair emerge.
The march 'Pomp and Circumstance' plays as the ceremonial soundtrack, marking the procession's rhythm and heightening the contrast between solemn public ritual and Bartlet's private tension.
Bartlet references and carries this speech folder up the staircase, using it as the main textual anchor for his off-teleprompter delivery; it legitimates his prepared remarks even as he jokes about improvisation.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The broader Georgetown Building contains both the private stairwell and the public hall, providing the institutional architecture that holds the ceremony and the secret anxieties threading through it.
The top of the Georgetown staircase serves as the private staging area where Bartlet and his adviser make last-minute rhetorical choices; it is the intimate threshold between private counsel and public performance.
The front area of the ceremony is the public stage where Bartlet will speak; it receives the procession and the crowd's applause, framing the President's role as both orator and father.
The hall's front double doors mark the ceremonial threshold; passing through them converts the intimate preparatory moment into a public, performative one and triggers audience response.
Organizations Involved
Institutional presence and influence
Georgetown University hosts and stages the commencement, providing institutional protocols, ceremonial pacing, and the official pairing of academic and national leadership; its rituals frame the President's public role and the private family moment captured in the crowd.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Bartlet and Will's debate over the speech's theme continues as they prepare."
"Bartlet's decision to change his speech's focus is debated with Will during preparation."
"Bartlet and Will's debate over the speech's theme continues as they prepare."
"The commencement ceremony leads to Bartlet's speech and Zoey's photo."
"The aide's interruption leads directly to Bartlet's speech logistics."
"The aide's interruption leads directly to Bartlet's speech logistics."
"Bartlet's personal gift to Abbey contrasts with his public responsibilities during the commencement speech."
"Bartlet and Will's debate over the speech's theme continues as they prepare."
"Bartlet and Will's debate over the speech's theme continues as they prepare."
"The aide's interruption leads directly to Bartlet's speech logistics."
"The aide's interruption leads directly to Bartlet's speech logistics."
"Zoey's photo of her father contrasts with her confused feelings for Charlie."
"Zoey's photo of her father contrasts with her confused feelings for Charlie."
Key Dialogue
"WILL: Yeah. Sir, this speech is about creativity and in my judgement, it's a home run. Now, what it isn't is a speech that will convince Zoey not to go to France tomorrow."
"BARTLET: Yeah, no. I've got it down here in this folder, and on some napkins in my pocket."
"BARTLET: Well, for instance, I just realized I don't have access to my pockets anymore. But, you know, what are you going to do?"