Character

Parents of Harold Dokes

grieving resilient politically symbolic dutiful professional emblematic sacrificial

Sergeant Dokes stands as a recently deceased U.S. service member whose death prompts Congressman Mark Richardson to contact his grieving family during a late-night negotiation with Toby Ziegler. His passing surfaces amid discussions of draft lottery inequities, class divides, and racial disparities in military burdens, turning partisan horse-trading into a stark reminder of service's human toll. Toby remains for the call, forging a shared moment of accountability that humanizes the White House's policy push on Kuhndu aid votes.

3 appearances

Also known as: parents of Gunnery Sergeant Harold Dokes

Parents of …'s Journey

A timeline through the narrative

3 moments

S4E19 · Angel Maintenance

From Coffin to Compromise: Draft as Leverage

Absent in person but present as an invoked, grieving proxy—their pain is instrumentalized in the room.

Referenced but not present; the parents are the named recipients of a promised presidential call and the immediate human center of Richardson's demand.

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S4E19 · Angel Maintenance

Death, Draft Threat, and a Drink

Absent yet central — they embody private loss that becomes public leverage.

The parents of Gunnery Sergeant Harold Dokes are invoked as the human locus of grief — recipients of the presidential call Richardson demands and the reason the bodies are being …

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S4E19 · Angel Maintenance

The Lottery Number

Their anticipated grief looms, turning the negotiation into an ethical as well as political moment.

The parents of Gunnery Sergeant Harold Dokes are referenced specifically as the people Richardson intends to call; they function as the human endpoint of the policy consequences being debated.

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Affiliation

Congressional Black Caucus