Character

Thomas Aquinas

authoritative scholastic rational

Will Bailey cites Thomas Aquinas as a key source quoted in President Bartlet's drafted commencement address, alongside Cicero and Rudy Vallee. This pairing underscores Aquinas's role as a medieval theologian and philosopher whose rational arguments on faith and reason infuse White House rhetoric. Bartlet later pivots the speech to balance intellect with passion, positioning Aquinas within debates on measured idealism amid political pressures.

1 appearances

Thomas Aquinas's Journey

A timeline through the narrative

1 moments

S4E22 · Commencement

Pearls Before the Podium

Referenced neutrally—serves the draft's original intellectual emphasis which Bartlet elects to downshift.

Thomas Aquinas is named in Will's description of the draft as another quoted authority, functioning as a philosophical counterpoint the President opts to reframe around passion instead of pure reason.

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