Character

Wilburforce

nostalgic humorous cherished

Wilburforce joins Mr. Finch as one of President Bartlet's family cats during his daughters' childhood. Bartlet invokes her name in a basement hallway chat with Leo McGarry, blending humor and nostalgia right before authorizing a high-stakes humanitarian organ transport from Switzerland. This memory humanizes Bartlet amid crisis, highlighting his roots in family life before White House demands took hold.

3 appearances

Bartlet Family Life

Also known as: Ms. Wilburforce, Mrs. Wilberforce

Wilburforce's Journey

A timeline through the narrative

3 moments

S4E9 · Swiss Diplomacy

Eleven Minutes — Bartlet Clears the Mission

N/A for the cat; the mention adds levity used by Bartlet.

Referenced alongside Mr. Finch in Bartlet's hallway anecdote (Ms. Wilburforce / Mrs. Wilberforce), a domestic touch that lightens Bartlet's tone before the briefing.

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S4E9 · Swiss Diplomacy

Bedroom Banter Interrupted — Eisenmenger and the Unwilling Surgeon

Neutral in itself; functions to soften the moment before the tonal shift.

Wilburforce is invoked only as a domestic memory (cat/housekeeper confusion) that lightens the opening banter and humanizes the President before the conversation turns serious.

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S4E9 · Swiss Diplomacy

Ethics vs. Executive: The Surgeon Refuses

N/A — functions as a conversational anchor that softens the room before the argument.

Wilburforce (invoked in the earlier banter) is used to humanize the scene and create domestic levity immediately before the moral argument; the name confusion adds warmth and resets tone.

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