The Resignation Letter Delivered
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Bartlet and Claire exchange brief, tense dialogue about her car and the letter.
Bartlet reads Hoynes's resignation letter, revealing the dramatic outcome.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Curious and quietly apprehensive — senses potential trouble and mentally begins triage.
Walking through the hallway, pauses and watches Charlie and Claire pass by, registering the arrival and the folded paper as something to note; does not yet intervene but collects the image and implication.
- • Gather initial situational awareness to anticipate fallout.
- • Prepare to mobilize crisis response if necessary.
- • Determine whether to escalate to senior staff.
- • Unexpected arrivals bearing documents often presage political problems.
- • Information must be gathered quickly before rumors spread.
- • He should be ready to act to protect the administration's interests.
Alert and immediately analytical, considering messaging implications and the need for accuracy before public statements.
Standing in the Communications Office, notices Charlie and Claire pass by and registers the visual cue — a possible communications issue — while remaining in his workspace.
- • Assess potential public relations impact of an unexpected resignation.
- • Prepare to develop messaging or briefing points pending confirmation.
- • Prevent premature or inaccurate public disclosure.
- • Communications must be controlled carefully to avoid speculation.
- • Accuracy trumps speed when internal facts are uncertain.
- • He will be called on to shape the administration's response.
Calm, controlled professionalism with quiet alertness — focused on procedure rather than the emotional content of the delivery.
Stands under the covered driveway in the rain, greets Claire, hands her a security tag, escorts her through the lobby and Outer Oval Office, and formally introduces Claire to President Bartlet at the Oval Office threshold.
- • Authenticate and badge the visitor to grant secure access.
- • Escort Claire safely and efficiently to the President.
- • Control optics and limit unnecessary attention during the transfer.
- • Ensure chain-of-custody for an official communication.
- • Security and procedure override personal curiosity.
- • Sensitive matters should be delivered quickly and privately to the President.
- • He can shield the President from unnecessary disruption while performing his duties.
Momentarily surprised, then pragmatic and serious — curiosity edged with the rapidly dawning weight of responsibility.
Standing in the Oval Office reading a newspaper, he receives Claire and the letter, cites statutory routing to the Secretary of State, asks procedural questions, unfolds and reads the terse resignation and immediately registers the institutional consequences.
- • Ensure legal and procedural handling of the resignation under 3 U.S.C. §20.
- • Ascertain facts and context surrounding the resignation.
- • Maintain calm and take immediate control of the administrative response.
- • Institutional continuity is paramount and must be preserved through proper channels.
- • Legal protocols exist for a reason and must be followed even amid crisis.
- • Direct knowledge of events is necessary to lead an effective response.
Distracted by duties but quietly concerned, ready to assist or comfort where needed.
In the Outer Oval Office, placing something on Charlie's desk as Charlie and Claire enter; busy with routine tasks but present at the periphery of the handoff and attentive to the sudden significance of the moment.
- • Complete her immediate task while remaining available to support staff.
- • Maintain normalcy in the anteroom to limit disruption.
- • Be ready to relay or fetch information if asked.
- • Small practical actions keep operations steady during crises.
- • Her presence can be reassuring to colleagues under stress.
- • She should not escalate until instructed by senior staff.
Not shown directly; inferred resignation, defeat, or retreat from public role given the letter's tone and timing.
Not physically present in the scene; his presence is instantiated by the resignation letter read aloud by the President, which signals his formal departure from office effective 6 A.M.
- • Remove himself from the office to limit further personal or political damage (inferred).
- • Control the exit by submitting a formal, concise resignation rather than public spectacle.
- • Delegate delivery to a subordinate to reduce his own exposure.
- • Resignation will contain the immediate crisis better than public confrontation (inferred).
- • Procedural submission of resignation is the appropriate legal mechanism for departure.
- • His allies/staff will ensure official routing and manage fallout.
Anxious and embarrassed, relieved to complete her task but visibly shaken by the gravity of the act and the attention it draws.
Arrives by cab in the rain, accepts the security tag, clutches a folded resignation letter, walks nervously through the lobby and into the Oval Office, and physically hands the folded letter to President Bartlet, offering a quiet explanation about why she took a cab.
- • Deliver the resignation letter to the President as instructed.
- • Complete the transfer quickly and accurately to minimize fuss.
- • Avoid attracting further attention or comment about herself.
- • She must follow directions and ensure the letter reaches its intended recipient.
- • Personal visibility is dangerous; the document, not she, should be the focus.
- • Honesty about trivial details (her car) is safer than inventing cover stories.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Bartlet's Oval Office desk functions as the staging surface where the newspaper is tossed and where the resignation letter is placed after being read; it frames the intimate exchange and becomes the locus for the new administrative reality.
A security tag is issued by Charlie and placed around Claire's neck to grant her authorized access through West Wing checkpoints; it functions as the practical key enabling a private delivery to the President and signals official acceptance of her presence.
The folded resignation letter is the narrative catalyst: clutched by Claire during arrival, carried through the lobby, physically handed to President Bartlet, read aloud, and thereby transforms private intent into immediate institutional fact.
Bartlet's newspaper is a staging prop he is reading when Claire enters; he folds and tosses it onto his desk to receive Claire and the letter, signaling a shift from routine to crisis and providing a physical beat in his reaction.
The cab deposits Claire at the covered driveway and then departs; it is the physical means of her arrival and a small but telling detail (her car supposedly wouldn't start) that punctuates her nervous explanation to the President.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The Communications Office is the work hub where Toby stands and watches the passage; it functions as the nerve center for possible messaging reaction and as a vantage point for early indicators of trouble.
The Northwest Lobby is the transitional corridor where Claire, newly badged, is visibly holding the folded letter and passes by C.J.'s office; it serves as the first interior threshold from public approach into tightly controlled executive spaces.
The Outer Oval Office serves as the anteroom where Charlie and Donna cross paths and where administrative choreography occurs before entrance to the President; it contains the personnel and objects that stage the private handoff.
Organizations Involved
Institutional presence and influence
The Air Force One Press Corps is physically present across the driveway, waiting and poised to capture arrivals; their presence creates external pressure and the potential for rapid public exposure of the resignation once it is known.
The Office of the Secretary of State is invoked by President Bartlet as the statutory recipient for resignation notices under 3 U.S.C. §20; it is the legal repository and processing authority for the formal transfer of notice.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Claire Huddle's delivery of the letter directly leads to President Bartlet reading Hoynes's resignation, marking the climax of the narrative."
"Claire Huddle's delivery of the letter directly leads to President Bartlet reading Hoynes's resignation, marking the climax of the narrative."
Key Dialogue
"President Bartlet: "You know what's in here?""
"Claire Huddle: "My car wouldn't start.""
"President Bartlet (reading): "Dear Mr. President, I hereby resign the Office of Vice President of the United States effective 6 A.M. today. Sincerely, John Hoynes""