Handshake and Hard Lessons: Bartlet Welcomes Congressman Lien
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Congressman Peter Lien arrives, and Bartlet welcomes him with a mix of humor and seriousness, discussing his symbolic and practical responsibilities.
Bartlet concludes the meeting with Lien, welcoming him to the ongoing challenges of governance with a symbolic handshake.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Pragmatically impatient; focused on schedule discipline rather than the ethical or political substance of the argument.
Looks at his watch and announces '47 seconds,' providing a precise pacing cue that compresses conversation and forces quicker transitions in the Oval's timing.
- • Keep the meeting within allotted time constraints and signal the need for brevity.
- • Help the President and staff maintain control of the Oval Office's schedule.
- • Timekeeping is essential to effective White House operations.
- • Small procedural cues (like announcing seconds) create necessary discipline during heated discussions.
Not present; referenced with respect and as a standard for civic duty.
Referenced by the President as the predecessor whose public service sets a standard—used rhetorically to frame Congressman Lien's responsibilities and the comparison he must meet.
- • As referenced, to serve as a model of public service for successors.
- • Provide rhetorical weight to the President's charge to the new congressman.
- • Past good public servants offer instructive examples for current officeholders.
- • Legacy and continuity matter in democratic institutions.
Attentive and slightly anxious to be useful; deferential but ready to anticipate the President's needs.
Waiting respectfully in the Oval, politely offers a place to stand, attempts to interject on the stump-speech/energy point, and watches the photo-op—serving as the dutiful junior staffer facilitating flow.
- • Provide logistical support (where to stand/sit) and ensure the meeting runs smoothly.
- • Shield the President from unnecessary interruptions and clarify policy references when appropriate.
- • Orderly ceremony and staff discipline help the President maintain authority.
- • Accurate policy framing matters and can be corrected without escalating tension.
Professional and neutral, focused on protocol and smooth transitions rather than the emotional content of the dispute.
Announces arrivals (Secretary Bryce, Congressman Lien), stands nearby during exchanges, and participates in the room's logistics, then observes the handshake/photo-op as the scene resets.
- • Maintain orderly introductions and ensure visiting dignitaries are properly received.
- • Keep the meeting on schedule and facilitate the President's needs.
- • Protocol matters for both optics and morale.
- • The President's public gestures can recalibrate an otherwise tense room.
Concerned and defensive about losing business support; frustrated by the President's refusal to accept his framing.
Enters to press Commerce's perspective on greenhouse exemptions, argues economic fairness and business support, takes a public rebuke from the President, and departs with staff—defensive but persistent.
- • Protect Commerce's constituency and argue for exemptions that favor U.S. competitiveness.
- • Warn the President of political consequences and preserve industry support for administration policies.
- • Economic competitiveness and business backing are essential to policy success.
- • Presenting Commerce's case forcefully to the President is part of his departmental duty.
Irritated and protective about personal betrayal, confidently authoritative in policy dispute, then deliberately warm and paternal during the reception.
Enters from the colonnade, vocalizes moral outrage about the Weinberger leak, rebukes Secretary Bryce on policy framing, walks to his desk, and then shifts to a warm, instructive reception for Congressman Lien culminating in a staged photo handshake.
- • Reprimand what he sees as petty or harmful behavior and defend institutional decency.
- • Reassert presidential control over policy and messaging vis-à-vis cabinet advocacy.
- • Humanize the administration and instruct a new congressman about duty and responsibility.
- • Personal betrayals that publicize private pain are morally wrong and damage families.
- • The presidency must model ethical standards and institutional steadiness amid distracting controversies.
- • International environmental policy must be framed with legal principles (differentiated responsibilities), not purely political bargaining.
Implied seeking of recognition or leverage; likely untroubled publicly though morally questioned by the President.
Not physically present in the room but invoked by the President as the source who disclosed Weinberger's alleged affair; her action catalyzes the President's moral indignation and the staff's damage-control posture.
- • Obtain public attention or accountability by sharing the information.
- • Potentially influence outcomes or narrative by speaking to the press.
- • Revealing information to the press can achieve personal or ethical ends.
- • Disclosures, even of private matters, are a means of public accountability (or personal gain).
Cordial and mildly apologetic for logistical delays; purposeful in supporting the President's reception of the new congressman.
Enters later, is introduced to Congressman Lien, offers an apologetic explanation about scheduling, and participates in the photo moment—serving as senior institutional presence and liaison.
- • Provide institutional continuity and support the President's engagement with a new lawmaker.
- • Acknowledge scheduling constraints while smoothing relations with a member of Congress.
- • Maintaining good relations with Congress is crucial to governance.
- • Senior staff must manage both political optics and operational friction.
Humbled and honored; quietly proud and attentive to the President's guidance.
Introduced to the President and Leo, makes small talk about fishing and his district, receives an instructive welcome and a formal handshake/photo-op, then exits modestly pleased.
- • Represent his district respectfully and establish rapport with the President.
- • Signal willingness to serve and learn from senior leadership in Washington.
- • Service in Congress is both symbolic and substantive responsibility.
- • Personal background (Galveston Bay, fishing) can humanize his political identity.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The newspaper story about Seth Weinberger's alleged affair is the catalyst referenced at the event's start; Bartlet reads and condemns the disclosure, which drives the moral framing and establishes the emotional stakes for staff.
Larry's wristwatch is the timekeeping cue Ed references; its glance (through Ed's looking) and announcement of '47 seconds' compress the scene's tempo and forces conversational economy during the exchange about exemptions.
The handshake/photo prop functions as the visual punctuation of the President's reset—a staged artifact created by the staff as Bartlet and Congressman Lien pose, symbolizing restored normalcy and presidential hospitality.
Bartlet walks to and plants himself behind his Oval Office desk after the Secretary departs; the desk becomes the anchor for his subsequent commentary and for the shifting tone from rebuke to mentorship.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The East Colonnade functions as the transitional spine through which Bartlet enters—it signals the President's movement from the outside world into the Oval and punctuates his arrival with gravity.
Galveston Bay is invoked in small talk as a humanizing detail about Congressman Lien's family fishing background; it personalizes Lien and supplies the President with a colloquial bridge to mentorship.
Texas's 22nd Congressional District is referenced as Lien's constituency and the substantive locus of his responsibilities; it anchors the President's rhetorical charge to real-world duties beyond ceremony.
Organizations Involved
Institutional presence and influence
OSHA is the background context for a prior resignation (Weinberger's earlier stepping down); it frames the moral and bureaucratic history that the President invokes when judging the new leak's unnecessary harm.
The Congress of the United States appears as the institutional home and duty of Congressman Lien; Bartlet explicitly charges Lien with responsibilities to his district and to the Congress, grounding the welcome in civic duty.
The business community is invoked by Secretary Bryce as a constituency at risk should the administration pursue strict unilateral greenhouse measures; it functions as the political pressure Bryce claims to be defending.
The U.S. Air Force, 144th Fighter Wing is invoked by Leo when introducing himself to Congressman Lien; it functions as a credential signaling Leo's service and lending institutional gravitas to the introduction.
The newspaper organization published the Weinberger affair story; while not physically present, its editorial decision is the proximate cause of the President's moral rebuke and the Oval's damage-control posture.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Bartlet's refusal to exploit military achievements for campaign purposes mirrors his later rebuke of Bryce for overstepping his role in environmental policy."
"Bartlet's refusal to exploit military achievements for campaign purposes mirrors his later rebuke of Bryce for overstepping his role in environmental policy."
Key Dialogue
"BARTLET: "I don't think a lot of blind loyalty, but I think a lot less of blind betrayal.""
"BARTLET: "Well, in international law there's a principle called differentiated responsibilties. We're the ones making the greenhouse gas!""
"BARTLET: "Welcome, my freind, to the show that never ends.""