Bartlet Names Mendoza — Let the Good Fight Begin
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Charlie informs Bartlet that a crowd is gathering outside the Oval Office, signaling the growing public awareness of the high-stakes nomination process.
Bartlet officially names Mendoza as his Supreme Court nominee, emphasizing that he is the right choice despite not being the first.
Mendoza accepts the nomination with honor, and the team prepares for the upcoming confirmation battle, signaling unity and resolve.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Alert and deferential; focused on logistics and the President's flow of information rather than the politics.
Charlie quietly briefs the President about a crowd forming outside the office, supplying immediate situational awareness and subtly reminding the room that this private moment will have public reverberations.
- • Keep the President informed about real-time developments outside the Oval
- • Preserve order and ensure smooth movement of people around the President
- • Prevent operational surprises that could upend the announcement
- • Small procedural details (crowds, timing) matter to presidential optics
- • His role is to minimize distractions and protect the President's focus
- • Timely, quiet communication is more valuable than opinion in these moments
Measured confidence with awareness of political cost; he is pleased but sober about the fight he is committing the administration to.
President Bartlet moves from private vetting to public commitment, names Judge Mendoza aloud, assigns staff responsibility, and frames the forthcoming confirmation as a deliberate fight—part ceremonial, part command decision.
- • Select and elevate a nominee he judges right on substance rather than convenience
- • Mobilize trusted aides to manage the confirmation process
- • Signal institutional seriousness and moral clarity in the nomination
- • The presidency must sometimes choose principle over easy politics
- • A strong, integrity-driven nominee is worth political pain
- • Senior staff will execute the administration's defensive strategy
Energized and resolute; morally certain and eager to translate principle into a winning argument despite the anticipated pain.
Toby tests the nominee with a pointed constitutional hypothetic, immediately endorses Mendoza when the answer aligns with his legal values, and volunteers to lead a bruising confirmation fight, turning private legal assessment into committed advocacy.
- • Defend the nominee's constitutional reasoning in public and in hearings
- • Control messaging so the fight is framed as principle over politics
- • Win confirmation despite predicted opposition
- • Legal clarity and principle are persuasive and worth defending
- • A nominee who takes the right constitutional position will be worth the political cost
- • Language and framing will determine public and Congressional reaction
Roused and apprehensive; professional pride mixed with recognition of the workload and political exposure ahead.
The President's staff collective is functionally present: Sam (represented by the collective) is named as co-manager of the confirmation with Toby, and the group stands to be mobilized into an intense, high-stakes campaign to defend the nominee.
- • Execute the confirmation strategy assigned by the President
- • Protect both the nominee's integrity and the administration's reputation
- • Coordinate logistics, messaging, and hearings support under pressure
- • The staff must implement presidential decisions regardless of personal politics
- • Successful management of the confirmation will require discipline and unity
- • Political capital is finite and must be expended carefully
Dryly resigned but willing; he recognizes the work ahead and quietly commits to see it through.
Leo listens, gauges the political implications, affirms readiness to fight, and tacitly accepts the administration's new operational burden—offering the steady, pragmatic support Bartlet expects from his chief of staff.
- • Mobilize resources and staff to protect the presidency
- • Manage the political fallout and tactical response to opposition
- • Preserve institutional credibility while minimizing collateral damage
- • The chief of staff must absorb and organize the administration's fights
- • Some presidential choices demand personal and political defense
- • Pragmatic management can limit damage even in excruciating battles
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The program of mandatory drug testing (Mandy's proposed tests) functions here as the conceptual fulcrum of Toby's vetting question. Though no physical kit appears, the idea of presidential-ordered drug tests is the provocation that reveals Mendoza's constitutional stance and sets the political terms of the nomination fight.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The Oval Office is the ceremonial and operational stage where private vetting, public announcement, and immediate strategic delegations coalesce. It compresses the personal and political: a quiet room for judgment that, in this moment, produces a national controversy and dispatches staff into battle.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Toby's suggestion to meet Mendoza leads directly to Bartlet's official nomination of Mendoza."
"Toby's suggestion to meet Mendoza leads directly to Bartlet's official nomination of Mendoza."
"Bartlet's nomination of Mendoza culminates in the public introduction and staff applause."
Key Dialogue
"MENDOZA: "Without showing cause, I would say that the order constitutes an illegal search, and I would order that the employee be reinstated.""
"BARTLET: "Tomorrow evening at 5 o'clock, I am naming you as my nominee to be the next associate justice of the United States Supreme Court. You were not the first choice, but you are the last one, and the right one. Will you accept the nomination?""
"TOBY: "It's gonna be an excruciating battle, Mr. Justice, one I have no intention of losing.""