Hickory: Bartlet's Call to Harold Lewis
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Bartlet establishes contact with Harold, who is injured and struggling to manage the crisis alone.
Harold describes the catastrophic conditions aboard the Hickory, including 80-foot seas and a fire in the engine room.
Bartlet kneels, offering comfort and unwavering support to Harold, promising to stay on the line as long as possible.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Taut and watchful: worried about optics and logistics, trying to triage political fallout even as a life‑and‑death situation unfolds.
Joshua Lyman supplies a quick situational note — that the intercom is down and they're searching for the captain — framing the communication limitations and political exposure for the President and staff.
- • To understand operational constraints quickly so political consequences can be managed.
- • To ensure nobody in the room underestimates the communications and optics problem.
- • Information gaps create political vulnerability; the administration must control what it can.
- • Even in emergencies, political and operational considerations are interwoven and must be addressed simultaneously.
Terrified and disoriented; clutching to duty and to the thin tether of voice the radio offers — oscillates between resignation and desperate hope.
Signalman Third Class Harold Lewis speaks through crackle and pain from the Hickory's radio shack: he reports injuries, extreme seas, engine‑room fire, and lost running lights; he struggles to reach medical supplies and to be heard through static.
- • To communicate the cutter's dire condition clearly so help can be prioritized.
- • To receive reassurance and instructions that might keep him and his shipmates alive until rescue.
- • Clear communication, even imperfect, can make the difference between life and death at sea.
- • If the President is on the line, it increases the chances that resources and attention will follow.
Measured and paternal at the surface; privately unsettled and morally responsible, attempting to translate institutional authority into human reassurance.
President Jed Bartlet moves from formal host to intimate listener: he kneels by the speakerphone, asks calm, practical questions, offers comfort, and vocally pledges to stay on the line as long as the radio holds.
- • To provide immediate emotional support and procedural reassurance to the injured signalman.
- • To keep lines of communication open and extract actionable information about the Hickory's condition.
- • The President must not abdicate the human responsibility of command even when solutions are procedural.
- • A calm, personal presence can steady terrified subordinates and buy time for operational fixes.
Controlled, focused on procedure; slightly constrained by the limits of what he can report in a chaotic situation.
The Skipper/Captain is physically present in the briefing room and initiates the connection by pushing the speaker‑phone button; he reports that the skipper (likely himself or a counterpart) is being brought in and provides terse confirmations.
- • To establish and maintain a reliable communications patch between the Hickory and the White House.
- • To ensure the President and staff have the immediate facts necessary for decision‑making.
- • Clear lines of command and prompt contact are essential in maritime emergencies.
- • Operational truth matters more than spin when lives are at stake.
Businesslike urgency masking concern; focused on triage and the administration's exposure, while also personally unsettled by live human peril.
Leo McGarry arrives hurriedly, sets the operational frame (identifying the communications outage) and provides concise situational context; he stands as procedural anchor while Bartlet handles the human contact.
- • To assemble accurate information and escalate operational options for rescue or coordination.
- • To preserve presidential focus and shield the President from avoidable tactical distractions.
- • Clear, factual briefing is necessary to convert panic into action.
- • The Chief of Staff must be the steady procedural presence when crises risk emotional derailment.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The West Wing intercom is cited as knocked out, explaining why the Captain must be sought on foot and why the President must use a speaker connection — its failure creates logistical friction and forces personnel to improvise communication channels.
The large oval briefing table anchors the scene: staff gather around it, the President kneels at its edge to better hear and be heard, and papers and microphones serve as tactile reminders that an institutional meeting has become a human moment.
A tabletop radio/speaker (represented in the briefing as the speaker-phone line) transmits Harold's frail voice; the crackle and dropouts give the conversation texture and urgency, dramatizing the fragility of contact between the White House and the cutter.
The USS Hickory's running lights are referenced as lost — a concrete nautical detail that raises the stakes (risk of being run down by large carriers) and translates technical failure into imminent mortal danger.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The Hickory's radio shack is the immediate physical origin of Harold's transmission: cramped, salt-scorched and claustrophobic, it frames his voice as intimate and strained, concentrating the fleet-wide catastrophe into one injured operator's perspective.
The engine room is cited as the site of a raging fire — the mechanical heart of the cutter under threat — converting a communications problem into a life‑threatening technical emergency that demands damage control and immediate skilled action.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Early naval concerns in Act 3 escalate to Bartlet's intensely personal connection with Signalman Lewis in Act 5, showing crisis progression."
"Early naval concerns in Act 3 escalate to Bartlet's intensely personal connection with Signalman Lewis in Act 5, showing crisis progression."
"Bartlet's 'What do I do now?' helplessness transforms into his sustained human connection with Harold—showcasing leadership's limits and power."
"Bartlet's 'What do I do now?' helplessness transforms into his sustained human connection with Harold—showcasing leadership's limits and power."
Key Dialogue
"BARTLET: Hickory, this is the White House. Who am I speaking to?"
"HAROLD LEWIS: This is Signalman Third Class Harold Lewis."
"HAROLD LEWIS: Well, we're looking at I guess 80 foot seas with winds up to 120 knots. We're shipping solid green water over the bow. And we've got a fire in the engine room. We lost our running lights and may get run over by an aircraft carrier that can't see in the dark."