Hoover Handshake Unnerves Bartlet — Photo‑Op Postponed
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Bartlet meets Mr. Keith, who shares a personal anecdote about meeting President Hoover on the eve of the Great Depression, unsettling Bartlet.
Bartlet expresses superstition about the photo-op with Mr. Keith, given his historical connection to market crashes, and Charlie steps in to reschedule.
Charlie and Bartlet privately discuss the superstition, with Charlie humorously reinforcing Bartlet's unease, leading to the cancellation of the photo-op.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
N/A — referenced historically and rhetorically.
Alfred Nobel is invoked via Bartlet's quip equating market destruction to an inventor of explosives — his name functions as a rhetorical device, not a physical presence.
- • Serve as rhetorical shorthand for destructive invention
- • Offer darkly comic contrast to current financial collapse
- • Historical figures can be used as metaphors in political conversation
- • Wit helps leaders cope with crisis
N/A — offstage motivational detail that softens Bartlet's approach to Keith.
Bartlet's granddaughter is referenced as the prompt for the favorite‑president question — a small offstage presence that humanizes the President and shapes his playful opening line.
- • Provide a human touchstone to prompt conversation
- • Facilitate a benign exchange between President and guest
- • Children's curiosity invites candid personal stories
- • Family ties inform presidential interactions
Protective calm with a hint of exasperation — he refuses to indulge superstition and acts to contain potential fallout.
Charlie enters on request, listens to Keith and Bartlet, bluntly rejects the idea of canceling the photo‑op, and then directly reschedules the session — protecting the President and the administration's optics with decisive, practical action.
- • Prevent needless disruption of scheduled public relations events
- • Shield the President from symbolic panic and maintain control of optics
- • Staff must manage both policy and appearance to protect the Presidency
- • Superstition should not dictate scheduling decisions
N/A — referenced as a matter of personal preference.
Harry S. Truman is named by Mr. Keith as his favorite — the mention briefly humanizes Keith and lightens the exchange before the Hoover detail deepens tension.
- • Serve as a contrast to Hoover in Keith's recollection
- • Provide a benign humanizing detail in the conversation
- • Personal impressions of presidents matter in informal conversation
- • Invoking a 'good man' can temper historical dread
N/A — historical reference that triggers contemporary anxiety.
Herbert Hoover is referenced by Mr. Keith as the president he met — his historical association with the onset of the Great Depression fuels the symbolic weight of the anecdote.
- • Provide historical anchor for Mr. Keith's memory
- • Evoke unintentional symbolism related to market collapse
- • Historical coincidences can carry interpretive weight
- • Public memory of presidents influences present perception
Surface wit masking a flicker of anxiety — a public leader suddenly aware of symbolic threat and embarrassed by the admission.
President Bartlet watches the Dow collapse on TV, banters to deflect, then admits a private unease when Mr. Keith cites Hoover; he steps to the window with Charlie and concedes only momentary superstition.
- • Maintain public composure and reassure staff despite market collapse
- • Avoid making impulsive decisions that harm optics or policy credibility
- • Public ritual and optics matter politically
- • Markets and symbolism can interact; superstitions can sway perception even if irrational
Benign and conversational — unaware his detail will carry symbolic weight and unsettle the President.
Mr. Muriel Keith, the elderly guest, answers Bartlet's question about Hoover, gives the October 23, 1929 date matter‑of‑factly and prefers Truman when asked — his anecdote unintentionally triggers Bartlet's unease.
- • Share a personal presidential anecdote
- • Engage respectfully with the President and his family’s interest
- • Personal memories of presidents are appropriate and valued
- • Naming a favorite president is a courteous human exchange
Concerned and pragmatic — focused on external economic variables rather than symbolic unease, trying to keep conversation tethered to facts.
Sam stands near Bartlet, provides the pragmatic market note about Japan's role, listens and offers quiet grounding while Bartlet processes the anecdote and Charlie intervenes.
- • Frame the market story in technical terms to reduce panic
- • Support the President by supplying rational alternatives to superstition
- • External market actors (e.g., Tokyo/Nikkei) will materially affect domestic markets
- • Rational context can counteract irrational fears in moments of crisis
N/A — referenced as the reason for the public photo, embodying outreach goals.
The Mayor of Shantytown is the intended subject of the planned photo‑op; referenced by Charlie/Bartlet as the human face of the event and the reason for the scheduled draping of the President's arm.
- • Represent community to the President
- • Provide positive imagery for administration outreach
- • Photo‑ops help connect policy to people
- • Community leaders serve as authentic optics
Detachedly urgent — reporting stark figures that create pressure for the administration to respond.
The on‑screen reporter announces the Dow's 685‑point collapse and attributes it to the Gehrman‑Driscol fund bankruptcy, setting the crisis context that sharpens every subsequent line and decision.
- • Convey the economic facts to viewers clearly
- • Frame the administration within the unfolding financial narrative
- • Objective facts will drive public reaction
- • Media framing shapes political pressure on leaders
Expectant, then momentarily thwarted — focused on getting the shot but quickly adaptable to the President's request.
The Photographer positions for the official shot, counts down and pauses when Bartlet asks for a second — professionally ready but halted as staff recalibrate the moment for optics.
- • Execute the planned presidential photo successfully
- • Follow directions while maintaining composure under shifting circumstances
- • Timing and coordination are essential for a successful photo‑op
- • The President's request determines whether to proceed
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The Dow functions as the abstract object of crisis. Its 685‑point plunge (announced on TV) heightens pressure, gives real stakes to the conversation, and turns a casual anecdote into a potentially toxic piece of symbolism.
The Photographer's camera is physically poised to capture the President with Mr. Keith and the Mayor; it amplifies the pressure to proceed with the staged moment and becomes an instrument paused when the President and staff recalibrate.
The Bartlet‑Shantytown Mayor photo‑op is the planned PR object: a staged interaction meant to produce positive imagery. It is referenced continuously as the practical thing at risk from superstition and ultimately gets rescheduled to preserve optics.
The White House television broadcasts the market close and the Reporter’s bulletin, providing the factual catalyst for the scene — it frames the crisis that makes the Hoover anecdote consequential and forces staff to manage optics.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
Tokyo is invoked as an offstage economic actor — its Nikkei opening is framed as the immediate hope that could stabilize markets and relieve domestic anxiety, a distant fulcrum for the scene's stakes.
Shantytown is the community source for the mayor who would appear in the photo‑op; it exists as the human subject of outreach and the reason the administration staged the feel‑good moment.
Organizations Involved
Institutional presence and influence
The Gehrman‑Driscol fund's bankruptcy is the proximate cause of the Dow's historic point loss, reported on TV and seeding the day's crisis context; its failure pressures the White House to manage market panic and public perception.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"The market crash triggers widespread economic anxiety, which is later compounded by the human tragedy of the campus bombing, showing how national crises escalate and intersect."
"The market crash triggers widespread economic anxiety, which is later compounded by the human tragedy of the campus bombing, showing how national crises escalate and intersect."
"Bartlet's dry humor and superstition in reacting to the market crash foreshadow his later interactions with Debbie Fiderer, where his humor and deductive reasoning play key roles."
"Bartlet's dry humor and superstition in reacting to the market crash foreshadow his later interactions with Debbie Fiderer, where his humor and deductive reasoning play key roles."
Themes This Exemplifies
Thematic resonance and meaning
Key Dialogue
"BARTLET: "You shook hands with him, and next day the Great Depression started.""
"BARTLET: "But now, while I'm talking about it, I feel like it's ridiculous that someone like me would consider canceling a photo-op...""
"CHARLIE: "Mr. Keith, I'm sorry. We're going to have to reschedule this for tomorrow.""