Order of the Balls — Bartlet's Exasperation
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Bartlet expresses frustration over the discussion about the order of inauguration balls, highlighting the trivial concerns amidst significant events.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Concerned but controlled; he wants to ensure the ceremony proceeds without a hitch and to calm colleagues.
Josh arrives with practical news: the President doesn't have a Bible and Charlie is out looking for one. He reassures C.J. and relays a simple logistical fix to avert a ceremonial failure.
- • Ensure the oath can be administered properly
- • Reassure staff and fix last-minute logistical problems
- • Practical problems must be solved immediately to preserve optics
- • Calm communication prevents panic
Professional control with mild amusement; she's managing optics and timing while feeling the pressure of the countdown.
C.J. greets the President warmly, defends Political Affairs' position on ball order, points out the Marine Corps Band as a timing cue, looks at her watch and announces 'Five minutes,' and frames the crowd's silliness with professionalism and a touch of amusement.
- • Maintain ceremony timing and communications discipline
- • Protect the President from unnecessary distractions
- • Protocol and optics are politically significant
- • Clear timing and calm presentation will prevent embarrassment
Wry amusement masking underlying tension; mildly critical of the team's preoccupation with minutiae while aware of higher stakes.
Toby stands slightly apart watching interactions, dryly asks Will if he vomited, trades sardonic banter about the Chief Justice and Leo, and uses humor as a pressure valve while observing the group's frayed nerves.
- • Diffuse tension with dark humor
- • Monitor staff morale and keep people functional
- • Humor can stabilize anxious staff
- • Real crises are being overshadowed by trivial protocol disputes
Focused, dutiful urgency; proud to avert a problem and eager to be useful in a high-pressure moment.
Charlie bursts through the hallway holding a battered Bible, announces 'I've got it,' and dashes off to deliver the ceremonial prop—a small heroic action that resolves the immediate logistical threat to the inauguration.
- • Deliver the Bible to the President in time for the oath
- • Prevent embarrassment and ensure ceremony continuity
- • Small tasks materially matter to large rituals
- • Personal competence under pressure is how staff serve the President
N/A (off-stage), perceived by staff as befuddled or too pedantic
The Chief Justice is discussed (off-stage) as the target of jocular criticism that he has 'lost his mind' over ball order; he is not present but his institutional decisions are mocked as trivial in context.
- • (Implied) Maintain ceremonial protocol and precedent
- • (Implied) Exercise traditional authority over ceremony logistics
- • Formal order and tradition matter to constitutional ritual
- • Small procedural decisions reflect institutional propriety
Exasperated with triviality, seeking to refocus staff energy on the ceremony's weight and his responsibilities; barely masking fatigue from larger crises.
Bartlet interrupts the entourage's banter with a sharp question about the order of the balls, demonstrating impatience; he receives a peck from C.J., listens as staff parcel out logistics, and anchors the moment's shift back toward ceremony and seriousness.
- • Stop frivolous debate and refocus staff on the inauguration's core tasks
- • Project steady leadership in the final moments before the oath
- • Ceremonial rituals matter and must proceed without petty distraction
- • Staff chatter about protocol cannot override the day's larger moral stakes
N/A (off-stage), represented as exasperated or amused in staff dialogue
Leo is invoked in banter ('Leo said he's lost his mind') as part of the staff's comic exchange; he is not present but his voice is used to amplify the absurdity of arguing over balls during a weighty day.
- • (Implied) Keep staff focused on substantive priorities
- • (Implied) Curb unnecessary procedural bickering
- • High-level staff should not be consumed by trivial ceremonial disputes
- • Leaders must refocus teams under pressure
Anxious attention to protocol; eager to get ceremonial order right, nervous about pleasing constituencies.
Members of the entourage (Larry, Ed and others) continue proposing and arguing about the order of the inaugural balls—detailing sequencing and constituency priorities—until Bartlet snaps, revealing their preoccupation with ceremony logistics.
- • Advise the President on the optimal sequence of balls
- • Protect political optics and satisfy Political Affairs' recommendations
- • Sequence of events carries political significance
- • Correct protocol minimizes later political fallout
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
C.J.'s wristwatch provides the temporal cue that crystallizes pressure ('Five minutes'), converting loose chatter into a countdown. The glance at the watch organizes the group's remaining actions and underscores the urgency of resolving both logistical and personal crises before the ceremony.
The battered 'Donnie's Motel' stamped Bible functions as the crucial ceremonial prop; its absence threatens the oath's optics until Charlie retrieves it. The Bible's arrival resolves a tangible crisis and redirects the group's attention from protocol squabbles to the impending public ritual.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The West Wing Hallway (used here as backstage corridor) is the transit space where personnel cross paths, gossip, and exchange crucial items. It frames Toby's solitary observation, Will's emergence, and Charlie's sprint, making it the nervous system connecting private rooms to the ceremonial stage.
The United States Capitol serves as the event's ceremonial backstage: a liminal institutional space where high protocol collides with human frailty. Its grandeur contrasts with the petty argument about balls and the small scramble to find a Bible, heightening the scene's irony and stakes.
The Capitol backstage bathroom provides a brief private refuge where Will vomits and steels himself, a small but telling space that exposes the physical toll of pressure and the proximity of private illness to public duty.
Organizations Involved
Institutional presence and influence
Political Affairs is invoked as the institutional source advocating a specific order for inaugural balls; its recommendations drive the entourage's argument and symbolize the competing bureaucratic priorities that tug on the President's schedule even at the final moments.
The U.S. Marine Corps Band is heard as an auditory cue ('The Commandant's Own'), anchoring the timing of the ceremony and reminding staff of the approaching formal moment; their presence punctuates backstage chatter and adds ceremonial gravitas.
The collective of Inaugural Balls (Plain States, Rust Belt, Pacific Northwest, New Hampshire) functions as the contested object of staff debate, representing regional constituencies and political payoff; arguments about their order reveal competing priorities even as the oath looms.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Will's frustrated act of shattering the window mirrors his later nervous vomiting before the inauguration, both moments highlighting his intense emotional investment and stress."
"Will's frustrated act of shattering the window mirrors his later nervous vomiting before the inauguration, both moments highlighting his intense emotional investment and stress."
Key Dialogue
"BARTLET: Why are they talking to me about the order of the balls?"
"C.J.: Political Affairs thinks it's important."
"TOBY: Did you throw up? WILL: Yeah."