Penmanship, Levity, and the Pivot
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Bartlet and Charlie engage in light-hearted banter about the President's penmanship and the number of letters he needs to write.
Leo enters and asks if Bartlet is ready, shifting the focus from the letters to the next task.
Bartlet jokes about needing more bureaucracy with color coding and stickers for his letters, then instructs Charlie to take calls to the mansion.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Eager to be helpful but slightly embarrassed by being corrected; wants to demonstrate competence and usefulness to the President.
Sits in the chair beside the desk, answers Bartlet's questions about how many notes have been done, is gently chastised about lacking a system, and accepts the assignment to take calls at the mansion before leaving.
- • Support the President by handling practical tasks.
- • Demonstrate reliability and competence despite mild awkwardness.
- • Carry out the assignment promptly and correctly.
- • Technology and informal processes are adequate even without formal systems.
- • Being present and responsive is a form of service.
- • He can learn from and be trusted by senior staff if given tasks.
Amused and mildly authoritative — enjoying the private ritual while simultaneously seeking a small, comforting sense of order before returning to business.
Seated at his Oval Office desk, Bartlet writes handwritten thank-you notes, teases Charlie about 'penmanship' versus computers, proposes color-coding, then converts the quiet ritual into an order, sending Charlie to take calls at the mansion.
- • Complete personal thank-you notes to maintain political and human goodwill.
- • Create small organizational order (joke about color-coding) to soothe managerial instincts.
- • Delegate operational tasks so the written ritual doesn't block urgent work.
- • Personal, handwritten gestures matter politically and morally.
- • Small rituals and visible organization reflect and reinforce leadership.
- • Staff should be productive and deployable; levity must yield to duty.
Businesslike and mildly impatient — focused on schedule and the next tasks, smoothing the transition from levity to duty.
Enters from the Portico, interrupts the light banter with a brisk 'You ready?', questions the President's activity, and facilitates the pivot from private ritual to operational tempo by prompting Bartlet to move on.
- • Refocus the President and staff toward pressing business.
- • Ensure time is used efficiently and tasks are delegated.
- • Maintain operational tempo for the day's agenda.
- • President's time must be protected and prioritized.
- • Levity is acceptable only if it doesn't impede work.
- • Senior staff should steer conversations back to agenda items.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Bartlet's Oval Office desk functions as the physical and symbolic anchor: he sits behind it writing notes and addressing Charlie, turning the desk into the stage for private presidential ritual disrupted by official business.
The chair beside the desk situates Charlie close to the President, enabling intimacy and teasing. It physically facilitates the back-and-forth that reveals character dynamics before Charlie departs to the mansion.
Bartlet's joking reference to a 'priority list' (color coding and stickers) is an invoked organizational prop: it exposes his craving for small-order systems and functions as comic relief and character exposition rather than an actual tool.
The thank-you notes are the central prop: Bartlet is actively writing them, using them to perform leadership's personal side. They function narratively as a ritualized proof of care and a political small-craft action that reveals character.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The Mansion is invoked as the operational refuge where Charlie is told to take calls. It functions offstage as a quieter, private communication hub away from the Oval's interruptions, allowing staff to handle calls without disrupting the President.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"The Swiss Ambassador's urgent request directly triggers Bartlet's shift into crisis management mode, leading to the Situation Room briefing."
"The Swiss Ambassador's urgent request directly triggers Bartlet's shift into crisis management mode, leading to the Situation Room briefing."
"Bartlet's decision to proceed with the mission immediately leads to the high-stakes briefing in the Situation Room."
Key Dialogue
"BARTLET: "It's called penmanship, Watson. Something your generation wouldn't know about because of the computers. How many of these things am I doing?""
"LEO: "You ready?""
"BARTLET: "I'm doing basically what the President does. Ask people for things, then thank them for things. Let's go. [to Charlie] Take the calls to the mansion. I'll meet you there after this.""