Object

Toby's Leather Portfolio

Toby thrusts the supple leather portfolio into President Bartlet's waiting hands amid the Capitol hallway's taut shadows, its burnished hide bulging with the locked State of the Union pages—revised rhetoric on abandoning ideological entrenchment freshly phoned to the prompter. Bartlet's grip tightens, the portfolio's weight steadying his shoelace-tied nerves as entourage tension crests and chamber applause looms.

2 appearances

Purpose

Carries the finalized State of the Union speech from staff revisions to presidential delivery

Significance

Toby's handover ritualizes the perilous bridge from backstage frenzy to spotlight command, the portfolio shielding Bartlet's vulnerable humanity and moderated words against the chamber's roaring judgment

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

2 moments

S2E13 · Bartlet's Third State of the Union

Locking the Softened SOTU Speech and Presidential Handover

Toby thrusts supple leather portfolio—bulging with identical locked SOTU pages—into Bartlet's grasp post-shoelace nerves; it anchors the President physically and symbolically, transitioning from prep vulnerability to chamber command, its weight a talisman against anxiety in the synopsis's crisis-fueled address.

Before: Held by Toby in hallway shadows

After: In Bartlet's possession as he enters chamber

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S2E13 · Bartlet's Third State of the Union

Bartlet's Nervous Ritual and Regal Entrance

Toby thrusts this supple leather portfolio—bulging with identical locked SOTU pages—into Bartlet's grasp post-shoelace, steadying nerves; it symbolizes finalized rhetoric's weight, transitioning from prep artifact to presidential talisman amid handshakes and applause.

Before: Held by Toby post-edits

After: Gripped by Bartlet entering chamber

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