Object

Leo McGarry's folded cream memorandum to Joshua Lyman (hallway summons, S01E05)

A small folded cream White House memorandum, roughly business‑card/card‑size when folded, creased once to fit a routing folder. Donna extracts the slip from a manila routing folder and presses it into Joshua Lyman's hand in a hallway; it bears a single terse instruction in Leo McGarry's authoritative tone summoning Josh to meet an NSC aide (Lacey). Functions as an immediate executable cue that pivots the episode's tone and propels the external‑crisis plot thread in S01E05.

1 appearances

Purpose

To convey a concise, hand‑carried summons/instruction directing Josh to meet an NSC aide (Lacey) after staff.

Significance

The note converts banter into duty: its arrival reroutes Josh's day, reframes workplace intimacy into operational business, and serves as the narrative pivot that draws attention toward an emerging interagency issue and the moral choice he will face.

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

1 moments

S1E5 · The Crackpots and These Women

The Smallpox Article — A Quiet Catalyst

Leo's folded summons note is produced by Donna, read aloud, and pressed into Josh's hand; it functions as the tangible instrument of Leo's authority and the narrative catalyst that redirects Josh from casual banter to a private, consequential meeting.

Before: Tucked inside Donna's manila folder; folded, creased, and ready for handoff.

After: In Josh's possession as he walks out toward the staff meeting, serving as a prompt for his later conversation with Leo and Lacey.

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