Object

White House Portico Glass Doors (Portico threshold)

A pair of full‑height glazed entry doors set in a polished metal frame: clear tempered panes that catch daylight, narrow muntins, and solid pull handles at waist height. The glass admits long sightlines into the Portico, reflects approaching figures, and functions kinetically as characters pass through, pause before, or close the threshold behind them during transitions.

2 appearances

Purpose

To serve as the physical entry and visual threshold of the White House Portico, enabling controlled entry and exit, providing sightlines between interior and exterior, and marking scene transitions for characters moving into or out of the West Wing.

Significance

Functions as a staging device for the Bartlet‑Lobell bargaining scene: the doors punctuate movement from private deliberation to public negotiation, frame the President's arrival and departures, and underscore the administration's shifting posture as staff gather and disperse around a consequential policy deal.

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

2 moments

S1E21 · Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics

Containment and Coercion: Bartlet Shields Sam and Clears the Board

The Portico glass doors mark the scene’s physical and dramatic transitions: Sam, Toby and Bartlet enter through them at the scene’s start, and the door frames movement between outside arrival and interior presidential action, emphasizing exposure versus control.

Before: Closed as characters approach; in use as an entrance threshold.

After: Remains a functional threshold after the characters pass through into the Oval and proceed to meetings.

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S1E21 · Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics

Closing the Soft‑Money Loophole — Bartlet's Lobell Deal

The White House Portico glass doors function as the physical threshold through which Bartlet, Sam, and Toby enter at scene start; they establish arrival and the movement from public approach into tightly managed inner conversations, framing the sequence of confrontations that follow.

Before: Closed and recently used as an entry point; glass panes reflecting incoming staff as they approach the Oval Office.

After: Remain in place after characters pass through; continue to delineate public access from inner executive spaces while the President conducts internal business.

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