Object

Bartlet's Priority List

Bartlet pitches this during Oval Office banter, suggesting color codes via crayons or markers to rank tasks while handwriting thank-you letters to Charlie. The verbal sketch amuses Charlie and reveals Bartlet's craving for structure, but Leo's arrival shelves it.

1 appearances

Purpose

Organize presidential tasks by priority and color categories

Significance

Bartlet's jest humanizes his leadership style, blending playfulness with order before crisis mode engages

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

1 moments

S4E9 · Swiss Diplomacy

Penmanship, Levity, and the Pivot

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.

Before: Conceptual only—Bartlet mentions it as a gag; no physical list is produced.

After: Idea is shelved as Leo reorients the room; no material change to the physical space.

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