Object

Bartlet's DNC Fundraiser Speech

Bartlet grips the podium and delivers the speech at the Capitol Hilton DNC fundraiser, naming victims of the Kennison State University bombing and honoring three swimmers who charged into the fire to help. His words shift crowd grief into resolve, sparking a standing ovation. Backstage, Sam confesses he scribbled the closing lines in the car during transit.

2 appearances

Purpose

Public address to honor bombing victims and rally national courage at DNC fundraiser

Significance

Transforms post-bombing shock into campaign momentum; standing ovation lifts staff morale and cements Bartlet's leadership amid crisis

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

2 moments

S4E2 · 20 Hours in America Part II

From Mourning to Resolve

Bartlet's DNC Fundraiser Speech is the delivered text that names Kennison's victims, elevates students' heroism, and reframes grief as collective courage; its closing lines are the performative catalyst for the crowd's standing ovation and the backstage reactions that follow.

Before: Prepared and recently revised; partly improvised within transit, as Sam later reveals.

After: Delivered to the audience; accepted by the crowd and staff as an effective unifying rhetorical act that stabilizes morale.

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S4E2 · 20 Hours in America Part II

Backstage: Sam's Car‑Written Close

The DNC fundraiser speech itself is the narrative instrument that names the Kennison victims and triggers the crowd’s standing ovation; its closing lines function as the emotional pivot that unifies public grief and is later revealed to have been authored on the fly.

Before: Prepared/drafted to some degree; presented as the President’s formal address to the crowd.

After: Delivered and publicly successful, its final lines praised and privately credited to Sam after the speech; becomes a touchstone of administration crisis messaging.

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