Object

Outer Oval Office — Cup of Tea (Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics)

Mentioned twice as a 'cup of tea' placed within the Outer Oval Office during a fraught policy and personnel exchange. Physically a palm‑sized drinking vessel holding brewed tea; material and exact form are not specified in the text (plausibly ceramic or paper). Appears as a staging/hospitality prop on a table or nearby surface, unhandled or briefly present while characters drive the confrontation forward. Description mixes explicit mention (two event tags) with minimal, conservative inference about size and likely material.

2 appearances

Purpose

To hold and serve tea as a hospitality or refreshment item used to furnish the Outer Oval Office during meetings.

Significance

Functions as a domestic, grounding prop that softens the room's edges and underscores ordinary civic rituals even as political tensions escalate; the cup remains narratively backgrounded, marking normalcy rather than driving plot action.

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

2 moments

S1E21 · Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics

Memo Fight and the Ambassador Shuffle

The Outer Oval Office cup of tea appears as a staging prop when Bartlet sits with a cup; it underscores the domestic, intimate tone of the Oval conversation and gives Bartlet a small, humanized action while he orchestrates decisions.

Before: Resting on a surface in the Oval; available as a modest hospitality prop.

After: Remains with the President as he continues the meeting, unremarked but symbolically present.

View full event

S1E21 · Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics

Promote to Remove: Cochran as Political Leverage

A cup of tea anchors Bartlet physically as he sits and reasons through geography and personnel costs. The tea punctuates his sitting posture and lends domestic, conversational intimacy to an otherwise tactical exchange.

Before: On a table in the Oval Office, available as a small domestic prop when Bartlet sits.

After: Remains in the Oval as the discussion ends; functions as a silent marker of ordinary life inside extraordinary decisions.

View full event