Object

Tank Exiting Ship (TV Footage)

Heavy armored tank rolls down a ramp from a military transport ship in news footage on an Oval Office television. Bartlet watches its treads grip the ground amid real troops deploying, the image's raw power clashing with wooden toy soldiers marching on a nearby VCR screen. Leo McGarry, a woman, Ron Popeil's infomercial, and others fill the other screens, but this tank anchors the stark military reality.

2 appearances

Purpose

Deploys from naval transport for ground combat operations

Significance

Its mechanical advance jars Bartlet, transforming private reflection on toy soldiers into a call to Leo that launches intervention

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

2 moments

S4E15 · Inauguration Part II: Over There

Wooden Soldiers, Real Consequences

This TV feed shows a heavy armored tank rolling down a ramp from a ship; Bartlet turns this first screen on, watches it briefly, and then mutes it, using the image as part of the montage that frames his moral reckoning with force projection.

Before: Displayed on one of the Oval Office televisions, broadcasting news footage of a tank exiting a transport ship.

After: Muted and visually backgrounded as Bartlet focuses on the juxtaposition between toy soldiers and real troops.

View full event

S4E15 · Inauguration Part II: Over There

The Wooden Soldiers Decision

The first television Bartlet turns on shows a heavy armored tank rolling down a ramp from a transport ship; this clip anchors the news context and provides an initial military reality that Bartlet mutes, then returns to as part of the contrasting imagery.

Before: Playing on the first television when Bartlet switches it on; broadcasting military deployment footage.

After: Muted and still visible when Bartlet alternates screens; remains part of the visual contrast that propels his decision to call Leo.

View full event