The West Wing
Object

Bartlet's Briefing Folder

Bartlet sets a folder on the Oval Office desk at the scene's opening. It bulges with paperwork and briefing materials, resting untouched amid late-night solitude. Bartlet ignores it while flipping TV channels—tanks rolling, Ron Popeil hawking gadgets, weather maps, and a VCR tape of marching wooden soldiers clashing visually with real troops onscreen. The folder anchors the space, a reminder of duties as reflection turns to resolve.
5 appearances

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

5 moments
S4E15 · Inauguration Part II: Over There
Candy Confession and Quiet Duty

Bartlet's briefing folder is set on the Oval/study desk at the scene's opening (implied by his entering and setting briefcase down). It functions as a silent token of duty left waiting while he chooses domestic interaction and then news-reading over immediate rest.

Before: On the study desk or carried in Bartlet's briefcase as he enters; present and bulging with papers (untouched).
After: Remains in the study, undisturbed as Bartlet chooses to stay up and read/watch news rather than sleep.
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S4E15 · Inauguration Part II: Over There
Wooden Soldiers, Real Consequences

Bartlet places a bulging briefing folder on the Resolute Desk at the scene's opening; it sits as a tactile reminder of duties and unanswered business, largely ignored as he gives himself over to the television wall and private reflection.

Before: Bulging with paperwork, sitting on the Resolute Desk within the President's reach.
After: Left on the desk, still present and largely untouched while the President acts on his moral decision by calling Leo.
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S4E15 · Inauguration Part II: Over There
The Wooden Soldiers Decision

Bartlet places his bulging briefing folder on the desk and then ignores it as he searches television feeds; the folder is a silent token of duty and unread business while he processes the moral image-work on the screens.

Before: On Oval Office desk, bulging with paperwork and briefing materials, in Bartlet's possession.
After: Remains on the desk, untouched during this late-night moment as Bartlet focuses on televised imagery and then the phone.
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S4E15 · Inauguration Part II: Over There
From Doctrine to Deployment: Bartlet Announces Khundu Intervention and Commissions Will

Bartlet references intelligence on Khundu which may have come from materials in his briefing folder; the folder (and its contained summary/paper) functions as the material trigger that converts rhetoric into an operational order.

Before: Resting in the private room among briefing materials; contained intelligence summary was read earlier in the day.
After: A piece of paper is extracted and read aloud; the folder remains an anchor of presidential duties in the room.
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S4E15 · Inauguration Part II: Over There
Commissioned and Charged: Will's Promotion Amid a Deployment Order

Bartlet's Briefing Folder functions as the repository for the intelligence summary; the President holds a piece of paper from it and reads the chilling line about mothers before tanks, which triggers the deployment order.

Before: Sitting among the President's materials; its contents contain the intelligence summary acquired earlier.
After: A sheet from it is read aloud and remains with the President as he exits to action; the folder continues to signify ongoing briefings.
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