Smithsonian
Description
Affiliated Characters
Event Involvements
Events with structured involvement data
The State Department is implicitly involved through Peter from State being hooked in, indicating diplomatic channels are active and will need to manage the international fallout and messaging.
Via the State Department representative being connected to the secure briefing (Peter from State).
Diplomatic authority that must coordinate with the White House and military; exerts soft power through negotiations and international channels.
Signals that any posture adjustment will require diplomatic framing to allies and adversaries to prevent misinterpretation.
Tension between urgency of military moves and the deliberative pace of diplomacy; need for rapid, coordinated messaging.
The Smithsonian is similarly referenced as an alternate source of art loans, contributing to the domestic ceremonial discussion and underscoring the administration's use of national institutions to furnish the Presidency.
Invoked as institutional source for museum-quality prints.
Cultural institution offering soft-power resources; not a political actor in this scene.
Serves as a reminder of the cultural apparatus around the presidency that contrasts with the immediate political fray.
Not active here beyond standard lending processes.
The Smithsonian (as organization) is invoked as an additional institutional source for Oval art loans; it functions narratively to expand the President's benign, cultural options before the political emergency intrudes.
Referenced via Mrs. Landingham's claim that 'the whole Smithsonian' can provide prints, representing institutional generosity and logistical possibility.
Cultural institution with resources and national reach; it provides soft-power assets to the White House while remaining independent.
Functions as a backdrop of normal presidential life — its invocation contrasts with the fragility of political capital being revealed.
Not engaged directly; present only as an implied resource.
Implicit flashpoint behind veterans' boycott as referenced in Toby's intercept—their Pearl Harbor exhibit sparks the dispute fueling the threat; surfaces White House entanglement in cultural wars, layering intellectual controversy onto CJ's PR inferno.
Through disputed exhibit catalyzing external backlash
Cultural authority challenged by activist veterans and White House scrutiny
Exposes fault lines in public history curation versus patriotic narratives
Smithsonian manifests through curators Evan and Mary defending Pearl Harbor exhibit's controversial framings against Toby's barbs, positioning institution as guardian of raw history amid White House pressure.
Via on-site curators articulating exhibit rationale
Defensive under White House scrutiny
Exposes tensions between scholarship and patriotism
Unified front on historical accuracy
Manifests through curators Evan Woodkirk and Mary Kline actively defending Pearl Harbor exhibit's curatorial choices—racist poster critiques and vengeance relics—against White House queries on USF boycott, positioning Smithsonian as truth-teller in reverence's crossfire.
Via on-site curators providing expert exhibit explication
Defensive under executive scrutiny yet asserting cultural authority
Elevates Smithsonian's role in national memory debates amid political leverage
Smithsonian looms as controversy epicenter, with Toby proposing immediate director meetings to veterans, its 'vengeful America' narrative fueling debate until C.J.'s interruption pivots to Qumar parallels, underscoring parallel institutional moral reckonings.
Through referenced exhibit panels and forthcoming directors
Cultural authority contested by veteran outrage and admin mediation
Exposes fault lines in national memory institutions
Smithsonian looms as the grievance core, with veterans pinpointing its Pearl Harbor exhibit's 'vengeful America/victimized Japan' narrative and casualty discrepancies; Toby brokers a directors' meeting, thrusting it into White House crosshairs amid invasion debate.
Through referenced exhibit panels and upcoming directors
Defensive target under veteran and administration scrutiny
Exposes tensions between history curation and patriot honor
Curators' defenses implied in veterans' outrage
C.J.'s announcement of President's exhibit opening thrusts it into spotlight amid veteran boycotts over 'anti-American' panels, signaling White House intervention via Bartlet visit to heal Toby-mediated rifts.
Via Pearl Harbor anniversary exhibit as crisis focal point.
Defensive under administration pressure to reconcile stakeholders.
Exhibits force White House into cultural policy arbitration.
Curator-veteran clashes spilling into federal mediation.
C.J. schedules the President's visit to its Pearl Harbor exhibit opening, thrusting the institution into White House crisis mediation over veteran boycotts and exhibit controversies paralleling Qumar moral debates.
Via announced presidential attendance at exhibit
Cultural authority challenged by political oversight
Bridges history and current policy frictions
Tensions between curators and veterans
Related Events
Events mentioning this organization
In a Secret Service conference room Ron Butterfield briefs agents on a chilling escalation: a detained man threatened to blow up the Smithsonian to force …
In the hallway outside the briefing room, as CJ processes the shocking lawsuit query, Toby intercepts her with urgent news: a veterans' group is threatening …
Toby Ziegler meets Smithsonian curators Evan Woodkirk and Mary Kline in a White House conference room to probe the veterans' boycott of the Pearl Harbor …
As Toby presses Smithsonian curators Evan Woodkirk and Mary Kline on veterans' boycott of the Pearl Harbor exhibit, Leo knocks urgently and pulls Toby into …
In a tense conference room meeting, Smithsonian curators Mary and Evan push back against Toby's implied criticism of the Pearl Harbor exhibit as anti-American. Mary …
C.J. slips unnoticed into the Mural Room during Toby's tense meeting with USF veterans protesting the Smithsonian's Pearl Harbor exhibit. Eavesdropping on debates over atomic …
C.J. enters the press room with commanding presence, seating reporters as she opens with lighthearted birthday cake pleasantries before rattling off schedule updates: the President's …