Triage, Authority, and Moral Choice
Faced with simultaneous emergencies the administration must allocate authority and choose moral courses of action. Debates over a forceful raid versus negotiation, rapid redeployments, and who 'owns' crisis response reveal conflicts about the legitimate use of power, the desire for decisive optics, and the staff's responsibility to minimize harm while preserving institutional control.
Events Exemplifying This Theme
During a tense Oval Office press moment President Siguto replies with curt monosyllables, exposing a brittle diplomatic chemistry that annoys and unnerves Bartlet. In private, Bartlet vents to Leo—half-joke, half-resentment—about …
In the Oval Office a tense policy argument crystallizes: military advisers press for a rapid, forceful response to an armed Idaho standoff as the only way to preserve federal authority; …
In the Oval Office a tactical debate becomes a moral choice: military advisors urge a swift show of force to end the Idaho standoff; Josh presses for immediate, pragmatic action …
Leo reports that nearly the entire fleet has gone silent and only a small maintenance ship, the USS Hickory, remains reachable. In the Formal Dining Room-turned-briefing room, President Bartlet places …
When the fleet's radios fail and only the little maintenance cutter Hickory can be reached, President Bartlet personally takes a crackling patch-phone call from Signalman Harold Lewis. Harold, injured and …