The first season, which begins in the middle of Bartlet's first year in office, is loaded with images of a West Wing "stuck in neutral" and powerless to govern (thought by many to mimic President Clinton's early days in office, when he was forced to compromise on campaign promises such as gays in the military). Several episodes (notably "Five Votes Down" and "Mr. Willis of Ohio") feature the White House desperately digging for a backdoor through which to pass a particular piece of legislation. This powerlessness ends in "Let Bartlet Be Bartlet" when Leo and the president finally agree to fight any battle they believe to be important, even if they are not sure they can win. The season ends with a cliffhanger assassination attempt with an ominous call over a Secret Service radio: "Who's been hit?! Who's been hit?!"
Sam decides to pursue a relationship with a call girl he recently met, while C.J. arbitrates a disagreement between the President and the Vice President.
President Bartlet seeks vengeance for a downed jet, while Charlie Young applies for a White House job, and C.J. talks reporter Danny Concannon out of writing a story involving Sam.
West Wing staffers court votes for a new census-taking methodology bill and the President's daughter Zoey has an unfortunate encounter in a Georgetown bar.
The President tries to focus on key problems–a hostage standoff, a hurricane, and an impending truckers' union strike–all while trying to prepare for an important state dinner with the Indonesian President.
C.J. tries to quash rumors that the President and Vice President got into an argument at a Cabinet meeting, and Leo's daughter Mallory begins to date Sam, to Leo's dismay.
President Bartlet considers candidates for an open seat on the Supreme Court, and a publicity-seeking Congressman accuses the West Wing staff of drug use.
As a border war between India and Pakistan poses the threat of a nuclear clash, a flamboyant British expert on the matter, Lord John Marbury, is summoned to the White House.
Crises abound as the President is found unconscious, the situation in India and Pakistan intensifies, and Leo faces scrutiny from the press about his previous drug and alcohol problems. The First Lady tells Leo that the President has relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.
While Bartlet and his staff debate the best way to handle a controversial sex education study, a Congressional committee expands its efforts to expose and condemn Leo's past substance abuse.
While Sam and Toby go to Connecticut to get the President's Supreme Court nominee out of jail, Josh tells a group about a typical day at the White House.
The staffs of the President and First Lady clash, as do Presidential daughter Zoey and Presidential aide Charlie when she suggests they heed Secret Service warnings and not attend a party together.
An arrest at a frat party attended by the President's daughter could prove explosive, as could the views of a controversial nominee for Assistant Attorney General.
The President nominates controversial advocates of campaign finance reform to the Federal Election Commission. Toby spars with his ex-wife, Congresswoman Andrea Wyatt.
Season finale: Bartlet hosts a town-hall meeting as the military races to recover a downed U.S. pilot before the Iraqis can capture him, and a space shuttle (carrying Toby's brother) is plagued by mechanical problems. As Bartlet and his staff exit the town hall meeting, white supremacists open fire on the crowd below. It is not revealed who is wounded or to what degree, providing an end-of-season cliffhanger.
The second season, which encompasses the end of Bartlet's second year in office through the middle of the third, covers a wider legislative array than the first, with issues ranging from the rights of hate groups to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. Bartlet and his staff are able to legislate this season both due to increased polling numbers (thought by the staff to be a temporary "bubble" due to the assassination attempt) and the new doctrine for legislating laid out last season in "Let Bartlet Be Bartlet." The driving plot point for several seasons to come is revealed to the Bartlet staff that the president was diagnosed with Multiple sclerosis prior to the election and kept it from the public. Bartlet's personal secretary dies in the second-to-last episode, "18th and Potomac," and the last episode, "Two Cathedrals," is centered around her funeral and whether or not the president will run for re-election. He ends the season having announced his multiple sclerosis, just about to answer a reporter's question, "Mr. President, will you be seeking a second term?"
The President's staff scramble in the chaotic wake of an assassination attempt that leaves Josh fighting for his life. Meanwhile, as a manhunt continues, the wounded drift in and out of surgery recalling how Bartlet's team came together years prior.
With the midterm elections 12 weeks away, the Administration is polling at 81 percent approval from the shooting. Toby wants to use this honeymoon period as leverage for a domestic-terrorism initiative.
After she demolishes Sam on a TV talk show, Bartlet insists on hiring a young Republican lawyer named Ainsley Hayes as Associate White House Counsel. Meanwhile, the President of an AIDS-ravaged African country visits the White House.
Ainsley Hayes meets her new boss, White House counsel Lionel Tribbey, and receives her first assignment: clean up after two domestic-policy staffers who presented inaccurate testimony before a House committee.
Josh, Toby and Sam want the President to consider calling a lame-duck session of Congress to try to pass a nuclear test-ban treaty, and C.J. leaks news of this to Danny.
The President is taking a red-eye with Toby, Sam, and C.J. to Portland, Oregon, to deliver an education address At the White House, Josh spars with a gay Republican congressman over a bill on homosexual marriage.
Just before Thanksgiving, a group of Chinese Christians who claim they're the victims of religious persecution are found trying to sneak into the United States, and President Bartlet must decide their fate.
During the holiday season, Josh is agitated and anxious. After yelling at the president, Leo orders Josh to seek therapy. CellistYo-Yo Ma makes a guest appearance.
With Congress reconvening, the White House is planning a "leadership breakfast" to encourage bipartisan cooperation and Sam wants to move the press corps to new quarters across the street.
Leo tries to convince President Bartlet of the importance of supporting a missile defense plan, while Lord John Marbury is appointed British ambassador to the United States.
The President addresses the nation, and a group of DEA agents are taken hostage in Central America. An invited guest to the speech has a questionable background, which C.J. tries to deal with it.
The President is put in a tricky spot when his Surgeon General publicly supports the legalization of marijuana, and his daughter makes a controversial comment to Danny Concannon.
The staff again participates in "Big Block of Cheese Day," Toby is assigned to speak with a group of obnoxious young people protesting the WTO, and a friend of Donna's asks Sam to consider a pardon request for an alleged Cold War spy.
Staffers are blindsided when an elderly senator begins a Friday night filibuster. Meanwhile, Toby is puzzled when the Vice President, normally a champion of the oil industry, volunteers to attack it for "price gouging".
Toby is told about the President's multiple sclerosis, becoming the 17th person to know. Meanwhile, staffers struggle to punch up a speech the President is set to give at the White House Correspondent's Dinner.
The President decides that he needs an opinion from White House Counsel Oliver Babish on whether his MS cover-up constituted a criminal conspiracy. Babish doesn't sugarcoat his answer. Meanwhile, an oil spill off the Delaware coast hits home to Sam; Josh must deal with a Mexican economic crisis; and Toby's on the rampage because of a press leak about a possible change in the President's position on school vouchers.
Staffers prepare to announce the President's condition. Meanwhile, a crisis erupts in Haiti and male staffers can't help but give Mrs. Landingham car-buying advice.
A tropical storm is bearing down on Washington on the day the President is to disclose that he has MS and has been lying about it for eight years. Bartlet attends Mrs. Landingham's funeral, beset with memories of how they met. Staffers must also fashion two responses to the question that is certain to be asked first at Bartlet's prime-time press conference: Will Bartlet seek re-election?
The third season, which covers the administration's third and fourth years in office, starts off with Bartlet announcing his intention to run for reelection and is heavily devoted to the upcoming presidential election. Other prominent plotlines include Congressional investigations into whether or not Bartlet committed electoral fraud by concealing his MS, a death threat against CJ and the ensuing relationship she develops with a Secret Service agent assigned to her, the Qumari defense minister Abdul Shareef plotting terrorist attacks against the US, and a troubling meeting between Toby and the president that leave Bartlet with a bout of insomnia in "Night Five." The season finale, "Posse Comitatus" closes several of these storylines as Bartlet meets his opponent in the elections and reaffirms his commitment to beat him. The episode ends with the president finally deciding to order Shareef's assassination (a questionably legal act) and CJ's agent getting killed just after the man threatening CJ was caught.
Season premiere: Surprising everyone, President Bartlet definitively announces his intentions to run for re-election, angering Abbey. Meanwhile, Haiti's obstreperous dictator is giving National Security Advisor Nancy McNally fits.
Senior staffers clash with newly hired political operative Bruno, and his aides Connie and Doug. Josh is upset because Leo won't let him "wave off the FDA" on RU-486.
The Special Prosecutor begins his probe, with the White House seeing him as too soft. Meanwhile, Sam and Bruno are concerned about a powerful California labor leader and Toby and Josh are preoccupied with a congressional battle over the estate tax.
The President vetoes his first bill, the estate tax repeal, and staffers scramble to counter the GOP's override threat. Meanwhile, Charlie has been offered legal immunity in the MS matter and everyone urges him to take it.
The President asks the reluctant Vice President (Tim Matheson) to speak at an anti-gun rally in Texas after a church shooting, while Donna goes before a Congressional committee investigating Bartlet's lack of disclosure–and she lies under oath.
An American spy submarine suddenly goes silent in hostile North Korean waters, and Bartlet must decide whether he should notify the enemy or attempt a risky, secret rescue.
On the day before Thanksgiving, the President is talking turkey to whomever will listen (and everyone must). Meanwhile, C.J. deals with two Native Americans who have encamped in the lobby.
C.J. argues with senior staff over whether to make public the possibility of an outbreak of mad cow disease. Toby meets with veterans upset about the content of a SmithsonianPearl Harbor exhibition.
It's Christmas time, and the most pressing matter is a threat to firebomb black churches in Tennessee on Christmas Eve. Also, Leo's about to testify before the House committee probing the MS matter.
Leo defiantly rejects the Congressional Oversight Committee's offer of a public censure of Bartlet that would end the investigation into Bartlet's concealment of his illness and spare Leo of any possible personal repercussions.
The staff debates whether to counter a fast-rising Republican presidential candidate's verbal assault on affirmative action and Josh must postpone his tropical vacation with women's rights advocate Amy Gardner to defuse a risky situation in Vieques, Puerto Rico.
Bartlet consults a psychiatrist, Dr. Stanley Keyworth, for a troubling sleep disorder and receives a sobering personal assessment and C.J. lobbies vigorously to help secure the release of a White House reporter who has been taken hostage while on assignment in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Bartlet engages both Sam and Toby in intricate chess matches that mirror the wily game of brinksmanship that Bartlet is playing with the Chinese, who are conducting war games in the Taiwan Strait.
As Abbey contemplates her medical license being taken away the following day, she grumpily attends a big White House party for her birthday, which she later sneaks out of with C.J. and other staff.
Bartlet makes a disparaging comment about a potential Republican nominee after a television interview, not realizing that he is still being recorded. Meanwhile, Toby tries to dissuade the newly named U.S. poet laureate, Tabatha Fortis, from publicly objecting to the government's lack of support for a treaty on land mines.
When a large truck carrying uranium fuel rods crashes in a remote Idaho tunnel, Bartlet's staff prepares for a potential environmental–or terrorist–crisis. Donna seeks a presidential proclamation honoring the retirement of her favorite teacher.
As Sam is finalizing the details of Bartlet's upcoming summit with the Russian president, satellite photographs reveal an Iranian nuclear bomb facility built using Russian technology. Meanwhile, C.J. is assigned Secret Service protection after she voices her personal opinion in a press briefing on a group of schoolgirls in Saudi Arabia who were prevented from escaping a burning building by religious police because they were not dressed properly according to religious law.
Bartlet agonizes over whether or not to forfeit the principle of diplomatic immunity for an important Middle Eastern official who is known to be plotting terrorism. Also, Bartlet is advised not to attend a fundraiser for a politically sensitive cause.
Season finale: Bartlet makes a life-or-death decision regarding a foreign diplomat who is a known terrorist. The flirtation between C.J. and her Secret Service bodyguard, Simon Donovan, is limited by their professional relationship. Later in the episode, Donovan accidentally walks into a convenience store robbery, arrests one thief and is then shot dead by a second who was hiding in the back.
The main cast introduce the episode out of character by paying tribute to those affected by the September 11 terrorist attacks and informing viewers about what to expect from the delayed premiere of the third season. The cast also makes it clear that this episode doesn't fall in the West Wing continuity.
In the episode, The White House is "crashed" (locked down for security purposes). This causes a group of teens whom were visiting the White House to become stuck in the mess hall with Josh and Donna.Throughout the episode, several other White House staffers, as well as the President and First Lady, drop in to join the discussion. Meanwhile, Leo and Ron confront a potential threat from within. The episode tackles issues of race, fear, and vengeance. The most notable moral of this episode is an analogy written on the board by Josh: "Islamic extremism is to Islam as KKK is to Christianity"
Drama is blended with reality in this documentary episode that includes interviews with former Presidents and White House figures. Paying tribute to the real-life counterparts of the show's fictional Bartlet administration, the installment features U.S. Presidents Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford, White House staffers David Gergen, Dee Dee Myers and Leon Panetta and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Highlights from the first three seasons of the show are interspersed throughout.
The fourth season covers the end of Bartlet's fourth year and first term in office through the beginning of the first year of his second term. The season begins with the continuation of the election storyline with the president touring the nation and his staff trying to firm up presidential debates. Surprisingly the election is not used as a cliffhanger, but seen as a clear victory for Bartlet, the storyline ending less than halfway through the season in "Election Night." Other plots include Sam leaving the White House to run in a special election in California, Will Bailey taking Sam's position having come from the California campaign's staff, and Vice President Hoynes being forced into resignation after a sex scandal is uncovered. The fourth season ends with Bartlet's youngest daughter being taken hostage by Qumari forces that know the US was behind Shareef's assassination. Bartlet ends up invoking the 25th Amendment in the final episode, Twenty Five." Since Hoynes had recently resigned, the presidency passes to the Republican Speaker of the House, Glenallen Walken.
In this expanded "day-in-the-life" episode, it is an especially long day for Toby, Josh and Donna, who are stranded in Indiana when the Presidential motorcade leaves without them after a campaign speech. Back in the West Wing, Sam fills in for Josh as the President's "wide-angle lens," and the President interviews various secretarial candidates. Meanwhile, Abbey creates a firestorm when she calls herself "just a wife and mother"; the Qumaris are making noise about their missing Defense Minister; and the Dow keeps dropping. CJ asks a favor of Charlie, who politely refuses.
The President interviews feisty secretarial candidate Debbie Fiderer for a second time. Again, it doesn't go well. He's also rattled by the tumbling Dow, and takes it out in an odd way on an elderly White House visitor. CJ's press briefing takes an ominous turn as she relays details of a bombing at a college swim meet. Meanwhile, Fitz and Nancy McNally worry about what the Qumaris might know about the Shareef affair. A statement borne out of misdirected anger causes Charlie to make a stunning move and Toby, nearing the end of the daylong Indiana odyssey he's sharing with Josh and Donna, meets a man in a hotel bar who's visiting Notre Dame with his teenage daughter. He's worried about paying for college. "It should be a little easier," he tells Toby. "Just a little easier."
Bartlet, concerned about potential liability in the Qumari matter, tells Leo to get him a lawyer. Leo tabs Jordan Kendall, who is understandably wary. And the campaign suffers a setback when a Federal judge rules that Presidential debates must be open to minor-party candidates. It is a ruling that might put Josh in a ticklish position personally, but he and Toby are on top of things professionally: they're back from their Indiana odyssey and with a new plan to help parents pay tuition bills. Meanwhile, Debbie Fiderer is having problems with her security check.
Liberal third-party candidate Howard Stackhouse is becoming a thorn in Bartlet's sideâ€"and Amy Gardner is consulting for him. Elsewhere, the Ritchie camp wants as few debates as possible; Leo meets with the Israeli Foreign Minister about the Shareef matter; a government siege of a house occupied by domestic terrorists is compromised by a sick child in the house; and Josh makes Donna bone up on a self-help guru who has advised Governor Ritchie.
As the West Wingers prep for the presidential debates at a North Carolina conference center, a vexing question about a failed attorney-general nomination (amid charges of racial profiling) leads to flashbacks of the administration's first weeks in office. At that time, Toby's marriage to Rep. Andrea Wyatt was about to end, but now he wants a reconciliation with his ex-wife, and Sam and Charlie are helping him in the effort to win her back. Meanwhile, the Israeli Air Force weighs in on the Qumari matter; and Joey Lucas reports that the president is likely to lose New Hampshire.
One day before a debate between Bartlet and his Republican rival, Governor Robert Ritchie (James Brolin), even skeptical Toby must admit that Bartlet is ready. After a debate rehearsal, Toby meets with his ex-wife, Congresswoman Andrea "Andy" Wyatt, who is advising on the campaign. Toby also tells C.J. that Albie Duncan, a rather old, slightly crazy Republican, will help Bartlet deal with the aftermath of the debate. Later, the staff joyously watches Bartlet trounce Ritchie in the debate. Meanwhile, Leo and attorney Jordon Kendall negotiate a peaceful settlement to the escalating Qumar-Israel conflict. And Sam attempts to persuade an idealistic campaign manager, Will Bailey, to remove a recently deceased Democratic candidate from the Congressional ballot in the Republican stronghold of Orange County, California.
On Election Day, Bartlet and his staff begin counting exit poll votes across the country. In a conservative California congressional district, the results have important implications for Sam and a maverick Democratic campaign manager, Will Bailey. Meanwhile, Donna meets an intriguing Navy Lieutenant Commander, Jack Reese, who has been transferred to the White House as Deputy Military Aide.
It is election night, and Bartlet isn't the only winner. Horton Wilde won his House race in Orange County, Cal., which puts Sam in a delicate position, especially since someone leaked his promise to Wilde's widow. And Andy Wyatt won her House race in Maryland (with 85 percent of the vote), but Toby's still worried about how her pregnancy will play politically. Meanwhile, a coup is developing in Venezuela, and it is the first night in the situation room for Cdr. Jack Reese, the gallant Ritchie supporter who swapped votes with Donna.
The election's barely over but Hoynes is already maneuvering for the next one, and the Senate minority leader, a likely candidate himself, is crying foul and threatening to thwart the president's legislative agenda. Meanwhile, the 15-year-old son of an Iranian leader needs a heart-lung transplant, and can get it only in the U.S. But the politics of it are as complicated as the surgery. And Toby tries to repay a Congresswoman who "walked a plank" for the president by proposing a gasoline-tax hike, and paid for it at the polls.
Sam heads out to California to begin his campaign, leaving Toby in need of speechwriting help. Sam's suggestion: Will Bailey. Meanwhile, a celebrated female fighter pilot is about to be dishonorably discharged after having been caught having an affair, and women's groups (not to mention the women in the White House men's lives) want the president to do something about it. And Donna asks Josh to find out if Cdr. Jack Reese likes her.
It is two days before Christmas and who should appear but reporter Danny Concannon! He's dressed as St. Nick, but isn't spreading good cheer. Also showing up at the White House is Toby's father (Toby isn't exactly pleased to see him); Bartlet's daughter Zoey, who's accompanied by her French boyfriend (Charlie isn't pleased to see him); and psychiatrist Stanley Keyworth, to whom Bartlet complains about concentration lapses. Meanwhile, the president decides to rip up the HHS budget just before it is due at the printer's. That'll mean a lot of work over the holidays. Also, both the President and Leo contemplate telling somebody else about the Shareef action.
On the administration's agenda: a foreign-aid bill. However, Senate Republicansâ€"and some Democratsâ€"have other ideas. And it is up to Josh to get the vote to come out right. So he sends Donna in search of one freshman senator who doesn't seem to want to be found. Then there's the fence-sitter who'll vote the administration's way if it will agree to fund a medical study on the efficacy of prayer. Meanwhile, Danny Concannon is getting closer to the truth in the Sharif affair; and Charlie wants to help a female soldier whose family needs food stamps.
C.J. goes home to Daytonâ€"and finds herself in the middle of an achingly sad family crisisâ€"in this poignant change-of-pace episode. She's making the trip to speak at her 20th high-school reunion, but when she arrives at her father's house she discovers that his new wife (her old English teacher) has left him. That is troublesome enough, but the fact that her father has Alzheimer's makes it almost unbearably heartbreaking. C.J. does find a soulmate at Dayton's airport, though: a classmate named Marco, who was a punk rocker in high school and now repairs watches.
In the week before Bartlet's second inauguration, an escalating genocide in a remote African country prompts him to consider "a new doctrine for the use of force." (Toby terms it "Mother Theresa with first-strike capabilities.") Not surprisingly, this idea doesn't meet with universal approval, even in the West Wing. Meanwhile, Danny's digging on the Sharif matter is getting on C.J.'s nerves; and Charlie's having difficulty finding a Bible for Bartlet to use at the inauguration.
Will Bailey's work on the inaugural address makes quite an impression (as does the foreign-policy doctrine it espouses), and Danny Concannon's reporting makes quite a splash. Meanwhile, Charlie's luck in finding a Bible for Bartlet's swearing-in isn't improving.
While U.S. troops intervene in an African country's genocide, the President flies to California to campaign for Sam. Unfortunately for the White House (and Sam), Congressional Republicans have just announced a tax-cut proposal. The Administration's response: a plan that would raise taxes for the rich, which no one on the White House staff wants the President to talk about in Sam's affluent Orange County district. And that is just problem No. 1. As Bartlet puts it: "Every time we come to California we're absolutely the Clampetts."
The hostage crisis in Africa has cut short the president's California trip, though Toby remains in Orange County to manage Sam's faltering congressional campaign. Meanwhile, Josh stiffs the First Lady on a budget request involving immunization education, so she takes his advice and hires a "professional" chief of staff. And Will Bailey, under the gun to produce speeches fast on the White House tax proposal, is terrorizing the interns assigned to him.
It is Amy's first day as Abbey's chief of staff and she has quite a challenge: get the President to veto his own foreign-aid bill (the Senate has inserted an antiabortion rider in it). In environmental news, a college friend of Toby's has an ethical problem involving the EPA; and a glacier in Alaska has melted, causing 14 flood deaths. And there's a social note: Zoey is to be installed into the DAR at a White House fete. But Abbey's membership is being challenged because, it seems, her "qualifying" ancestor was a pirate ("a privateer, actually," as C.J. puts it).
At the end of an 18-hour return trip home from Manila, just as Air Force One is about to begin its descent into Andrews Air Force Base, a cockpit indicator light leads the crew to believe that the landing gear might not be locked down and so the plane stays in the air while the problem can be looked at. Tensions in the plane and on the ground grow as people become more and more concerned that the plane may have been tampered with.
Matthew Perry shows a serious side as he begins a two-episode stint as a White House job-seeker. The Friends costar plays Joe Quincy, a lawyer applying for Ainsley Hayes' old job in the counsel's office. Joe couldn't have picked a more eventful day for his interview: A shooting in the press briefing room has led to a "lockdown," but he's already in the building, so his interview with Josh proceeds as scheduled. And it goes well enough, but Josh can't help thinking that something's not quite right about this guy. Meanwhile, poker night goes on despite the lockdown, but the president keeps getting interrupted; a spy plane has been lost over Russia.
A seemingly benign press leak begins a journey that lasts for a day and a night and ends with the discovery of a scandal affecting the uppermost levels of the administration. What the staff doesn't yet know is this is merely the beginning of a chain reactionâ€"and things are about to get considerably worse. Matthew Perry appears as Joe Quincy, a newly hired White House attorney who has the bad luck of finding the problem.
The U.S. is in a heightened state of alert because suspected terrorists have gone missing. Meanwhile, Bartlet struggles with the message that he wants to convey to his youngest daughter, Zoey's, graduating class at Georgetown University. C.J. must stop reporter Danny Concanon from filing a story. And Charlie decides whether or not to keep a romantic promise he made to Zoey when they were dating. Taye Diggs appears as the new head of Zoey's Secret Service detail.
As the series' fourth-season finale begins, Zoey has just been abducted from the nightclub in Georgetown where she and Jean-Paul had been celebrating her graduation. (Interestingly, in Season One, Episode 6, Bartlet fears the very scenario that ensued). The White House goes into crisis mode, fearing that the kidnapping is the work of terrorists. "Certainly it is easy to imagine how this escalates to a military situation," is the way one TV commentator puts it. And the Father-in-Chief fears he might do something impulsive. In other parental news, Andy has given birth to a boy and a girl. Typically, Toby's morose. The kidnapping compounds it, but, primarily, he's afraid he won't love his children "as much as other fathers love theirs." Realising that he cannot act as President due to his role being compromised by his love for Zoey, President Bartlet temporarily stands down from the Presidency, using the 25th Amendment. Due to the lack of a Vice-President, Speaker of the House Glen Allen Walken becomes Acting President.
The fifth season opens with US forces successfully rescuing Zoey Bartlet (the president's daughter) from her abductors. Bartlet takes the presidency back from Walken, but is forced back into a Season One level of powerlessness. He comes to terms with his actions at the end of Season Three leading to his daughter's kidnapping, a powerful new Republican Speaker of the House (Walken had to resign in order to assume the presidency) who forces Bartlet into several decisions he didn't want including the nomination of a less-than-stellar Democrat, "Bingo Bob" Russell, for Vice President. This conflict with the new Speaker comes to a head in "Shutdown," when the Speaker tries to force Bartlet into cutting federal spending more than had been agreed to and Bartlet refuses to sign the budget (forcing the federal government into a shutdown). Bartlet regains some minor power, cutting a deal to get a liberal Chief Justice of the United States, and season five ends with a bombing in Gaza leading Bartlet to push for Israeli peace talks and Josh to come closer to Donna. The fifth season begins toward the end of Bartlet's first year of his second term (fifth year overall) in office. By the end of the season, however, significantly over a year has elapsed.
As the fifth season opens, it is seven hours after Zoey Bartlet's kidnapping and the President has temporarily relinquished his office to Republican House Speaker Glenallen Walken, who reviews military options upon receiving a ransom note demanding the release of Pakistani terrorists and a pullout of U.S. troops from Saudi Arabia and Qumar. Meanwhile, Danny Concannon tells C.J. he's going to post his story on the Shareef assassination; and the Democratic congressional leadership is unhappy with Bartlet's handover (as is Josh). Also unhappy with the President is his eldest daughter, Elizabeth, who has arrived at the White House with her husband and two children.
As the Zoey Bartlet kidnapping crisis enters its second day, Acting President Walken bombs terrorist training camps in Qumar. Meanwhile, Josh is certain that Walken's aides are plotting to ram their conservative agenda through Congress. Josh must also contend with an unwanted new intern, a freshly minted Harvard grad from an established political family named Ryan Pierce. And Will and Toby struggle to write two speeches for Bartlet to deliver once the crisis is resolved.
With Bartlet back in the Oval Office attention is turned to the choice for a new vice president. The ideal choice: Secretary of State Lewis Berryhill, but the new house speaker has his own ideas. Gary Cole joins the cast as "Bingo Bob" Russell, a folksy Colorado representative who's on a short list (not the president's). Upstairs at the White House, meanwhile, the residence is not a happy home in the wake of Zoey's kidnapping. Says Abbey: "I blame Jed."
A renowned North Korean pianist is greeted at the White House for a solo performance, but the formalities change when the musician slips a message to the President stating that he wants to defect. Despite C.J.'s passionate argument, others counsel Bartlet that granting the defection would endanger crucial ongoing negotiations with the nation. Also, members of the staff work hard to get the President's new choice for Vice President, Colorado Congressman Robert Russell, unanimously approved by both houses of Congressâ€"but there's one holdout whose "nay" vote could embarrass everyone.
After Josh is hailed as the "101st Senator" in a newspaper profile, he clashes with conservative Senator Carrick, a Democrat from Idaho. Carrick withholds his approval of a backlog of military promotions so he can secure an expensive but faulty missile launcher to be built in his home state. Will gets a flattering offer from the newly approved Vice President, Robert Russell, while C.J. runs afoul of Leo's temper when she deviates from the administration's scripted line regarding an Environmental Protection Agency report on coal-based energy. Likewise, Amy earns the President's wrath when she aggressively pushes for funding of the first lady's agenda on violence prevention. Meanwhile, Toby creates a message calendar to maintain focus during Bartlet's second term.
A national emergency is declared by Bartlet in light of a killer tornado in Oklahoma that then preoccupies him. He flies there to lend his support. But his compassion overrules good judgment, and Bartlet stays longer than planned. Meanwhile, Leo worries about several crises in the capital that need the president's immediate attention. Josh fears the worst after a political miscalculation costs the Democrats dearly. And Donna becomes concerned about Josh's welfare after he becomes Washington's latest target of scorn.
Matthew Perry returns as deputy counsel Joe Quincy, a former clerk to the Chief Justice of the United States, who's tabbed by Toby to try to persuade the aging jurist to retire following a collapse. Meanwhile, Josh is on the sidelines as budget negotiations with Congressional Republican leaders reach a critical stage; and C.J.'s worried about Zoey's impending TV interview.
A disastrous fiscal crisis looms when the federal government is shut down after the President and the powerful Republican Speaker of the House disagree over an extra two percent in budget reductions that would trim many of Bartlet's key social programs. Opinion polls reveal that the public blames the Democrats for the impasse. As Leo, Josh and Toby send the staff home, the trio remains uneasy as the President refuses to compromiseâ€"until he hatches a bold plan to personally and publicly challenge the Republicans in the halls of the Capitol. Meanwhile, Abbey suddenly reappears from her self-imposed exile for a State dinner that she might have to cook herself.
As the entire Bartlet clan gathers for the White House Christmas tree lighting ceremony (though Ellie's late, as usual), Christian missionaries are arrested in Sudan for proselytizing. Meanwhile, the DEA has suspended the license of a doctor who assisted with the suicide of a terminally ill patient in Oregon (where it is legal), and Bartlet's attorney general is siding with the DEA; and Bartlet's son-in-law, Doug Westin, has decided to run for Congress. He won't get White House backing.
When a former President of the United States dies, the two remaining ex-Presidents fly on Air Force One with Bartlet to attend the funeral. Onboard, Bartlet's two historic guests partake in a lively debate about their administrations. Their past mistakes haunt the current administration including a recent eventâ€"protestors have surrounded a Saudi Oil headquarters, taking 200 hostages, including 50 Americans. Meanwhile, C.J. investigates government experiments on mind control. Leo discovers his ex-wife is engaged to be married. And Josh referees a debate concerning an original copy of the Bill of Rights.
Toby finishes the State of the Union Address a few weeks early, and a pregnant Joey Lucas polls responses to the speech from everyday people. Charlie is intrigued by Meeshell Anders, an aspiring female journalist with a secret. Abbey pressures her husband to pardon a Native American tribal leader convicted of killing two FBI agents in North Dakota. Bartlet opposes minimums and guidelines for prison sentences and pardons over 30 inmates. And Toby hires a new assistant, Rena.
Toby convinces Bartlet to secretly sanction his solo attempt to make history by reforming Social Security, but Toby's efforts to recruit a Republican senator and a Democratic cohort are publicly divulgedâ€"forcing the administration to back down while Josh and Leo are left clueless and furious. Meanwhile, an equally unaware C.J. parries with a reporter who is ready to print all the backstage details.
When the flash of a secret nuclear detonation is detected over the Indian Ocean, Bartlet calls upon his people to investigate which nation now has the atomic bombâ€"and since conventional thinking favors Iran, Bartlet orders bombers into the air to destroy that nation's most likely uranium-enriched targets. Meanwhile, Josh chides NASA personnel on the future of space explorationâ€"until he is introduced to an attractive female administrator. C.J. fumes when a combative television talk-show host, Taylor Reid, denigrates her on the air, and Will discloses to Vice President Russell that Russell is considered a buffoon by the White House staff. However, it is Russell whose smarts come to keep the President from bombing the wrong country. In light of the international situation, Toby wonders why they don't utilize the U.N. in times like this.
When five crew members of an E-2C Hawkeye AEW aircraft are shot down by North Korean jets near the hostile country, President Bartlet dispatches a Navy SEAL team to retrieve themâ€"prompting Leo to recall his own harrowing experience when he was downed as a F-105 Thunderchief pilot over North Vietnam. Leo's good friend and fellow flyer saved Leo's life and now is in trouble for allegedly paying bribes to defense contractors to obtain military contracts. Meanwhile, C.J. accepts the challenge of dueling on live television with an opinionated, conservative talk show host, Taylor Reid. Josh fumes when he briefs the President about a contested tax cut for stay-at-home mothers and is undercut by brash, young intern Ryan. And the commander in chief balks at posing for his official portrait.
John Hoynes is back in the newsâ€"in a magazine article in which he says that Bartlet and Leo tried to talk him out of resigning once his sex scandal was about to break. The White House contemplates how to respond to allegations that misquote Bartlet and Leo, characterizing them as simply wanting to help him "beat the rap". This is political dynamite, and C.J. learns of it from pugnacious cable talker Taylor Reidâ€"on Reid's live show. Meanwhile, Toby spars with union representatives over Chinese trade policy; Josh reluctantly leaves a meeting on military-base closings to the tender mercies of Ryan Pierce; and the mayor of Washington, D.C., decides that he wants a school-voucher pilot program that congressional Republicans are trying to force on him.
Bartlet becomes furious when a rival conservative congresswoman tries to end funding for a controversial National Institutes of Health medical study by exposing the fact that Bartlet's daughter Ellie is working at the institute as a scientist. As Toby searches for the internal White House leak that led to Ellie's press scrutiny, Josh tries to convince an old college friend to remain in contention as a judge on the 6th Circuit Federal Courtâ€"even though his confirmation has been blocked for the past 12 months. Meanwhile, C.J. urges Abbey to increase her public profile as the First Lady and a working doctor. Part of C.J.'s plan includes educating children about medicine via a public service announcement with Abbey and characters from the children's show Sesame Street, Big Bird, Elmo, Rosita and Zoe.
Glenn Close plays a federal judge whom Josh is pushing for the Supreme Court. Trouble is, she's too liberal to be confirmed (and she has a skeleton in her closet that can be described as poetically just). Meanwhile, Andy Wyatt is joining a congressional fact-finding mission to the Middle East that troubles the White House. Other guests include Milo O'Shea (as the Chief Justice) and Robert Picardo (another prospective nominee).
Producing a program on past and present White House press secretaries, a television documentary crew follows C.J. around to film a "typical" day. But the presence of outsiders adds stress when a crisis involving a terrorist shootout with the FBI has a smiling C.J. trying to keep the story a secret. Meanwhile, C.J. supervises her team in preparation for a formal papal visit with Bartlet and dodges difficult questions about the imminent future of the current FBI director.
On the eve of the President's controversial trade summit meeting in Brussels, Josh is troubled when he learns that Bartlet will reverse his position about sacrificing American jobs to foreign lands. C.J. is frustrated with a new Federal Communications Commission ruling allowing multimedia companies increased ownership of TV stations. Meanwhile, the administration tries to downplay job-loss statistics, and Donna tells Josh about her dissatisfaction with her limited role on his staff. In the midst of it all, Bartlet meets Kate Harper, the brash, new deputy national security advisor.
Resentments fester when the White House is locked down after a suspicious substance is found in the air near the Oval Office. Staffers must remain where they areâ€"and with whomever they're with. This is particularly bad news for Toby and Will, whose already-unraveling relationship is spiraling downward ever faster in the wake of a Russell speech (written by Will) that Toby feels undercut Bartlet. Meanwhile, C.J. has some career advice for Donna; Leo and Abbey spar over health issues, personal and political; and Josh gets to know new NSC staffer Kate Harper. And it is off to the showers for the President, Charlie and Debbie Fiderer, on the orders of no-nonsense guys in HAZMAT suits.
A fact-finding tour to the hotly disputed Gaza Strip includes Donna, Admiral Fitzwallace and a few members of congress as they sort through the thicket of rival issues between the Palestinians and Israelisâ€"but the killing fields soon claim some of the delegation when a deadly bomb shatters their vehicle and has the President considering targets for military action. In flashbacks, Donna is attracted to a dashing British photojournalist who opens her eyes to his graphic world of recording mankind's most heinous acts of violence.
In the season finale, Gaza slayings of key U.S. officials might drag the fuming President into an unending cycle of violence. In the season finale, events in the tinderbox Gaza Strip spin out of control after the murders of high-ranking U.S. officials as the angry President weighs appropriate military actionâ€"even as Israel launches its own strikes and surrounds the Palestinian chairman, prompting more retaliatory terrorism. The dangers are compounded when Bartlet suddenly cannot communicate with the chairman and a strange undertow of intrigue finds a wary Josh meeting with a mysterious foreign operative while tending to Donna in Germany. Meanwhile, Bartlet dons a bulletproof vest and practices his sluggish fastball when he's called to throw the ceremonial first pitch at a game in Baltimore.
The sixth season starts with the president negotiating an Israeli-Palestinian peace accord, Leo having a heart attack and leaving the staff, and the president trying to fund peacekeepers for the accord. Josh is pondering whether he will stay with Bartlet or support a presidential candidate. Three events shape his decision: Santos not running again for Congress, Vinick running for president and Donna leaving the White House to work for the Russell campaign (further fraying Josh and Donna's relationship). The later parts of the season center heavily around the 2006 presidential election (in which Bartlet cannot run). Josh leaves with Santos, a Congressman from Texas whom Josh convinced to run for President, on the campaign trail. Leo returns near the end of the season to refocus the Bartlet administration (in a similar style to Season One's "Let Bartlet Be Bartlet") in "365 Days." Russell is the consistent leader for the Democratic nomination with former Vice President Hoynes a close second and Santos a distant third. After another sex scandal, Hoynes is forced into the third position, and Santos ends up winning a closely contested Convention (and announces Leo as his running mate). The final episode also features a leak from the White House about a classified military space shuttle to the press (similar to the real-life Plame affair), which is heavily investigated in Season Seven.
The world watches the aftermath of the Gaza attack on U.S. officials. The President learns that 82% of the American people, almost all of Congress, Vice President Bob Russell, Secretary of Defense Miles Hutchinson, the Joint Chiefs, and all of his staff besides C.J. Cregg and Kate Harper want him to launch retaliatory military strikes immediately. Meanwhile, he tries to arrange peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians at Naval Support Facility Thurmont, commonly known as Camp David, the President's retreat in Maryland. Finally, he strikes one of three suggested targets and readies for peace talks.
Israeli-Palestinian peace talks at Camp David result in a momentous peace accord. President Bartlet fires White House Chief of Staff Leo McGarry, who was strongly against the talks. Moments later, Leo suffers a massive heart attack. ("The Birnam Wood" is believed to be a reference to the warning given to Macbeth in the Shakespeare play of the same name, in which he is warned that "Macbeth shall never vanquish'd be until / Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill / Shall come against him.")
The senior staff clash with Congressional leaders on how to fund U.S. peacekeepers destined for the Middle East following the peace accord signed by Israel and the Palestinians. As Leo McGarry recovers from his heart attack, the Cabinet secretaries and senior staff members continually make missteps without a Chief of Staff. Bartlet eventually asks C.J. to become the new Chief of Staff.
C.J. Cregg begins her tenure as White House Chief of Staff, as Toby and Donna begin searching for a new Press Secretary. The Republic of Georgia offers to give the United States its stockpile of weapons-grade uranium. Josh meets with Representative Matthew Santos of Texas, who is retiring from Congress despite having only recently been elected to his seat. Santos will become a recurring character this season, as he begins a campaign for the Presidency.
Josh crashes an SUV into a hybrid vehicle, causing a public relations disaster. He meets with environmental supporters who berate the White House for doing too little to beef up laws in this area, including raising fuel emissions standards; Josh points out that they have had seven years of a hostile Congress.
While preparing the upcoming China summit, the Chinese are insulted by President Bartlet's acceptance of a Taiwanese independence movement flag at a prayer breakfast. Meanwhile, former Vice-President John Hoynes asks Josh to run his presidential campaign.
At Zoey Bartlet's birthday party, magicians Penn and Teller appear to burn an American flag in the White House, prompting a publicity nightmare. Aboard Air Force One, Bartlet is stricken by a paralyzing MS episode, while Josh is approached to run the Vice President's presidential campaign.
In China, an impaired Bartlet is having trouble sitting through meetings following his MS attack. In Washington, a NASA functionary warns that an asteroid could strike Earth, while Josh wonders who should be the next guy to occupy the Oval Office and puts off a talk with Donna about her future.
A senator attaches a rider to the federal budget bill that would ban gay marriage, almost daring the President to veto it. The Internet is rampant with a story that questions CJ's sexual orientation, and it is only fueled further when the White House refuses to dignify the allegations by putting out a statement. Donna joins the Vice President's campaign staff and heads for New Hampshire, while Santos decides that he will run for president if Josh will run his campaign.
Santos starts up his presidential campaign in New Hampshire, where he and Josh immediately disagree on campaign philosophy, and Josh has a reunion with Russell campaign staffer Donna.
On the day after Bartlet gives his last State of the Union address, Leo returns to the West Wing figuring out what to do during the remaining 365 days of Bartlet's term.
The presidential candidates journey to Iowa, where Democrats Russell and Santos, and Republican Vinick, are all told by their handlers that when they appear before the corn growers association they must support subsidies for ethanol as fuel, regardless of their true feelings.
When a British passenger aircraft is accidentally shot down over Iran, causing an international crisis, C.J. battles with the First Lady over the how much to let Bartlett's MS affect his schedule; Toby and constitutional scholar Lawrence Lessig work with Belarusian diplomats on a new constitution.
It is five days before the New Hampshire primary, and Josh is desperately trying to find a "silver bullet" that will get his candidate into the local debate between front-runners Russell and Hoynes. Then, Josh and Santos's disagreements over how to run the campaign come to a head when Santos hires Josh's ex-girlfriend Amy Gardner to help him prepare for the debate.
Senator Rafferty, a new presidential candidate garnered much media attention with a ground-breaking speech about health care. But her words contain interesting echoes of President Bartlet's original health plan known only to White House insiders. Meanwhile, Toby is more than usually morose after the death of his brother while C.J. is having problems dealing with lobbyist Clifford Calley.
Congressman Santos masterminds a plot to pass the president's stem cell bill while the Republicans aren't looking. A group of middle school children who are part of the Future Leaders for Democracy visit the White House and seek out Toby to discuss the voting age. Kate has to deal with an impending invasion of Canada.
As Super Tuesday apporaches, the three Democratic nominees battle it out to win California as the state legislature passes a contorversial anti-immigrant bill.
When speculations fly surrounding the nexus between communist Cuba and the democratic United States, President Bartlet is propelled into a dubious conundrum--that is, to continue secret talks with Cuba's ailing dictator and lift an antiquated embargo or to yield to bi-partisan political fallout and reaffirm 40-year-old sanctions. Meanwhile, Leo and Kate learn that they have more in common than politics when a distant memory of corrupted elections and bar room antics reveal a more intimate connection.
Senator Vinick wins the Republican nomination for presidency and begins working on his campaign. He gets political advice from Bruno about choosing a vice president and how to deal with the latest controversy of Vinick's church attendance, or lack thereof. Meanwhile the Democrats are stuck in a three-way race for enough delegates to win the Democratic nominations; Russell barely leads Santos and Hoynes is a distant third. Bartlet tries to show unity in the party by wrangling the candidates.
The clear organization of the Republican Convention is making the Democrats look in disarray as the three candidates continue to battle for a clear Democratic Presidential nominee. Bartlet asks Leo to take control and organize the Democratic Convention. Meanwhile, the International Space Station has a leak and is losing oxygen which jeopardizes the lives of the three astronauts aboard and morality and mortality are examined.
It's the Democratic National Convention and the race to become the Democratic Presidential candidate has narrowed to three candidates: Russell, Santos, and Hoynes, with a fourth, Baker, being nominated from the floor. Also, Bartlet must wrestle with the decision to launch the super-secret defense shuttle to rescue the astronauts trapped at the space station and risk national security or let them die.
The seventh and final season mainly follows Santos on the campaign trail and the aftermath of the shuttle leak investigation. The Bartlet administration's last year in office is featured, but not prominently. Toby admits to leaking the story and is forced to leave the staff. Later, he refuses to name his brother as the source of the classified information. Also, C.J.'s tenure as Chief of Staff becomes more stressful as she deals with the war between Russia and China over Kazakhstan. The presidential race tightens up when Vinick makes a number of mistakes on the campaign trail. Leo suffers a heart attack, and dies, on the night of the election, which Santos eventually wins.
The season opener starts with a scene from three years in the future; a reunion of several main characters at the opening of Bartlet's Presidential library. The show then returns to the main timeline with the Santos/McGarry campaign getting off to a rough start with tensions between Santos and Leo and between the campaign and the White House, despite poll numbers which show the campaign doing better than expected. C.J. is questioned by the White House counsel as to her involvement with the leak about a secret military space shuttle.
The Santos campaign takes a media hit on security issues because of the Bartlet administration's handling of the leak investigation. A White House reporter, Greg Brock, is sent to jail for failing to disclose his sources, and Josh clashes both with the White House and with a new communications director (Janeane Garofalo). The campaign debates whether Santos should respond to a summons to a weekend of military reserve training.
The episode follows the ups and downs of the Vinick campaign as Santos gains momentum on national security, then loses momentum as Vinick presses him on immigration issues, although this prompts the resignation of a top Vinick aide. The religious right tries to corner Vinick into promising to appoint pro-life judges, although Vinick's deception to appease them backfires.
The Santos campaign's "education week" is derailed by a controversy over teaching intelligent design, however, the Santos campaign turns the issue around, playing off Vinick's vulnerability as a pro-choice Republican on religious issues. In the White House, subpoenas are being handed down, and Palestinian Chairman Farad is assassinated. As Bartlet is determined to attend the funeral despite security concerns, CJ is hounded by a lone intelligence agent who believes Farad's death was part of a larger conspiracy. In the closing moments of the episode (similar to "18th and Potomac") Toby reveals to CJ that he was responsible for the security leak.
C.J. deals with the immediate reprecussions of Toby's confession, and White House Counsel Oliver Babish questions Toby until his lawyer intervenes. President Bartlet's daughter and her fiance visit with the news that she is pregnant. Josh struggles with the necessity to "clean house" on the Santos campaign, firing dozens of inexperienced staffers, including one close to the candidate. Kate Harper tangles with both the National Security Council and intelligence agent Frost as tensions rise between Russia and China. The president fires Toby and addresses the nation as Toby is led from the White House.
An ad by a 527 group attacking Santos for his pro-choice stand has both campaigns up in arms, trying to avoid the campaign going negative or diving into the abortion issue -- a touchy subject for both candidates: Vinick because his pro-choice position risks alienating the religious right, Santos because it risks alienating pro-choice moderates, including a major pro-choice interest group who are considering endorsing Vinick. Back at the White House, Will struggles with dealing with the press as the new Communications Director, settling into Toby's old office, and Josh struggles with Lou Thornton's decision to bring Donna into the campaign as a spokesperson. In the final moments, as both candidates wait backstage at the Al Smith Dinner, Santos and Vinick agree to an unexpected deal: a live debate the following week.
Candidates Matthew Santos and Arnold Vinick debate live in a forum moderated by Forrest Sawyer. During Vinick's opening statement, he proposes dropping the negotiated rules and having a freer debate format. During the hour-long debate (originally broadcast live in two tapings for East and West Coast audiences), the two candidates cover topics ranging from immigration to job creation to health care to African debt relief.
Santos must face the challenge of visiting an African-American family in Los Angeles whose child was shot by a Latino police officer. CJ must manage a crisis between China and Kazakhstan.
Wedding plans for the Bartlet's daughter move forward as Josh tries to pay for a windfall in the polls with a dwindling campaign warchest. Meanwhile the president must balance his daughter's most important day with a potential war between two nuclear powers. Democratic Party leaders want Leo to be campaign manager rather than Josh, but Josh has the trust of Santos and Leo.
At the beginning of the episode, Martin Sheen directly addresses the viewers out of character to pay tribute to co-star John Spencer, who played Leo and had recently died when this episode was originally broadcast. In the episode, Leo does poorly in Vice Presidential debate practice, and Lou and Josh are nervous. Will and Kate set up a date, which turned out to be watching the VP debate in Will's office. Santos takes time off of the campaign trail to visit his family, amid a flurry of media coverage. Josh calls Toby, who is currently between arraignments, about the VP debate.
C.J. realizes that she barely has any time left in office and decides to try and solve the (real world) crisis in Darfur, Sudan along with the (fictional) crisis between Russia and China over Kazakhstan. Adding more to her stress level, the President's son-in-law, Doug Westin, is rumored to be having an affair with his kids' nanny; Danny makes his first appearance (outside of the season opener flash forward) since the fifth season to go on a date with C.J.
Elections are underway in Kazakhstan, but Russia and China both on the brink of going to war in Central Asia over oil are the least of Bartlett and C.J.'s concerns as they face a nuclear reactor in California on the verge of a meltdown. While agonizing over the decisions over whether to evacuate nearby citizens and to release radioactive steam into the atmosphere, the Santos and Vinick campaigns stare each other down, trying to avoid being the first to turn the crisis into a political issue -- all the more complex as decades ago, Vinick lobbied for the plant's construction. When the news comes out, the election becomes, in Josh's words, "too close to call."
When new polling puts Santos and Vinick neck-to-neck nationwide, the Santos campaign staff are elated -- Josh and Donna so much so that they end up sharing a kiss, which forces them to confront their feelings for each other. Vinick, on the other hand, has a cold, and is feeling pressure from the RNC to make a rightward turn in his campaign and play to the Republican base. This makes Bruno nervous, as he's afraid he's going to be fired. And at the White House, President Bartlet summons both candidates to the White House so he can advise them that he's ordering thousands of U.S. troops into Kazakhstan. But before he meets with either Presidential candidate, he meets with Leo McGarry, who he has also called to the White House. Bartlet's meeting with Leo is more personal as he shares his concerns about the consequences of his decisions with Leo back in his old role as the President's closest confidante. This scene would be John Spencer's last appearance.
With the election two weeks out and both candidates polling even in California, both the Santos and Vinick campaigns scramble to the state to try and gain free media from public events. Vinick, whose hand is broken by constant handshakes, catches a break when Bruno discovers Santos' briefcase in a holding room. Vinick and Bruno must make a difficult decision; Do they open the case and use its contents against the owner or take the high road and give it back to Santos? In the briefcase: evidence which suggests that the Congressman may be supporting an illegitimate child. Vinick asks to meet with Santos where the Congressman denies the allegation, stating that he was making up for the mistakes of his brother.
It's 5 days 'til the election and the Santos campaign's stress level rises as they kick off a whirlwind tour of battleground states, with Jon Bon Jovi along for the ride.[1] Among the crises of the day: Helen Santos makes provocative statements about ex-felons voting, Donna can't work out a sketch for the Tonight Show, Santos is irked that his security briefings are cut short, and Josh is receiving campaign tips from Toby -- who is himself facing a federal prosecutor that threatens new indictments which could derail the Santos campaign. Toby gets a brief respite from visits to the prosecutor's office to see his kids (Molly and Huck) and his ex-wife, Andi, who urges Toby to blame his late brother for the sake of their children.
The episode opens late at night on the day before election day. Josh finally relaxes long enough to see various campaign staff hooking up and he and Donna sleep together -- twice. Election day brings stress in both campaigns, Josh is convinced he is finding problems in exit poll data while the Vinick campaign worries the data shows them losing in key places. West Virginia is unexpectedly called for Vinick and the traditionally Republican South Carolina is called for Santos. The episode closes with Annabeth finding Leo in his room, her screaming for help, and Secret Service agents closing in calling over their radio, "He's down, he's down!"
During an exhausting and adrenalin-filled night, the electoral votes come in as the Santos and Vinick campaigns wait anxiously. C.J. breaks Leo's death to President Bartlet, and the news hits the airwaves less than an hour before polls close on the West Coast. After Santos and Vinick win their home states of Texas and California, respectively, the two campaigns agonize over whether to mount legal challenges before final results are announced in Nevada and Oregon. In the end, both states break for Santos, who gives his election night speech as the new President-elect.
Leo's funeral brings back fond memories and old friends, including Amy Gardner, who urges Josh to consider appointing a Congresswoman from Florida Vice President; Ainsley Hayes, who approaches C.J. about a job in the Santos administration; Danny Concannon, who tries to rekindle his relationship with C.J.; and Bob Russell, who offers himself as a Vice Presidential prospect. Meanwhile, Santos and Josh clash over Barry Goodwin's place in the transition, Santos eyes numerous Speaker of the House candidates, and Bartlet and the staff reminisce about Leo in the Residence.
Josh's astoundingly hectic schedule begins to catch up to him, and friends and co-workers worry that if he doesn't take some time off very soon, he won't be able to function as chief of staff in the long run. Meanwhile, Josh has his hands full, acting as liaison between the President-Elect and the White House, and trying to staff the West Wing for the new administration. The top of his list is Sam Seaborn (Rob Lowe), who is reluctant to leave his happy life working in the private sector. Meanwhile, Santos enrages C.J. by undermining Bartlet's military agenda with a phone call to the President of China, and Donna gives Josh an ultimatum to define their relationship.
The transition is speeding ahead, and Matt and Helen Santos are overwhelmed by almost everything about their new lives -- from Secret Service protection, to choosing a DC school for their kids, to dealing with the White House household staff. Meanwhile, Vinick has too much time on his hands, and his staffers come to realize he's plotting another run for the presidency. Meanwhile, Santos is trying to figure out how to get his vice-presidential choice confirmed, and makes a surpising offer to Vinick: be the new administration's Secretary of State.''
The episode is set two weeks before the inauguration and the Bartlet administration staff is preparing to leave the White House. Most are seeking jobs in the Santos administration or elsewhere. C.J. is offered two jobs she is interested in - one to manage a philanthropic foundation and one as a high-ranking counselor in the Santos administration. C.J.'s relationship with Danny is suffering because he feels she is not taking it seriously. C.J. also visits Toby for the first time since his resignation and considers whether she should urge President Bartlet to pardon him before leaving office. Will Bailey is offered a job with the DNC to help get Democrats elected but finds himself becoming interested in one apparently unwinnable Congressional seat in Oregon.
(series finale) President Santos is inaugurated and President Bartlet leaves office. It is revealed that Santos plans to try and make Baker the vice-president (previously discussed as a possibility) through the Twenty-fifth Amendment and Bartlet pardons Toby in the last hours of his presidency.
