Original subtitles

Previously on The West Wing:

So, we're dumping State's language? WILL: Yes.

Which means we'll need some of our own. Yes.

Is the President going to send U.S. troops in, knock this off?

The White House is monitoring the situation very carefully. I can tell.

Katie. State Department estimates yesterday

put the dead at anywhere between 3,000 and 7,000.

Are there revised estimates today?

15,000.

PRESIDENT: Hey, this guy

you hired for the Inauguration speech

gave me a little backchat a few minutes ago.

Bailey? TOBY: What are you doing?

Familiarizing myself with his tone.

You're not thinking about policy language?

I'm doing both. 'Cause we have five days.

I'm just as big a cotton candy ass as they are.

Yes, sir. You're just going to let that hang in the air?

Of course not, sir. You're a much bigger

cotton candy ass than they are.

Damn right.

( ball thumps on Plexiglas )

( thumping continues )

You're not ever worried about the window breaking?

During moments of peak frustration.

When the Speaker of the House threatened to repeal

the 16th Amendment.

A couple of Yankee games.

And there was the time Congress censured my boss.

But it's always held up, that window.

That window's a game-day player.

What do you need?

Leo was just in here.

What did you say to the President last night?

The President came to my office.

He just dropped in.

I know. What did you say?

His speech transcript was right on top.

He read it.

What did you say?

He said, "Why is a Kundunese life

worth less to me than an American life?"

And I said, "I don't know, sir, but it is."

Didn't we talk about this?

Yes.

I wasn't giving it a shot, Toby, it was a casual conversation.y.

With the President?

He came here. He was standing in the doorway.

The Dow plummets because of casual conversations

with this man, but that's not the point.

What's the point?

You can't get in his head

this close to something this important.

You've got to keep the train on the tracks.

I apologize, but there's...

No, no "but" at the end of that.

Not on this one.

This one haunts him.

It haunts everyone.

Well, I finished the language.

How is it?

Bloodless, compromising, and half a loaf.

That's foreign policy.

( clears throat )

"America stands today

"as the one truly indispensable nation--

"the strongest force and the proudest voice

"for peace, pluralism and prosperity

that the world has ever known."

Okay. Keep the ancient Romans

out of the first ten rows, and we're fine.

"Today at the dawn of a new century,

"America needs a new commitment to protect our own security,

to model freedom to the world."

To model it?

I figure if we're not going to help create freedom

from tyranny, then let's at least sell some BarcaLoungers.

The U.S. doesn't help create freedom from tyranny?

I forgot to add,

"where our own interests aren't necessarily involved."

"To do what we can to fulfill

"humanity's promise

"and to prove that self-determination

is the watchword of all mankind."

The watchword of all mankind?

I don't know what that means.

Don't worry, neither will anyone else.

( snickers )

The speech is good. It's better than good.

There's one paragraph that's vague,

and we're going to live with it.

Which is more than you can say for the Kundunese.

I'll be in my office.

I heard once--

I don't know if this is true--

I heard once that you convinced the President

to let you rewrite a section of the State of the Union

with less than 24 hours to go.

It was the second year,

and everybody was a Republican

whether they were or not, and people at the DNC

had convinced him to include the line,

"The era of big government is over,"

and you couldn't live with it.

Because government should be a place

where people come together, and no one gets left behind.

An instrument of good, and that's exactly what we heard

in the State of the Union the next night.

There were maybe four people in the room

when I had that conversation.

Well, if I'd have been one of them,

I'd have repeated it to everyone I met.

Anyway, I'm going to move on

to some language in trade and commerce.

Okay.

Ghana, Nigeria, and what did I say?

Zaire.

Ghana, Nigeria and Zaire.

The Arkutu met with representatives

from those countries.

They met for three hours,

and we're told the talks were amicable

but that no progress was made.

Steve?

C.J., there's a 1948 U.N. Convention on Genocide,

and the U.S. is a signatory.

Simply put, it says that if it's determined

that genocide is taking place,

the United States is compelled to intervene.

The problem is

the Convention distinguishes

between acts of genocide and genocide.

It distinguishes between acts of genocide and genocide?

It does. Mark?

How many acts of genocide constitute a genocide?

I don't know. Danny?

What's the weather report for Sunday?

Two below with the wind chill.

That's a full lid. Good night.

C.J., thank you.

Good night, C.J.

Two below, that's beach weather for the President. Yes.

So, what is the distinction?

Danny, I have no idea.

I have no idea what the distinction is.

All I know is, I got a memo from State--

close your notebook-- a memo from State

to make sure not to call it genocide.

I want to talk to you about something.

No, we're not going to do that anymore.

We're not going to talk about Shareef.

This isn't about Shareef. Okay, then what?

It's a little about Shareef.

Good day to you, sir. C.J....

I said, good day, sir.

Get in there, would you?

Nobody takes me seriously when I say "good day, sir."

Get in there.

Did you find the pilot?

Shareef's pilot?

I can't remember his name.

Jamil Bari? Yeah.

Yes, I did.

He went to Augsbury Aviation in Bavaria.

He's survived by his wife, Merita, and his two children.

You don't even want to say you were wrong

and apologize for your superior attitude lately.

I do. First I want to tell you this.

Rifts at the Pentagon.

Jets and the Sharks.

I talked to an officer

who works in U.S. foreign intelligence activities there,

and he believes that Miles Hutchinson

is the Commander-in-Chief.

And in the course of the discussion, he told me

the President had rescinded

Executive Orders 11905 and 12333.

The President hasn't rescinded any Executive Orders.

Well, not publicly.

This was an incredibly clumsy attempt

on the part of this officer to send a turf message

to the President, and obviously he's not a rogue,

so I thought I'd give you the heads-up.

The President appreciates it,

and it's not like it's anything new.

I don't know who the Jets are and who the Sharks are,

but it's Fitzwallace and Hutchinson.

That's pretty much what I'm writing.

Who here can a researcher talk to about Pentagon employees

who are detailed to the White House?

Josh's office. You can get it from Donna.

Okay.

Hey, what are Executive Orders 11...?

11905 and 12333?

Yeah.

Making it illegal to assassinate a foreign leader.

I told you it was a little about Shareef.

( door closes )

TOBY: All right, last looks.

JOSH: C.J. says there are three references to "mankind."

Can we make it "humankind"?

Yeah.

Foreign Relations would like "war" changed

to "war and strife."

Yeah.

Where we say, "tens of billions wasted,"

the OMB would like us to say "billions and billions wasted."

No.

Then that's all for me.

Got those?

Yeah.

All right. Let's leave the building.

What do you say?

Anyone playing at Iota tonight?

I don't know. Let's just go. Ask C.J.

There's that club called Iota in Arlington.

They usually have some good people.

You want to come out?

WILL: I appreciate that.

I should stay here and put in the changes.

Ginger or Bonnie will do that.

Yeah, but there are going to be notes,

and I should probably be sharp tomorrow.

Okay.

He's frustrated with the foreign policy section.

He wanted to change it.

The language?

No. U.S. foreign policy.

Hang on. Will?

Yeah.

Listen, the President takes seriously

the question of whether or not to risk American blood.

I'm sure he does.

He can't just send people someplace.

I understand. Is that it?

No. "Do what we can

to fulfill humanity's promise"?

You're kidding me now.

No. Leadership wants to cut it.

Okay.

Where does the President's Catholicism

distinguish between American blood

and other kinds of blood?

It doesn't.

The voters do.

The voters that you champion and that I can't stand.

Yeah.

I'm going to put these changes in.

What's his level of frustration?

It's high.

He's here on a temp job.

He's that invested in...?

( loud crack )

This never happened before, has it?

No. No, it hasn't.

Sorry.

BARTLET: Charlie, I'm going to change my mind again

on the Bible. Mr. President,

you have to imagine my utter surprise.

Aren't you afraid that one day

I'm just going to kick your ass

like it's never been kicked?

What Bible would you prefer, sir?

Let's go with the Washington Bible.

Well, as I said, that might be problematic to get by Sunday.

Just put it on a plane.

The Freemasons won't let it travel by plane.

What do the Freemasons have to do with it?

The New York Freemasons

have the Bible Washington was sworn in on.

It can't travel on a plane

'cause the altitude does something.

Take a train. They have a rule that when the Bible travels

three Freemasons have to go with it.

Buy three tickets. Well, it's four,

'cause you need one for the Bible,

but the larger problem is...

Are you trying to tell me

that Freemasons don't like me?

Not a huge demo for you, no.

But they're good people,

and after all, a president is being inaugurated,

so let's see what we can do.

Thank you. Good night, Mr. President.

Hey. What's going on?

I saw C.J. smiling before.

Has something good happened?

Yeah. What?

You didn't rescind two Executive Orders. I didn't?

It was an NSC Presidential Decision Directive--

it's different. It's not different.

It is, and that's how I was able to look C.J. in the eye

and say you didn't rescind 11905,

and that's how she was able to look Danny Concanon in the eye

and do the same. Well, then it was a dodged bullet.

No, sir, we didn't dodge nothing.

They hit what they aimed at.

Leo, come on... It was a shot across the bow, it was.

This guy giving it to Danny.

You're being paranoid.

And you're being unbelievably naive, sir.

You think in your wildest dreams

that Hutchinson's running an offense?

He's that pissed I asked for a Force Depletion Report

he's going to show me in Danny's byline I go to Kundu

and he says here's what happened in Bermuda?

Hutchinson?

I do. In my wildest dreams, I do.

( heavy sigh )

Abbey's already gone to bed.

I should get up there.

Hey, the Chief Justice wrote another opinion in verse.

Want to hear it? No.

"I say this denial is not fit for trial."

Good night. Thank you, Mr. President.

Abbey.

Abigail.

Abbey, the kids are eating sugar.

( soft gasp )

Oh.

How you doing?

You know I gave the kids candy all the time, right?

Behind my back? Yes.

You bought their love.

Well, it was for sale, and I wanted it.

Come to bed.

I'm going to stay up for a bit

and read and watch some news.

Okay.

Tony's grandkids are in there watching a video.

It may still be in there.

I think he has a... Laurel and Hardy movie.

His grandkids were in here? For a while.

We had to move them because...

What do you care right now?

I don't.

Come to bed soon.

For the record... Yeah?

Frederick the Great told his generals...

to defend everything is to defend nothing.

And?

I don't really know what that means, do you? No.

But I'm mostly asleep right now,

and also I don't know what you're talking about.

Well, that makes two of us.

Who made you crazy?

Not that someone has to make you that way.

I'll be in soon.

You gave the girls candy?

I was their dealer. Live with it.

Come to bed.

( door closes )

* Why are all our heroes so imperfect? *

* Why do they always bring me down? *

C.J.: Tanq and tonic.

JOSH: Uh, two.

Cynthia, I left a message for Donna.

She might call. Sure.

* The statue in the park has lost his crown *

* William Faulkner, drunk... *

Guy across the street is beating up a pregnant woman.

You don't go over there and try and stop it?

Guy across the street is beating up anybody,

I like to think I go over and try to stop it,

but we're not talking about the president going to Asia

or the president going to Rwanda

or the president going to Qumar.

We're talking about the president sending

other people's kids to do it.

That's always what we're talking about,

and in addition to being somebody's kids,

they're soldiers and sailors,

and if we're about freedom from tyranny,

then we're about freedom from tyranny,

and if we're not, we should shut up.

Yes.

Back at the office, you were telling Will...

He said that to Will 'cause that's what we say.

You weren't even there. It's what we always say.

On Sunday, he's taking an oath

to ensure domestic tranquillity.

And to establish justice and promote the general welfare.

Stand by while atrocities are taking place

and you're an accomplice. I'm not indifferent to that,

but knucklehead self-destruction

is never going to burn itself out,

you really want to send your kids

across the street into the fire?

Want to? No. Should I? Yeah. Why?

And don't give me a lefty answer.

A lefty answer's all I've got.

Why are you sending your kids across the street?

* William Faulkner, drunk and depressed *

* Tennessee Williams, drunk and depressed... *

'Cause those are somebody's kids, too.

* Drunk and depressed. *

( sighs )

Here he is. Hello. Good to see you again.

Good to see you.

( mutes TV )

( all TVs muted )

Get some more dots.

( clattering )

You know what? ! What?

The wooden soldiers.

You know what? What?

The wooden soldiers.

( clattering )

( fanfare plays over military drumbeat )

WOMAN: Yes, Mr. President?

Leo McGarry, please.

Right away.

* Rock me to sleep

* Rock me to sleep

* I wish I had somebody to rock me to sleep. *

I'm not talking about fighting two wars at once,

I'm not talking about fighting wars.

Intervening when there's violence against

people who are defenseless... Fine, but if we go here,

that means they can go there, and look, there's more injustice

over there. We elect these people.

And not for nothing, but if

we'd been the world's policeman

in the '30s, you and I...

We would've had a lot more relatives. That's right.

* Of the sycamore tree... Where the hell is Donna?

Leave her alone-- she's having a last night with...

What's his name?

I called her at Jack's, and I paged her.

Leave her alone.

I've got to go back to the office.

What happened? Danny screwed me,

and somebody on one of our staffs screwed the rest of us.

* The sycamore tree... ( pagers beeping )

I'll get the call.

* Take me in your arms and hold me *

* Till I close my eyes... *

This is Toby.

You got to come in. It's the speech.

We're on our way. He wants you to bring Will Bailey, too.

You want to call him or you want me to?

Well, Will's never been called

in the middle of the night

by the Office of the President.

I think he should experience that before he leaves.

Definitely.

( phone ringing )

( ringing continues ) Just a second, please.

( knocking on door )

WOMAN: Mr. Bailey, it's the night manager.

There's a phone call for you.

Uh, yeah.

( ringing continues )

Mr. Bailey, this is the White House operator.

Would you hold, please, for a call from Charlie Young?

Yes, ma'am.

This is not what happened. I don't believe this.

Listen to me. A) It was garbage.

That was totally out of left field in that piece,

and the unnamed White House source... It wasn't mine.

What do you mean, it wasn't yours? It got dropped in.

Who dropped it in? My editor and my researcher.

They dropped it in? Yes.

Without your knowledge? Yes.

And you're okay with that? How do I sound?!

What was the name of the researcher? Oh, you're not...

No, the researcher's looking out for his future.

He's 23 and time's a-wastin'.

I want to give him a Lexus.

What's his name? C.J...

What's his name?!

That's going to stay between me and my boss.

The researchers talked to three different people

on background-- just nuts and bolts.

Asking how many nuts and bolts

doesn't get this quote.

As a matter of form, he tells them what I'm writing about.

C.J., I don't know who he talked to.

I sent you to Donna when you asked...

I'm saying it wasn't necessarily Donna.

I mean, in a million years,

do you think Donna... No, but that day, yesterday,

her boyfriend Jack Reese, a Navy Lieutenant Commander,

was reassigned from a White House position,

and she was very angry about it.

Sometimes people say something to a researcher

'cause they think they're not on the record.

They're not on the record!

No.

C.J.?

Yeah?

It's Donna on the phone.

Yeah?

Well, this is gonna, I think, get interesting now.

Yes.

It's gonna get interesting.

It will capture our interest...

...and will be written about...

...in English, I would think, as well as...

Arabic?

You can say that two times.

( heavy sigh )

I suppose you can't blame Will completely.

Hi.

This is entirely your fault.

He came in the office.

You like Europe, he likes Europe.

You could've talked about Europe.

That wasn't the subject.

Then make it the subject.

He says, "Here's this El Salvador speech

I gave a long time ago," and you say?

I like Europe? Yes!

Listen, something's happened. What?

A White House aide is quoted in tomorrow's Post.

You can go in.

All right.

We're for freedom of speech everywhere.

We're for freedom to worship everywhere.

We're for freedom to learn... for everybody.

And because, in our time, you can build a bomb

in your country and bring it to my country

what goes on in your country is very much my business.

And so we are

for freedom from tyranny everywhere,

whether in the guise of political oppression, Toby

or economic slavery, Josh

or religious fanaticism, C.J.

That most fundamental idea cannot be met

with merely our support.

It has to be met with our strength.

Diplomatically, economically, materially.

And if Pharaoh still don't free the slaves

then he gets the plagues, or my cavalry

whichever gets there first.

The USTR will go crazy

and say that we're not considering global trade.

Committee members will go crazy

and say I haven't consulted enough.

And the Arab world will just go indiscriminately crazy.

No country

has ever had a doctrine of intervention

when only humanitarian interests were at stake.

That streak's gonna end Sunday at noon.

So if you're on board with this, what I need you to do...

TOBY: What we're going to do is comb

through the language again, this time with counsel.

Carol, it's me.

I'm going to need new talking points

for the full Cabinet, no embargoed excepts.

We have to move from a lone rogue, to a posse.

Do I just keep standing here? No.

Excuse me!

It is so ordered.

ALL: Thank you, Mr. President.

TOBY: All right, everything else off the table.

What were you going to say before?

WILL: I'm going to be on the phone.

Danny's got a piece out tomorrow

on fault lines between the White House and the Pentagon.

He writes that story twice a year.

A researcher gathering background spoke to three people,

one of whom was Donna,

because your office is one of the places that keeps breakdowns

of how Pentagon staff are detailed to the White House.

The researcher was given an unprompted quote

which he gave to Danny's editor, who put it in the piece.

What was the quote?

Everyone's very loyal to everyone else around here, unless you wear a uniform.

I know that sounds like it was Donna

'cause of the situation with Jack,

but there's no way she gives that quote to a reporter.

She didn't think she was on the record.

There's no way Donna said that.

She did. She just called me and told me she did,

which I give her credit for.

You do.

Heat of the moment. And bad timing.

You think?

I don't have time for this now. Neither do you.

"Set free the oppressed, break every yoke,

"clothe the naked, and your light shall break forth

"like the dawn, and the glory of the Lord

shall be your rear guard."

Ten minutes ago, you promised me

you'd go easy on the Moses references.

That was Isaiah.

Still. They frighten people.

Who? Me.

Well, then here's to swimmin' with bow-legged women.

Ah, that tastes like...

nothing at all.

It has no taste or properties of any kind.

You can expect to see pieces quoting Pentagon sources

on how many lives we'd lose in Kundu.

And a search and rescue group,

diving for a lost helicopter prop,

is going to find a piece of a Gulfstream.

I think you're wrong.

But if you're right, then okay.

We should all have a little skin in this.

Well, then, that much we've accomplished.

So we're doing well so far.

Sunday noon?

Sunday noon.

Thank you, Mr. President.

( sets glass on table )

( crowd cheering )

ABBEY: Because of Laurel and Hardy?

Not because, no.

Not because of Laurel and Hardy.

That was simply the confluence of the final, you know, and...

also, by the way, from the mouths of babes-- like yourself.

Seriously, from the mouths of babes and clowns come--

Listen, there's no reason why

anyone needs to know about Laurel and Hardy.

Sounds like that's going to depend a lot on my general mood.

Too cold for a parade. Bunch of tanned-ass Southerners.

That decision

was made by your Inauguration Chairman,

who's from Massachusetts.

Which is to the south of New Hampshire.

Don't tell me geographic stereotypes.

You would've been happy

walking up Pennsylvania Avenue in this cold?

I walked to school every morning in weather colder than this.

From the headmaster's house to your classroom.

That's right, baby.

Just a camel hair coat, leather gloves

a varsity scarf and these wits.

( laughing )

Sir? It's here?

No, sir.

What is the problem? It was in New York.

It could've gotten here on a fast horse.

They took the Metroliner this morning. And?

The train's stuck in Philadelphia.

Because? Frozen tracks.

And it didn't come in last night...

...because the Inaugural Committee wouldn't pay for four hotel rooms.

Three for the Freemasons and one for the Bible.

I guess the Bible doesn't get a room. Three hotel rooms.

Three hotel rooms and four train tickets.

Yeah. Okay. You know what?

Washington didn't bring his own Bible,

he just assumed one would be provided,

which, frankly, isn't unreasonable.

Guy wants you to swear an oath on a Bible,

he ought to be packing a Bible.

Washington had someone get one from across the street.

Excuse me, what are the chances

there's a Bible in the House Library?

They should have one. Yeah, they got one.

Excuse me, sir.

Just common courtesy, I think.

"Place your hand on this Bible."

And, "Oh, can I use your Bible?"

That's not right.

Good morning, Mr. President.

Why are they talking to me about the order of the balls?

Political Affairs thinks it's important.

They'd like you to start with the Plains States,

followed by the Rust Belt ball,

then the one from the Pacific Northwest.

C.J.: It says you'reAren't we about to of the whole cdemonstrate that pretty clearly?

( kisses )

( heavy sigh )

Did you throw up?

Yeah.

About time.

It was my third time.

Still.

They're yuckling him about the order of the balls.

( music playing in distance )

That's the U.S. Marine Corps Band right there.

The Commandant's Own.

These guys practice four hours a day.

So you think the Chief Justice has lost his mind.

I didn't say he'd "lost his mind,"

I said...

I said he lost his mind and Leo thinks he's lost his mind.

Leo's lost his mind.

He's speaking in verse.

A literary curse.

Five minutes.

He doesn't have a Bible.

Charlie's out looking for one.

Should I be...? Charlie'll get it.

I've got it.

So there it is.

Let's see what happens now.

( footsteps echoing )

( up-tempo jazz plays )

Listen. Will did a great job,

and I like him personally too.

But he had a bad meeting with that Public Affairs guy,

and people at State are focusing a lot of displeasure on him.

I told him to have a bad meeting

with that Public Affairs guy.

I know, and I want to use him again,

but I need friends at State right now

so I want him to work under the radar.

He should work out of his house

and deal with us by phone.

That's exactly what I was going to say.

Yeah?

Except the part about him working under the radar

in house on the phone.

Leo, I want the President to appoint him Deputy.

Are you sure?

I can talk to the people at State and--

I don't care about State.

I'm asking... are you sure?

Yeah.

You don't mean on an interim basis?

No.

What about Sam?

A promotion-- it's well past time.

Make him a Senior Counselor,

take the knucklehead stuff off his desk

the way he did for me for four years.

Let him concentrate on the President and the country.

I'll advise the President.

( up-tempo jazz continuing )

( song ends )

( applause )

Hey!

JOSH: Hey.

Congratulations. This is something.

Sorry about the story yesterday.

It wasn't your fault.

Where is she?

Donna?

Yeah.

She's sitting in her apartment in a ball gown.

Waiting for a ball to come over?

She doesn't think it's appropriate for her to be here.

I couldn't talk her down.

How hard you try? I tried hard.

She didn't think she was on the record.

I'm not sure if my editor knew that one.

It doesn't matter.

Yeah.

I thought the balance of the piece was--

I haven't read it. Sorry.

I haven't.

I got a copy here if you want to...

You're walking around with a copy of it?

Well, I think parts of it are pretty good.

Hey, when you won a Fulbright Scholarship

you taped the letter to your face.

Give me that.

Yeah, here it is.

"Said one White House aide,

'We've got a situation--'"

The point actually was to read all the other parts.

"'...where the White House won't give the D.O.D

"'an extra ten billion

"so they have to go to the Hill and get it''

"Said the same aide, 'Everybody's very loyal around here

unless you wear a uniform.'"

Said the same aide.

I hadn't read the first part of the quote.

Said the same aide?

I'm going to kill her.

Why don't you stick around for a minute.

We're just going to be a minute, right?

Quick review.

Wait just one minute. It's good cop/bad cop.

I'm the good cop; the four of you are the bad cop.

Will, what are you?

The bad cop.

Danny, what are you? The bad cop.

Toby, what are you? Hurry up.

Charlie, who are you?

I love Zoey, I must have her back.

The bad cop, that's right.

Here we go.

That's great news about Zoey.

I didn't meet her, but I bet she's nice.

Not really, but my love for her knows no bounds.

Charlie, aren't you cold without a coat?

I took off my coat to show my love for Zoey.

Wow. I'd take off my shirt too,

but it's inappropriate with a tuxedo.

Not if we're at Chippendales.

I'm standing here!

The buzzer's not working.

TOBY: Did you try it?

No, I divined it.

Maybe she's just not answering.

There's a note that says the buzzer's not working.

Call her.

No, I know women.

I know what they're like. Donna!

I think before the night's over, we might have ourselves

a whole new story. ( chuckling )

Huh.

Ho!

( laughter )

Yeah!

( laughter )

Here you go.

What the hell are you doing?

Get down here! Now! Keep your voice down.

Don't even think about telling me where to keep my voice! Get down here!

I'm coming.

MAN 1: Hey! Now I'm telling you-- keep your voice down.

MAN 2: Me too!

Oh, no, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you guys.

Uh, this is a special situation.

It's okay, I'm the good cop!

Hi, National Enquirer?

You come down here without a coat?

I need you to keep your voice down.

( sighs )

Go ahead, you're entitled-- give it all to me again.

You don't know the White House rejected

ten billion for the D.O.D.

You have absolutely no way of knowing that.

Jack said it.

The researcher called Jack, and Jack said it.

He was working a lot of nights,

and it really wore him out.

Yeah?

And then this thing happened,

and he didn't think he was on the record.

Donna-- He didn't, Josh.

That was legitimate.

He's letting you take the credit for this?

Listen, this guy's got an important career ahead of him.

Your career isn't important?

What was the point of anyone claiming...

You knew it was easy... to figure out it was him.

Not as easy as you made it.

I didn't think about the top of the quote--

The list of things you didn't think about,

including your job,

what the President thinks of you.

Does he know about this?

He's about to?

You look amazing.

Hi, guys.

Hi, Donna. Donna.

Sorry about all this.

Don't worry about it.

It was stupid, but it was menschy.

Hey, hey, hey. Good cop/bad cop.

Sorry. It was just stupid.

Hey, Will. You and Toby wrote

maybe the greatest speech I've ever heard.

Thank you very much.

We're going to a ball.

Balls are fun.

We're actually going to eight of them.

Eight times the fun.

I was actually the one who hit the window;

the rest of them went to school on my throw.

Let's go!

How you doing, Charlie?

Well, I'm going to win Zoey's heart from Jean Paul.

Excellent.

'Cause he may be good-looking and rich and well schooled

and French royalty, you know, and live basically in a castle,

but... Oh, God.

TOBY: This is what I've been telling you.

Get in the car.

Josh... I'm sorry.

Seriously, I've never lied to you before, boss,

and it won't happen again.

You're going to have to sit on somebody's lap.

Okay.

( slow jazz music plays )

Thank you.

You should expect increased voices of dissent

after today-- in breadth and depth.

A ship in the harbor is safe,

but that's not what ships were built for.

It's doubtful Danny's inquiries about Shareef

would've gone further if he didn't have new sources at the Pentagon.

So what?

Really?

You know what the decision directives say?

That diplomats and leaders aren't immune from being targets

when they're connected to terrorists' activities

that threaten the U.S. or its citizens.

I don't think it's an unusual directive.

That it was given hours before Shareef's plane disappeared...

Just a reminder,

the more I know, the more I can help you.

And don't be concerned with my exposure.

I'm not your daughter.

I'm the White House Press Secretary.

The President would like you both.

( slow jazz continuing )

Good evening.

ALL: Good evening, Mr. President.

Everything all right?

Yes, sir.

They're saying I'm rewriting the Constitution

on the back of a napkin.

They're saying on Fox

that a guy who couldn't run a local sheriff's department

wants to send troops around the world.

They're saying it's liberalism with a grenade launcher.

But they're not saying it was badly written,

so that's something.

And they sure as hell know I was serious,

so that's something else.

Congratulations, folks. We've got ourselves a doctrine.

Will, I think some of these people

don't know who your dad is.

Will's the youngest son of Tom Bailey,

who's the only guy in the world with a better title than mine.

He was Supreme Commander, NATO Allied Forces Europe.

We didn't know we were going to do this.

I would've asked you to invite him.

Well, you got quite a response from him watching on TV, sir.

I think he's going to reenlist.

Actually, I meant I wish he could be here now

when I tell you that

Toby's asked me to commission you as his deputy.

I'm sorry, sir?

Toby wants to make you Deputy.

Pardon me?

I'm appointing you

Deputy Communications Director.

It covers a wide range of areas of policy and execution

and counsel to me.

To you...

the President?

Yes.

I'm sorry, sir. I'm not following--

Good God, boy.

JOSH: I remember when you named me Deputy,

there was a dull buzzing in my ear, or a humming.

It was very disorienting.

The same thing happened to me.

Hang in there, Will, you're doing fine.

( sotto voce ): That was a nice story about the buzzing.

What did I say about speaking to me

without addressing me as Wild Thing?

Excuse me.

Hi.

Sam's going to be promoted

to Senior Counselor if he loses the 47th.

I don't know what to say.

That's what you want to hear from your new Communications--

WILL: I-I accept.

PRESIDENT: There's a promise

that I ask everyone who works here to make.

Never doubt that a small group

of thoughtful and committed citizens can change the world.

Do you know why?

It's the only thing that ever has.

William Bailey,

reposing special trust and confidence

in your integrity, prudence and ability,

I designate you to the post

of Deputy White House Director of Communications

and Special Assistant to the President.

And I do authorize you

to execute and fulfill the duties of that office

with all the powers and privileges and subject

to the conditions prescribed.

It is affirmed by my signature...

...and affixed with the Seal of the United States.

And it is done so on this day and in this place.

Congratulations.

PRESIDENT: You know, it's easy to watch the news

and think of Kundunese as either hapless victims

or crazed butchers,

and it turns out that's not true.

I got this intelligence summary this afternoon.

"Mothers are standing in front of tanks."

And we're going to go get their backs.

An hour ago, I ordered Fitzwallace to have UCOMM

deploy a brigade of the 82nd Airborne,

the 101st Air Assault,

and a Marine Expeditionary Unit to Kundu to stop the violence.

The 101st are the Screaming Eagles.

The Marines are with the 22nd M.E.U.,

trained at Camp Lejeune,

some of them very recently.

I'm sorry, everyone,

but this is a work night.

( up-tempo jazz playing )

That's you too.

I know.

( up-tempo jazz continuing )