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"Previously on the West Wing" spoken by Leo

It's the day after the State of the Union and there's no time to rest. The staff is busy dealing with emergency situations while Leo starts his first day in his new position by watching old State of the Union addresses to find inspiration. Kate spends her day working on a situation in Bolivia; C.J. on a situation in North Korea; Toby on unemployment.

Summary[]

Opening[]

Toby is speaking on a news program on the State of the Union address, which has just concluded.  After it concludes, Carol pulls him out to meet with C.J.  They talk about Leo, who is planning to return to working in the White House.  Leo is in a car on the way to the White House.  He arrives, signs in and heads to his new office (C.J.'s old office).  In the room are most of the Senior Staff - welcoming him back to work.

Leo begins to talk about thoughts he has had while recuperating.  One by one, people are pulled out for various issues, leaving only one unnamed White House staffer in the room with Leo.  (Kate is pulled out first, followed by Will, to take a call from the Vice President, Kate pulled C.J. and C.J. pulled Charlie.  Carol came for Annabeth and Toby follows.  Charlie returns to get Ed and Larry).  When asked if they're done, Leo tells the staffer, no, and writes "365" on the White Board.

Kate tells C.J. there is a large protest in the streets of La Paz, Bolivia.  C.J. gets the people in motion to deal with the "low-grade conflict."

Act I[]

In the Oval Office, the President is being checked over by his physician, while Abbey looks on.  The President and First Lady spar over his health.  He then opens the door to C.J.'s office and calls the Senior Staff in.  Kate leads the way, briefing the President on what is happening in Bolivia.  They throw the ball around deciding on a message and move on to the next issue.

Leo is waiting outside the Oval Office.  Debbie tells him that he could go in, but Leo is content to wait.  Kate comes out and talks with Leo.  She would like to talk with him about Bolivia, and they make a plan for that afternoon.  In the Oval Office, C.J., Toby, and the President are still talking about taxes and the State of the Union, when Debbie interrupts to tell the President that Leo is waiting.  Leo comes in and talks with the President briefly.  Leo wants to know what the President expects of him.   In the Communications Bullpen, Charlie and Annabeth are talking about the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and how to make it "sexier."  Margaret comes to see Leo, carrying several videocassettes of the President's addresses.  Leo wants to start reviewing them with an idea of how he can be useful.  Kate comes by to tell Leo that several US contractors are being held at gunpoint in Bolivia.  She invites Leo to the Situation Room, but he declines, to the surprise of both Kate and Margaret.  The two women leave and Leo puts in a tape into the machine and begins to watch.

Act II[]

In the Situation Room, the President is briefed on the situation in Bolivia.  The American contractors were working for the US government on coca eradication, and they were armed and wearing camouflage.  The President presses the CIA Director to make sure the contractors weren't doing anything they weren't supposed to be doing, before the President makes noise about them.

C.J. is heading back from the Situation Room, when Toby encounters her and they talk about other issues, which C.J. tells him will all get pushed aside because of Bolivia.  C.J. then sees Will and tells him to thank the Vice President for supporting the President on the State of the Union.  Will tells C.J. that the VP is anxious to get back on the campaign trail and will only "shill" for one week.

Toby comes to see Annabeth to tell her that the First Lady is going to attend a NASCAR race and he needs her to prep the First Lady.  Will comes to see Leo, who is watching old State of the Union addresses and tells Leo that he would like to sit with him and talk with him about the VP.

Toby and Charlie are in a meeting with members of Congress regarding the EITC and they get nowhere.  Charlie and Toby talk to C.J. about the meeting afterwards and tell C.J. there was no progress.  They arrive in C.J.'s office, which is in disarray (new furniture) and Margaret tells her that the Speaker is waiting for her, the NOAA Administrator needs to talk to her, and Leo, who walks in, as he was also supposed to meet with C.J.  C.J. delegates the NOAA meeting to Charlie, reschedules with Leo, and goes off to meet with the Speaker.

Charlie follows Leo back to his office, asking him what he is doing.  Leo tells him and the two talk about how Charlie is doing in his new job.  As Toby returns to the Communications Bullpen, the TVs are showing the wife of one of the captured contractors in Bolivia.  Toby goes to Annabeth's office to plan a response.

Act III[]

C.J. comes to see the President, but Debbie tells her that he is in the residence, napping.  C.J. is a bit surprised, but this is how things are now.  Annabeth comes to see the First Lady to prep her for her visit to a NASCAR race. 

Toby, C.J., Kate, and Charlie meet in C.J.'s office to discuss what to do about the statement made by the contractor's wife.  C.J. tells Toby that he is going to have to brief and she presses Kate to confirm that the contractors were not working for the CIA.  Kate says that they aren't, but they are actually "mercenaries" working against the Bolivian government, and on the US payroll.  Toby asks about Leo.  Charlie tells him he is watching old State of the Unions, which surprises Toby.

Kate stops in to see Leo to confirm their meeting for later and the two have a personal conversation, she is then called away for another issue.  The President returns to the Oval Office, having been unable to sleep.  Debbie catches him up on things.  Charlie comes to see Annabeth and the two talk about re-branding the EITC, because it needs a better name.

Toby stops in to see Leo, and they talk about why he is watching old State of the Union addresses.  They talk about what Leo is trying to do and what Toby really needs from him.

Act IV[]

In the Situation room, the President gets an update on Bolivia - a tape has been released of one of the contractors, saying they will be released after the Bolivian elections are allowed to go forward.  Kate and C.J. talk afterwards, and discuss whether or not the President should try to rescue the contractors.

Will comes to see Leo for his meeting and Will talks with him about the Vice President:  that if he's such a joke, why did the President and Leo pick him to be Vice President to a President with a serious health condition?  Carol interrupts them to tell them that they need to see the First Lady at the NASCAR race.  They walk out to the bullpen to watch the footage of Abbey getting kissed by the winning NASCAR driver.  Next the phone rings, and the First Lady is on the phone for Annabeth, because she had neglected to tell the First Lady about the ceremonial kiss.

In C.J.'s office, she is on the phone with the Governor of South Dakota, who is alarmed that Mount Rushmore has moved . . .  an inch.  Leo comes to see her and the two talk.  Leo tells her that she is doing great, but C.J. is not so sure, but he tells her that it was easier when he was Chief and he had her and the others, but still, she is doing fine.  Margaret comes in to tell Leo that the President is waiting for him in the residence so that they can have dinner together.

The President and Leo are having dinner and Leo asks the President what his plans are for the next year.  This is their last chance to make a difference; they should "leave it all out on the field."

The President's staff is recalled to the White House, to meet C.J. in the Oval Office.  The President arrives and he brings them to Leo's office.  The President tells them that "he had dinner with an old friend tonight" and he wants them to hear what he has to say.  Leo reads a quote from Thomas Paine and then asks them what they want to do with the remaining 364 days in the term, and they all begin to contribute ideas.

Trivia / Goofs[]

  • The plural form of "State of The Union," as used several times in this episode, is incorrect. The one used is "State of The Unions" while the correct one is "States of The Union." [1]
  • The plotline for "Annabeth and the First Lady" is that the first lady will attend a Martinsville NASCAR race. This occurs the day after the State of the Union in January. There is no NASCAR race at all in January and the only one the president/first lady attends is Daytona, the weekend in the middle of February.
  • In Leo's heated exchange with Bartlet for not putting everything out on the field in his last year, he says "All the excuses I heard today nobody brought up MS." Toby did bring up MS, saying "this is the first year we've had to worry about how long the President can stand up."
  • "365 Days" is one of the "State of the Union" episodes of "The West Wing."
  • The portrait of Thomas Paine outside the Oval Office grows perceptibly in size over the course of the episode.

Quotes[]

Unnamed White House staff: Are we done, Mr. McGarry?
Leo McGarry: No, not yet.
Jed Bartlet: "The President will see you now."
President Bartlet: [on Latin America] Our history down there is such that people are gonna find it a lot easier to believe Zalaya's charges than our denials. It may not make a hell of a lot of difference, but when we call him a liar, I'd prefer we be right.
C.J. Cregg: Thank the V.P. for pitching in on State of the Union follow through.
Will Bailey: About that.
C.J. Cregg: Will...
Will Bailey: He's out there, he's shilling.
C.J. Cregg: Shilling? You mean showing loyalty to the administration he happens to be serving in?
Will Bailey: It's the President's agenda. I don't recall burning much midnight oil discussing what'd help us in the primaries. He'll do his bit this week because the President can't, but after that, the campaign comes first.
C.J. Cregg: Yeah, on second thought, maybe don't thank him so much.
Toby Ziegler: Heard you were watching old State of the Unions.
Leo McGarry: And Inaugurals.
Toby Ziegler: Something wrong with this year's speech?
Leo McGarry: What do you think?
Toby Ziegler: I wrote it.
Leo McGarry: You seemed remarkably uncomfortable accepting praise, even for you.
Toby Ziegler: What are you doing here, Leo? Watching old speeches and reading about the founding fathers? We don't have time for you to sit around like a garden Buddha, passing out fortune cookie wisdom. We're getting buried alive here. Get up and grab a shovel.
Leo McGarry: "While the assault weapons ban may have ended, "the debate has not, and I will fight this Congress as long..."
Toby Ziegler: "As the senseless, needless violence continues." Second Inaugural . . .
Leo McGarry: "The promise of stem cell research "has again been delayed by congressional ban. Imagine a child paralyzed by a spinal cord injury..."
Toby Ziegler: "By a spinal cord injury, watching, waiting, knowing that politics is the obstacle to a cure." Third State of the Union.  I know what we said. We all know what we said.
Leo McGarry: Last night's State of the Union, you pulled your punches.
Toby Ziegler: It was well received.
Leo McGarry: It's easy to applaud for something that no one's gonna make you stand up and pass. "By any measure, we're losing the war on drugs." "Demand is exactly the same... Supply is the same, but prices..." "Supply is the same, but prices "have gone down." "It's time for a comprehensive new approach to this nation's dependence on drugs." That was in your rough draft of last night's speech.
Toby Ziegler: I cut it.
Leo McGarry: Who told you to? Nobody. Nobody had to.
Toby Ziegler: You've had a heart attack and he can't stand up. Day after every other State of the Union, the President launches a month-long road show to stump for what was in it. This year I get Bingo Bob and a week.
Leo McGarry: The both of us, sir, this is our last game. Let's leave it all out on the field.

Cast[]

Starring[]

Special Guest Stars[]

Guest Starring[]

Co-Starring[]

  • Peter James Smith as Ed
  • William Duffy as Larry
  • Rafael J. Noble as Congressman Swarthout
  • Gregory White as Congressman Auren
  • Carol Avery as Congresswoman Gleeson
  • Michael Edward Rose as Jonathan Creasy
  • Kristin Carey as Interviewer
  • Ursula Burton as Mrs. Creasy
  • Thomas Spencer as Military Aide Jeff
  • Anthony Holiday as Guard Brian
  • Alexa Alemannias as Leo's Intern

References[]

"The West Wing" 365 Days (2005)
The West Wing: 365 Days

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