He Shall, From Time To Time....

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From NBC:
The White House staff is in full crisis mode when President Bartlet (Martin Sheen) is found unconscious as he prepares for the State of the Union speech while the India-Pakistan border skirmish flares again when a fearful Pakistan gives its field commanders control of its nuclear arsenal. While the President's condition is officially blamed on the flu, the First Lady (Stockard Channing) knows better, and Toby (Richard Schiff) is too busy to notice as he polishes his boss' upcoming address. Equally distracting is the inevitable disclosure of Leo's (John Spencer) former substance-abuse problem by political rivals, as well as the reappearance of the amusing Lord Marbury (Roger Rees) -- a besotted ladies' man who doubles as a key adviser on the India-Pakistan conflict. Despite the crises, C.J. (Allison Janney) and Mallory (Allison Smith) express their romantic feelings about two very different men.

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Quotes from the pre-credits scenes:

Josh "Are his glands swollen?"
CJ "Damn."
Josh "What?"
CJ "You know what I forgot to do today?"
Josh "What?"
CJ "I forgot to feel the president's glands."

Bartlet "And I see we're spelling 'hallowed' with a pound sign in the middle."
Sam "We'll fix that."
Bartlet "The pound sign is silent?"

Bartlet "I came to this hall#owed chamber one year ago on a mission: to restore the American Dream for all our people, as we gaze at the vast horizon of possibilities open to us in the 321st century. Wow, that was ambitious of me, wasn't it?"

Bartlet "We meant 'stronger' here, right?"
Sam "What does it say?"
Bartlet "I'm proud to report our country's stranger than it was a year ago?"
Sam "That's a typo."
Bartlet "Could go either way."

Bartlet "I'm taking pills, CJ."
CJ "Are you actually taking them or are you just carrying them around in your pocket?"
Bartlet "You know carrying them around in my pocket was a pretty big step for me."

Toby "You don't look so good."
Bartlet "Well, I'm gazing in the 321st century, man. There's a lot on my mind."

And then he collapses in the oval office

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"How was the decision reached to have him have MS? I honestly can't remember," Sorkin said in an interview on the set at Warner Bros. Television in Burbank. "I think I wrote it four episodes ago, and it all started because I wanted the president to be in bed watching a soap opera - I wanted him to be experiencing daytime TV, and I didn't want it to just be the flu. I had to figure out how to get him there, and I also wanted us to discover that the first lady [Stockard Channing] is a doctor."

Aaron Sorkin

"With this particular disease, he could be in a wheelchair in four years. It's possible,"

Martin Sheen

"Basically, all I was thinking during that entire thing, was, 'was the MS a terrible mistake? My God, what have I done? I've absolutely torpedoed my series. What did I do?' I'm always thinking that," - Aaron Sorkin

"'The West Wing' creator talks about MS storyline "
By Lisa Lipman
January 30, 2000
The Post and Courier

[Stockard]Channing's original appearance was slated to be a one-shot guest shot, so she came in during a five-day hiatus from a film she was shooting. After it aired, Sorkin took her out for lunch.
"And he said, 'Well, everybody thought that was great. And also our ratings went up a lot when you went on, which might have had something to do with it.' Then, he said, 'So I'm thinking, do you want to be a doctor? That's a good idea, because I have this thing -- he has a really bad cold in the teaser, and I'm thinking he might have MS. And you could be his doctor.'"

"Channing Calls 'West Wing' Deal 'Something for Nothing'"
By Brill Bundy
July 21, 2001

[Joey Lucas]

From The Official Companion:
On the Monday night before the State of the Union, the staff is scattered around the Press Room, listening to the President rehearse his speech. As he regurgitates a slew of statistics, Josh and C.J. remark that Bartlet is pale and sweating, he doesn’t look so good. The speech isn’t looking so good either; the staff is still nitpicking the final details and wording. The TelePrompTer text is full of typos, and Josh argues to include “The era of big government is over.” It’s what the American people want to hear. Toby wonders when the administration decided to offend poor people. Bartlet can’t endure any more bickering and goes into the Oval Office for a moment’s rest. The sound of breaking glass pierces through the prattle in the press room and the staff rushes to find Bartlet lying face down on the floor.

Within minutes, Bartlet’s propped up, and a small crowd has gathered around him. The doctor reports that the President has a temperature. And while he’s fairly certain it’s the flu, he wants to take Bartlet to Bethesda for additional tests. Amidst the chaos, Bartlet is handed a note and without further drama or explanation, he and Leo proceed to the Situation Room. As he leaves, Leo tells Josh to convince the witnesses that they never saw this happen.

In the Situation Room, Fitzwallace reports clashes along the cease-fire line between India and Pakistan. Four days ahead of the cease-fire expiration, India is moving its forces up and Pakistan has given field commanders control of some of its nuclear weapons.

C.J. waltzes into her office to find Mandy and Danny flirting innocently on her couch. Exasperated, she asks for the privacy of her office and Danny leaves. Keenly conscious of C.J.’s wariness, Mandy merely warns her that Leo’s story will break tomorrow, it’s already showing up on the Internet. C.J. gives Leo the heads-up. She suggests they pre-empt the story with a press conference in the morning.

The first lady cancels a trip to take care of the President, although when she threatens to kill Bartlet right then and there, it doesn’t seem like her heart’s in the gesture. The physician quickly fills her in on the President’s state and she suggests medications. Abbey’s a no-holds-barred type of woman, she tells her husband she’s annoyed he went into the Situation Room crisis but it becomes clear Abbey has dealt with this before and is in no mood to be handled.

Josh has the depressing task of choosing someone in the line of Presidential succession to be absent from the Capitol Building during the State of the Union in case it’s attacked during the speech and there’s no one to run the country. Although Donna pleads a strong case for herself, he selects Roger Tribbey, the secretary of agriculture. Leo feels ready to face the press about his trials with alcoholism and drug abuse. Sam has drafted a Presidential statement of support, but Leo is adamant that Sam bury it. If he goes down, he’s not taking anyone with him.

The President refuses to let the flu shut him down – he is conducting business from his sickbed. Marbury keeps him up to date on West Wing business. In the Briefing Room, Leo tells the world that in June of 1993 he admitted himself to the Sierra-Tucson rehabilitation facility to treat addiction to alcohol and Valium. “I am a recovering alcoholic and drug addict,” he says. “I am a recovering alcoholic and drug addict,” he says. “I deeply regret the pain and trouble this has caused for the people in my life.”

Unbeknownst to Leo, Sam has shown his statement of support to the President. He knows Leo will threaten to kill him, but he doesn’t care. When Leo finds out the statement is circulating, he’s angry, but Sam is defiant. “I disobeyed you. I apologize. But that’s the way it is.”

The first lady summons Leo. She seems in good spirits, and casually asks Leo whether they might postpone the State of the Union a day or so. Leo’s not fooled by Abbey’s apparent vivacity: Why would they postpone the speech if the President just has a temperature?

LEO: This is me. (pause) This has happened before. (beat) I see you trying to cover the panic. I see you prescribing medication, I think you’re giving him shots. (pause) He wanted to run for President. What does he have he can’t tell people?
ABBEY: He has the flu, Leo.
LEO: You didn’t come back for the flu, Abbey.
ABBEY: He fainted. He was running a fever.
LEO: Abbey –
ABBEY: He’s got multiple sclerosis, Leo.
LEO stares at her in disbelief.
LEO: (pause) Abbey –
ABBEY: A fever can be life threatening.

Stunned, Leo goes to Bartlet’s bedside. The President tells Leo he was diagnosed with relapsing-remitting MS seven years ago. He recovers after attacks, and his life expectancy is normal. Abbey injects him with Betaseron, which reduces the frequency of the attacks, which can be induced by fever and stress. This news is earth shattering, and Leo’s world has been shaken to its foundation. Without thinking, Leo calls him “Jed,” instead of Mr. President. He asks why Bartlet didn’t tell him; he could’ve been a friend. Bartlet says he wanted to be President, and assures Leo he has been a friend. He confesses his biggest concern: he wonders if putting Hoynes on the ticket was a mistake.

Toby has previously told his staff he’ll be hunched over the draft of the speech the next two days, revising and reworking until he reaches perfection. He apologizes in advance if his mood “darkens a little.”

BONNIE: It’s not like you’re Red Buttons the other three hundred and sixty-three, Toby, I think we can handle it.

Toby’s knee deep in speech revisions with Democratic Party officials, who think there’s too much emphasis on the role of the federal government in the speech. One complains about the idea of increasing spending on the National Endowment for the Arts by 50 percent. Toby points out that the NEA is less than 1/100 of 1 percent of the budget: thirty-nine cents per taxpayer. “Well,” the official responds, “Arthur Murray didn’t need the NEA to write Death of a Salesman.” “Indeed not,” says Toby. “Arthur Murray was pretty keen on teaching ballroom dancing. Arthur Miller, on the other hand did need the NEA,” Toby says smugly. “Only back then it wasn’t called the NEA, it was the WPA . . .” As he hammers his point, something clicks in Toby’s mind and he walks out of his meeting.

Lord Marbury gives his expert opinion on how to combat India with a handy little thing called wheeling and dealing – buy them off with the infrastructure for a computer industry. It’s not the crux of morality but it’s the price you pay “for being rich, free, and alive, all at the same time.” The President will make the deal, but only starting in three months to avoid looking like a quid pro quo. Leo’s the enforcer – he wants to wield the stick. He says if they don’t see evidence of Indian forces withdrawing in twenty-four hours they’ll seize Indian assets, deport their students, and the G-7 will call in its loans.

[Joey Lucas]

From The Official Companion (cont.):
Toby’s mysterious brainstorm brings him and Josh to the presidential sickbed. Toby is still on a rampage to axe the “era of big government” line from the State of the Union address. There may have been a point in time when citizens wanted to hear the easy answer, when they were content with the expected.

TOBY: But we’re here now. And tomorrow night, we do an immense thing. And we have to say what we feel. That government, no matter what its failures in the past, can be a place where people come together and where no one gets left behind. No one gets left behind. (beat) An instrument of good. (beat) I have no trouble understanding why the line tested well, Josh. But I don’t think that means we should say it. I think that means we should change it.

It’s a vital moment, a change in policy, a total shift of emphasis. The President agrees with Toby and so does Josh. They have one day to flawlessly work a new concept into the text. This is what this administration lives for.

Twenty-four hours fly by. At a cocktail party before the main event, Josh accuses C.J. of being jealous because Mandy flirted with Danny. C.J. stubbornly denies it.

SAM: You know, C.J., it can be pretty confusing sometimes. I’m at this place with Mallory where I don’t know if she likes me or doesn’t like me or she’s indifferent altogether. Sometimes I just wish the woman would take the bull by the horns and get past it so you can move on.
MALLORY comes over and stands in front of SAM with a piece of paper.
MALLORY: Did you write this statement defending my father?
SAM: Yes.
MALLORY grabs SAM’S head kisses him on the mouth. She pulls back and then does it again. Then she walks away.
SAM: Well, now I’m actually more confused.

C.J. beckons Danny to her office. She’s inspired.

C.J.: I thought what I’d do is kiss you. You know, on the mouth. And that way I’d just get past it. (beat) I’d get passed it and then I’d be able to give my work the kind of concentration it really deserves.
DANNY: Okay.
C.J.: How’s right here?
DANNY: That’s fine.

The President is mentally and physically prepared to deliver the State of the Union. Before he leaves for the Capitol, he shows Lord Marbury pictures indicating Indian forces are retreating from Pakistani borders. Marbury’s work is done. With genuine regard, Marbury wishes Leo good luck.

Bartlet settles Roger Tribbey in the Oval Office. As a gesture of luck, Tribbey presents the President with a copy of the Constitution in Latin. The President recites the appropriate part of Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution, “He shall from time to time give to Congress information of the state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient . . .” Knowing he’s speaking with his would-be successor, Bartlet asks Tribbey if he knows what to do if anything happens. He quickly runs through the emergency acts, and then:

BARTLET: You got a best friend?
TRIBBEY: Yes, sir.
BARTLET: Is he smarter than you?
TRIBBEY: Yes, sir.
BARTLET: Would you trust him with your life?
TRIBBEY: Yes, sir.
BARTLET: That’s your chief of staff.

Leo has overheard his old friend say that. Together they leave to give the State of the Union.