Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc

[Admin]

From NBC:
Despite warnings from fellow office workers, infatuated White House staffer Sam Seaborn (Rob Lowe) presses his luck when he continues to publicly pursue a high-priced call girl (Lisa Edelstein) with whom he shared a night of passion. Press secretary C.J. Cregg (Allison Janney) tries to defuse a potentially nasty public clash between the President (Martin Sheen) and his willful Vice President (Tim Matheson) concerning the Veep's quotes about a bill favored by the chief executive. Exasperated political consultant Mandy Hampton (Moira Kelly) drowns her troubles when her only client, Senator Lloyd Russell (John Bedford Lloyd) ignores her advice and agrees to bottle up a key bill in committee that could have been costly for the President if put to a vote. The President forges a kinship with a young African-American Navy captain, Morris Tolliver (Reuben Santiago-Hudson) who's substituting for his regular White House physician - so much, in fact, that he asks him to assume the position on a full-time basis.

[Admin]

"As a writer, I don't like to answer questions until the very moment that I have to. In the second episode, we find out our president was a three-term congressman, two-term governor and Nobel laureate. ... That's not something I jot down on a legal pad. It comes up naturally as you explore the episodes." - Aaron Sorkin

"The brains behind the shows"
By Eric Deggans
August 17, 1999
St. Petersburg Times

"[Creator] Aaron Sorkin [modeled their relationship on] the dynamic that Jack Kennedy had with Lyndon Johnson," Matheson tells TV Guide Online. "Johnson had a bit of an outsized ego and Kennedy had his group of intellectuals, and they were just different. Johnson didn't feel he was being utilized enough; I think Hoynes feels the same way. He was the majority leader of the Senate and like all senators, he feels he could be president and should be!" - Tim Matheson

"West Wing VP Disses Cable Talkers"
By Daniel R. Coleridge
July 17, 2002
TV Guide Online

[Joey Lucas]

From The Official Companion:

It’s a typical morning in the West Wing as C.J. runs down the checklist of things to do, things to discuss, things to begin, and things to finish off. Her most difficult task is breaking to the President that the Ryder Cup team won’t come to the White House for a photo op because Bartlet made a joke about golf. C.J. says the President’s sense of humour has cost them before, like the time he quipped about big hats during the campaign and lost the state of Texas. That’s not true, Bartlet says. As he is found of doing, he quotes Latin: “Post hoc, ergo propter hoc,” he tells C.J. “After it, therefore because of it.” Unfortunately, it’s not always sound reasoning: They all know they didn’t lose Texas because of the President’s hat joke.

For Toby Ziegler, the Ryder Cup snub is further evidence that the administration needs help avoiding these huge public portholes. And Toby knows at least one consultant who’s looking for work: Mandy Hampton. Mandy lost her only client once Lloyd Russell (John Bedford Lloyd) sold out to the White House, his price a high-profile spot at the Democratic convention. Mandy is furious at Russell. She practically runs him down on the sidewalk to confront him, and tell him that he’s denying himself a shot at the prize. If Russell’s accepted the chance to nominate the President in the future, it means the White House is making sure he won’t be getting nominated himself.

Mandy is certain the White House will be partying after Russell’s climb down but Russell tells her the President’s staff are very serious men and women. They certainly won’t be gloating.

JOSH: Victory is mine, victory is min, great day in the mornin’, people, victory is mine! . . . I drink from the keg of glory, Donna; Donna, now bring me the finest muffins and bagels in all the land!

At a press briefing, a reporter quotes Vice President Hoynes, commenting on the White House position on A3-C3 as saying, “This is a time when the President needs our support.” The reporter senses that the language is strained but C.J. deflects attention away from this political minefield by making a joke about the Ryder Cup team or, as she puts it, “Twelve guys named Flippy.”

After his disastrous flub with Mallory O’Brian, Sam knows he needs to confide in someone he trusts, explain that he really like Laurie and he wants to see her again despite her job as a call girl. Josh is stunned by Sam’s earnest confession, but knows the White House doesn’t need this complication or bad press. He suggests Sam take the news to his boss, Toby.

SAM: About a week ago, I accidentally slept with a prostitute.
TOBY: Really?
SAM: Yes.
TOBY: You accidentally slept with a prostitute?
SAM: A call girl.
TOBY: Accidentally.
SAM: Yes.
TOBY: (pause) I don’t understand. Did you trip over something?
SAM: I didn’t know she was a call girl.
TOBY: There wasn’t a red flag when she charged you money in exchange for sex?

The news gets worse. Sam tells Toby he was with Bill Kenworthy, The Wall Street Journal reporter, when he met Laurie at a bar. So the only people who know, says Toby with a sigh, are the two of them, the hooker, the President’s deputy chief of staff, and The Wall Street Journal. He throws his hands in the air. The administration doesn’t need an opposition party, they do well enough on their own.

C.J. approaches the Vice President John Hoynes (Tim Matheson), who looks like a man with an agenda, flanked by an eager staff as he gives sound bites to journalists. She begs for a second of Hoynes’s time to discuss how his quote might be misinterpreted. Trying to remain polite and respectful, C.J. explains it’s not the first time this kind of thing has happened, this makes three in five weeks. Hoynes is quick to blow C.J. off, assuring her he’s got his own press secretary.

Navy physician Captain Morris Tolliver (Reuben Santiago-Hudson) has been showing off photographs of his wife, Angela, and their ten-day-old baby, Corey. Tolliver has been filling in for the President’s regular physician, but before Tolliver administers Bartlet a quick physical, Leo McGarry interrupts to ask him if he’d like the job permanently. The President likes talking to him, he lightens the load of the day-to-day strain and chaos. Tolliver is honoured and delighted, he can take over after he comes back from a trip to a teaching hospital in Jordan. From their interactions, even in the face of a medical exam, it’s obvious Tolliver and the President have a relationship reminiscent of a father and his grown son.

BARLTET: Morris, I made a joke about golfers and it consumes the whole damn building.
MORRIS: When you open your mouth you’re speaking into a pretty loud microphone.
BARTLET: Jokes like that are part of my folksy charm, Morris. It’s not at the very heart of my popularity.
MORRIS: Don’t you have an approval rate of like 3% or something?
BARTLET: We’re having some trouble getting the word out.

[Joey Lucas]

From The Official Companion (continued):

As they banter on as friends, Bartlet admits that he’s not at ease with the Joint Chiefs. He’s convinced they’d think him weak if they knew he truly doesn’t feel violent towards his country’s enemies. Morris wisely tells the President to give it time. “You’ve got a once-in-a-generation mind,” he says, “and ultimately they’ll respect that.”

After rehashing the ups and downs of the West Wing and the public face of the White House, Josh and Toby agree a media consultant would be helpful. Josh deadpans he’s “put on talent shows with more polish” than some of the events around the White House, and he’s all for the idea, as long as they don’t hire Mandy Hampton. Leo is the next rung of approval, and he’s immediately on board, suggesting they hire . . . Mandy Hampton. Leo asks Josh if he can think of any reason not to hire her that isn’t personal. “Yes,” says Josh. “She used to be my girlfriend.” After a little coaxing and a deadly look from Leo, Josh relents, as long as she understands she reports to him and to Toby. He’ll draw up an organisational chart with lines and arrows so it’ll be clear.

Josh is given hiring privileges and finds Mandy and her assistant, Daisy, in their bare office, drinking. They’re trying to think of people to hit up for work. Sucking in all his pride, Josh asks if they would like to work for the President of the United States. Mandy retorts, it took him long enough. And as for Josh’s rules of established hierarchy – he can dream on.

Josh has other problems mounting on the homefront. Donna lost him a hundred dollars by selecting Central Indiana State over Notre Dame in a football pool. She wants him to help her make another pick.

DONNA: Who do you like, Rocky Mountain College or Purdue?
JOSH: I’ll tell you what, Can you give me Yeshiva University over the Dallas Cowboys?

Leo asks C.J. if she spoke with Hoynes about the quote. She’s vague about the conversation, explaining that there was just a miscommunication with Hoynes and that he’s back on board. Leo’s not convinced and he goes straight to the source. He calls Hoynes to his office and confronts him, asking if he blew C.J. off that morning. “When she tells you something,” Leo says, “I want you to consider it a directive from this office.” Hoynes has too many thought colliding in his head to let it go.

HOYNES: Leo, I’ve had it up to here with you and your pal. I got shoved into a broom closet –
LEO: Excuse me. Me and my “pal.”
HOYNES: Yes.
LEO: You’re referring to President Bartlet?
HOYNES: Yes.
LEO: Refer to him that way.
HOYNES: G’night, Leo.
LEO: Don’t do what you’re doing, John.
HOYNES: You’re a world-class political operative, Leo, why the hell shouldn’t I keep doing what I’ve been doing?
LEO: ‘Cause I’ll win and you’ll end up playing celebrity golf the rest of your life.
HOYNES: How long do you expect me to stick around here and be his whipping boy?
LEO: Give this President anything less than your full-throated support and you’re gonna find out exactly how long.

Against all the advice of his co-workers and friends, Sam returns to the Four Seasons looking for Laurie. It can be ugly when anger and affection collide, and Sam knows he has to keep his cool. He finds Laurie at a table with a woman and two businessmen, and it’s clear she’s working but it’s too late for a getaway. Sam skips the small talk and says he’s going to the bar to call his friend, the assistant U.S. attorney general, maybe he’d like to join them. That breaks up the party pretty quickly, and Laurie glares at Sam before walking out. Sam follows her, undaunted. He won’t give up.

Laurie is enraged at the scene she just witnessed. She says she was never going to cause trouble for him. She doesn’t want Sam to try to change her, she likes her job, and it’s putting her through law school. Barely blinking, Sam merely tells Laurie he’s decided to become a good friend of hers.

The President’s been woken at 3:35 A.M. Half-asleep and dishevelled, he traipses down to the Oval Office, knowing he wouldn’t be woken up in the middle of the night for any good news. Leo explains quietly that Morris Tolliver is dead. An air force transport with Morris, twelve other doctors, forty-two support staff, and a crew of five, exploded midair 150 miles north of Tarsus on its way to Amman. Although they first thought the plane had been taken down by a Muslim terrorist, all evidence is pointing to Syria. The President is solid and calm.

BARTLET: I’m gonna call Morris’s wife now and I’ll meet you in the Situation Room. (pause) I’m not frightened Leo. I’m gonna blow ‘em off the face of the Earth with the fury of God’s own thunder. (beat) Get the commanders.