Original subtitles

Previously on The West Wing...

We offer a cabinet position

to a Republican who can't possibly

accept it? Barry thought it was a good idea.

Barry is wrong.

So it's okay to have sex in a hotel,

but not in my apartment?

It's a step. Some people get uncomfortable.

I assumed you'd be one of those people.

Uncomfortable with sex in my apartment? Are you really gonna try

to convince me that I'm the one

who finds this all awkward and hard to navigate?

You're blowing any political capital we might have

by forcing us to fight a war.

What's your exit strategy?

I don't have one.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking.

We've reached our flying altitude of 35,000 feet

and we're expecting a smooth flight,

so, we've turned off the seat belt sign.

Go ahead and...

Flight attendants will be around to hand out headsets...

Whoa. Oh, sorry.

No problem. Thanks.

Sorry.

You know, there's room here, if you want. No, no.

Thanks, I'm fine.

A lot happening over there.

Yeah, my contribution to the chaos theory.

I try to keep the experiment from escaping the lab.

Ooh. Sorry.

Great Britain has always been first among friends,

and I look forward to continuing

our nations' special relationship.

I thank you for your call, Madam Prime Minister.

Who's next?

Oh, that phone sheet is a mile long.

Traditionally, the President-Elect

returns all the calls from the G8 leaders.

The Surinames of the world can be dealt with

by your chief foreign policy advisor.

Then we'd better hire one.

Yes, Congressman.

Mister... sir.

I've seen you on TV.

Yeah?

You look younger.

Uh, TV ages you... It's the lighting.

I meant on TV you look younger.

Okay.

I voted for the other guy.

Yeah, a lot of people did.

Didn't want my taxes raised.

We're not gonna raise your taxes.

Well, Vinick was gonna cut them.

Not for you.

For the guys you drive around.

Like you?

Hey, you think I could afford

to travel like this on my own?

You just let the American public pay.

We almost there?

Thank you, Chancellor.

The German-U.S. relationship couldn't be more important,

both within and independent of the EU.

Oh, I very much look forward to our working together, sir.

Bye.

Next.

Russian President Chigorin.

He's one of the G8's. He's also leader

of a nation we may find ourselves

exchanging hostile fire with any minute.

Call him.

It's a general partnership,

so they're looking at a prolonged windup.

You told them they're liable for all new business

until notice of dissolution

has been given to all their creditors?

Nah, 'cause I've only been doing this for 28 years.

Look, Leiter is hell-bent on a dissolu...

I'm sorry.

Can we help you?

If you'll all excuse me for a moment.

I thought you'd never call.

Well, you knew you'd hear from me.

Gave me a chance to hone my turndown.

That's why I didn't do it over the phone.

Your showing up does have a nice nostalgic symmetry.

Style points. If nothing else.

Substance, too.

This guy's the real deal.

You said that last time.

Yeah, look how right I was.

Tell me you don't miss it.

I don't miss it. Liar.

Attorney.

An amazing thing, what you did.

Well, that's the easy part.

It's what you do with it that counts.

Do you know how much I'm making now?

It's gonna make me want to puke.

Not make you want to.

You'll actually puke.

So you can afford to come back to Washington

and work for a government wage.

I can afford to do good right here.

You wouldn't believe what I've gotten the firm to do.

You should come work with me.

Democratic House, we never had that.

Republican Senate. Moveable.

Conceivably.

I almost lost, though, you know?

Makes you appreciate the shot.

I can't do it.

It can't just be the money.

There's my love life.

That's a moveable feast.

Not entirely.

I'm getting married.

I've heard it before. Nice!

Congratulations is what I mean.

What about your life?

What was I thinking?

I've been somewhat busy.

That explains the...

The what?

Your general... What?

It's the hairline, isn't it?

It's retreated.

It's routed, like Napoleon out of Moscow.

There's also a pallor issue.

You live in melanoma central.

"Healthy glow" turns out to be oxymoronic.

Look, I'd be glad

to help with the inaugural speech.

Great, but that's not what I flew out here to ask.

Deputy Chief of Staff.

You're "me" to my "Leo."

Think about it.

Josh...

At least give me that.

I did... Fly all the way out here?

That's how much I want you.

I'm willing to channel my mother.

I'll think about it. Great.

You done?

Josh!

What's to think about? Really.

For one thing, whether I want to...

end up looking like you.

The numbers for the San Andreo cleanup

won't make you happy.

Wait till the Santos folks get a load

of the figures for Kazakhstan.

They'll demand a recount.

Santos is coming by for an in-depth

Sit Room briefing on the intervention.

Okay. I want you to be

as helpful as possible to the transition team.

Transitions are bumpy

at best, even when the incoming and the outgoing administrations

are of the same party.

And I don't want to hear of any pranks...

Cutting of cables to computers, and such.

That turned out to be apocryphal.

No apocrypha, either.

We're going to leave with some class.

Yeah!

Uh, sir, Marine One is waiting.

It's not going anywhere without me.

Thank you, C.J. Thank you, Mr. President.

You just come out here for the day?

Uh, yeah.

Expensive.

I got a frequent flier thing.

Hey, it's me!

I got clients who come out for the day

just to get their hair cut.

I didn't get a haircut.

No, I-I wasn't talking to you.

They go shopping...

You know what... I'm on the phone.

All right.

Tell me this novel

you sent me isn't really my call sheet.

It's not.

Two more pages came in since then,

mostly congratulations.

They're not congratulatory, they're predatory.

They're sniffing around for a job.

It's like I'll say, "Oh, yeah, Jim Blier..."

He'd make a good director of Intergovernmental Affairs."

Uh, on that subject, any thoughts as to my position

in the Santos Administration?

Yeah, you're on the short list for V.P.

Uh, set up a meeting

with Lou for when I get back.

Yeah.

They're all mansions.

Fit for the incoming First Family.

This kitchen is bigger than the house I grew up in.

The bedrooms are lovely.

Yeah, just not sure they're all in the same time zone.

Here's one; this looks smaller.

It's palatial.

If you don't like these, there are half a dozen more.

Excuse me, ma'am.

Did you just "ma'am" me?

I-I seem to have.

Don't do that again.

Hello.

Hey.

Hey.

How are you doing? Okay.

What did Sam say?

Uh, he's thinking.

That's good.

Yeah, I guess.

You didn't expect him to say yes just like that.

Kind of.

I'm sure he's got

stuff to figure out.

What stuff?

It's service to the President.

What stacks up against that?

Well, not everyone's like you.

So... Dedicated?

Monomaniacal.

Was there, um...

something else?

There must've been something...

Oh, yeah, um... are you going to be around?

When?

You know, generally.

Yes.

Generally, I'm going to be around.

At some point, we should probably...

Yeah.

Talk.

That'd be good.

About... you know.

At some point.

"At some point" would be good.

Okay, then. Okay.

Have a good flight.

Yeah, you, too.

I mean, not, "you, too."

Obviously.

Bye.

He's here now, ma'am.

Mr. President-Elect.

C.J., everyone.

Secretary Hutchinson and Dr. McNally

will catch you up on the current situation in Kazakhstan.

We're approaching full deployment,

with 80,000 ground and 30,000 support personnel

taking position in a buffer zone

around Astana,

between the Russian and the Chinese forces.

The last of our troops are staging out of Manas Air Base

in Kyrgyzstan, as well as the 172nd

Stryker Brigade.

C-130s are airlifting them to our forward base at Ayaguz.

M1A2 Abrams tanks from the 1st Armored Division in Germany

are being flown directly into Ayaguz by C-5 Galaxies.

Those only carry two tanks per sortie.

Flying 15 to 20 sorties per day.

The, uh, no-fly zone?

McNALLY: 300 miles wide.

20 to 30 sorties per day.

F-16s and F-15s forward deployed to Manas and Ayaguz.

F-22As out of Langley.

Air refueling, KC-135s?

Out of Incirlik Air Base, Turkey.

Situation on the ground? HUTCHINSON: Thus far, no incidents reported.

But also, so far, no pullback of Russian and Chinese forces.

But they have stopped advancing.

Then what?

That's up to the Russians and the Chinese.

Well, I can't say I care very much for that answer.

Our guys are supposed to just sit there

with targets on their backs and hope some trigger-happy

Russian noncom, who's abused his vodka ration,

doesn't get reckless or bored or just

stir-crazy stupid and decide to start World War III?

I have a problem with that.

I have a problem with this entire adventure,

as I've already expressed

to the President.

Are the parties negotiating?

Our deployment is intended to drive them to the table.

But they're not, at present?

Still posturing.

Half a million troops

is a hell of a posture.

Third party contact?

Anything? Not at present.

And we would know.

We are paying somewhat careful attention.

Thank you

all...

for your time.

The NSA picked up the President-Elect's

congratulatory phone call with the Russian President.

We're tapping his phone?

In the current crisis,

the NSA's monitoring all contact with the Russian

and Chinese governments as a matter of course.

And?

The Santos call contained nothing improper.

Hi.

When I said we needed to talk, I wasn't necessarily

thinking about tonight.

I'm kind of fried.

Who said anything about talking?

Morning. Almost.

On the education plan, do we hit full on,

or do we step it out... Start with teacher tenure,

get some traction before we try extending the school year?

Conservatives are already laying for us.

They're comparing it to avoiding the word Christmas,

which I don't begin to understand.

How long have you been up?

Oh, you know.

I don't actually.

Why I asked.

A... couple hours.

So last night was-was nice.

Nice. It was... it was really nice.

On the nice scale, it was way up there

in terms of, you know, niceness.

Be still and listen to me.

I don't know what this is, and you don't, either,

which is perfectly fine and understandable.

Whatever the buildup, it's all happened

amid absurdly heightened emotional circumstances.

The election, Leo's death.

There's been no moment to so much as take a breath,

much less figure any of this out.

And now this roller coaster's plunging into the transition,

with its time-pressured demands,

and then the inauguration, and it's hit-the-ground-running,

and the first 100 days, and before you know it,

the mid-terms, and the new Congress.

And then we're running again, and four years becomes eight,

and we've never had the talk.

And you can lose that look of panic in your eyes.

We're not going to have it now.

We don't ever have to have it.

But there's a window.

I'd say, four weeks.

If we can't get it together in that time

to figure out what we want from each other,

then clearly, it's not worth the trouble.

Meanwhile, last night was lovely.

I've already called a cab.

You should put on some coffee, and I'll see you at the office.

Bye.

You like any of the houses?

Yeah, they're incredible.

Seeing some more today.

I'm sure they'll be incredible, too.

Maybe even more incredible.

The thing I find most incredible is this notion

that this is what the American people want

and expect of us.

What?

To spend the next two and a half months

in some rich mucky-muck's loaner mansion.

A place he can afford to make available because, evidently,

he has someplace just as or even more swell

to decamp to while he's bestowing upon us this largesse.

Not much of a populist message.

Not notably.

Yeah, right.

I'll-I'll have the staff look into alternatives.

Staff?

If you prefer, my minions.

This is going to be weird.

Okay, come on.

As a Congressman, I had staff.

As the Mayor. Very weird.

Donna ma'amed me.

First Lady.

In waiting.

Makes me sound like something out of The Lady of Shalott.

You get all the cool names.

Mr. President. Mm.

Commander-in-Chief. That one... that's kind of hot.

Yeah? Mm.

Got time for a little incursion?

Oh. No!

Not even for a surgical strike.

I had in mind more of shock and awe.

Oh, yeah? After 15 years of marriage,

I'd be shocked if you were awed.

The Congressman find his glove?

Uh, no, but the President-Elect did.

I did it again? You did it again.

Oh.

Oh, God! What?

I didn't even know you were here.

What time did you get in?

6:00, 6:15.

Whoa.

Yeah. Traveling threw me. I was an hour off.

Usually, 7:00-ish.

5:00-ish.

Get me a meeting with Graden.

This doesn't reflect well on your hopes for advancement.

Congressman Graden.

Ranking Democrat on Ways and Means.

Takes over the chairmanship in the new Congress.

Any time's good, as long as it's 3:00 today.

Goodwin's coming over at 9:00.

Hmm. You like Babish for A.G.?

He just decamped to Brayton, Connelly.

To be Attorney General, I think you come back.

Thank you.

Smart and tough.

Could be a bumpy confirmation.

What, the MS, Toby Ziegler leak?

They were both handled by the book,

but if they want to make some noise.

Yeah, and they will.

Just for practice.

But he gets confirmed, right?

Yeah, more of a problem for Bartlet than for us.

Last licks.

It'd be nice to have an attorney general

that didn't hate us.

How'd you guys live with it? Good question.

Josh? Yeah.

How's the, uh, White House staffing going?

Uh, set Crandall to head D.P.C.

Courtesy call to Graden later

to bless Vukovich for legislative liaison.

How was the

Kazakhstan briefing?

It's a mess.

And they're depositing it on our doorstep.

Can't do anything about it until we take office.

Excuse me, sir.

Josh, your meeting

with C.J.?

Yup. Thanks, Josh.

Thank you, sir.

Ronna? Yes?

I need you to get Goodwin for me.

Yes, sir.

And then there's one other international call

that I want to return.

Of course, sir. President Lian.

Uh, China's not one of the G8 countries.

I'm aware.

Right away, sir.

Per the President, we put out a directive

that White House personnel be as helpful as possible

to the incoming Santos team.

No desk drawers super-glued shut? That was urban legend.

First day, I needed a crowbar. Well, none of that.

The President-Elect would like

to move his family into Blair House.

Shouldn't be a problem.

I'll have Margaret get right into it.

I appreciate it. See how much fun this is going to be?

Most of it's going to be pretty easy.

I mean, it's not like you don't know your way around this place.

But if any of your people want to come hang out

with their counterparts for a couple of hours, I'm sure

it can be worked out on an individual basis.

I'll have Margaret designate a point person

you can run those sort of requests through.

You're rearranging the furniture

in your head, aren't you?

No. Don't...

You ever thought of putting the desk over there?

Come January 20th, you can have it moved daily.

Like alternate side of the street parking.

The inauguration?

Yeah, we need more VIP tickets for the parade.

The President has a lot of people to thank.

New administration.

We need to curry favor.

The future trumps the past.

We can give some of the President's allotment

to the President-Elect, the key word being "some."

Contingencies?

In case of snow, the military task force

will have plows, coats, hot beverages.

Toddies, hot buttered rum?

Coffee and cocoa.

They call that a party?

Injuries, standard military

paramedic procedure: scoop and move.

If one of the 389 horses should keel over,

there'll be a team of veterinarians and a forklift

standing by. Forklift?

Which should be a lovely sight

for the children in the crowd.

We should have the Supreme Court in clown makeup

in case we have to send them in.

A memo outlining everything will be on your desk

by this afternoon.

And obviously, don't hesitate,

et cetera, et cetera.

Thanks.

So, I'm trying to bring Sam back in.

Getting together the old band.

Goes without saying...

Any job you want.

Oh.

I'm dead serious.

Very kind.

Should we talk about this?

I have no idea.

No.

Well, I'm not done asking.

Well, I'm done answering for the moment.

I'll have someone call Margaret about the Blair House thing.

Has your boss said anything to you about Kazakhstan?

Just that he's not crazy

about what you guys are doing.

I assume it goes without saying

that the President expects the President-Elect

to keep whatever reservations he has about this policy

to himself during the transition?

Goes without saying.

To comment on any V.P. name

would be speculating about speculation.

Guess if you're going to get me to do that...

I promise to tell you just as soon

as we decide to tell you.

If you'll excuse me, I have someone else

to equally exasperate on the other line. Thanks.

Hello?

Yes, sir, of course.

Come in, Donna.

Mr. President-Elect.

Josh seem all right to you?

Uh, a little tired.

He looks like a zombie.

He may be going through a bit of an undead phase.

So you've seen him like this before. Hard to say.

He can get pretty tunnel-visioned.

I think he needs to power down a little.

Is he seeing anybody?

Is he having any fun?

Sir?

That's weird to ask.

No, no.

I have no idea.

I'm just worried about him.

It's just him, truly.

He's just amped up to a particular peak of Josh-ness.

Thank you.

Don't tell him I asked.

Oh, of course not, sir.

Mr. President.

Do you know we have as many diplomats in Germany...

Population 80 million... As we do in India...

Population of over one billion?

Does that sound like a sensible allocation

of diplomatic assets for the 21st century?

It does not.

Sir, we have a problem.

NSA monitors picked up a phone conversation

between President-Elect Santos and Chinese President Lian.

Yeah.

Sir, you're not

going to like what he said.

Bartlet's NEC Directors were working with a guy

who had a Nobel Prize in Economics.

So it was a bit of a challenge.

So I've heard.

President-Elect won't always agree

with what he's told,

but it won't devolve into a 40-minute lecture

on all the Post-Keynesian macroeconomic reasons

why you're wrong.

Everyone says the same thing starting out...

"We're going to play error-free ball."

But then the unforeseen happens; it's unavoidable.

What matters then is how good an audible you call.

The difference between a successful Presidency

and a historical footnote is how well you roll with the punches...

Just to complete my tour of sports metaphors.

C.J. Cregg's on the line.

Thank you for coming in, Howard.

We'll let you know.

You let them talk, too, right?

Sassing your potential benefactor,

that's an unconventional advancement technique.

Line three.

What's up?

Could you come right over please?

I was just there.

And now I'm asking you to come back.

Can I ask why?

It's about my asking and you complying.

And don't tell me you're busy.

I'll go you phone sheet for phone sheet.

In that case, can we do it over the phone?

It's five minutes.

Make it. I'll time you.

Hey.

Hey, yourself.

C.J.'s got a bug up about something.

Can you wait? Yeah, I'm okay to hang.

Okay, shouldn't take long.

Donna. Thanks for coming over.

Of course.

Can I get you something?

Uh, no, thank you, ma'am.

Oh, thought we talked about that.

Due respect, you may have to get used to it.

Comes with the territory.

So I understand that I need a Chief of Staff.

To do what, I am not sure.

Again, that gets into the kind of First Lady you intend to be.

Please, go on.

Well, there's the activist model,

with your own policy agenda and objectives.

In concert, of course, with the President's wishes,

but not dependent

upon his staff for pursuit or implementation.

A separate power base, if you will.

Or?

A more traditional, chiefly ceremonial presence.

Representing the country as kind of a hostess,

good-will ambassador, without any particular policy focus.

Mm. And those are my choices?

The extremes.

Without presuming to speak for you,

I imagine you charting some middle course.

Well, I would like you to help with that.

I'd be happy to be a sounding board, of course, anytime.

I actually want you to help do it.

Sorry?

Well, I need someone,

and you know the terrain.

You're asking me?

Well, apparently, not very clearly.

To be your Chief of Staff?

I think you are extremely capable,

I feel that we have a rapport.

I'm flattered, of course.

But I'm not sure I have the requisite experience.

Oh, I've watched you these past months.

My husband sings your praises.

That's very nice.

He's going to be P.O.'d,

in fact, that I'm stealing you, just to sweeten the deal.

Please just think about it.

And, uh, just wanted to stake my claim, I guess.

Thank you for considering me.

Did we or did we not have a discussion only hours ago

about how you people were going to comport yourselves

regarding the international security situation

in Kazakhstan?

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

The NSA reported he placed a call to China in which

he apparently made it clear to President Lian

he has significant qualms

about this intervention.

Back up. The NSA is bugging our calls?

Did you or did you not sing an aria this morning

about how the President wants

a hearts and flowers transition?

Wiretapping is an odd way

of showing the love. Don't overdramatize.

The NSA is monitoring all communication

with the Russian and Chinese governments.

We're this far from being in a state of war with one

or both of them.

You need to talk to the Congressman

about mixed messages,

or the President will.

It's not Congressman, it's President-Elect.

Fine. Have him start behaving like it.

Mr. Lyman for you.

Thank you.

24 whole hours.

Way to give me some space.

It's been 28.

Little credit.

You can't count the different time zones.

Whatever, it's transition.

These are like dog hours.

A day is like one of your human weeks.

That's quite a selling point.

I've been thinking, so you're engaged.

People do this and have marriages.

Yeah? Who.

You know, theoretically.

She's an attorney, right?

Yeah.

Gee, I wonder if she'll be able to find gainful employment

in the lawyer capital

of the known universe.

She'd have to take the bar again.

Would you?

Well, I assume there are a number of things she would

do for you that I would balk at.

She doesn't hate the idea.

I'll see you tomorrow.

I still need to think it over.

Think it over on the plane.

Not that I'm begging.

I don't think you're begging.

Would that work?

I can do begging.

Humiliation is not beneath me.

Just get on a plane!

Nothing's irrevocable.

If you hate it, they have return flights.

Don't make me wait.

They're going to find me in a fetal position sucking my thumb.

Okay, I think we've moved into begging.

I told you; I have no threshold of embarrassment here.

I'm prepared to abase myself

until you submit.

She passed the bar once, right?

Good-bye.

Sorry.

Uh, one more.

Could you call...?

Sir, Josh to see you.

This will just, you know...

What did you say to the Chinese about Kazakhstan?

And, more importantly, why aren't you and I

discussing it first?

I need to say "mother-may-I"

before talking to foreign leaders?

If you're about to undercut the sitting President

when we're practically in a state of war,

it might be worth kicking around.

I have serious objections to this military action.

It's ill-conceived and ill-defined.

This isn't the U.N. putting peacekeepers on the ground

to keep African tribesmen

from hacking each other with machetes.

It's placing U.S. soldiers smack in the middle of a no-man's-land

between two modern armies, hoping they both blink.

Employing American fighting men and women

as the tactical equivalent to a tethered goat.

You didn't say this to the Chinese?

I made it clear I had concerns.

What I wanted to say was that in addition to this making

no tactical military sense,

it is a complete strategic blunder geopolitically.

It's a potential reversion to a state of hostility

with the second largest energy producer in the world in Russia.

And the risk of serious damage to relations

between the U.S. and China... A relationship that,

for better or worse, is going to define

the 21st century.

We're stuck with this.

It's not just about opposing it philosophically;

it isn't working.

It's a high-stakes game of chicken

designed to bring both parties to the table,

and it hasn't done it.

Then you can deal with this on the day that you take office.

Which is what makes this an impossible situation.

I'm going to be this country's President in two months,

and everybody in the world knows it.

And meanwhile, I'm supposed to just sit back and shrug

while this administration commits this country

to a military situation it admits

it has no exit strategy for.

It's going to be my problem.

Our problem, yes, sir.

No, mine.

I'm going to be the guy in the history books

whose presidency never got off the ground

because he inherited his predecessor's

11th hour misadventure in Central Asia.

You can address that

at 12:01 p.m. on January 20th.

Well, that'll be too late.

We have, you have no choice, sir.

Anything else will be spun as lack of support for our troops.

And there goes all backing for anything else we want

to accomplish, Democratic House or not.

For now, we line up behind the President, sir.

How does anyone know what I said to the Chinese anyway?

The NSA is eavesdropping on all calls

to Russia or China.

I want you to get me a meeting with the President.

Everybody's calls, sir, not just ours.

I want that meeting.

Set it up.

Call C.J. Cregg's office.

See when the President might have time

for the President-Elect.

Okay, I'm sorry about that.

Rough day?

Ugh. Typical.

You love it, you live for it, you were born to do it.

I'm the same way.

Everybody tells me to get a life, although I don't know why.

I find life to be terribly overrated.

It's actually quite boring when it's not disappointing.

Say what you will about

what we do, but boring, it is not.

I know that you can parlay this Santos win

into a doubling of your fee.

Tripling, if it figures into your memoirs.

Nothing is going to top this.

Everything else is going to be a letdown.

Letdowns that make me semi-rich...

That's a trade-off I'm willing to endure.

You don't care about money.

Who doesn't? You.

Not as such.

As what?

Score-keeping.

Quantitative evidence that I'm smarter than you.

Not you. Who?

Everybody else.

Come on board as Communications Director.

Thank you, but no.

Finish what you started.

I'm not interested in governing.

Campaigning's about promise.

Governing is about achievement.

It's tougher and a lot less romantic,

but it's not boring.

I already think you're smarter than everyone.

That's why I want you down the hall.

Come on, it's not like getting a life.

That's true, look at you.

We'd have to distill the Democratic message

from what we ran on,

customize and prioritize it for the first 100 days.

And not allow the Republicans to mischaracterize

or demonize us as values-impaired...

I may have forgotten about the hours.

You're here.

It would seem. Outstanding.

Ooh! Here you go.

Hey.

Stop.

Your sentimentality is embarrassing us both.

When was the last time you took a vacation?

Vacation?

Time off from labor?

Thought to be restorative?

Salubrious for body and soul?

Not to mention mental health.

I don't remember.

Okay, if I'm your boss,

that's really the wrong answer.

Neuroscientists have found

that when people who describe themselves

as politically committed listen to political statements

they respond only with the emotional side of their brain.

The area of the cortex where reasoning occurs stays quiet.

So those people screaming at each other on cable

really can't help it.

And guys like you and me

are quantifiably a little nuts.

And, so, could benefit from the occasional break.

You people don't take office for another ten weeks.

I think you could afford to spend one of them

laying on a beach somewhere.

Yeah? Yeah.

I got a thing.

I've starred which are meetings,

I've X-ed out which are blow-offs.

I haven't officially said I'm in.

Yeah, no, absolutely.

Ladies and gentlemen, Sam Seaborn,

our new Deputy Chief of Staff.

Knock 'em dead, tiger.

You look terrible.

You know, I never get tired of hearing that.

Mrs. Santos asked me to be her Chief of Staff.

Wow.

That's... great.

I'm to think it over.

I wanted to talk to you.

I was thinking Deputy Press Secretary.

Lou's going to be Communications Director.

So, it'd be an extension of what we had on the campaign.

One thing I know for sure is I can't work for you.

If something's happening with us personally,

it won't work.

And if something isn't...

well, that won't work so good, either.

Yeah, about that.

Um...

Things are insane.

There is no way I'm gonna be able to get a handle on

what's going on between the two of us

in the time frame you laid out.

Three weeks, six days to go.

We'll see.

I-I got to...

Otto!

There's an intercom.

Yeah, if I want to use the intercom,

I'd use the intercom.

I can't find my BlackBerry. I've got it.

What?!

I'm updating it.

I been looking for it for an hour!

I just took it ten minutes ago.

Were you planning on telling me?

You handed it to me. Why would you think it would be okay

for me to be cut off from the world like that?

Well, I figured you had your office E-mail...

Don't "figure," okay?

Don't use "initiative."

It's a highly overrated quality

when it comes to assistant work.

Well, I don't want to be an assistant.

You want to know

how to get to not be an assistant?!

By doing it great!

Not by leaving your boss

electronically stranded for ten minutes,

it feels like an hour!

This isn't a campaign!

This isn't airplanes and hotels,

and "Guess where I am now, ma"!

This is grind-it-out time!

It's three yards and a cloud of dust!

And if you can't hack what I need from you now,

you sure as hell aren't going to be asked

to do anything more!

Get the BlackBerry now.

Go!

I got it.

Otto give you that?

What, are you scared to face me?!

You little... Josh!

I need that.

In a minute.

I didn't come here

'cause you're such a silver-tongued recruiter,

or 'cause I got tired of summer in January.

Santos may be the future this country wants.

For all the partisan noises made on the margin,

we're a nation of centrists,

and he may just be that right man

with the right message at the right time,

and if he is...

I want to be a part of it.

But he can't do it without you.

Liberal Democrats are going to try to force him left,

moderate Republicans are going to fence-sit as long as they can.

You're the one who's got to make this go.

Who's got to cut through

the reflexive demagoguery and timidity

and make people do what they were sent here to do...

Actually govern.

Serve the voter's interests.

Instead of striking poses and playing "gotcha."

And it's going to be next to impossible

if you're at your best and...

What may only be news to you at this point...

You are nowhere near your best.

Take the vacation.

I haven't said I'm signing on, but I can tell you this...

I won't stay unless you go.

One of us is getting on a plane tonight.

If it's you, you're back in a week.

If it's me, I'm gone, adios, for good.

Your call.

Exciting time for you.

Very much so.

I always forget

how tall you are. Mm.

Did you play sports at Annapolis? Football.

Till I, uh, messed up my knee.

What position?

Wideout. Not great speed,

but, uh, pretty good hands.

My sister thinks that you are very attractive.

She doesn't have a sister.

Morning, Matt, come on in.

I understand you've been speaking

to the Chinese.

Yes, sir.

How'd you play it?

You can probably just read the transcript.

Yeah.

Sorry about that.

It may be advantageous, all things considered.

But, seriously,

I need to know exactly what you said.

I haven't seen the transcript,

I didn't want to seem...

overly interested.

Well, I thanked President Lian for his good wishes,

then I brought the conversation

around to Kazakhstan.

I portrayed myself as being

impatient with our intervention,

mystified as to the endgame.

I might have referred to you

as an "incrementalist."

I've been called worse.

You may have to call me worse if this is going to work.

It was a great idea, sir,

to exploit the inherent awkwardness

of transition this way.

Use it to play a little geopolitical good-cop, bad-cop.

But you know, you're going to have to make

some really loud saber-rattling

if we're going to pull this off.

Canadian Prime Minister Dallaire's coming in to meet.

I'll blow off some steam

about this reckless Kazakhstan intervention.

Lean on my military background.

Make it clear that,

while I wouldn't have necessarily gone in,

once our troops are there,

I have no intention of just keeping them in place,

open-ended, waiting to get shot at.

They're deployed, I'm gonna give 'em something to do,

like roll people back across their own borders.

I'll suggest that the Russians and the Chinese

are going to look back on the Bartlet Plan

as the good old days.

Which he might want to find a way

to artfully communicate to them both.

Sounds good.

You make that case with seeming conviction.

Yes, sir.

Let's hope you can scare the hell out of them.

Sir, this is Sam Seaborn.

He'll be covering for me this next week.

Sorry?

Goodwin's doing the transition,

I set some Senior Staff,

Sam knows the players for the rest.

In any event, none of our candidates

are going anywhere...

It's not like they're going to take

Director of Cabinet Affairs jobs

in the Benelux countries.

Lou will be honing our message plan.

Um, I... yelled at Otto

for no reason.

I haven't had a vacation in, well,

basically, ever.

And I will be better able

to serve you and your presidency,

not to mention the country, if I...

unfog my head.

Sam's getting married.

Congratulations.

Thank you. Lou's right,

I have no life.

And I don't know if that's really how I want it,

or if it's just some borderline...

Or not-so-borderline... pathetic, pathologic avoidance thing.

If it's, you know...

okay with you.

If it didn't involve a motorcade,

I'd drive you to the airport myself.

Thank you, sir.

Nice to meet you.

You, too.

Big fan.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is the captain.

Federal air regulations require that all carry-on luggage

be securely stowed prior to closing the aircraft door.

Your personal belongings need to be placed

in the overhead compartments or under the seat in front of you.

If you need any additional information or assistance,

please contact a flight attendant.

Please refrain from operating any electronic devices

till we are in flight

and the seat belt sign has been turned off.

Once again, thank you for flying with us today.

Hey.

May I just say, a truly excellent notion.

Sam's.

Of course.

The vacation.

Going-with-you part was all me.