The Two Bartlets

"The Two Bartlets"
The West Wing episode
Episode no.	Season 3 Episode 56
Directed by	Alex Graves
Written by	Kevin Falls and Aaron Sorkin (teleplay) Gene Sperling (story)
Production code	227213
Original air date	January 30, 2002
Guest stars
Mary-Louise Parker Sam Lloyd NiCole Robinson Renee Estevez
Season 3 episodes
October 10, 2001 – May 22, 2002 Isaac and Ishmael Documentary Special Manchester Part I Manchester Part II Ways and Means On the Day Before War Crimes Gone Quiet The Indians in the Lobby The Women of Qumar Bartlet for America H. Con-172 100,000 Airplanes The Two Bartlets Night Five Hartsfield's Landing Dead Irish Writers The U.S. Poet Laureate Stirred Enemies Foreign and Domestic The Black Vera Wang We Killed Yamamoto Posse Comitatus
List of The West Wing episodes

"The Two Bartlets" is episode 56 of The West Wing.

Plot

President Bartlet and his staff ponder whether to counter a fast-rising Republican presidential candidate's verbal assault on affirmative action, deciding at the end to make a very bland statement that does not stand up strongly for its merits. C.J. debates with Toby over the merits of affirmative action; she points out that their parents were immigrants and they went to college, but Toby is shocked that she is not in favor of affirmative action. C.J. admits that her opposition is personal: she believes that her father's career growth was stunted by affirmative action. She is feeling particularly sensitive as her father is suffering serious memory lapses and she is worried about his health.

Josh impulsively plans a romantic vacation to Tahiti with women's rights advocate Amy Gardner, but must postpone the trip in order to defuse a risky situation in Vieques, Puerto Rico, an area that serves as a U.S. Navy firing range. As he prepares to remove protesters who have put themselves in harm's way on the island, Josh telephones his longtime friend, a popular Latino actor who is leading the group. Josh tells Leo that he agrees with the protestors, but Leo makes it clear that Josh must get in line with the government's need to certify ships and bombers at Vieques so that they can head to the Persian Gulf. A compromise is reached, and Josh later finds a way to make things up to Amy: she arrives at his apartment to find it decorated with a tropical theme.

Meanwhile, Sam meets with an eccentric conspiracy theorist, Robert Engler, who believes that the gold bullion in Ft. Knox has been moved, and that the facility now houses UFO wreckage. Sam is annoyed by the abrasive activist but feels sorry for him because he is carrying on his father's life work; he later makes it clear that Engler can continue his quest to audit the vault, but can't expect any help from the White House.

Toby confronts the President over his weak response to the affirmative action issue, expressing concerns about the electorate's views of his GOP opponent as more masculine than the President. Toby tells the President that there are "two Bartlets": one, a hard-driving realist, and the other, a vacillating idealist. At first, the President listens, but Toby crosses the line when he pushes the President on his relationship with his abusive father.

Trivia

The basis of the plot regarding the "popular Latino actor" protesting is based on future star of the show Jimmy Smits who has been regularly arrested for his leading of protests in Puerto Rico against the US naval presence.

External links

• The West Wing Episode Guide