The U.S. Poet Laureate

"The U.S. Poet Laureate"
The West Wing episode
Episode no.	Season 3 Episode 60
Directed by	Christopher Misiano
Written by	Aaron Sorkin (teleplay) Laura Glasser (story)
Production code	227217
Original air date	March 27, 2002
Guest stars
Laura Dern Emily Procter NiCole Robinson Renee Estevez Volanda Lloyd Delgado Beth Littleford James Eckhouse
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

See also: Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress

"The U.S. Poet Laureate" is episode 60 of The West Wing.

Plot

Bartlet makes a disparaging comment about a potential Republican nominee after a television interview, presumably not realizing that he is still being recorded. For days, C.J. must control the scandal, and Sam recalls Republican White House legal counsel Ainsley Hayes from vacation to help formulate the administration's official response. Sam also gets the green light from Leo to give Ainsley a promotion to a more senior White House Counsel's Office position. C.J. is surprised and admiring when she realizes that the President deliberately made the comment and came out ahead in the subsequent tumult. Meanwhile, Toby tries to dissuade the newly named U.S. poet laureate, Tabatha Fortis (Laura Dern), from publicly objecting to the government's lack of support for a treaty on land mines. Toby tells her that the U.S. would sign the treaty if it included a waiver for the border between South Korea and North Korea. Elsewhere, Josh is both repulsed and intrigued by the fact that there is an internet fansite (www.lemonlyman.com) devoted to him. Josh and Donna (albeit against her will) start posting on the site before being rebuked by C.J.

Notes

• This is the final episode featuring Emily Procter in the recurring role as Deputy White House Counsel Ainsley Hayes. Though her departure was never explained in this episode, Hayes briefly returned in a season 7 episode Requiem in which she revealed her whereabouts.
• The website that alternately praises and vilifies Josh, lemonlyman.com, is based on Television Without Pity and the experiences Aaron Sorkin had while posting online about his show.
• C.J. Cregg mentions during a press conference that Jed Bartlet was a tenured professor at Dartmouth University. This is in fact a mistake, as the university's official name is Dartmouth College and not Dartmouth University despite the fact that it is a de facto research university.

External links

• The West Wing Episode Guide