The Two Bartlets

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“The Two Bartlets”
The West Wing episode
Episode no.	Season 3 Episode 56
Written by	Kevin Falls and Aaron Sorkin (teleplay) Gene Sperling (story)
Directed by	Alex Graves
Guest stars	Mary-Louise Parker Sam Lloyd NiCole Robinson Renee Estevez
Production no.	227213
Original airdate	January 30, 2002
Season 3 episodes
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.

[edit] Plot

Bartlet and his staff ponder whether or not to counter a fast-rising Republican presidential candidate's verbal assault on affirmative action. Josh must postpone his tropical vacation with women's rights advocate Amy Gardner 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. Meanwhile, Sam meets with an eccentric lobbyist, Robert Engle, who believes that Ft. Knox is missing a fortune in gold bullion; C.J. defiantly debates Toby over the merits of affirmative action; she points out that their parents were immigrants and they went to college. Donna asks Josh to intercede and relieve her of pending jury duty. CJ admits to Toby that part of her opposition to affirmative action is that she is worried about the mental state of her dad; he is getting forgetful and she feels it's more serious than just getting older, saying sadly that his career was stunted by affirmative action and she feels his depression over that has contributed to his current problems. Toby confronts the President over his inaction dealing with the issue of affirmative action, but ends up going way too far and earning a very angry response from Bartlet.