The U.S. Poet Laureate

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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

[edit] 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. Meanwhile, Toby tries to dissuade the newly named U.S. poet laureate, Tabatha Fortis, from publicly objecting to the government's lack of support for a treaty on land mines. And Josh is both repulsed and intrigued by the fact that there is a fan-based Web site devoted to him.

[edit] 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.