History Heartwarming / TheWestWing

* In the last episode, Josh, as incoming White House Chief of Staff, goes to visit CJ, the out-going Chief of Staff. Josh asks if she ever stopped thinking the office of the White House Chief of Staff as McGarry's office, and she says, "No." That's pretty Heartwarming right there. But then CJ hands Josh a note that reads "WWLD?" and tells Josh that as long as he keeps it in mind, he'll never do the wrong thing while Chief of Staff. WWLD naturally means "What would Leo do?"

* In 2020, the cast reunited to put on a stage production of "Hartsfield's Landing" as a get-out-the-vote special, even bringing back the original actor for ThoseTwoGuys John and Larry. The actor who stepped into John Spencer's shoes was Sterling K. Brown, having been cast on the basis of being someone whose work Spencer would have admired. There's a [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall particular significance]] when Bartlett says "Thank you, Leo" near the end of the script.

* A Proportional Response'' has possibly one of the best Heartwarming moments, as well as a perfect EstablishingCharacterMoment for Jed Bartlett as he meets Charlie for the first time.

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[[folder:Season 1]]

--->'''Bartlet:''' I'm Jed Bartlet.\\

--->'''Bartlet:''' You have a best friend?\\

--->'''Leo:''' So who is it?
--->'''Josh:''' You.

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[[folder:Season 2]]

-->''"I got it from my father, he got it from his father, and now, I'm giving it to you."''

* In ''18th & Potomac,'' when the president questions whether Kenny is trustworthy enough to be a part of the secret meeting, Joey immediately comes to her interpreter's defense.

-->'''Donna''': You have health and strength. Both which, coincidentally, I prayed for when hot lead was shot into your body.

--->'''Bartlet''': Toby, if we start pulling strings like this, you don't think every homeless veteran would come out of the woodwork?\\

--->'''Bartlet:''' Tell her where you are.\\

--->Josh: I'm gonna help you out, you know why?
--->Leo: Because you're so obsessed with everyone you love dying that you're a compulsive fixer?
--->Josh: *smiles* No, Leo, it's because a guy's walking down the street and he falls in a hole, see.

-->Toby: You're gonna lose, and you're gonna lose ''huge''. They're gonna throw rocks at you next week, and I wanted to be standing next to you when they did.
-->Sam: [[SarcasmMode Oh, really.]]
-->Toby: [[SincerityMode Yeah.]]

-->'''Karen''': You're not like what I thought you would be like.
-->'''Leo''': You haven't answered my question yet. When you saw my personnel file, when you saw I'd been through treatment, what when through your mind?
-->'''Karen''': My father used to... [''She pauses, visibly uncomfortable''] You have all these important decisions to make in your job, every day, all the time, decisions I can't even...people's lives.
-->'''Leo''': Karen, what you did caused a lot of problems; for me, for the President, and for a lot of people we don't even know. But I'm not sure it wasn't a little bit brave. [''Beat''] Did you like working at the White House?
-->'''Karen''': Yes, sir.
-->'''Leo''': Okay. Then why don't you go unpack your carton and you and I will give each other a second chance?
-->'''Karen''': [''smiles, nods''] Okay.

---> '''Josh''': You look amazing.

-->'''Matt''': I never imagined at $55,000 a year, I'd have trouble making ends meet. And my wife brings in another 25. My son's in public school. It's no good. I mean, there's 37 kids in the class, uh, no art and music, no advanced placement classes. Other kids, their mother has to make them practice the piano. You can't pull my son away from the piano. He needs teachers. I spend half the day thinking about what happens if I slip and fall down on my own front porch, you know? It should be hard. I like that it's hard. Putting your daughter through college, that's-that's a man's job. A man's accomplishment. But it should be a little easier. Just a little easier. 'Cause in that difference is... everything. I'm sorry. I'm, uh, I-I'm Matt Kelley.
-->'''Toby''': Toby Ziegler. [''Josh catches his eye and shakes his head no, to indicate he's waiving the bet for this one. Toby looks at Josh for a moment, then turns back to Matt''] I work at the White House. Do you have a minute to talk? We'd like to buy you a beer.

-->'''Bruno:''' Where did you write that last part?
-->'''Sam:''' In the car.
-->[''Beat'']
-->'''Bruno:''' ...Freak.

--->Ainsley: I'm working in the steam pipe trunk distribution venue?
--->Leo: No, you're working in your office.

--->Leo: Sam Seaborn had this innocent relationship with a girl - bam. Here comes the enemy. I'm a recovering alcoholic. Bam. Radio, TV, magazines, cameras in front of my house, people shouting at my daughter at the ballgame, editorials, op-eds. "He's a drunk. He's dangerous. He should resign."
--->Ainsley: I wrote one of those op-ed pieces.
--->Leo: I know.

-->'''Leo''': A man's walking down the street and falls into a hole, and a priest walks by. He yells up, "Hey father! Can you help me up?" The priest says a prayer for him, and then keeps walking. Then a doctor walks by. The guy yells up, "Hey doc! Can you help me up?" The doctor writes him a prescription, then throws it down the hole. Then a friend walks by. He yells up, "Hey Joe, it's me! Can you help me up?" The friend jumps in the hole with him. Our guy says, "What are you, stupid? Now we're both in the hole!" The friend says, "Yeah, but I've been down here before, and I know the way out." As long as I've got a job, ''you've'' got a job, you understand?

-->'''Josh:''' So...[[TraumaButton that's gonna be my reaction whenever I hear music from now on]]?\\

'''Stanley:''' Because we get better. ''(smiles)''\\

-->'''Bartlet''': Make me proud, Mr. President.
-->'''Santos''': I'll try my best, Mr. President.

-->'''Josh Lyman:''' We're the most dominant nation on earth. But too often the face of our economic superiority is a corporate imperialism, our technological dominance shown by Smart bombs and Predator drones. We could do something else. Something generous and uplifting for all humankind. We could send the first representatives from Earth, to walk on another planet. We could land people on Mars. ...Needs work.
-->'''Donna Moss:''' Needs something.
-->'''Josh Lyman:''' Yeah, that inspiration thing. Voyager, in case it's ever encountered by extra-terrestrials, is carrying photos of life on Earth, greetings in 55 languages and a collection of music from Gregorian chants to Music/ChuckBerry. Including "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjLSf8y94fU Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground]]" by '20s bluesman Blind Willie Johnson, whose stepmother blinded him when he was seven by throwing lye in is his eyes after his father had beat her for being with another man. He died, penniless, of pneumonia after sleeping bundled in wet newspapers in the ruins of his house that burned down. But his music just left the solar system.
-->'''Donna Moss:''' ({{Beat}}) Okay, that got me.

** The stargazing scene from earlier in "''The Warfare of Genghis Khan''" and how excited Josh gets.
** Sam's similar discussion with Mallory in "''Galileo''".
** CJ telling the president he should go speak to the class in "''Galileo''", even if the mission is a failure, to teach them about perseverance.

-->'''Mallory''': You are so just like him.
-->'''Sam''': That is the nicest thing you've ever said to me. Thank you.
* Bartlet interacting with the kids in "''Excelsis Deo''".

* At one point in "''Holy Night''", season four, Josh tells Toby he'd give anything to have a living father who was a convicted fellon, displaying how deeply Josh misses his father. At the end of the episode Josh spends the night leading into Christmas Eve together with Leo, who basically is his substitute father at that point.
* In the episode "''Shibboleth''" the same group of Christian leaders from the pilot episode reappear to try and convince the White House staff to grant political asylum to a group of persecuted Chinese Christians who stuffed themselves into cargo containers on a ship to reach the United States. Although the meeting starts out poorly, Reverend Caldwell makes it clear that they are genuinely motivated by the wish to help those seeking freedom from persecution and want to ensure everyone has the right to practice their religious beliefs. Nice change of pace for both the characters and writers.

-->'''Leo''': Hey sweetie!
-->'''Margaret''': Hey boss! *they hug*
* In the episode ''King Corn'' (season six), Russel, Santos and Vinick all oppose the useage of ethanol as fuel but it would be near political suicide to say something about it in Iowa. Santos almost does anyway, but reins himself in at the last second. Vinick, however, does speak his mind on the issue. Later on Santos tells Vinick that although his staff might be horrified, Santos is proud of what he did.

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[[folder:Season 3]]
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[[folder:Season 4]]
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[[folder:Season 5]]
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[[folder:Season 6]]
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[[folder:Season 7]]
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** On a related note, this comment from Donna to Josh a few seasons later:
-->'''Donna''': You have health and strength. Both which, coincidentally, I prayed for when hot lead was shot into your body.
* And how 'bout that episode where Jed Bartlet sends his aide Charlie high and low to find a carving knife for Thanksgiving, finding some complaint with each of many knives that he dutifully brings. When Charlie finally vents a little of his frustration, the president reveals that he's giving away the knife that he already has--which was made by Paul Revere--to Charlie.

* Or the scene where Bartlet gives his Secretary of Agriculture advice on how to run the country should something happen at the State of the Union.
--->'''Bartlet:''' You have a best friend?\\
'''Tribby:''' Yes, sir.\\
'''Bartlet:''' Is he smarter than you?\\
'''Tribby:''' Yes, sir.\\
'''Bartlet:''' Would you trust him with your life?\\
'''Tribby:''': Yes, sir.\\
'''Bartlet:''' That's your chief of staff.
** The reason this scene is truly touching is because Leo, Bartlett's Chief of Staff, was standing nearby and heard the whole thing.
*** This was during the story arc where Leo's alcoholism went public and he was getting pilloried by the President's more vocal critics.
** This gets taken further in the later seasons with Leo's heart attack first pushing him out of the West Wing, then leaving him floundering for a place once CJ replaces him. A flashback to an early public appearance by president-elect Bartlet has him whisper to his friend "it should be you, Leo" which deeply touches the man. When the next Democratic ticket is being constructed and Matt Santos needs a running mate, Josh comes with instructions from the president that, "if he says no, I'm to kick his ass all over the schoolyard."
--->'''Leo:''' So who is it?
--->'''Josh:''' You.

--->'''Bartlet''': "Toby, if we start pulling strings like this, you don't think every homeless veteran would come out of the woodwork?"\\
'''Toby''': "I can only hope, sir."

[[index]]

* In the horrific aftermath of [[spoiler: the Roslin Shooting]] we see just what a good kid Charlie is. After quickly talking with Toby as to Josh's whereabouts, we hear someone call for help. From the voice, it's just someone from the crowd, no-one we or the main cast knows. Yet Charlie rushes over to help them out. Anyone would be understandably shaken (as literally everyone else is, even trained Secret Service agents) but he's doing whatever he can.

* When [[spoiler:Toby found Josh sitting against a wall holding a bullet wound and started calling for help, the rest of the senior staff came running.]]

** On a related (and also heartbreaking) note, the episode "7A WF 83429" shows Ellie being very affected by [[spoiler:her baby sister's kidnapping]]. Nina Siemaszko does it with hardly any dialogue, a brilliant performance. You really get the sense that she and [[spoiler:Zoey]] have a close relationship.

* In the horrific aftermath fo [[spoiler: the Roslin Shooting]] we see just what a good kid Charlie is. After quickly talking with Toby as to Josh's whereabouts, we hear someone call for help. From the voice, it's just someone from the crowd, no-one we or the main cast knows. Yet Charlie rushes over to help them out. Anyone would be understandably shaken (as literally everyone else is, even trained Secret Service agents) but he's doing whatever he can.

* Episode 3 of Season 1, ''A Proportional Response'' has possibly one of the best Heartwarming moments, as well as a perfect EstablishingCharacterMoment for Jed Bartlett as he meets Charlie for the first time.

* The scene in "Inauguration: Over There" where Josh, Toby, Danny, Will and Charlie all go to get Donna at her apartment.
---> Josh: You look amazing.

* In Season 4's "Game On", the administration gets crotchety Asst Secretary of State Albie Duncan to agree to be a good soldier and provide post-debate spin for Bartlet, despite being a lifelong Republican with no loyalties to the President or the Democratic party. Duncan tells C.J. that he likes her, but complains that the subjects he's being asked to spin about (e.g. free trade) are far more nuanced than they're willing to admit, and she agrees with him, but asks him to do it anyway. Then, during the debate, Bartlet makes acknowledging these complexities a virtue, and how Ritchie simplifying them means he can't begin to understand them. After the debate, Albie is dutifully spinning away when C.J. asks him to elaborate on the issues and explain them properly, which is what he would have liked to do all along. On her way out, she kisses him on the cheek, in full view of the cameras, and tells him that she likes him too.

* In Season 4's "Game On", the administration gets crotchety Asst Secretary of State Albie Duncan to agree to be a good soldier and provide post-debate spin for Bartlet. Duncan tells C.J. that he likes her, but complains that the subjects he's being asked to spin about (e.g. free trade) are far more nuanced than they're willing to admit, and she agrees, but asks him to do it anyway. Then, during the debate, Bartlet makes a virtue out of clearly demonstrating how complex the issues at stake are, and how Ritchie can't begin to understand them. After the debate, Albie is dutifully spinning away when C.J. asks him to elaborate on the issues and explain them properly, which is what he would have liked to do all along. On her way out, she kisses him on the cheek and tells him that she likes him too.

* When the Santos team looks to be losing the primary while Matt Santos and his wife are mortgaging their house to keep the campaign float, Josh rushes to stop them from putting their financial future in jeopardy over a losing cause, and Matt tells Josh a story.

* In the sixth season, presidential-candidate Matt Santos gives this gorgeous speech about the power of hope. It's a lovely speech, but what really makes it a HeartwarmingMoment is that it's superimposed with President Bartlet slowly pulling himself with canes across the Oval Office after being nearly crippled by multiple sclerosis.

* A season one episode has the senior staff listening in while the president talks to a young man on a ship of a large fleet that has been caught in a hurricane and is unlikely to make it through. Not only is Bartlet's conversation a CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming but in the background Josh can be seen putting his arms around a visibly upset Mandy (his ex-girlfriend whom he spends most of his time bickering with).

* On Bartlet's very last day in office, he goes around the west wing, shaking the hands of junior staffers and thanking them by name[[note]]the president is notoriously bad at names[[/note]] for their service.

* The part towards the end of "Noël", when Stanley tells Josh his diagnosis.

'''Stanley:''' Because we get better. ''(smiles)''

-->'''Joey:''' Mr. President, Kenny has been with me for eleven years. To trust me is to trust him.