History Recap / TheWestWingS03E10BartletForAmerica

Leo says it's his turn to take the hit, and as Jordan Kendall (Joanna Gleason), his lawyer, walks in, Leo hangs up. As Jordan tells him it's time to go, Leo tries to ask her out to breakfast. Jordan is in no mood, and tells him the committee can't wait; Leo brings up the threats against the churches, all of which are Afro-American, and mentions that's just what he knows about. As they walk towards the House of Representatives hearing room, Jordan tells Leo he shouldn't be nervous; Leo says that's the last thing he is. They pass the press corps, all scrambling to take a picture of Leo, and he makes a joke about having been nominated for a UsefulNotes/GrammyAward. Jordan asks Leo if he's hiding anything from her, and he says there's a lot of things he's hiding from her.

* OffTheWagon: Josh is trying to keep Gibson from questioning Leo because Gibson is aware that Leo relapsed during the campaign, and he can bring it up because it coincided with Bartlet's MS attack.

This episode contains examples of:

-->'''Leo:''' Good scotch sits in a charcoal barrel for 12 years. Very good scotch gets smoked for 29 years. Johnny Walker Blue...is 60 year old scotch.

In the main office area of the West Wing, where Christmas decorations are up, Sam finds Josh and tells him the hearings are back from a break. Sam brings up the basketball story, but Josh, not being there at the time, doesn't want to talk about it, and asks Sam if he can find a way to pull Congressman Gibson out of the hearing. They go over a couple of names, but none of them are available. Josh won't tell Sam why he wants this, but Sam understands it's important, and promises to try. As Josh looks through his address book, we see on the TV in his office Chairman Bruno admonishing the committee, "[[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments I would like our ten-minute breaks to be closer to fifteen minutes than they are to a half hour]]"...

...we have the final {{Flashback}} of the episode. In a hotel suite in St. Louis, Leo meets with two CEO's and potential donors; Leo explains the race was tight and he needed money. Meanwhile, at the debate site, Bartlet was preparing with the rest of the staff, and he approved of how things were. Leo says of Bartlet, "[[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments A podium is a holy place for him...He sees it as a genuine opportunity to change minds - also his best way of contributing to the team. He likes teams...I love him so much]]." Meanwhile, back in the hotel suite, Leo and the CEO's were having steak sandwiches, and the CEO's were having Johnnie Walker scotch. Leo begged off, though the reason he gave was so he could stay sharp. As the two CEO's admit they're worried about having backed the wrong horse, we see a third man in the room, though not who he is. Leo then asks for a sip of the scotch. He explains to Jordan he doesn't just have one drink, because he's an alcoholic. Jordan asks who the third man was, and in the flashback, we see it's Gibson, who at that point is just thinking about getting into politics. When the other three leave, Leo goes to the hotel mini-bar and starts drinking from it. Back at the debate site, C.J., Josh, Sam and Toby are talking about getting Bartlet's answer on Social Security to less than 90 seconds when they notice Bartlet isn't looking very well. Sure enough, he manages to mumble for Abbey before collapsing. Sam catches him, and Josh calls Leo, who's still in the hotel room, completely plastered. He manages to make it to the phone as Josh tells him what happened to Bartlet. A little too loudly, Leo says okay and hangs up. There's a knock on the door; it's Gibson, who came to get his briefcase. He notices the bottles, and Leo distracts him by saying Bartlet collapsed and he has to get down to the debate site.

...and back in the hearing room, Bruno turns over the questioning to Congressman Erickson, who, after thanking Bruno for his leadership, asks Leo if he knows about Article II, Section 1, Clause 6 of the Constitution. Leo turns back to Jordan, and she confirms Leo thinks Erickson is being snotty. Leo tries to ask Jordan to dinner, but she says she doesn't want him to keep things from her. Leo turns back and says he is. Erickson says the clause allows the Vice-President to assume the President's duties if something happens to him; Leo corrects him and says it allows the Vice-President to assume the President's duties only if the President dies, and unless that happens, the President is impeached, or the 25th amendment is invoked, the Vice President stays where he is. Erickson asks who picked Hoynes to be the Vice-President, and Leo says Bartlet did, with the advice of the staff. Erickson asks if the staff would have benefited from knowing about Bartlet's MS; Leo says he doesn't see how, and gets angry when Erickson implies Bartlet could have died in office, bringing up again that MS isn't fatal. Leo also says Hoynes was the right pick and was told of Bartlet's condition...