In this White House
Encyclopedia
"In this White House" is the 4th episode of the second season of The West Wing
.
appears on political talk show Capital Beat with a "blonde leggy Republican" named Ainsley Hayes. She clearly wins the debate (to the amusement of Toby, who asks his assistant Ginger to "get the popcorn," and a back-on-the-job Josh) and impresses President Bartlet sufficiently for him to tell Leo
to hire her. As per the President's instructions, Leo makes the offer, appealing to Ainsley's sense of duty. Ainsley is stunned by the irony that her first opportunity to work at the White House would be for a Democratic administration with which she agrees on very few issues.
Meanwhile, CJ spends several days fretting after she inadvertently confirms to a new reporter that there is a on-going grand jury investigation regarding a sanctions violation. After Ainsley returns to the White House with the intention of turning down Leo's offer, the reporter happens to mention CJ's admission to her. Ainsley subsequently points out to CJ that her admission didn't break any laws, and that consulting with the counsel's office would have been more fruitful than "hoping no one would notice."
As she waits to meet with Leo, Ainsley has a heated discussion with Sam about their different political viewpoints. Their debate is interrupted when an international incident occurs. Ainsley witnesses the President and his staff responding to a coup in the fictional Equatorial Kundu while its president is at the White House for a summit with pharmaceutical companies about the AIDS crisis in Africa. Josh and Toby had crafted a strategy that would enable the Kundunese President to get desperately needed AIDS medications to his people, but the plan is torpedoed when the coup occurs and the President's family is either murdered or forced to flee the country. President Bartlet evacuates the American embassy in Kundu and offers his Kundunese counterpart asylum in the U.S., but the offer is refused and he returns to face a horrible fate.
Ainsley, impressed by the administration's handling of the Kundu situation, changes her mind and accepts the job. When her Republican friends call the Democratic staffers "worthless," Hayes responds with a passionate rebuke, saying that while she may disagree with their Democratic policies, the staffers are "righteous" and "patriots."
Cleveland Mayor Tom L. Johnson
. The language spoken by the translator from Kundu is actually Shona
, one of the main native languages of Zimbabwe and western parts of Mozambique.
The West Wing (TV series)
The West Wing is an American television serial drama created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999 to May 14, 2006...
.
Plot
SamSam Seaborn
Samuel Norman "Sam" Seaborn is a fictional character portrayed by Rob Lowe on the television serial drama The West Wing. He is best known for being Deputy White House Communications Director in the Josiah Bartlet administration throughout the first four seasons of the series.-Creation and...
appears on political talk show Capital Beat with a "blonde leggy Republican" named Ainsley Hayes. She clearly wins the debate (to the amusement of Toby, who asks his assistant Ginger to "get the popcorn," and a back-on-the-job Josh) and impresses President Bartlet sufficiently for him to tell Leo
Leo McGarry
Leo Thomas McGarry is a fictional character played by John Spencer on the television serial drama The West Wing. The role earned Spencer the 2002 Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. McGarry's character, the former United States Secretary of Labor, begins the series as the White...
to hire her. As per the President's instructions, Leo makes the offer, appealing to Ainsley's sense of duty. Ainsley is stunned by the irony that her first opportunity to work at the White House would be for a Democratic administration with which she agrees on very few issues.
Meanwhile, CJ spends several days fretting after she inadvertently confirms to a new reporter that there is a on-going grand jury investigation regarding a sanctions violation. After Ainsley returns to the White House with the intention of turning down Leo's offer, the reporter happens to mention CJ's admission to her. Ainsley subsequently points out to CJ that her admission didn't break any laws, and that consulting with the counsel's office would have been more fruitful than "hoping no one would notice."
As she waits to meet with Leo, Ainsley has a heated discussion with Sam about their different political viewpoints. Their debate is interrupted when an international incident occurs. Ainsley witnesses the President and his staff responding to a coup in the fictional Equatorial Kundu while its president is at the White House for a summit with pharmaceutical companies about the AIDS crisis in Africa. Josh and Toby had crafted a strategy that would enable the Kundunese President to get desperately needed AIDS medications to his people, but the plan is torpedoed when the coup occurs and the President's family is either murdered or forced to flee the country. President Bartlet evacuates the American embassy in Kundu and offers his Kundunese counterpart asylum in the U.S., but the offer is refused and he returns to face a horrible fate.
Ainsley, impressed by the administration's handling of the Kundu situation, changes her mind and accepts the job. When her Republican friends call the Democratic staffers "worthless," Hayes responds with a passionate rebuke, saying that while she may disagree with their Democratic policies, the staffers are "righteous" and "patriots."
Trivia
The Cleveland Courier reporter says his predecessor was named Tom Johnson, a reference to Progressive EraProgressive Era
The Progressive Era in the United States was a period of social activism and political reform that flourished from the 1890s to the 1920s. One main goal of the Progressive movement was purification of government, as Progressives tried to eliminate corruption by exposing and undercutting political...
Cleveland Mayor Tom L. Johnson
Tom L. Johnson
Thomas Loftin Johnson , better known as Tom L. Johnson, was an American politician of the Democratic Party from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He headed relief efforts after the Johnstown, Pennsylvania floods of 1889, was a U.S. Representative from 1891–1895 and the 35th mayor of...
. The language spoken by the translator from Kundu is actually Shona
Shona language
Shona is a Bantu language, native to the Shona people of Zimbabwe and southern Zambia; the term is also used to identify peoples who speak one of the Shona language dialects: Zezuru, Karanga, Manyika, Ndau and Korekore...
, one of the main native languages of Zimbabwe and western parts of Mozambique.