I Take the Bullet for the President | The West Wing

“I have a budget meeting.”
Season 3 Episode 11: H. Con - 172
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[@NestorCaster]

Honestly… the way John Spencer used his old man walk to basically dramatically strut with swagger out of an argument, is legendary!

[@crosseightyeight]

"How long does it take to get a purse together?" "A question I've been asking my entire adult life." Mee too, Leo. Me too.

[@oliverwinton1333]

I can't think of another actor playing a role in the history television that I buy more than John Spencer playing Leo McGarry. 360º character through and through. I'm not entirely sure he dosn't exist somewhere.

[@kevinsidney1019]

God, I wish you were right 😢About the existing part. I absolutely agree that he embodied that role!

[@danrenshaw3702]

He absolutely exists somewhere, and carries with him a big block of cheese. John Spencer is Leo, and additionally with Sorkin, they made that character so real, so raw. It is unmistakable. Johnny we miss you, we love you. Will always be beyond fantastic.

[@Unasinous]

Margaret is hilarious

[@sharkracer]

She'll be glad to hear that, she's standing right outside the door. *THUMP* OW! Margeret IS hilarious.

[@Nasty062481]

She really is wonderful...

[@christopheryow951]

Honestly, a character that wasn’t used as much as she should’ve been absolutely fantastic character played by fantastic actress

[@JustBronzeThingsLoL]

"is that all you got?" I love his delivery

[@larrysmith2638]

Spoken like a true man from Chicago.

[@r.c.auclair2042]

I love how Donna Moss figured out that Calley was the guy who saved McGarry. He never told her, and tried to keep it from her. He was trying so hard to not get noticed or take credit, but she noticed.

[@JasonAguirre]

Coming at Leo to roll on the President was possibly the most insulting thing they could have said to him...

[@ZATennisFan]

All these clips continue to prove why thus show was and remains some of the finest TV ever created.

[@johnbaldock6353]

4:01 "first time in History a president has been Censured" TRUMP....HOLD MY BIG MAC!!

[@danielk5780]

Well, the american system allows for a censure as an act of Congress. However, an Act of Congress requires the signature of the president to become official. So a president can simply "veto" any censure vote by the House. And why would any president not veto something politically damaging ike that?

[@PeterSedesse]

Leo was completely wrong. There have been about a dozen Presidents who were censured. This scene was more about the Clinton censure, which was the first trivial censure for something that wasn't a crime that was done just for political reasons.

[@sebbohnivlac]

@@PeterSedesse "Never let the truth get in the way of a good story" -Mark Twain

[@TheAtkey]

@@PeterSedesse The whole thing was stupid and overblown but perjury is a crime. Also the Clinton censure failed to pass.

[@PeterSedesse]

@@TheAtkey if 'perjury' you mean the debate between if a BJ is sex or not. He said he did not have sex with that woman. It is a fair case to be made that he didn't consider a BJ as sex.

[@aph1976]

Well the president did take the bullet for Leo and his staff by agreeing to the censure.

[@jasonkoch3182]

He took a bullet for Leo because he was willing to take a bullet for Leo. Leo never wanted him to do it, didn't encourage him to do it, and actively opposed him doing it.

[@2Boo_]

I think the point of the episode is that by the end of it he ended up accepting the censure because he admitted to himself he was in the wrong. I'm sure Abby and Leo being able to avoid the humiliation and character assassination public hearings would have brought was a strong motivator but that final scene with Jed and Leo in the Oval was meant to be his honest admittance of wrongdoing and wanting to take accountability.

[@dirdib69]

@@2Boo_ Exactly. It took him a long time to get there, and a lot of struggling with pride and ego. In the end, though, Jed faced up to the face that it was his fault. Leo and the staff were suffering for the sake of their love and loyalty to him, and it was on him to own up and take responsibility.

[@googoo-gjoob]

The *GREATEST* show in the _History_ of television.

[@macdonaldukah1680]

Absolutely!

[@strategicsage7694]

There's no such thing. We can celebrate this show without tearing down all the others.

[@googoo-gjoob]

@@strategicsage7694 , i 'tore down' nothing. i merely elevated TWW

[@strategicsage7694]

@@googoo-gjoob You made a comparison. That inherently tears down every other show. Merely elevating TWW would be saying something like 'TWW is fantastic'. The term 'greatest' means nothing except in comparison with others.

[@googoo-gjoob]

@@strategicsage7694 , tearing down others would name them explicitly and speak of them in a derogatory fashion.

[@timweaver7826]

Best show ever

[@sniperdude12a]

Had a chuckle the second time I watched this seeing the Capitol Police moved maybe 6 feet

[@Firefly1138]

God I love Leo

[@siroutrage1045]

“He didn’t lie” lol

[@UnklePeanut]

I get trying to protect the president and his friend, but Leo was wrong. Jed most certainly did lie and imo, him winning was fraud. I like Bartlett the character but the he should not have been president nor should he had won re-election.

[@SabreWolf18]

I like these more when you focus on 1 whole story and not dip into 2 or 3 during the episode, like this one. Much better, thank you.

[@veramae4098]

Capital police. Guys on duty Jan. 6th. Bet they never expected that.

[@llchapman1234]

With the ex-president inciting a treasonous coup, they should have expected any and everything.

[@highstepperARF]

@@llchapman1234- LOL

[@MyCleverHandle]

Capitol police. Spelling can change the meaning.

[@patriciafleming8402]

Did any reasonable person expect it?

[@trevornott2488]

@@llchapman1234 LOL. It's so sad at this point. But hey, just ignore what they just did to Biden.

[@kevinshields4643]

This is where I did not agree with Leo. The President did lie, he should at least feel a bit of shame for it.

[@AmitKumar-tg7of]

He is a politician, you know It does come with the territory

[@larrysmith2638]

To Leo, none of that matters. First, it is his job to take the bullet for the President. Second, Leo's love and loyalty to Jed is unwavering. It broke his heart to have to accept the President's decision, regardless of it was wrong or right.

[@jamiestewart48]

Leo would have literally taken a bullet for his best friend. He knew if he took that offer to him that Jed would consider it as he loves him as a brother. Leo did die for Jed. The job killed him, let's not pretend otherwise. But as his daughter Mallory said to CJ at the end, "Dad loved every minute in this place."

[@trevornott2488]

A Democrat feel shame about lying!?!?!??! You must be new to this world

[@garymussell6543]

I remember the days when a president accepted blame for something he did and said he was sorry.

[@Hugh_Seaton]

I don't. Which president are you talking about

[@veramae4098]

When? Oh, I googled. Presidents accept blame sorry, and some came up. Modern Presidents, nothing earlier was listed.

[@susanmann]

Like when Reagan said he didn't remember?

[@ot23234]

You must be the oldest man alive. 200+?

[@trevornott2488]

Is that what you are going with after Biden quit? He has been so terrible, he fired himself?

[@Schutzhundfun]

What John Wells did to this friendship once Sorkin left was criminal and lazy writing

[@tpl608]

Criminal? Way melodramatic and stup-id

[@MarkLewis...]

Not exactly, but I understand the anger. That series of episodes was the Carter administration. Many (if not all) West Wing episodes were pulls from various IRL presidencies. Josh and the President getting shot was Reagan for example, and the fallout between Leo and Jed was Carter (his Peace in the Middle East attempt) and Carter's CoS (and 5 cabinet members) resigning.

[@Pww642]

"He didn't lie." Uhhhh he ABSOLUTELY lied.

[@MarkLewis...]

It was an omission by President Bartlet, not a lie. Zoey lied and Abby lied, (jointly) when they filled out and signed Zoey's college admission papers, but Jed didn't lie. Omissions are something that should be disclosed but are not in order to prevent lying.

[@meej33]

@@MarkLewis... That is a very Jordan Peterson way of not admitting that he lied. It was a lie by omission, and he knew it as he was doing it.

[@MarkLewis...]

@@meej33 I don't care for JP so that's not true (thus you lied, because what you said was untrue) and there's no such thing as a lie of omission... it's a made-up literary device. a lie is a lie, and an omission is an omission... they're 2 different things but believe whatever you like.

[@BrianRP1209]

@@MarkLewis... From another of my favorite tv characters, Captain Jean-Luc Picard: "...a lie of omission is still a lie."

[@MarkLewis...]

@@BrianRP1209 Lol... I knew someone was going to quote that, one of my favs too... Picard's wrong (proof at the end of post) and TV shows lie to us all the time, he was just trying to get Wesley to rat on his friends, because JLP is always perfect and pushed Wesley to be the same impossible standard. There's no such thing as a lie of omission... we omit things, (sometimes to protect ourselves, and sometimes to spare the feelings of others) but we omit things so we don't lie. Here's proof back from Star Trek VI Undiscovered Country... Spock, when asked by Lt. Valeris "A lie?" Spock correctively replied: "An omission." Later, in bitter irony and coincidence, when Spock angrily asks Lt. Valeris: "A lie?!' she correctively and sarcastically responds: "An omission." Picard is NOT breaking Vulcan logic. Lol

[@lawrenceeverett9661]

Teriffic writing.

[@ikazukison2]

Mark "Israel's friend" Fauerstein at it again