I Never Get to Make This Call | The West Wing

"If fitz has to call the pilots family i am invading baghdad "is an under rated line

Just realized that Leo's so invested in getting the pilot out because he was in the same position as a downed F-105 pilot in Vietnam and had to be rescued from behind PAVN lines.

"Give me your parents' number, I never get to make THIS call..." Meaning the call with the good news.

Love the idea of a well educated, open but firm minded president

"All the same, I'm going to check out that thing with the carpet." Brilliant line.😂

John Amos & Martin Sheen, both American treasures.

Points to Admiral Fitzwallace for being able to answer the President’s questions about the pilot without even looking down at piece of paper.

"That's a job awfully well done Mr. Chairman". That's what I call a compliment.

Leos reaction to the "diplomatic option" carries more weight when we later learn he was shot down in Vietnam

I love the subtle piece of acting Martin Sheen does without words when he is told that pilot is safe...

How I wish this was real and not fiction.

Ohh Fitz asked “How are you feeling” and followed up when Bartlet was vague because he was in the know about the MS! Never caught that before.

Brilliant little piece of writing: President Bartlet refers to Fitz having to call the pilot’s parents. But he wants to call himself after the pilot is rescued.

Fitz's voice has a unique cadence to it, it's very confident and clear

John Amos as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was brilliant casting; typical of the West Wing.

This is why we love Bartlett

The way I teared up when Fitz said Captain Hotchkiss was on the line.

From Wikipedia's article "Seal of the President of the United States." A popular but erroneous myth is that the seal is changed during times of war, so that the eagle faces the arrows in its left talon. This belief may have arisen because major changes to the seal have coincidentally been made before or after wars – specifically, the 1945 change in the seal, and also the 1916 change in the flag (though not the seal) from the right-facing Great Seal to the left-facing presidential seal.[47] This misconception may also have arisen from a comment made by Winston Churchill, who, regarding Truman's redesign of the seal, joked: "Mr. President, with the greatest respect, I would prefer the American eagle's neck to be on a swivel so that it could face the olive branches or the arrows, as the occasion might demand".[53] The belief is perpetuated by a 2000 episode of The West Wing entitled "What Kind of Day Has It Been?". Character Admiral Fitzwallace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, notes that the presidential seal in the center of the Oval Office carpet contains a shield bearing a bald eagle clutching the olive branch in its right talons and arrows in its left. The eagle's head is turned toward the olive branch. Fitzwallace alleges that in times of war the seal is replaced with one in which the eagle's head is turned toward the arrows.[54]

That, Ladies and Gentlemen, is a Commander-in-Chief. Ably assisted. 👍

I wish we had Presidents with this kind of integrity. Wouldn't care which party. Just give me someone with integrity.