Let Bartlet Be Bartlet

"Let Bartlet Be Bartlet" is the 19th episode of The West Wing and first aired on NBC on April 26, 2000. In the episode, a White House insider writes a memo that attacks President Bartlet for his ineffectiveness in making bold decisions due to his timid nature. The series creators subsequently used the title phrase, "Let Bartlet be Bartlet," as a recurring rallying cry in the series. In addition, political commentators took the same lesson from the episode and have applied it since 2001 to politicians in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and other countries. Plot When a damaging memo which is critical of the President is discovered, the White House press cover it with zest, much to CJ's dismay. Later it is revealed that Mandy wrote it when she was working for Lloyd Russell. Sam, Toby and Josh are involved in a series of meetings which go nowhere and result in nothing; Sam knows no progress is possible on getting a policy in place so that gays and lesbians can openly serve in the military; Josh confronts a group of Republican Congressional staffers who threaten him with poison-pill legislation if he even thinks about pushing for campaign finance reformers on two newly opened Federal Election Commission seats; and Toby tells Leo that they have had only one victory in office and that was putting Judge Mendoza on the Supreme Court. The staffers and the President feel listless and ineffectual in their jobs, and worry that they will be unable to achieve anything meaningful due to the constraints of the political system. The memo and news coverage of how Bartlet too often compromises his positions to placate his opponents and avoid controversy result in Bartlet's popularity going down in the polls. On seeing Bartlet's job approval rating dropping five points in a week to 42 percent, the staff comes to realize that the Bartlet administration has been ineffective because it has been too timid to make bold decisions, focusing instead on the exigencies of politics. Finally, Leo confronts President Bartlet about his timidity, challenging him to be himself and to take the staff "off the leash." – in other words, he seeks to "Let Bartlet be Bartlet". The President and his staff resolve to act boldly and "raise the level of public debate" in America by moving forward with a more liberal agenda.