The U.S. Poet Laureate

"The U.S. Poet Laureate" is episode 60 of The West Wing.

Plot

Bartlet makes a disparaging comment about a potential Republican nominee after a television interview, presumably not realizing that he is still being recorded. For days, C.J. must control the scandal, and Sam recalls Republican White House legal counsel Ainsley Hayes from vacation to help formulate the administration's official response. Sam also gets the green light from Leo to give Ainsley a promotion to a more senior White House Counsel's Office position. C.J. is surprised and admiring when she realizes that the President deliberately made the comment and came out ahead in the subsequent tumult. Meanwhile, Toby tries to dissuade the newly named U.S. poet laureate, Tabatha Fortis (Laura Dern), from publicly objecting to the government's lack of support for a treaty on land mines. Toby tells her that the U.S. would sign the treaty if it included a waiver for the border between South Korea and North Korea. Elsewhere, Josh is both repulsed and intrigued by the fact that there is an internet fansite (www.lemonlyman.com) devoted to him. Josh and Donna (albeit against her will) start posting on the site before being rebuked by C.J.

Notes

• This is the final episode featuring Emily Procter in the recurring role as Deputy White House Counsel Ainsley Hayes. Though her departure was never explained in this episode, Hayes briefly returned in a season 7 episode Requiem in which she revealed her whereabouts.
• The website that alternately praises and vilifies Josh, lemonlyman.com, is based on Television Without Pity and the experiences Aaron Sorkin had while posting online about his show.
• C.J. Cregg mentions during a press conference that Jed Bartlet was a tenured professor at Dartmouth University. This is in fact a mistake, as the university's official name is Dartmouth College and not Dartmouth University despite the fact that it is a de facto research university.

External links

• The West Wing Episode Guide