The Great West Wing Rewatch: 4.14 "Inauguration Pt.1"

Joel: Whenever we get a new cast member they get a scene with the president where they say some offhanded comment about something or other that pretty quickly has a major effect on policy.  In this episode, Will is the one who makes a comment that gets the president thinking and deciding to make changes to the foreign policy plan. I have to say, the concept that you might be able to say the very direction of the nation just by thinking out loud in the West Wing, is an overwhelming one, and frankly a little terrifying. Because Sorkin is the one writing their words all the characters in the show are fast talkers with quippy phrases they love to use, but personally, if it were me, I would be terrified to say anything out loud. I would be very careful with what I had to say because of the ears that it might reach. I’m not saying that Will was wrong in what he said, or that it’s bad that the President latched on to that particular sentence to adjust his policies, but still, you don’t necessarily have to be the President himself to make an impact, and the power you can have just because of your proximity to power is something not to be taken lightly.

Chris: There's quite an emphasis from Will in this episode about the relationship between the president and those writing his speeches and how difficult that must be seeing as how Will is a temporary hire to help with one of the most important speeches a president ever makes. Over the career of a politician, it's incredibly rare for said politician to remain consistent on the stance on various subjects because so many politicians ride the wave of wherever the popular opinion at the time lies. In the rare chance that you have a politician that does remain consistent, then there's a chance said politician has varying levels of radicalism as time passes. My point being, it's not always a good idea to use Will's strategy of going through old speeches to get inspiration for a present day speech, let alone using old speeches to inspire new policy. Of course, Will can only do so much to introduce new policy and ultimately has to get the president on-board but it still an incredibly risky move for a temporary speech writer that's been on staff for a couple minutes.

A good president kicks out Supreme Court Justices for writing poetry.