Transition (The West Wing)
Encyclopedia
Plot
Josh's astoundingly hectic post-election schedule (fuelled by large amounts of Red BullRed Bull
Red Bull is an energy drink sold by the Austrian Red Bull GmbH, created in 1987 by the Austrian entrepreneur Dietrich Mateschitz. In terms of market share, Red Bull is the most popular energy drink in the world, with 3 billion cans sold each year. Dietrich Mateschitz was inspired by an already...
) begins to catch up to him also with lack of sleep, and friends and co-workers worry that if he doesn't take some time off very soon, he won't be able to function as Chief of Staff
White House Chief of Staff
The White House Chief of Staff is the highest ranking member of the Executive Office of the President of the United States and a senior aide to the President.The current White House Chief of Staff is Bill Daley.-History:...
in the long run. Meanwhile, he has his hands full, acting as liaison between the President-Elect and the White House, and trying to staff the West Wing for the new administration. At the top of his list for the Deputy Chief of Staff position is Sam Seaborn
Sam Seaborn
Samuel Norman "Sam" Seaborn is a fictional character portrayed by Rob Lowe on the television serial drama The West Wing. He is best known for being Deputy White House Communications Director in the Josiah Bartlet administration throughout the first four seasons of the series.-Creation and...
(Rob Lowe), who is reluctant to leave his happy life working in the private sector but seems intrigued by Josh's offer. Josh continues to run on fumes at the Santos transition office and becomes especially angry towards speechwriter Otto, whom he first criticizes for not having the right phone information and later excoriates for updating Josh's BlackBerry without permission. Otto is left near tears, and then Sam steps up: he consoles Otto, actively prevents Josh from going after the young staffer again, and lays down the law: Josh is nowhere near his best and will need to recharge if the Santos Administration is going to chart a course between competing interests, so he'll sign up as Deputy CoS if Josh takes a serious vacation, and fly back to California permanently if he doesn't. Josh agrees to the vacation, and invites a very happy Donna to join him for it.
Meanwhile, Santos enrages C.J. by undermining Bartlet's military agenda with a phone call to the President of China, where the President-Elect calls the current President an "incrementalist" and makes it clear he's going to pursue a more aggressive policy to end the Kazakhstan crisis once he's in office. However, it's revealed that Bartlet and Santos are working together, using the transition as a way to put pressure on both Moscow and Beijing to end or at least rachet down tensions. And Helen Santos seeks advice from Donna about the First Lady
First Lady of the United States
First Lady of the United States is the title of the hostess of the White House. Because this position is traditionally filled by the wife of the president of the United States, the title is most often applied to the wife of a sitting president. The current first lady is Michelle Obama.-Current:The...
role and offers her the position to be her Chief of Staff
Office of the First Lady of the United States
The Office of the First Lady of the United States is accountable to the First Lady of the United States for her to carry out her duties as hostess of the White House, and is also in charge of all social and ceremonial events of the White House...
, which surprises Donna as she was also asked to be the new Deputy Press Secretary.