Bartlet: The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away. Words I did not fully understand until our daughter was taken from us three days ago. But now we can rejoice and be glad, for that which was lost has been found. That my child is back in her mother's arms is serendipity and grace, a second chance that will not slip through our fingers again. I wish I could tell you there is some new policy, some new weapons system, a silver bullet perhaps that could meet this moment, that could keep us safe from the terror that is now among us. But if I were to say that I'd be lying. All I can promise you is that I will fight with every fiber of my being, with every weapon in our arsenal, and with every ounce of God's grace to keep us strong, and free, and safe.

Bartlet: The only thing you can pray for in this job is the strength to get through the day. You can try coffee if you want but prayer works better for me.

Bartlet: The Secret Service...
Zoey: The Secret Service should worry about you getting shot!
Bartlet: They are worried about me getting shot. I'm worried about me getting shot! But that is nothing compared to how terrified we are of you. You scare the hell out of the Secret Service, Zoey, and you scare the hell out of me, too. My getting killed would be bad enough, but that is not the nightmare scenario. The nightmare scenario, sweetheart, is you getting kidnapped. You go out to a bar or a party in some club and you get up to go to the restroom. Somebody comes up from behind, puts their hand across your mouth and whisks you out the back door. You're so petrified you don't even notice the bodies of two Secret Service agents lying on the ground with bullet holes in their heads. Then you're whisked away in a car. It's a big party with lots of noise and lots of people coming and going and it's a half hour before someone says, "Hey, where's Zoey?" Another fifteen minutes before the first phone call. It's another hour and a half before anyone even thinks to shut down all the airports! And now we're off to the races! You're tied to a chair in a cargo shack somewhere in the middle of Uganda and I am told that I have seventy-two hours to get Israel to free four hundred and sixty terrorist prisoners. So I'm on the phone, pleading with Binyamin and he's saying "I'm sorry Mr President, but Israel simply does not negotiate with terrorists, period! It's the only way we can survive." So now we got a new problem, because this country no longer has a commander-in-chief but has a father who's out of his mind because his little girl is in a shack somewhere in Uganda with a gun to her head! Do you get it?!

Bartlet: There's a Korean word, Han. I looked it up. There is no literal English translation. It's a state of mind. Of soul, really. A sadness. A sadness so deep no tears will come. And yet, still, there's hope.

Bartlet: They want peace but I have to blow something up first?
Leo: I think they are willing to haggle on the peace part.
Bartlet: That usually work in the past?

Bartlet: They're going to miss hot pumpkin soup with a cheese gnocchi and a chèvre brioche.
Leo: Yeah.
Bartlet: That's a pretty big price to pay just to override my veto.

Bartlet: They're telling me that we're out of time. I just want to mention that at several points during the evening, I was referred to as both a liberal and a populist, and a fellow fourth from the back called me a socialist, which is nice, I haven't heard that for a while. Actually, I'm an economics professor. My great-grandfather's great-grandfather was Dr. Josiah Bartlett, who was the New Hampshire delegate representative to the second Continental Congress, the one that sat in session in Philadelphia in the summer of 1776 and announced to the world that we were no longer subjects of King George III, but rather a self-governing people. "We hold these truths to be self-evident," they said, "that all men are created equal." Strange as it may seem, that was the first time in history that anyone had ever bothered to write that down. Decisions are made by those who show up. Class dismissed. Thank you, everyone. God bless you. And God bless America.

Bartlet: This is a debate that is obviously going to continue in town halls, city halls, state legislatures, and the U.S. House of Representatives. There is a population in this country that seems to focus so much time and energy into this conversation, so much so that I am forced to ask this question - is there an epidemic of flag burning going on that I'm not aware of?

Bartlet: This meeting doesn't go in the Sit Room anymore, okay? I don't know why the hell it's here. This isn't a military operation.
Leo: It's a secure room.
Bartlet: My office is a secure room, too, isn't it? Please, somebody tell me it is or I gotta go pack some stuff.

Bartlet: Time's up.
Little: Actually, if I may, Mr. President. I didn't get my full five minutes.
Bartlet: Yes, I know. But I got tired of listening to you. Now you listen to me. I have a Nobel Prize in Economics and I'm here to tell you that none of you know what the hell you're talking about. At 12:01 am, I'm using my executive power to nationalize the trucking industry.
Little: You can't do that, Mr. President...
Bartlet: Fourteen White House lawyers disagree. Truman did it in ‘52 with the coal mines.
Little: And it was struck down by the Supreme Court.
Bartlet: In 50 years, there's a new bench and I'll take my chances. As for Labor, I am calling Congress into Emergency Session to grant me the authority to draft the truckers into military service. [Russo and the Truckers Union delegates look dumbfounded] You're going to love our food. Nice talking to you folks. If this isn't settled in 47 minutes, don't worry. We know where to find you.

Bartlet: Toby's concerned that the peaceful solution I brokered in Kashmir last year was the result of a drug-induced haze.
Leo: I was there with him. So was Fitz. So was Cashman, Hutchinson, Berryhill...
Toby: Well, that's fantastic.
Leo: Toby.
Toby: None of you were elected!
Bartlet: I was elected, they were appointed. The Vice President was elected. He has the constitutional authority to assume my--
Toby: Not last May, he didn't. Last May, when you were under general anesthesia.
Bartlet: That's because I never signed the letter, but I don't think I got shot because I got MS!
Toby: No, I don't think you did either, sir. I meant that during a night of extreme chaos and fear when we didn't yet know if we'd been the victims of domestic or foreign terrorism, or even an act of war, there was uncertainty as to who was giving the national security orders and it was because you never signed the letter. So I'm led to wonder, given your condition and it's lack of predictability, why there isn't simply a signed letter sitting in a file someplace. And the answer, of course, is that [chuckles] if there was aâ€�a signed letter sitting in a file someplace, somebody would ask why. The Commander in Chief had just been attacked, he was under a general anesthetic, a fugitive was at large, the manhunt included every federal state and local law enforcement agency. The Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware National Guard units were federalized. The KH-10s showed Republican Guard movement in southern Iraq. And twelve hours earlier, an F-117 was shot down in the no-fly, and the Vice President's authority was murky at best! The National Security Advisor and the Secretary of State didn't know who they were taking their orders from. I wasn't in the Situation Room that night, but I'll bet all the money in my pockets against all the money in your pockets that it was Leo. Who no one elected! For ninety minutes that night, there was a coup d'état in this country.
Bartlet: [sarcastically] And the walls came tumbling down. I feel fine, by the way, thanks for asking. [interjecting as Leo tries to speak up] No, Leo, Toby's concern for my health is moving me in ways...
Toby: Mr. President --
Bartlet: [suddenly infuriated, throws a stack of papers against his desk] SHUT UP! [circles around his desk, staring Toby in the face] You know, your indignation would be a lot more interesting to me if it weren't quite so covered in crap!
Charlie: [poking his head in] Sir...
Bartlet: [sharply] Yeah?
Charlie: Mr. Garrett.
Bartlet: Thanks. [glares back at Toby] Are you pissed because I didn't say anything, or are you pissed because there are fifteen people who knew before you did? I feel fine, by the way, thanks for asking.

Bartlet: Toby, I'm drinking the most fantastic thing I've ever tasted in my life: chocolate syrup, cold milk, and seltzer. I know it sounds terrible, but trust me, I don't know where this has been all my life.
Toby: It's called an egg cream, Mr. President. We invented them in Brooklyn.
Bartlet: In Brooklyn? Not New England?
Toby: There are many good things in this world not from New England, sir.
Bartlet: Toby, don't ever let me hear you say that again.

Bartlet: Toby, when you walk out of here, there will be people out there, perhaps a great many, who will think of you as a hero. I just don't for a moment want you thinking I'll be one of them.

Bartlet: Try to find out who those friends of my wife's are in the wire piece and take them out back and have them shot. Can I do that?
Leo: Yeah.
Bartlet: Yeah, Leo says I can do that.

Bartlet: We agree on nothing, Max.
Senator Lobell: Yes, sir.
Bartlet: Education, guns, drugs, school prayer, gays, defense spending, taxes - you name it, we disagree.
Senator Lobell: You know why?
Bartlet: Because I'm a lily-livered, bleeding-heart, liberal, egghead communist.
Senator Lobell: Yes, sir. And I'm a gun-toting, redneck son-of-a-bitch.
Bartlet: Yes, you are.
Senator Lobell: We agree about that.