Because life on The West Wing was always better than reality here are some clips from a few episodes that dealt with the State of The Union, the Super Bowl of speech writing and oration) from a show I had almost forgotten how amazing it truly was.
Sigh; where have you gone Josiah Bartlet? I still turn my lonely eyes to you
"Bartlet’s Third State of the Union" from Feburary 7 2001. Season 2 Episode 35
100,000 Airplanes
Season 3 Episode 55 Wednesday January 16, 2002
*The title refers to Sam's explanation of why overreaching is good:
"In 1940 our armed forces weren't among the 12 most formidable in the world, but obviously we were going to fight a big war. And Roosevelt said the U.S. would produce 50,000 planes in the next four years. Everyone thought it was a joke and it was 'cause we produced 100,000 planes. Gave our armed forces an armada which would block out the sun
He Shall, From Time To Time…
Season 1 Episode 12 Wednesday January 12, 2000
“He shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the state of the union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.”- Article II Section 3
"C. J.: Should we postpone the State of the Union? What are the rules on that?
Toby: He's required to give Congress information on the state of the union. If he buys Congress a subscription to The Wall Street Journal, he's fulfilled his constitutional [obligation]"
- 100,00 Airplanes
The speech that President Bartlet delivers is taken word for word from Bill Clinton's 1999 State of the Union Address which concludes with
In ways large and small, as we look to the millennium, we are keeping alive what George Washington called "the sacred fire of liberty."
Six years ago, I came to office in a time of doubt for America, with our economy troubled, our deficit high, our people divided. Some even wondered whether our best days were behind us. But across this country, in a thousand neighborhoods, I have seen, even amidst the pain and uncertainty of recession, the real heart and character of America.
I knew then that we Americans could renew this country.
Tonight, as I deliver the last State of the Union address of the 20th century, no one anywhere in the world can doubt the enduring resolve and boundless capacity of the American people to work toward that "more perfect union" of our founders' dreams.
We're now at the end of a century when generation after generation of Americans answered the call to greatness, overcoming Depression, lifting up the dispossessed, bringing down barriers to racial prejudice, building the largest middle class in history, winning two world wars and the "long twilight struggle" of the Cold War.
We must all be profoundly grateful for the magnificent achievements of our forbears in this century.
Yet perhaps in the daily press of events, in the clash of controversy, we do not see our own time for what it truly is: a new dawn for America.
A hundred years from tonight, another American president will stand in this place to report on the State of the Union. He - - or she -- will -- will look back -- he or she will look back on a 21st century shaped in so many ways by the decisions we make here and now. So let it be said of us then that we were thinking not only of our time, but of their time; that we reached as high as our ideals; that we put aside our divisions and found a new hour of healing and hopefulness; that we joined together to serve and strengthen the land we love.
My fellow Americans, this is our moment. Let us lift our eyes as one nation, and from the mountaintop of this American century, look ahead to the next one, asking God's blessing on our endeavors and on our beloved country.
I’ll always love Bill, forever and ever.
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