McElvaine: Abandoning His Own Beliefs

The most pressing issue the President faces in the pilot episode of The West Wing is the battle over his own beliefs. The President, along with his team, must find a way to govern their country without allowing their own beliefs to cloud their judgment. In the pilot episode we see that it is very difficult for many of the team members to stifle their opinions. For example, when Josh makes controversial statements during a TV interview or when Toby argues with Mary Marsh and the other christian leaders about the intent behind their actions and words. Even though they were both well aware that it may have been more beneficial to hold their tongues, their beliefs about an issue were so strong that at that moment nothing could censor them.

The President and his team members struggle to find a balance between leading the country and tempering their opinions. They struggle to lead a government that is separate from church while still honoring the requests and beliefs of the christian group with whom they are dealing. Obviously, the President will strive to lead the country according to his beliefs of what is necessary but the presidency also has a moral obligation to aim to appease everyone's demands and to consider each person's beliefs.
The episode ends with an inspiring speech from the President reminding his staff why they do the jobs they do and refocusing them. We are reminded at the end of the episode that despite contrasting beliefs in the government and in our country, the President has the citizens' best interest at heart. However, it is made clear by this episode that opinions cannot simply be disregarded when making decisions that affect a large number of people and government leaders struggle each day in trying to find a way to express their opinions safely.

Calderon The West Wing

Many political issues came up in the pilot of the West Wing. A pressing political issue involved the idea of politics mixing with religion. The beginning of the episode involved Josh's uproar earlier on a morning talk show. He was being pressed to his limits by a Christian activist while he yelled, "Lady, the God you're praying to is probably too busy being indicted by tax fraud." Josh crossed the line and put the President in a very bad position. The President would then have to consider Josh's position in the office because it would look bad if Josh stayed in the office. Also, the President read in a magazine that his granddaughter stated her opinion on teenage pregnancy to a teen magazine. The President later heard that his granddaughter received a raggedy, old doll with a knife struck through it on her doorstep. She was terrified because she was already receiving hate mail and she was just thirteen years old. The President outraged at the extremist group for sending the doll asked the leader of the Christian group to ban the extremists and leave the office immediately. This issue shows us how difficult religion and politics come together. It was hard for the President to keep his tongue until his family became involved. How far can the President go before reaching his limit? It gives us a different perspective on what the President can say about the Christian groups and how he deals with them. In the end, the President outraged at the Christian group called them out of his office and out of the White House until they ban the extremist group. The damage control was handled well by the White House staff and the President chose well with keeping Josh.

Motsinger The West Wing

The most pressing issue in the first episode of the "West Wing" seemed to be the repercussions of Josh Lyman's faux pa of insulting Mary Marsh, a religious fanatic, on public television. He told her that "[her] God.... is too busy being indicted for tax fraud." This put the President in-between a rock and a hard place, as he would either have to fire his close friend, or keep Josh and become less popular to the American people. On top of that, Mary Marsh wanted condoms taken out of the school systems, in order to suffice for Josh's publicly humiliating her. Bartlett made a wise decision in denying Marsh's request, and denouncing her religious group for its insulting and dangerous fanaticism-- they sent Bartlett's grand-daughter a doll with a knife through its throat, because she supported "pro-choice" in a teen magazine interview.

Though it was a minor part of the episode, Sam Seaborn's predicament after sleeping with Laurie, a prostitute, put him in a bind as well. Most politicians today that have slept with prostitutes are guaranteed to gain a horrible reputation, despite that many everyday persons do the same thing and get away unscathed and unnoticed by the media. After realizing that Sam was unaware that Laurie was a "call girl," we, as the viewers, feel sympathetic towards Sam as well as several other politicians in similar situations.