“The streets of Heaven are too crowded with angels tonight... This is the time for American heroes, and we reach for the stars.” Never fails to make me and my father sob every damn time.
I remember the first time I saw this scene. Right after 9/11 and I realized Sorkin wrote the speech to the First Responders. First time I ever saw the 4th wall broken in that way. I went back and rewatched Seasons 1-4 giving them my full and proper attention. I still tear each time I see this scene.
Possibly no other tv show captures the “feeling” of a national tragedy. The image of Toby, Josh, and Donna just looking at the tv is somehow almost as power as President Bartlett’s own speech. Almost
@Mike Halsall ~ l was thinking the exact same thing. I don’t think Trump has A) the ability to give a speech WITHOUT reading from the TelePrompters the entire time. B) pronounce every word correctly. C) sound empathetic, sympathetic or inspirational. D) not talk about himself
The Song “I don’t like Mondays” was written by an Irish band, The Boomtown Rats. It’s about a US school shooting in 1979, when asked why she did it, the shooter said it was become she didn’t like Mondays
President Bartlet's speech always makes me cry, but especially after tragedies like the bombing today in Boston and the Newtown shootings last December. The West Wing was one of the most brilliant shows on television because it actually reflected reality, often painfully but always in ways that gave you hope. Aaron Sorkin and the cast of the show have left a lasting legacy.
It's funny, I think it was either Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert that echoed this speech quite closely afterwards about how people ran back into the fire of the Marathon bombings to help those in need.
I lived in California on 9/11, and at about 2pm a group of my friends went down to the Red Cross to donate blood. The line was IMMENSE, and though the wait was long, NOBODY was short tempered. We shared food and drinks, played cards, and talked to our neighbors. At about 4 a spokesperson for the Red Cross came out and told us that they were going to have to shut down, because the volume of donations that day had depleted the Red Cross’s supplies for the entire region! That blew my mind! Before the dust had literally settled in NY, 3000 miles away, Americans had overwhelmed the Red Cross! What I love most about this scene is that it is NOT fictional. The storyline is, but the inspiration behind it happens all the time.
The sad thing is that given the state of American politics and belief system of a high percentage of citizens, the America we had the day after 9/11 will never happen again. I was in the middle of the ocean and our supply ship was redirected. When reading the message we received I couldn't control my anger or sadness. When we pulled into Bahrain I got to watch American television for the first time in awhile (three days after) and was overwhelmed with seeing the unity of the country. The percentage of citizens that hate the country and the western nations is sad to me. We are not perfect and we should really try to avoid being the world's police because it just strengthens the resolve of those that hate us. But we as a nation really do try to pursue freedom.
@@jasonchambers1679 I still think we can return to that unity, but not without a sacrifice that we shouldn't wish for. I'm talking about how American news was covered shortly after 9/11. The press were not censored, but any attempts to disunify the country in our moment of greatest vulnerability was met with great ridicule. The press did not look to cover those who were angry or cried for retribution right after, but all the nation mourning, consoling, and uniting over a tragedy. There was rage in clips and memorials, from footage I remember as a young kid, but they were not what the news gave a spotlight to. Instead of the increase in attacks on Muslim people by Americans, they shone the camera more towards president Bush pleading for the nation to not lash out at their fellow countrymen. Instead of the uptick in racial profiling by police, like stop-and-search in NYC, news anchors talked about the increases in security to prevent such a tragedy from occurring again. Instead of the memorials with writings of vengeance to be delivered onto someone (whom the nation was not completely sure who to blame), we emphasized that volunteer groups and relief efforts were never as large or busy until now. Trying to attempt that unity again, without some great tragedy that somehow affects everyone from all walks of life, would be just making us into another nation like the ones we always fight against.
The speech is great but I really like the last bit, where Ron Silver asks Rob Lowe when he wrote the last part. When he says in the car, Silver just says "Freak." Mad respect.
I actually feel it shouldn’t have been there. The tragedy matter not the speech and to praise someone for good writing in the middle of a tragic event felt misplaced, at least for me. But yes, never fails to give me goosebumps :)
In my opinion, this is second ONLY to Bartlett's 'rant to god' in Two Cathedrals. Martin Sheen is magnificent in this scene and the writing is out of this world. The whole sequence is perfection. A great moment in tv history.
With his speech to the teachers the next day coming in at 3rd. “'Joy cometh in the morning,' scripture tells us. I hope so. I don't know if life would be worth living if it didn't. And I don't yet know who set off the bomb at Kennison State. I don't know if it's one person or ten, and I don't know what they want. All I know for sure, all I know for certain, is that they weren't born wanting to do this. There's evil in the world, there'll always be, and we can't do anything about that. But there's violence in our schools, too much mayhem in our culture, and we can do something about that. There's not enough character, discipline, and depth in our classrooms; there aren't enough teachers in our classrooms. There isn't nearly enough, not nearly enough, not nearly enough money in our classrooms, and we can do something about that. We're not doing nearly enough, not nearly enough to teach our children well, and we can do better, and we must do better, and we will do better, and we will start this moment today! They weren't born wanting to do this.”
"When did you write that last part?" "In the car". "Freak"! LOL West Wing had the best writing with Sorkin and the actors delivered the lines perfectly, making it one of the best shows on television.
After the events in Paris yesterday, I felt the need to come and watch this scene. Really does sum it all up perfectly. May all of those that died rest in peace.
"Ran INTO the fire." If only we, as non fictional humans could be -- even once -- as metaphorically good and strong as those fictional characters we aspire to be. We should just keep trying.
We can be. And we are. From time to time. When we put aside our petty differences and self importance. When we see a problem we can face and stand against and lay our hands on. It's there in us all. Some deeper than others perhaps, but it's there. It's why I always keep certain words close to my heart. They're simple, a little quaint, and perhaps kind of silly. But I remember the first time I heard them and they have stayed with me all my life and when I need to find that part of me, to be reminded of what we can and should be, I recall them. "In the end, the world didn't really need a 'Superman.' Just a brave one."
There are many cases of such heroic actions, for example during 9/11 there was a fourth plane headed for New York, when the civilians on board found out what was about to happen they stormed the cockpit and crashed the plane to prevent it being used as a weapon. There are also cases where people fought off terrorists in London, Nice, Brussels, Berlin. You also forget about our brave soldiers and emergency services who every day put their lives on the line, and are often thrust into situations in which they make the ultimate sacrifice in service to their fellow citizens and country. Preventing terror attacks, WWI, WWII, fighting fires, providing medical assistance in very hostile environments. Let us never forget the sacrifices they have made, and not only made, but made through their own free will, bravery, selflessness and complete disregard for their own safety in the assistance of others.
This is what made the show great in the first 4 seasons, and why Sorkin is one of the great writers/producers. The words,combined with the actors the music the lighting all work together to make this amazing.
"The streets of heaven are too crowded with angels tonight." The number of days we've had in this country where this line was all too relevant. Too many of those days.
My God ... Every time I hear that speach, I get a very cold chill up my spine ... Not just because of the content. Not just the situation that invoked it. Not just Tori Amos's cover of 'I Don't Like Mondays' by Bob Geldof and The Boomtown Rats. But because, when I hear Pres. Bartlett speak, I hear the same tones, the same inflections, as JFK, who turned mere oritory into art ... ... and yes, Sam is a freak ...
I am not an American, I don't know much about American political system until I watched this show. But man, number of times I have watched this speech just surprises me and I will watch it again and again. The rhythm , the content the delivery, Aaron's best work in my opinion.
No. Normally, a speechwriter writes, edits, and polishes his or her words over and over again to get them exactly right. The tone, the pacing, and the meaning can all be altered just by changing one word in a sentence, or by adjusting the structure so that it leads to emphasis on a certain word. Here's an example: "Boldly to go where no one has gone before", vs. "To boldly go where no one has gone before". The flow, the meter, the "poetry" if you will, is much better in the second sentence, all by switching the order of just the first two words. Bruno called him a freak because this that good, and it was basically a first draft.
What i never understood was that Sam says he wrote it in the car, except the episode STARTS with that exact line when Bartlett is campaigning in Iowa. Am I missing something?
"If our job teaches us anything, it's that we don't know what the next President's gonna face. And if we choose someone with vision, someone with guts, someone with gravitas, who's connected to other people's lives, and cares about making them better - if we choose someone to inspire us, then we'll be able to face what comes our way and achieve things we can't imagine yet. Instead of telling people who's the most qualified, instead of telling people who's got the better ideas, let's make it obvious. It's going to be hard." "...Then we'll do what's hard."
Except some of those attributes are contradictory in the real world. People who look at a tough, smart, capable, empathetic leader whose philosophy they FUNDAMENTALLY DISAGRRE WITH are not going to see a savior. They are going to see a particularly deadly enemy. And they are right.
I always thought the scene of Toby then Josh then Donna looking at the television set to be the most depressing. There they are, wet from the rain, still stranded, and ultimately defeated, and yet, they have it better than the bombing victims.
We did not seek nor did we provoke an assault on our freedom and our way of life. We did not expect nor did we invite a confrontation with evil. Yet the true measure of a people's strength is how they rise to master that moment when it does arrive.For Manchester Today and all other cities and people that fell victime of terror attacks
I was on a train in England when news of the Uvalde shooting broke. This line kept playing in my head as I eavesdropped on what the British passengers thought of our obsessions with guns. I cried myself to sleep that night and didn’t want to come home. But I can’t try to help if Im not here.
@@patriciaabatemarco3834 I was a uni in 1996 with some friends buying a crappy second hand car when the new broke of the Dunblane massacre, when a delusional pos killed 16 primary school children and a teacher. Till the day I die I will never forget the stunned horrified silence whilst listening to the news on the car radio. I am immeasurably grateful that the then government pushed through new laws which severely curtailed gun ownership with pretty much unanimous agreement. My child went though her entire school education without a single 'active shooter drill' so unlike my nieces and nephews in the US. Madness......
"We will do what is hard, we will achieve what is great. This is the time for American Hero's and we reach for the stars." Thank you Arron Sorkin and Thanks for the post.
This clip while being one of the best 3 minutes in The West Wing series, is a microcosm of just how amazing this show was. I think sometimes it was overshadowed by the Sopranos which pretty much aired side by side. It is, as so many people have said before me, THE BEST....written, acted, directed and especially casted show in network TV history. I’ve watched the series from start to finish 4 times now and it gets better every single time.
During the events in Paris I was struck by similarity to this episode when witnesses reported that one of the security guards, hearing the shooting, ran towards the sound. He was one of the dead and a truly brave man.
There are always people who run into danger to help others, not thinking of themselves as heroic, but rather as everyday people doing what anyone would. In short there are always heroes, but oh so many of them die doing what little they can to help and it makes all the difference.
I have to smile when she says "Kennison Hawkeyes." I was a student at the University of Iowa at the time this episode aired, which of course are the Hawkeyes and a Big Ten school. Cedar Rapids is 30 minutes from Iowa City. Sorkin could have just written "Iowa Hawkeyes", no one would have mistaken this for a real story.
Boomtown Rats cover of I don’t like Mondays playing in the background, a song about one of the first publicized school shooting, a song about personal internal rage erupting into tragedy and easy access to a weapon.
I want my President to be 100% just like this. To not only say the right thing but to feel heart and soul and mind what he or she is saying. For this year's Presidential election, i vote we write in a fourth choice -- President Jeb Bartlett ❤
Allison Janney here is just as professional as it gets- the presidents speech is incredible. Martin Sheen is more presidential than what we’ve dealt with lately.
+Cindy Tartt hanks ain't a republican. he's given big money to democrat campaigns, endorsed obama, and is outspoken on a number of issues - all of which he leans left on.
This is a time for American heroes and we reach for the stars..May God bless their memory..God bless you..and may God Bless THE United States of America...thank you..
I coach the debate team at my old high school. I make them watch things like Bartlet's speech in this for inspiration. Still makes me want to cry. 'The streets of heaven are too crowded with angels tonight'.
Im not an American and I'm not a Hero, but for 29 Years and 10 Months I was a Person who Walked into Danger whenever it occurred. Running into Danger only gets you killed, because the faster you move the narrower becomes your Field of Vision. For almost 30 Years I walked.
02:48 "Everytime we think we have measured our capacity to meet a challenge, we look up and are reminded that that capacity may well be limitless. This is a time for American heroes, we will do what is hard..." The West Wing "We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard." President John F. Kennedy, Texas, September 12 1962
The song is what gets me. Its a direct quote from the perpetrator of the Cleveland Elementary School shooting. The original is by the boomtown rats. It never made it big in the US, but it was number one in the UK for a month. Just the pain and the despair in the refrain. The kid who did it lived across the road from an elementary school, and fired upon the playground as people were arriving. Killing both the school principle and custodian. By some *miracle*, the 8 children she shot all survived their injuries. The girl in question was 16. Both she and her father slept on a single mattress on the living room floor in a house strewn with empty beer bottles. She'd tried to seek psychiatric help and been refused by her father. The summer before, she'd been arrested for shooting people out the window with a BB gun. Her probation officer for this offense said she needed psychiatric help and treatment for depression. Her father refused, and bought her a rifle for Christmas: She herself said she thought he wanted her to use it on herself. In 2001 she finally admitted her father had sexually abused her. She was charged as an adult, and sentenced to life in prison, the day she turned 18. After 25 years in prison, she was refused parol, on the grounds that she had committed selfharm four years earlier. The self harm consisted of carving the words "Unforgiven" and "Alone" into her skin. As its later said in this episode, nobody is born wanting to do this kind of thing. Nobody. It doesn't happen. Everytime I see a kid guilty of some appalling crime, my heart breaks because it means they were failed. They were failed by the people who should have helped t hem, long before they became capable of that. I can't imagine living that kind of life. I imagine those kids. I imagine the kids she tried to kill. The teachers she killed. Their families. And I think of how many opportunities there must have been throughout the years where some compassion, some mercy, some love might have been shown that could have averted some a calamity. Instead you have a broken, ruined person, and dozens of lives destroyed. And more than anything, I think, God. How is it possible that wasn't the moment that people said "okay, we need to change things." That that wasn't the year we look at the way that American society changed for good? There are so many people people out there, every single day. And we don't notice until they do something so appalling that we can punish them as adults and absolve ourselves and society of any possible responsibility or blame for not doing something sooner. Its just so... wrong. Its barbaric. The fact that its even possible for a child to do something like that, shows a complete breakdown of society. The fact that it happens time after time, again and again, reveals the soul of a society that is fine with punishing the guilty, but refuses to help the innocent. Its almost sacrilegious.
I thought you were mistaken about the name of the school, but there was a shooting at Cleveland Elementary in Stockton California almost exactly 10 years later.
I can't express my depth of gratitude for those words. Thank you for taking the time to write such an eloquent reflection on the state of this tragic situation which every year worsens across the Nation. Your response is the most elegant and thoughtful I have ever heard in this national discussion.
@@drmike329 I wrote this two years ago. You wouldn't have thought it would still be relevant. But it is astonishing to see history repeat itself again and again. But not long ago, we saw the first parents ever charged for their son's school shooting. A child who had desperately sought help before he hurt someone, and who was instead given a gun for Christmas. His parents clearly gave it to him, expecting - and hoping - he would use it on himself. We wait till they do something monstrous so we can take vengeance, after the fact. To soothe our own conscience, and make ourselves feel better. But we don't lift a finger until then.
I so fondly remember the days when a President could not only speak in complete, grammatically accurate sentences, but also go more than 2 minutes without using the word "I"...
Years after this series ended, I still remember scenes with speeches such as this one. It's hard to think of a speech by any of the last half dozen or so US Presidents that is as powerfully moving as what we view here. It's a shame that the amazingly talented script writers from programs such as West Wing don't lend their skills to assist a President or a Presidential candidate whose agenda they support.
Every time I hear Tori Amos 's I don't like Mondays. I begin to cry recalling this episode. If only our next president could have this kind of presence and thought in his speeches. After Trump and Biden we desperately need it.
For most the best episode of TWW was Two Cathedrals, for me the best one (technically two) is 20 Hours In America It switches between the WH and real places in America, it's a perfect blend of TWW sense of humor (funniest moment in the series being the Timezones scene), dialogue, character relationships and emotions (with what is one of the greatest Bartlet speeches). Alll in all it delivers everything we love about the series, a perfect episode.
It may be syndicated as a two-parter, but it originally aired as a single two-hour episode, which is why the ending of the first part and the cold open of the second part seem so awkward and oddly paced. They were originally just two scenes in the middle of the episode. I have no idea why they kept it as a two-parter on the DVD set and on streaming, now that they're not constrained by the limitations of a TV timing block.
I totally agree with you. 20 hours in america part 2 is my all time favourite episode of west wing. My second favourite being the episode they did in the wake of 9/11. TWW is/was an amazing show and what started my interest in american politics, in fact politics in general. Aaron Sorkin is truly an amazing writer!
It's sad that a fictional president has more compassion, and emotion for a fictional loss of life from a tragedy, then an actual real life president had.
When the virus struck ... no inspiring speeches, no bold plans from Americans reaching for the stars, ... just excuses and rationalizations and stolen valor. Jed Bartlett would be awesome ... but we'll settle for some measure of competence and honor at this point. SOME measure.
Even though I’m an atheist, during times of mass tragedy such as school shootings or bombings, I’d much rather hear “the streets of heaven are too crowded with angels tonight” than “thoughts and prayers.”
TIL, the song "I don't like Mondays" was based on a woman who shot a sniper rifle into an elementary school across the street, killing two adults and injuring many children. When asked why she did it, she said "I don't like Mondays. This livens up the day."
