Season synopsis
Contains spoilers for this season and earlier seasons.
Bartlet’s second-term campaign runs alongside the fallout from the covert killing of Qumari defense minister Abdul Shareef. Leo and the White House work to contain the operation’s exposure as Qumar threatens to blame Israel, while Bartlet faces Republican challenger Robert Ritchie in a televised debate and wins reelection in a landslide. Josh, Toby and Donna are left behind during a campaign trip and must find their way across Indiana; their encounter with voters pushes them toward a plan to make college more affordable. Will Bailey keeps deceased congressional candidate Horton Wilde’s campaign alive. After Wilde wins, Sam runs in the special election, while Will joins the White House. At the same time, Bartlet’s administration responds to a deadly attack at a university swim meet and later confronts crises abroad.
The season closes on two escalating dangers. As the Shareef assassination threatens to become public, Zoey celebrates her graduation and later disappears from a nightclub. The White House learns she has been taken, but neither her location nor the kidnappers’ identity is established before the finale ends. Bartlet fears that grief and anger could compromise his judgment during the search and the unfolding Qumar crisis. Vice President Hoynes has resigned after a sex scandal. With the office vacant, Bartlet invokes Section 3 of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment and steps aside temporarily; Speaker Glenallen Walken is sworn in as Acting President. Zoey’s fate remains open at the season’s end.