Season synopsis
Contains spoilers for this season and earlier seasons.
Season 6 carries the Gaza bombing into a fragile Israeli-Palestinian summit at Camp David. Bartlet presses the parties to stay at the table, while Leo joins the summit despite disagreeing with the peace effort and Bartlet’s decision to use force in Syria. Leo offers to resign; Bartlet accepts and asks him to identify a successor. Moments later, Leo suffers a heart attack in the woods and is taken to hospital. C.J. becomes chief of staff, and Bartlet must manage his guilt and the negotiations without his long-time adviser. The summit reaches an agreement, but keeping it in place proves harder than securing the meeting.
Outside the White House, Josh leaves to build a presidential campaign for Congressman Matt Santos, who had considered retiring. Santos resists the usual vote-first tactics, and his long-shot campaign struggles to gain recognition against better-funded opponents. The season follows the Democratic primary contest as Vice President Bob Russell, former Vice President John Hoynes and Santos compete, while California Senator Arnold Vinick secures the Republican nomination. Leo returns to Washington after recovering, but the nomination fight reaches a convention without a clear Democratic winner.
At the convention, Santos rejects pressure to withdraw and gives a speech that revives his candidacy. Bartlet helps him win over a key teachers’ union, and the delegates make Santos the nominee; Josh then persuades Leo to join him as the vice-presidential candidate. The finale also places the White House in a national-security crisis when astronauts are stranded at the space station and the only rescue option is a classified military shuttle. The shuttle’s exposure triggers an FBI investigation into a leak from inside the West Wing, while the Democratic ticket prepares to face Vinick in the general election.