A stealth fighter is shot down over Iraq, leading to Bartlet ordering a military rescue as Toby worries about his brother trapped on a space shuttle orbiting the Earth. CJ deals with the ramifications of misleading the press about the rescue as the staff prepares for a town hall meeting that night. The town hall meeting goes well until the President leaves...and shots ring out.

The President is rushed to hospital following a shooting; staffers field questions on protection measures and executive authority. Flashbacks show how key staff members joined the Bartlet campaign.

A suspect in the presidential shooting is caught; staffers anxiously await news on Bartlet and Josh's injuries; flashbacks show how C.J. and Donna joined Bartlet's campaign.

The President and NASA plan a TV event for a probe's landing on Mars; satellite photographs show a suspicious-looking fire in Russia; Leo asks Toby and Josh to decide on the next postage stamp; Sam and C.J. have personal reasons for not wanting to accompany the President to a concert.

As the Haitian army continues their seizure of the American embassy there, Bartlet and the staff prepare for the announcement that Bartlet has M.S. and the President must decide whether or he will seek re-election. As the funeral for Mrs. Landingham takes place and the announcement draws nearer, Bartlet thinks back to his past in search of the answer to the question everyone is asking: Will he seek re-election?

The staff is hunkered down in the Bartlets' hometown of Manchester, N.H., where they work with political consultants Bruno, Doug and Connie on the president's official announcement that he'll be seeking a second term; meanwhile, they all lament various W.H. events of the previous four weeks, including a huge strategic mistake by Josh, a pivotal FDA announcement scheduled for the same day as the president's speech, an ongoing battle between then president and first lady, and a major press room gaffe by C.J.

A small town in N.H. is the site of the first presidential primary vote, and the results from Hartsfield's Landing, announced at 12:07 a.m., will dominate the news all day until the final tally. Josh wants favorable press for the president, prompting him to ask Donna to persuade a local couple she knows to reconsider their vote. Elsewhere, Bartlet has just returned from India with a collection of antique chess sets he gives as gifts to the staff. He plays Toby while they discuss their recent blow-up, Bartlet's insomnia and Toby's fervent belief that the president's enormous intellectual gravitas is an asset, not a liability, to the campaign. He also plays Sam as they discuss a critical detente standoff between China and Taiwan. And Charlie and C.J. stand off in a series of pranks over a missing copy of the president's private schedule.

A lavish W.H. party for Abbey's birthday the night before a N.H. medical board begins hearings on whether to suspend her license over her secret treatment of her husband's MS. Abbey returns to the residence with C.J. and Amy Gardener to get blitzed on wine and discuss her concerns about her medical career. Donna is restricted from joining the party because a decades-old cartography error puts her birthplace in Canada. Toby and U.K. Ambassador Lord John Marbury (Roger Rees) go to a nearby bar to share a bottle of very rare Scotch and to discuss a planned W.H. visit by an IRA political activist, which culminates in Marbury surprising Toby with his progressive vision. Later, Donna joins the women in the residence and makes an off-the-cuff remark that causes Abbey to rethink her stance on the issue of her license.

It is the day of Bartlet's second inauguration and yet the celebrations stutter as the staff are stunned by a betrayal in their midst.

Zoey Barlet has been held for over a day. An international crisis looms that could have serious repercussions for the administration, let alone the hostage.

President Bartlet and his current and former staffers come together for Leo's funeral.

Santos and his staff prepare for the inauguration as Bartlet and his team look back on their years in the White House.