The West Wing: Let Bartlet Be Bartlet

"Let Bartlet Be Bartlet" is the 19th episode of The West Wing and first appeared on television in April 2000. In the episode, a White House insider writes a memo that attacks the fictional President of the United States for his ineffectiveness to make bold decisions due to his timid nature. A lesson contained in the episode and its title – let the politician be himself/politicians must remain true to themselves – captured the series' effort to show how politics and government could work in Washington D.C. The series creators subsequently used the title phrase, "Let Bartlet be Bartlet," as a recurring rallying cry theme of the series. In addition, political commentators took the same lesson from the episode and have applied it since 2001 to politicians in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and other countries.