Leo McGarry

The West Wing

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John Spencer
John was the only son of a lower middle-class family. His father, John Speshock, was a truck driver. ...

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Leo McGarry Quotes

	Season 6 / Episode 16: - Drought Conditions Leo McGarry: You are no longer the guy who picks losing candidates and ushers them to their principled end. You're the guy who takes good men and makes them great. You and Josh, you still think you're terriers barking at the heels of the party. You are the party. Rafferty's a spoiler, shouldn't be in the race. Toby Ziegler: I'm not sitting this one out, Leo. Leo McGarry: Don't. But don't pretend you're still an outsider with a ponytail and a dream, you work in the White House... Your brother didn't have any more fight in him. You still do.
	Season 6 / Episode 8: - In the Room Leo McGarry: [to Josh on Arnie Vinick running for President] You ever see Arnie Vinick campaign up close? He'll go into those high school gymnasiums in Iowa and New Hampshire and blow them all away. He'll shake every hand in the joint, kiss every baby, hug every widow on Social Security, and sound smarter and more honest than any Republican they've ever seen. Because he is.
	Season 6 / Episode 1: - NSF Thurmont Leo McGarry: Mr President, please; Congress, the Joint Chiefs, the American Public, your own staff, everyone disagrees with your assessment of the situation. President Josiah Bartlet: Killing Palestinians isn't going to make us feel safer. They'll kill more of us and we'll have to kill more of them. It's Russian Roulette with a fully loaded gun. Leo McGarry: We can't allow terrorists to murder our citizens without... President Josiah Bartlet: -Why would Palestinians murder American government officials? They never have before. They're deliberately provoking us, Leo. They know that we have to retaliate. They've studied us, they want us to overreact. Leo McGarry: This isn't overreacting, this is the appropriate, balanced... President Josiah Bartlet: [shouting] Tell me how this ends, Leo! You want me to start something that may have serious repercussions on American foreign policy for decades, but you don't know how this ends! Leo McGarry: [shouting] We don't always know how it ends! Leo McGarry: The Lincoln will be in position in a few hours, and then you're going to have to give the go ahead for the bombings. President Josiah Bartlet: Or what?
	Season 5 / Episode 13: - The Warfare of Genghis Khan Leo McGarry: My generation never got the future it was promised... Thirty-five years later, cars, air travel is exactly the same. We don't even have the Concorde anymore. Technology stopped. Josh Lyman: The personal computer... Leo McGarry: A more efficient delivery system for gossip and pornography? Where's my jet pack, my colonies on the Moon?
	Season 5 / Episode 6: - Disaster Relief Leo McGarry: I've got a cap gains tax cut tacked on to an appropriations bill, two Bronze Age civilizations threatening to blow each other up over some goats and a major ally that's gonna to be in the lobby leafing through dog-eared copies of Congressional Quarterly while the President is singing "Kumbaya"! I want the President back here now, C.J! This was your idea, fix it!
	Season 5 / Episode 2: - The Dogs of War President Josiah "Jed" Bartlet: "The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral. Returning violence with violence only multiplies violence adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.'" Leo McGarry: Dr. King. President Josiah "Jed" Bartlet: I'm part of that darkness now, Leo. When did that happen? Leo McGarry: Dr. King wasn't wrong. He just didn't have your job.
	Season 4 / Episode 23: - Twenty Five Glenallen Walken: Now I thought you all had some good ideas. But someone should make it clear to the people in this room that someone is in charge. President Josiah Bartlet: Glenn, they've been up all night... Glenallen Walken: You're relieved, Mr. President. Leo McGarry: [pause] You're relieved, sir.
	Season 4 / Episode 15: - Inauguration: Over There (Part 2) Leo McGarry: It is so ordered.
	Season 4 / Episode 15: - Inauguration: Over There (Part 2) Leo McGarry: Ah, that tastes like... nothing at all. It has no taste or properties of any kind.
	Season 4 / Episode 15: - Inauguration: Over There (Part 2) Leo McGarry: You know what the decision directives say? That diplomats and leaders aren't immune from being targets when they're connected to terrorist activities that threaten the U.S. or its citizens. I don't think it's an unusual directive. Claudia Jean 'C.J.' Cregg: That it was given hours before Shareef's plane disappeared. Just a reminder: The more I know, the more I can help you. And don't be concerned with my exposure. I'm not your daughter. I'm the White House Press Secretary.
	Season 4 / Episode 15: - Inauguration: Over There (Part 2) Leo McGarry: A ship in the harbor is safe. But that's not what ships were built for.
	Season 4 / Episode 12: - Guns Not Butter Claudia Jean 'C.J.' Cregg: First of all, that's not a cow. It's not! It's a goat. Yeah, I may have agreed to something about a goat. Leo McGarry: Did the First Lady get you drunk and take you shopping? Claudia Jean 'C.J.' Cregg: Leo... yes.
	Season 4 / Episode 11: - Holy Night Leo McGarry: ...this is big-boy school, Mr. Bailey.
	Season 4 / Episode 10: - Arctic Radar Leo McGarry: Now, please, don't leap into it. Don't... President Josiah Bartlet: There are BIG SIGNS. You CAN'T park there. They should get towed. I hope they get towed to Queens, and the Triboro is closed, and there's a big craft show at Shea, a flea market or a tractor show. Charlie Young: Well, that was probably his secretary. President Josiah Bartlet: Damn it. Charlie Young: You can bet she'll be parking in a garage though.
	Season 4 / Episode 10: - Arctic Radar Leo McGarry: I've got to keep the knucklehead stuff off his desk, and this is worse. This is actually hot-button knucklehead...
	Season 4 / Episode 9: - Swiss Diplomacy Leo McGarry: Are we sure about Japan? I mean, one of these days they're going to find the fairway, right?
	Season 4 / Episode 5: - Debate Camp President Josiah Bartlet: I agreed to be locked up with you people for forty-eight hours. How much time do I have left? Leo McGarry: Forty-seven hours, forty-one minutes.
	Season 3 / Episode 21: - Posse Comitatus Leo McGarry: This is always when you say something. Admiral Percy Fitzwallace: Nah. nah. Have you changed shampoo? You have, I can tell. 'Cause your hair seems bouncy and more manageable. Leo McGarry: I like to look good for you.
	Season 3 / Episode 21: - Posse Comitatus Leo McGarry: Toby, an encouraging word from you to Sam wouldn't be totally out-of-line. Toby Ziegler: Sam doesn't need to be patronized. He'll shake it off. Leo McGarry: It'll make him feel better. Toby Ziegler: I don't want him feeling better. I want him feeling mad. Is there anyone you'd rather have as a blood enemy less than Sam? That's how I want him. Leo McGarry: You know, it was a screw-up. But I gotta say, I love the way he did it full-speed, bam. Like there's a Sam Seaborn-shaped hole in the wall.
	Season 3 / Episode 21: - Posse Comitatus Leo McGarry: We spent millions of dollars developing a pen for the astronauts that would work in zero gravity. Know what the Russians did? Toby Ziegler: Used a pencil? Leo McGarry: They used a pencil.
	Season 3 / Episode 21: - Posse Comitatus Admiral Percy Fitzwallace: Can you tell when it's peacetime and wartime anymore? Leo McGarry: No. Admiral Percy Fitzwallace: I don't know who the world's leading expert on warfare is, but any list of the top has got to include me, and I can't tell when it's peacetime and wartime anymore.
	Season 3 / Episode 21: - Posse Comitatus Leo McGarry: Josh, is there nothing you can do to tame that woman?
	Season 3 / Episode 20: - We Killed Yamamoto Leo McGarry: You may not get an answer today, okay? I don't want to give him too much knucklehead stuff. Bruno Gianelli: Every time you say something like that, I buy canned goods.
	Season 3 / Episode 13: - Night Five Leo McGarry: I hear things. I try to forget them quickly, but...
	Season 3 / Episode 11: - 100,000 Airplanes Leo McGarry: I take a bullet for the President. He doesn't take one for me. Is that all you got?
	Season 3 / Episode 10: - H. Con-172 Atty. Jordon Kendall: I don't understand how you could have a drink. I don't understand how after everything you worked for - how, on that day of all days, you could be so stupid. Leo McGarry: That's because you think it has something to do with smart and stupid. Do you have any idea how many alcoholics are in Mensa? You think it's a lack of willpower? That's like thinking somebody with anorexia nervosa has an overdeveloped sense of vanity...
	Season 3 / Episode 9: - Bartlet for America Leo McGarry: Somebody needs to teach me about this.
	Season 3 / Episode 8: - The Women of Qumar Leo McGarry: You gave Rene a firm talking-to. President Josiah Bartlet: Yes, and while he didn't deserve it, he will someday soon.
	Season 3 / Episode 6: - Gone Quiet Leo McGarry: Why did you tell me that? USAF Gen. Alan Adamle: Because you could be charged and tried for a war crime. Leo McGarry: [long pause, very distraught] WHY did you tell me that? USAF Gen. Alan Adamle: All wars are crimes.
	Season 3 / Episode 4: - On the Day Before Leo McGarry: What have you got? C.J. Cregg: Nothing. You know why? Leo McGarry: Rollins likes us. C.J. Cregg: I don't know if he likes us, but he doesn't hate us. Leo McGarry: Well, that's just 'cause he doesn't know us. C.J. Cregg: Leo, we need to be investigated by someone who wants to kill us just to watch us die. We need someone perceived by the American people to be irresponsible, untrustworthy, partisan, ambitious, and thirsty for the limelight. Am I crazy, or is this not a job for the U. S. House of Representatives? Leo McGarry: Well, they'll get around to it sooner or later. C.J. Cregg: So let's make it sooner - let's make it now. Rollins is driving them crazy. He's moving too slow. He won't talk to the press. They're ready to jump. I swear to God, Leo, I think we can move the show. Leo McGarry: You got a briefing now? C.J. Cregg: Yeah. Leo McGarry: Show me what you're starting with. C.J. Cregg: Yeah.

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