Complete story — includes the ending
When former President Owen Lassiter dies, the two living former Presidents, liberal Democrat D. Wire Newman and conservative Republican Glen Allen Walken, fly on Air Force One with President Bartlet to attend the funeral. Onboard, President Bartlet's two guests partake in a lively debate about their administrations. Lassiter and Newman's past actions haunt the current administration when massive pro-democracy protests are held across Saudi Arabia and the protesters surround a compound containing fifty Americans, leaving President Bartlet to decide whether to support the Saudi regime or to risk the fragile status quo by supporting the protesters' efforts. C.J. meets with an eccentric representative from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and Josh and Angela spar over a states' dispute. Guest starring James Cromwell as President Newman and John Goodman as President Walken. Note: The episode title refers to a quote spoken by Abraham Lincoln one month before signing the Emancipation Proclamation: "The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present."
Sources and content license
Source and revision history · Adapted from Wikipedia contributors, The West Wing season 5. HTML formatting and reference markers removed. · Content license