A Proportional Response

"A Proportional Response" is the third episode of the first season of The West Wing, an American serial television drama. The episode aired on October 6, 1999 on NBC. The episode centers around the continuation of a storyline introduced in the previous episode, in which a plane carrying a new friend of President Bartlet was attacked by the Syrian government. The episode also sees the introduction of Dulé Hill as Charlie Young, and an argument between C. J. Cregg and Sam Seaborn over Sam's decision to befriend a call girl. Cast Plot "A Proportional Response" is a continuation of a storyline that began in the previous episode, "Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc": a plane carrying a new friend of President Bartlet was blown up by the Syrian government. The president's military advisors recommend that he simply respond with a proportional military incursion, bombing several highly-rated military targets, but he rejects this idea, asking "what is the virtue of a proportional response"? He angrily demands that his advisors come up with something far more drastic. But when they do present that plan – an airport bombing with thousands of civilian casualties – he reluctantly picks the initial, proportional bombing instead. This episode also introduces Charlie Young, a young Black man who came to the White House looking for a job as a messenger. Instead, deputy White House Chief of Staff Josh Lyman persuades him to take a job as personal aide to the president. He agrees to take the job in the Oval Office, just before the president addresses the nation on television following the successful bombings.