Hoynes throws his hat in the presidential ring, and asks Josh to join his campaign; Jed's health begins to deteriorate; Toby and Kate head the protocol negotiations with the Chinese over the arrangements for the upcoming summit, which is jeopardized when Jed mistakenly accepts a Taiwanese flag at the National Prayer Breakfast; Bernard takes his new position as head of the Gifts Unit to heart as he gives Charlie a hard time about retrieving the flag so that it can be returned; Josh has his hands full with a pro-Taiwanese senator holding a hard line on recognizing their independence; Bob Russell crashes an Oval Office photo op with the governor of Pennsylvania, who's also another potential presidential candidate.
Quest roles:
Stockard Channing(Abbey Bartlet), Lily Tomlin(Deborah Fiderer), NiCole Robinson(Margaret Hooper), Gary Cole(Vice President Bob Russell), Philip Baker Hall(Senator Matt Hunt), Paxton Whitehead(Bernard Thatch), Tim Matheson(John Hoynes), Ed O'Neill(Governor Eric Baker D-PA), Michael Kostroff(Richard Squire), Katherine Ann McGregor(Suzanne Hoynes), George Cheung(Chinese Ambassador Ling-Po), James Taylor(James Taylor)