A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote

This special presentation is based on Season 3 Episode 14 of The West Wing (1999), Hartsfield's Landing (2002). All of the main original cast members, as well as four members of the secondary cast, who appeared in the original version participated, except for the late John Spencer. Spencer's role as Leo McGarry was filled by Sterling K. Brown. The original episode's title is a fictionalized version of two real-life towns in northern New Hampshire (Dixville Notch and Hart's Location) that vote first in the nation, just after midnight, in primary and presidential elections.

When President Bartlett is talking to the press at ANDREW'S AIR FORCE BASE at night, the words spoken are "and a laquered classic Stanton in boxwood" with the intended meaning that President Bartlett had been given a classic "Stanton Chess Set". Original script failed to correctly spell the word STAUNTON, and this West Wing Special repeats the exact same spelling mistake from the Season Three source material - The West Wing: Hartsfield's Landing (2002).

Every Staunton Chess Set contains a unique style design for each of the chess pieces used to play the game of chess, and was first made available in 1849 by Jaques of London. The journalist Nathaniel Cooke has long been credited with the style design, and he registered his design patent on 1st March 1849. The unique style design is named after the English chess master Howard Staunton (1810-1874), who was generally considered the strongest chess player in the world from 1843 to 1851.

Chess sets are still manufactured in a wide variety of PRE-STAUNTON style designs, often for historical/ornamental reasons rather than practical purposes. In all movies set before 1849, in would be a Factual Mistake for the "Staunton Chess Set" to be used.

Featured in The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: West Winging It! (2020)