Title: "Letters for the Future (1/2)" PG
Characters: Jed, Matt (kinda)
Category: General
Rating: Teen
Post Ep: "Election Day, part 2"
Summary: Jed writes a letter to the new President.
Author's Note: This is the second story in the "On the Path to the Future" series.
Feedback: inspired101. anywhere, just tell me so I can tell people.

Letters for the Future (1/2) "The Promise of the Office"

Jed walked through the portico doors into the Oval Office as the President of the United States for what would probably be the last time. He simply walked around the office, gathering the memories from his eight years as its occupant. So much had gone on there, he thought. So many meetings held and decisions made there.

He remembered wishing that someone had left him a guidebook for his time in office. Even though his first year had been relatively quiet, he had felt so out of sorts and lost. Being President of the United States is a big job, Jed thought. The office holds so much promise, and so much power, and the person that holds the office shapes that power, and tries to fulfill that promise, he thought. With those thoughts, he made a decision. He sat down as his desk, and retrieved several sheets of paper, a pen, two envelopes and began to write.

Dear Matt,

It is the morning of your inauguration, and I've been thinking about my own time in office. I came into the Oval Office for the last time as President of the United States this morning, intent on gathering memories of my time here. I remembered my first days in office, and how I desperately wished for a guidebook, even just a voice of wisdom. I'm offering you the voice of wisdom I wished for. Though the President before me had been a Democrat, I never had the opportunity to pick his brain, and learn about his time in office.

I know you were counting on Leo to help you govern once you got to this point. Though you don't have Leo anymore, you still have a team you can count on. Trust Josh. Together with Sam and Donna, they make a formidable team.

I'm not sure how often you've had cause to witness it, but Donna is the glue that holds Josh together on many days. Not only does she give him something to fight for, but she knows him like no one else. Thankfully the two of them have gotten their heads out of their asses and saw what the rest of us saw for years. As Josh, Donna, and Sam start their families, they'll only learn more about what they're fighting for, and can help you all the more.

As much as I wanted a guidebook to the office of the President of the United States, I came to realize that I had to experience things for myself. Even as I learned that lesson, however, I still wished for someone to whom I could pose questions—someone that could give me advice based upon experience. If you have a situation where you'd welcome additional advice from someone who's made the decision before, I offer you my experience.

As to what to do with the time you've been given as President of the United States, take a lesson from Leo. In the days after he came back from his first heart attack, he watched old State of the Union speeches, and Inaugural addresses. He was looking for things we had wanted to accomplish, but for whatever reason never had. He tried to get all of us in a meeting throughout the day, but the running of the country, and problems elsewhere in the world pulled our attention away. It wasn't until 10 o'clock that night when I pulled everyone back into the West Wing that we finally had that meeting, and sat around and decided what to do with the time we had left. He explained that in the White House, we had so much power to affect people's lives—that we had more power now to change people's lives than we ever would once we left the White House. Matt, whether you serve one term or two, you have a set number of days to make people's lives better. What do you want to do with them?

Sincerely,

Jed Bartlet

Jed folded the letter and placed it in one of the envelopes he had found in a drawer. On the outside of the envelope, he wrote "President Matthew Santos." He sealed the envelope and stuck it in the top left drawer of the desk for the newest president to find later that day as he tried to get a feel for his new surroundings. He then walked next door, to the office that Josh Lyman would soon occupy.