In the episode, the characters reaffirmed their commitment to the president after a White House insider wrote a memo attacking the president, leading to the popularizing of the sound bite: "I serve at the pleasure of the president." In addition, the "Let Bartlet Be Bartlet" episode captured the series' effort to show how politics and government could work in Washington D.C., and the series creators subsequently used the title phrase, "Let Bartlet be Bartlet," as a recurring rallying cry theme of the series. Yet, in episodes that followed "Let Bartlet Be Bartlet," the fictional staff's success in pursuing agendas more aggressively was mixed at best. For example, in season 2, their attempt to retake control of Congress fell short. In commenting on the episode and its application to real life, television writer R. D. Heldenfels noted in January 2001: