Bartlet (Martin Sheen)'s line - "The streets of Heaven are too crowded with angels" - was lifted from Tom Hanks' acceptance speech when he won the Best Actor Oscar for Philadelphia (1993). Bradley Whitford also appeared in Philadelphia, alongside Tom Hanks.
Guest star John Gallagher Jr. who appears on this episode and the one preceeding it later worked with Aaron Sorkin in a leading role in his HBO drama The Newsroom.
In 2006, a freelance reporter was fired by NBC for copying sections of the Kennison State plot line for a piece intended to appear before the Kentucky Derby.
When Toby and Josh are discussing governor Ritchie's intelligence on the train, Toby laments that Ritchie thinks Neville Chamberlain led Britain during WW2. Chamberlain did in fact lead Britain in WW2, but only for the first 8 months before giving way to Winston Churchill. However, the reference Toby makes is to Richard Chamberlain.
Lily Tomlin plays the role of Jed Bartlet (Martin Sheen)'s new secretary. His previous secretary Mrs Landingham was played by Kathryn Joosten. Tomlin & Joosten would go on to play sisters on Desperate Housewives (2004).