Vince Foster

RORY: Okay, I have something to tell you.

LORELAI: Is it about Vince Foster?

Vincent “Vince” Foster (1945-1993), attorney who served as deputy White House counsel during the first six months of the Clinton administration. A childhood friend of Bill Clinton, he was unhappy working in politics, and became severely depressed. He was found dead from a gunshot wound in Fort Marcy Park in Virginia, just outside Washington DC, with a torn up resignation letter in his briefcase. His death was ruled a suicide, but several tabloids and newsletters speculated that he had been murdered, possibly involving the Clintons themselves.

Lorelai jokingly questions Rory, as if she is expecting her to provide inside information on the case (because Rory is in student government now).

Dan Quayle

LORELAI: I always thought if he could just get it together, grow up – maybe we could do it. Maybe we could really be a family, in the stupid, traditional ‘Dan Quayle, golden retriever, grow old together, wear matching jogging suits’ kind of way.

James Danforth “Dan” Quayle (born 1947), the 44^th US vice-president from 1989 to 1993 under President George H.W. Bush. He sought the Republican nomination for president in 2000, but was unsuccessful.

Dan Quayle was outspoken on “family values”, and was notorious for citing sitcom Murphy Brown, which had an intelligent, professional single mother as the protagonist, as an example of how popular culture was eroding those values, in 1993. Amy Sherman-Palladino, creator of her own show about a single mother, seems to be having a little dig at Quayle here.

Leon Troutsky

LORELAI: Sookie, Jackson loves you. You’re not seriously telling me the future of your marriage depends on Leon Troutsky over there.

Lorelai makes a pun on the name Leon Trotsky (born Lev Bronstein,1879-1940), Russian-Ukrainian Marxist revolutionary, political theorist and politician. Ideologically a communist, he developed a variant of Marxism which has become known as Trotskyism. After the death of Lenin and the rise of Joseph Stalin, Trotsky gradually lost favour, and he was expelled from the Soviet Union in 1929. He spent the rest of his life in exile and was assassinated in Mexico City in 1940 by an agent of the Soviets.

General Sherman

MRS. KIM: This was Sherman’s shaving table … General Sherman, famous man, burned Atlanta, liked a close shave.

General William Tecumseh Sherman, previously mentioned. A general in the Union Army during the Civil War, he invaded Georgia with three armies in the spring of 1864. His campaign against Atlanta ended successfully in September of that year with the capturing of the city, and he gave orders that all civilians were to evacuate the city before giving instructions that all military and government buildings were to be burned, although many private homes and businesses were too. This victory made him a household name, and ensured the re-election of President Abraham Lincoln in November that year.

In fact General Sherman had a slightly scruffy beard, rather than being close-shaven. This seems to be another hint that Mrs Kim is not always honest about her antiques.

Doug Ose

SENATOR BOXER: Uh, Paris, do you know Republican Congressman Doug Ose from California? You don’t? Great. You two will have so much to talk about.

Douglas “Doug” Ose (born 1955), businessman and politician who served as the US representative for California’s 3rd congressional district from 1999 to 2005. He is a member of the Republican Party. One of the wealthiest members of Congress, he was an enthusiastic supporter of tax cuts. Like Barbara Boxer, he is from California where Gilmore Girls was filmed, and likewise portrays himself in this episode.

Freddie Prinze Jr and Colin Powell

PARIS: Or hey, hook up Freddie Prinze Jr. with Colin Powell …

Frederick “Freddie” Prinze Jr (born 1976), actor, television and film producer, and screenwriter. He has starred in films such as I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997), She’s All That (1999), and Scooby-Doo (2002). He had a role in sitcom Friends in 2002, and later had his own sitcom called Freddie (2005-06). He is the son of comedian and actor Freddie Prinze, and is married to actress Sarah Michelle Gellar.

Colin Powell (1937-2021) [pictured], politician, statesman, diplomat, and army officer who served as the 65^th US Secretary of State from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African-American Secretary of State. A popular figure, Powell was sometimes considered as a potential candidate for the presidency. In later life, he turned against the Republican Party, and supported Hillary Clinton‘s and President Biden’s presidential campaigns, disavowing himself from the party completely after the attacks on the Capitol in 2021.

Carson Daly and Cheney

PARIS: I mean, why not just send Carson Daly over to the Middle East next time Cheney goes, huh?

Carson Daly (born 1973), radio and television personality. He was a VJ on MTV’s Total Request Live, and a DJ for the southern Californian radio station 106.7 KROQ-FM. In 2002, he joined NBC as the host and producer of late night talk show Last Call With Carson Daly.

Richard “Dick” Cheney (born 1941) [pictured], politician and businessman who served as the 46^th vice president of the US from 2001 to 2009 under president George W. Bush. Cheney, often cited as the most powerful vice president in American history, ended his tenure as an unpopular figure in American politics, partly due to an incident where he accidentally shot an acquaintance while hunting. In 2007, the Taliban claimed an assassination attempt on Cheney while he was visiting Afghanistan. Dick Cheney, a Yale alumnus, is currently the oldest living former US vice president.

“American Secretary of the Treasury traveling around with Bono”

PARIS: I mean, come on, Senator Boxer, as one of our foremost Democratic leaders, I ask you – do you really think it looks good to have the American Secretary of the Treasury traveling around with Bono? I mean, I know apparently he’s a saint, he’s going to save the world, yada, yada, yada, but my God! He never even takes the sunglasses off.

Paris refers to Paul H. O’Neill (1935-2020) economist and government official who served as the 72^nd US secretary of the treasury from January 2001 to December 2002. He was known for his outspoken manner, which would eventually see him sacked in December 2002 for his public disagreements with the Bush administration.

In May 2002, O’Neill visited Africa with Irish rock star Bono (born Paul Hewson in 1960), to draw attention to its poverty. Bono is the frontman for band U2, frequently mentioned as one of Lorelai and Rory’s favourite bands. Since 1984, Bono had been involved in efforts to raise funding in aid of Africa, and in 1999 became a lobbyist in Washington DC on behalf of non-profit campaigns to raise awareness of Africa’s plight. He is known as one of the world’s best-known philanthropic performers.

Bono is known for always wearing dark glasses. In 2005, he revealed that his eyes were extremely sensitive to light, and in 2014 that the sensitivity was caused by glaucoma.

Senator Boxer

PARIS: I mean, come on, Senator Boxer, as one of our foremost Democratic leaders …

Paris is speaking to Barbara Boxer (born Barbara Levy in 1940), politician and lobbyist who served in the US Senate, representing California (where Gilmore Girls was filmed) from 1993 to 2017, as a member of the Democratic Party. She was known for having one of the most progressive voting records in Congress. Her daughter Nicole married Tony Rodham, the younger brother of Hillary Clinton in 1994, at the first White House wedding since 1971.

At 4 foot 11 inches in height, Barbara Boxer was one of the shortest members of Congress, sometimes standing on a portable platform to address the chamber – this became known as the “Boxer Box”.

Barbara Boxer portrays herself in this episode. She had previously played herself in cameo roles on Murphy Brown in 1994, and in the film Traffic in 2000. She went on to do so again in Curb Your Enthusiasm in 2007.

“I did not have sexual relations with that woman”

PARIS: [sleep talking] I did not have sexual relations with that woman.

Paris refers to the Clinton-Lewinsky sex scandal, involving then-President Bill Clinton (born William Blythe III in 1946) and 24-year-old White House intern Monica Lewinsky (born 1973), which took place in 1998. Their sexual relationship lasted between 1995 and 1997.

Clinton ended a televised speech in late January 1998 with the statement that he “did not have sexual relations with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky”. Further investigation led to charges of perjury and to the impeachment of Bill Clinton in 1998 by the US House of Representatives. He was subsequently acquitted on all impeachment charges of perjury and obstruction of justice in a US. Senate trial.

Harry Thomason worked as an image consultant during the scandal, ending up testifying before the Lewinsky Grand Jury. This seems to be why Paris mentions him during her dream argument – she appears to be having an argument about the Lewinsky scandal, although whether she is supporting either party in the case is unclear.