The President of the US is a fictional job. No, that doesn’t imply that the President doesn’t exist, nor does it imply that anybody who holds the workplace doesn’t have huge tasks. Nonetheless, the presidency does develop into the focus for the hopes and fears of Americans, who (rightly or wrongly) venture their concepts in regards to the job onto the individual.
For that motive, the presidency lends itself properly to cinema, even earlier than display star Ronald Reagan held the job for eight years within the Eighties. Like their real-world counterparts, film presidents typically seem bigger than life, whether or not they’re punching out terrorists with their very own two fists, guiding their kids’s romantic misadventures, or, you realize, main the nation. There’s a time and a spot for each method of film president, as seen with these twenty-five greats.
1. Andrew Shepherd (The American President, 1995)
With the idealism of Clinton’s first time period fading into the nationwide reminiscence, the high-minded nature of author Aaron Sorkin’s political scripts can appear retro, if not laughable. However even probably the most cynical viewer has to sigh a bit when President Andrew Shepherd (Micheal Douglas) declares a daring environmental plan through the State of the Union handle. Aided by Rob Reiner, nonetheless in his miracle run of nice movies, and a hovering rating by Marc Shaiman, The American President makes viewers lengthy for the previous. Not a lot for the president we had through the ’90s, however the president we thought we’d get.
2. Dave (Dave, 1993)
Written by Gary Ross and directed by Ivan Reitman, Dave operates in keeping with the fantasy on the coronary heart of all democracies: what if an everyday man turned the chief of the free world? That premise doesn’t stray too removed from fairy tales about servant women turning into princesses, however Dave avoids veering into ridiculousness with a sweetness that is still aspirational however by no means false. Performed by Kevin Kline with a naïveté that by no means deserves mockery, Dave proves himself to be not only a higher husband to First Girl Ellen Mitchell (Sigourney Weaver) and a greater buddy to Secret Service agent Duane Stevenson (Ving Rhames), but additionally a greater president than anybody who got here earlier than him.
3. Douglass Dilman (The Man, 1972)
Halfway via The Man, new president Douglass Dilman calls his disinterest within the workplace his “solely distinctive high quality.” In fact, that’s not true. Dilman has many distinctive qualities, together with the best way he got here to energy (a collection of accidents that made him subsequent in line of succession) and the truth that he’s Black. Performed by James Earl Jones, Dilman struggles with the tasks thrust upon him, whether or not they be expectations of larger motion from his activist daughter (Janet MacLachlan) or the conservative Congress, which tries at each flip to undermine him. Initially shot as a television film, The Man generally buts up towards the constraints of the supposed type (regardless of the most effective makes an attempt by director Joseph Sargent) and the screenplay by Rod Serling slips from righteous fury to milquetoast centrism, however The Man provides us an image of the awe impressed by man turning into president.
4 – Chet Roosevelt (Americathon, 1979)
To make certain, no person needs Chet Roosevelt to be within the White Home. The affable stoner performed by John Ritter matches properly within the satirical world that director Neal Israel and writers members Phil Proctor and Peter Bergman designed for Americathon. Nonetheless, no person can deny the attraction of a laid-back chief of the free world, a person who doesn’t reply to the oncoming chapter of the nation not by declaring conflict on different international locations however by internet hosting a telethon, interesting to his media-obsessed constituency. Perhaps we don’t need Chet Roosevelt working the actual U.S.A., however our presidents may be taught one thing from his chilled persona.
5. Judson Hammond (Gabriel Over the White Home, 1933)
President Judson Hammond (Walter Huston) looks as if a swell man for the primary third of Gabriel Over the White Home. Whether or not bantering with political operatives or teasing kids, Hammond has an acuity that makes his rise to the White Home a foregone conclusion. That cheery disposition drops after he recovers from a automotive accident, however he replaces that jocularity with a dedication to the frequent American. “Save your sympathy for the individuals of the US, who’re in dire want of it,” Hammond barks at one glad-hander earlier than launching his expansive social agenda. Director Gregory La Cava and screenwriters Carey Wilson and Bertram Bloch (adapting a novel by T.F. Tweed) lack the emotional contact that makes Frank Capra’s populist movies resonate nonetheless immediately. Nonetheless, even a grouchy agent of the individuals could be a welcome substitute for many trendy politicians.
6. Tom Beck (Deep Influence, 1998)
In our creativeness, we flip to the president in instances of disaster to supply phrases of knowledge, management, and hope. Few world leaders have confronted an issue fairly like an oncoming asteroid that may obliterate the planet, as seen in Mimi Leder’s Deep Influence, written by Bruce Joel Rubin and Michael Tolkin. Whether or not authorizing plans to cease the asteroid or comforting the individuals within the face of loss of life, Beck exceeds our expectations for the Commander in Chief. Performed by Morgan Freeman in his late 90s paternalist mode, President Beck appears to be like towards the digital camera with resignation and style as he shepherds the nation via the tip of the world, one thing few would count on of actual politicians.
7. David Stevens (Twilight’s Final Gleaming, 1977)
When rogue Air Drive Common Lawrence Dell (Burt Lancaster) and his males seize a missile silo in Montana, they contact President David Stevens (Charles Durning) with two calls for: $10 million and the discharge of proof in regards to the nation’s errors in Vietnam. Neither a blustering hawk nor a simpering dove, President Stevens does the extra plausible factor, spending a lot of the film weighing the chances and contemplating his choices. That sense of realism raises the stakes of Twilight’s Final Gleaming, elevating it above most political thrillers.
8. James Marshall (Air Drive One, 1997)
Along with his grouchy disposition on and off the display, few may consider Harrison Ford would win sufficient votes to safe the presidency. However when terrorists hijack his aircraft within the ridiculous Wolfgang Petersen basic Air Drive One, there’s no more sensible choice. The script by Andrew W. Marlowe provides Ford loads of grandstanding moments as President Marshall defends the aircraft from Soviet terrorist Egor Korshunov, enacting his coverage of punching baddies within the face. Reasonable? No. However thrilling? Completely.
9. Artwork Hockstader (The Greatest Man, 1964)
We frequently consider former presidents as lame geese, individuals who maintain ceremonial roles after leaving their positions of energy. However within the Franklin J. Schaffner movie The Greatest Man, former President Hockstader (Lee Tracy, in an Oscar-nominated efficiency) carries extra energy than these vying to be his successor. Written by Gore Vidal, The Greatest Man follows two potential occasion candidates (Henry Fonda and Cliff Robertson) courting former President Hockstader’s approval, consistently proving that the subsequent technology lacks the category of former selections.
10. The President (The Werewolf of Washington, 1973)
“I feel your father’s a cross between Abraham Lincoln and Jesus Christ,” political reporter Jack Whittier (Dean Stockwell) tells his would-be fiancé Marion (Jane Home), who occurs to be the daughter of the President of the US. Via most of The Werewolf of Washington, written and directed by Milton Moses Ginsberg, the President (Biff McGuire) treats his potential son-in-law with kindness and dignity, partially as a result of he doesn’t notice that the boy is the lycanthrope terrorizing the capital metropolis. However by the tip of the movie (Spoilers for a fifty-year-old film no person has seen), the President transforms into a brand new wolfman, placing some other chief who performs at toughness.
11. The President (Being There, 1979)
No person comes out trying nice in Being There, the satire from director Hal Ashby and author Jerzy Kosiński, not even the idiot Likelihood (Peter Sellers), who everybody errors as a genius. When Presidential Advisor Ben Rand (Melvyn Douglas) brings Likelihood into the White Home, the dim-witted gardener turns into a key advisor to the President (Jack Warden), providing recommendation to some of the highly effective individuals on the planet. Whereas this would possibly look like a knock towards the president, Hartley uncovers a gentility within the President’s interactions with Likelihood, revealing a delicate and probably even smart aspect to the politician.
12. Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho (Idiocracy, 2006)
The standard of a president can solely be correctly measured inside their time. Such is the case for Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho, the world’s first grownup movie star/pro-wrestler/president, performed with glee by Terry Crews. The American president within the Mike Choose comedy (co-written by Etan Cohen) Idiocracy, which takes place in a future dominated by dimwits, President Comacho represents the last word finish of populist politics. However even inside his spectacular boasts, Comacho no less than has the knowledge to decide on the typical Joe (Luke Wilson) to resolve the nation’s drought, permitting him to enact the sensible plan of giving crops water.
13. The President of the US (Fail Secure, 1964)
Directed by Sidney Lumet and written by Walter Bernstein, audiences bear in mind Fail Secure as a severe counter to Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove, launched earlier that 12 months. The place Kubrick’s film responded to the specter of nuclear holocaust with a joyless snicker, Fail Secure casts a sober eye, portraying the nationwide mechanisms known as into motion by a near-nuclear occasion. Nowhere is that extra clear than with the latter film’s president, performed with quiet depth by Henry Fonda. Watching the breakdown of controls supposed to forestall a conflict between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, Fonda’s president tries each out there choice, determined to maintain the system in place whereas preserving as many lives as doable.
14. Charlotte Area (Lengthy Shot, 2019)
True, Charlotte Area (Charlize Theron) solely turns into president through the ultimate scene of Lengthy Shot, with the film following as a substitute the issues attributable to her romance with reporter-turned-speechwriter Fred Flarsky (Seth Rogan). However the script by Dan Sterling and Liz Hannah, directed by Jonathan Levine, makes use of the courtship and candidacy to remark upon the character of the presidency. When Area and Flarsky come beneath scrutiny, they develop into avatars of a much less conventional majority, one not typically represented by the nation’s leaders, not by the conservatives who oppose the couple.
15. John McKenzie (First Daughter, 2004)
Via the eyes of the romantic comedy First Daughter, President John McKenzie (Michael Keaton) is most essential as the daddy to Samantha (Katie Holmes), the titular daughter. Regardless of ready course by Forest Whitaker, the script by Jessica Bendinger and Kate Kondell felt a bit too incredible for viewers on the time, who most well-liked 2004’s different president’s daughter rom-com Chasing Liberty. However First Daughter makes the listing right here due to Keaton’s skill to retain an edge, even enjoying a paternal president.
16. Ellen Claremont (Crimson, White, & Royal Blue, 2023)
Upon listening to her son (Taylor Zakhar Perez) come out to her and reveal his relationship with an English prince (Nicholas Galitzin), President Claremont (Uma Thurman) reassures him with love and help, and even provides some embarrassing however well-meaning recommendation. To be clear, that is the naked minimal of human decency one would count on of a guardian, however what number of instances have fictional presidents did not clear even this low bar? Thurman’s tackle the president gives a refreshing however flawed humanity to a film directed by Matthew Lopez — who co-wrote this adaptation of the Casey McQuiston novel with Ted Malawer — that too typically indulges in cleaning soap opera tropes.
17. James Sawyer (White Home Down, 2013)
Even at his most charming, Jamie Foxx at all times has a little bit of an edge to him, making his President James Sawyer some of the lifelike in Hollywood historical past, even when it is available in a crazed Roland Emmerich motion flick. All through White Home Down (written by James Vanderbilt), Sawyer simply wants to remain alive, a activity sophisticated by an assault by white supremacist terrorists. Slightly than let veteran and Capitol cop John Cale (Channing Tatum) do all of the arduous work, Sawyer will get concerned himself, serving to to save lots of the day.
18. Presidents Kramer and Douglas (My Fellow People, 1996)
In a listing stuffed with two-fisted heroes and individuals who comply with their conscience, Presidents Kramer and Douglas (Jack Lemmon and James Garner, respectively) stand out. Consistently bickering and incessantly petty all through My Fellow People, the 2 former executives can not drop their rivalry, even lengthy after their administrations have ended. As irritating as that premise would possibly sound, director Peter Segal retains the viewers on the duo’s aspect, even when the screenplay by E. Jack Kaplan, Richard Chapman, and Peter Tolan tries for more durable satire. That tender hand would possibly make for a irritating general watch, however audiences can’t assist however pull for Kramer and Douglas, particularly when portrayed by such likable actors.
19. President Jordan Lyman (Seven Days in Could, 1964)
Initially of the John Frankenheimer-directed thriller Seven Days in Could, President Jordan Lyman (Fredric March) does the unthinkable: he indicators a nuclear disarmament treaty with the Soviet Union on the peak of the Chilly Warfare. That call drives the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs (Burt Lancaster) to plan a coup towards the unpopular president, a lot to the chagrin of Colonel Jiggs Casey (Kirk Douglas). As incredible as that premise sounds, it has its roots in the actual world, as authors Fletcher Knebel and Charles W. Bailey II drew from their expertise as political reporters to jot down the novel Seven Days in Could. Unsurprisingly, the screenplay by Rod Serling veers a bit of an excessive amount of towards the idealistic, however that mixture makes Lyman an efficient mixture of the optimum and the actual.
20. Thomas J. Whitmore (Independence Day, 1996)
All through Independence Day, we hear that President Whitmore (Invoice Pullman) is just too younger, an excessive amount of of a fighter jockey, too family-oriented to be president. After which, he proves his critics incorrect by main a jet squadron towards alien invaders. No, it doesn’t make sense, nor does President Whitmore’s rousing “Independence Day” speech on the finish of the film. However like the most effective elements of Roland Emmerich’s disaster-heavy sci-fi flick, which he co-wrote with Dean Devlin, Whitmore’s plot works greatest when audiences shut off their brains and benefit from the spectacle. In such a inconsiderate state, President Whitmore appears to be like like Lincoln.
21. The President of the US (Canadian Bacon, 1995)
Michael Moore made his identify by placing himself on the heart of left-leaning and agitating documentaries similar to Bowling for Columbine. Moore carries a lot of that very same method to Canadian Bacon, his sole narrative characteristic, which follows the rise of a brand new Chilly Warfare between America and its neighbor to the north, Canada. To his discredit, Alan Alda’s President of the US goes together with the plan, hoping to bolster his sagging approval rankings. However he has a wierd logic to his method, hoping {that a} pretend conflict will enable him to serve the nation’s kids, which is pretty much as good because it will get in Moore’s cynical worldview.
22. The President (Nationwide Treasure: E book of Secrets and techniques, 2007)
Performed by the ever-impressive Bruce Greenwood, the President in Nationwide Treasure: E book of Secrets and techniques makes maybe the bravest resolution of anybody on this listing: he listens to Nicolas Cage. In fact, that is Nicolas Cage as treasure hunter Ben Gates, the hero of the Nationwide Treasure motion pictures from director Jon Turteltaub and screenwriters Cormac Wibberley and Marianne Wibberley. As anticipated, E book of Secrets and techniques has a ridiculous plot, involving a guide of secrets and techniques handed alongside to presidents and hidden passages within the White Home. However one way or the other, Greenwood retains his dignity, even when the President performs together with Gates’s nutty theories.
23. President Jack Neil (Homicide at 1600, 1997)
1997 was a nasty 12 months for film presidents, with each Homicide at 1600 and the Clint Eastwood movie Absolute Energy involving foul play within the White Home. Whereas the latter reveals the president because the killer proper from the start, the previous poses that risk simply to disprove it. As Detective Harlan Riggs (Wesley Snipes) investigates the homicide, he uncovers a larger plot to maneuver towards President Neil, which underscores his decency as a world chief.
24. Jackson Evans (The Contender, 2000)
Inside the black-and-white worldview of author/director Rod Lurie’s The Contender, there are good individuals and unhealthy individuals. Within the latter falls Consultant Sheldon Runyon (Gary Oldman), who invokes an ethical panic towards Vice Presidential nominee Laine Billings Hanson (Joan Allen) as a way to safe his extra favored alternative. Within the former falls President Jackson Evans (Jeff Bridges) who not solely chooses Hanson over extra well-liked males however stands by her throughout Runyon’s manhunt. The Contender isn’t probably the most advanced imaginative and prescient of Washington to ever hit the display, however Bridges’s easy and principled take has an thrilling high quality.
25. President John Harker (Escape from New York, 1981)
Of all of the presidents on this listing, John Harker is probably the most questionable. He spends most of John Carpenter’s Escape from New York captive within the titular metropolis, which has develop into an enormous jail within the film’s dystopian future, and he’s not even an American, performed by Donald Pleasence in his pure English accent. Regardless of these knocks towards him, Harker holds his personal, even when matching wits with Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell), the best robust man to ever grace the display. And any president who holds his personal with Snake deserves their place on this listing.
