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Hail to the (fictional) Chief!
In case you haven’t noticed, we’re in the midst of a presidential election cycle. And I could talk about the happenings of the Democratic and Republican candidates as they spend millions of dollars on the most intense job application process in the history of the world.
But I’d rather focus on a more-talked-about president: Francis J. Underwood.
Yes, I am hooked on the Netflix series House of Cards. Season four of the wildly popular show is scheduled to be released on March 4 (start the countdown to binge watching). The unveiling of the official portrait of President Underwood in the National Portrait Gallery was met with much fanfare and included a special appearance by the president himself.
In honor of President Underwood, I thought it would be appropriate to do a Top 10 list of Hollywood’s best fictitious presidents. I’m eliminating portrayals of actual presidents (sorry, Daniel Day-Lewis) to focus on the most outstanding attributes and qualities that Hollywood writers, directors, and actors can imagine for our nation’s commander-in-chief.
10. Presidents Matt Douglas and Russell P. Kramer, My Fellow Americans. James Garner and Jack Lemmon play two former presidents and ardent political rivals in this comedy, which shows the great lengths some people will go to regain their former glory and expose a political scandal.
The banter and one-liners tossed back and forth between Douglas and Kramer are the stuff dreams are made of. Douglas to Kramer: “Let’s stop talking. We’re about to bond. It’ll make me vomit.”
9. Glen Allen Walken, The West Wing. John Goodman plays the acting president when he is temporarily elevated from Speaker of the House to the Oval Office due to the self-declared incapacitation of the president (and vacancy in the office of the vice president) when the president’s daughter is kidnapped. Although he is the staunch political and ideological opposite of the sitting president, Walken appreciates his role as a temporary leader and exercises his new power with restraint and caution in the face of a national tragedy. The exercise of such forbearance lands him a place on my list despite his short tenure in office.
“You know, I’m not the enemy. The things that unite us are far greater than the things that divide us.”
8. James Dale, Mars Attacks! Jack Nicholson plays a president attempting to save Earth from an invading and conquering race of Martians. While (SPOILER ALERT) ultimately unsuccessful , his attempts at diplomacy in the face of a full-scale Martian invasion is admirable and a quality we should appreciate in our leader.
“Why can’t we work out our differences? Why can’t we work things out? Little people, why can’t we all just get along?”
7. Francis J. Underwood, House of Cards. Although his ascension to the presidency was unique (and aided by numerous capital felonies), Frank Underwood’s do-what-ever-it-takes, my-way-or-the-highway attitude does get the job accomplished. His methods are highly questionable, but during his short tenure in the Oval Office (how short exactly is yet to be determined), President Underwood, played skillfully by Kevin Spacey, is the type of president who will get results and follows through on his promises, no matter whom he has to throw in front of a train to get there.
“I don’t know right from wrong all the time. But what I can’t be is indecisive.”
6. Selina Meyer, Veep. Julia Louis-Dreyfus plays President Meyer who is elevated from vice president upon the sudden resignation of the sitting president While she was not well respected as the veep, President Meyer makes a strong case for her place on this list after being thrust into the top job and performs well.
“This speech was supposed to perfectly define my presidency. Whole cities of children were gonna be saved from poverty. Instead now, that money is going to fund obsolete, metal . . . giant . . . [censored]!”
5. Thomas J. Whitmore, Independence Day. Bill Pullman is the president during another global crisis and alien invasion. (Notice a recurring theme?) What makes President Whitmore a superb Hollywood president his is ability to flight-suit up and join the fight against the alien attackers from the cockpit of a fighter jet. This type of go-getting president who can unite the world for a common purpose makes for an ideal leader in a crisis.
“I’m a combat pilot, Will. I belong in the air.”
4. Thomas Beck, Deep Impact. Morgan Freeman plays this Hollywood president who is trying to save the world from certain annihilation. In the face of a global crisis, President Beck provides the calming and reassuring voice intended to keep the nation, and the world, spinning in the face of another ice age. Morgan Freeman is convincing as this strong leader, and squaring off with a tragedy of epic proportions, he’s the face and voice I’d look for.
“Life will go on, we will prevail.”
3. James Marshall, Air Force One. Harrison Ford plays a president whose plane has been hijacked by terrorists. Instead of escaping in the evacuation pod as the Secret Service wanted (which doesn’t really exist), President Marshall stays on-board and shows that just because he’s the leader of the free world doesn’t mean he can’t still throw a great right hook when necessary.
Also, if we were ranking vice presidents, Glenn Close has my vote for her role as VP in Air Force One.
“Get off my plane!”
2. Andrew Shepard, The American President. Michael Douglass plays Andrew Shepard, a president trying to balance the difficult tasks of running the free world, raising a teenage daughter on his own and engaging in a “personal” love affair and courtship with a professional political operative with her own agenda. We want our Hollywood presidents to be strong, resilient, likable, and resolute. With Andrew Shepard, writer/director Aaron Sorkin found all these qualities and more.
“My name is Andrew Shepard and I AM the President.”
1. Josiah “Jed” Bartlet, The West Wing. Aaron Sorkin struck gold again when he wrote the part of Jed Bartlet, played perfectly by Martin Sheen. This Nobel laureate and economics professor from New Hampshire-turned-governor-and-president is, without a doubt, the smartest Hollywood president ever to serve in the Oval Office. His deeply held Catholic faith and unquenchable desire to do what is right guides President Bartlet through seven seasons of The West Wing with the respect of the country and his staff. He is brilliant, humble, realistic, altruistic, flawed, and beloved. Jed is, by far, my favorite Hollywood president.
I was wrong. I was, I was just… I was wrong. Come on, we know that. Lots of times we don’t know what right or wrong is, but lots of times we do, and come on… this is one. I may not have had sinister intent at the outset, but there were plenty of opportunities for me to make it right. No one in government takes responsibility for anything any more. We foster, we obfuscate, we rationalize. “Everybody does it,” that’s what we say. So we come to occupy a moral safe house where everyone’s to blame, so no one’s guilty. I’m to blame. I was wrong.
Do you agree with my list? Did I miss any excellent Hollywood presidents? Who is your favorite?
