# Best Fictional Politicians **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 31, 2010, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fictional-politicians/565897 "2010-12-31T01:02:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2011, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fictional-politicians/565897/41 "2011-01-02T18:15:15Z")
> [@Toxgoddess](#): > > Another vote for Vetinari. I’m sure he’d think the whole “vote” idea is quite flattering. Not particularly meaningful, but flattering. 🙂 > [@Implicit](#): > > [Francis Urquhart](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Urquhart). He’s the perfect politician - “ambitious, vengeful and manipulative man who lusts after power and is willing to commit murder and blackmail to get it”. Eh - I’d vote for the Tories if they’d put that guy in the pilot’s seat. He did, after all,bring about the abdication of a genuinely dangerous monarch. Sure, the King was portrayed sympathetically, and was a decent man in pretty much all the ways Urquhart wasn’t. But he was an unabashed partisan and activist - there’s nothing more dangerous to democracy in a constitutional monarchy. Dude had to go. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2011, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fictional-politicians/565897/42 "2011-01-02T18:32:49Z")
The Boss from **The Great McGinty** was clever enough to win the election even when his candidate lost the election. Extra points because was the inspiration for Boris Badenov. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2011, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fictional-politicians/565897/43 "2011-01-02T20:28:37Z")
> [@Jaledin](#): > > Robert De Niro’s president in “Machete” stands out now. He was a Senator. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fictional-politicians/565897/44 "2011-01-03T04:46:15Z")
> [@Cyberhwk](#): > > President Bartlett. I’ve actually wondered why some candidate doesn’t just hire Aaron Sorkin to ghost write for him/her on the campaign trail. That’s actually kind of a brilliant idea. I wonder why this sort of thing doesn’t happen on a regular basis. > [@Cyberhwk](#): > > Re: President Roslin…sorry, but I’m pretty sure I don’t want my country being led by a President that makes her decisions via drug induced hallucinations. That woman was scary and complaints regarding her fitness to lead were extremely valid. In real life, sure. But in the BSG universe, those visions were bona fide. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fictional-politicians/565897/45 "2011-01-03T05:08:37Z")
Rashuri in Michael P. Kube-Mcdowell’s book _Emprise_. He manages to take a post apocalyptic Earth reduced to barter and subsistence farming and return it to spacefaring. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fictional-politicians/565897/46 "2011-01-03T13:54:02Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > That’s actually kind of a brilliant idea. I wonder why this sort of thing doesn’t happen on a regular basis. Hollywood pays better. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fictional-politicians/565897/47 "2011-01-03T14:05:29Z")
I was also going to say Vetinari and Urquhart, though the latter is simply a brilliant politician rather than a good one - nothing good about him at all. I’ll add Hugh Grant’s character in Love Actually, purely for the scene with the horrible President - it made me want to cheer. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fictional-politicians/565897/48 "2011-01-03T14:53:42Z")
No love for Jim Hacker? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fictional-politicians/565897/49 "2011-01-03T15:00:25Z")
> [@chrisk](#): > > Josiah Edward “Jed” Bartlet for the win, of course! 😃 For the Great Satan, yes. Give me Harry Perkins for the UK, though. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fictional-politicians/565897/50 "2011-01-03T15:06:05Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > No love for Jim Hacker? 🙂 A man of many talents, and as far as I know the only British PM who could keep Sir Humphrey Appleby under some kind of control. ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fictional-politicians/565897/51 "2011-01-03T16:27:44Z")
[Dave](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106673/). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fictional-politicians/565897.md?page=2)