# Best Fictional Presidents **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 7, 2000, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fictional-presidents/17189 "2000-01-07T19:41:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2000, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fictional-presidents/17189/1 "2000-01-07T19:41:00Z")
Who do you choose as the best portrayal of a fictional US President? (Not a portrayal of a real one, please.) Movie, TV movie, miniseries, or TV show. My choices:[ul] [li]Harrison Ford as President James Marshall in Air Force One[/li][li]Lloyd Bridges as President “Tug” Benson in Hot Shots! Part Deux[/li][/ul] * * * The Canadians. They walk among us. William Shatner. Michael J. Fox. Monty Hall. Mike Meyers. Alex Trebek. All of them Canadians. All of them here. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Corrado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a88e4f/32.png) [@John\_Corrado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Corrado)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2000, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fictional-presidents/17189/2 "2000-01-07T19:53:00Z")
Most amusing? Alan Alda in Canadian Bacon Peter Sellers in Dr. Stranglove Most wish _were_ Presidents? …none. Unfortunately, every President portrayed whose political opinions I agreed with always turns out to be a royal bastard/schemer; and every President portrayed who I admire as a person holds political views I completely oppose. Sigh. * * * JMCJ This could be YOUR sig line! For just five cents a post, JMCJ Enterprises will place YOUR sig line at the bottom of each message! ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2000, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fictional-presidents/17189/3 "2000-01-08T03:43:00Z")
Can’t quote the fictional names, but: The president in _Seven Days in May_ The president in _An American President_ ---
**Author:** ![Gilligan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Gilligan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gilligan)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2000, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fictional-presidents/17189/4 "2000-01-08T14:58:00Z")
Henry Fonda in _Fail Safe_ ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2000, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fictional-presidents/17189/5 "2000-01-09T06:34:00Z")
I’d say President Dave in the movie _Dave_, except he had NO concept of how the Federal budget works or how badly a Federally-run employment agency would screw itself up. * * * The truth, as always, is more complicated than that. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2000, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fictional-presidents/17189/6 "2000-01-09T04:56:00Z")
Captain America! ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2000, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fictional-presidents/17189/7 "2000-01-09T05:04:00Z")
Jack Nicholson in Mars Attacks. He said something like, “We still have the Executive and the Judicial branches, and two out of three ain’t bad.” ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2000, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fictional-presidents/17189/8 "2000-01-09T05:15:00Z")
I always liked the guy (Bill Pullman?) as the president in \* Independance Day \*. ---
**Author:** ![Pariah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/41988e/32.png) [@Pariah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pariah)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2000, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fictional-presidents/17189/9 "2000-01-09T05:27:00Z")
Lumpy: Michael Douglas (soon to be Michael Zeta-Jones) played the Prez in American President. I gotta second AWB II in the Harrison Ford vote. Oh, and Anthony Hopkins. Wait…he played Nixon, didn’t he? Oh, well…then let’s re-elect Nixon! ---
**Author:** ![Cooper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@Cooper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cooper)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2000, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fictional-presidents/17189/10 "2000-01-09T05:34:00Z")
Duh! Kevin Klein in Dave :+) ---
**Author:** ![Kelly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ac91a4/32.png) [@Kelly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kelly)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2000, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fictional-presidents/17189/11 "2000-01-09T06:41:00Z")
James Earl Jones in _The Man_ Peter Seller in \* Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Love the Bomb\* * * * How high is up?