# Novels with presidents as characters **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 26, 2004, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-presidents-as-characters/261617 "2004-08-26T16:09:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kaspar\_Hauser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b3f665/32.png) [@Kaspar\_Hauser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaspar_Hauser)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2004, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-presidents-as-characters/261617/1 "2004-08-26T16:09:20Z")
I just finished Richard North Patterson’s trilogy about President Kerry Kilcannon. It was OK – Kilcannon was way too smart and principled and by the third one I was a little bored because you just _knew_ he’d win again. Fortunately I was of the right political persuasion. I don’t see how anyone who’s not a bleeding-heart liberal (like me) wouldn’t throw the books across the room after reading twenty pages. Aaaanyway, I’ve also read _Absolute Power_ by David Baldacci (crap), _A God in Ruins_ by Leon Uris (OK), and _The People’s Choice_ by Jeff Greenfield (funny and fascinating). All these books feature a POTUS as a significant character – sometimes the main character, like Patterson’s and Uris’s books. I guess since it’s an election year, I suddenly have a jones for political novels. Can anyone recommend some others? They can be comedies, tragedies, thrillers, sci-fi, anything – except historical. I don’t mind if they’re about real presidents, as long as the story itself is fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2004, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-presidents-as-characters/261617/2 "2004-08-26T16:22:04Z")
If you’re a bleeding heart liberal, you may not like the books, but there’s Tom Clancy’s “Executive Orders” and “The Bear and the Dragon”, with Clancy’s character and alter ego Jack Ryan as the President and also a major character in both. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2004, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-presidents-as-characters/261617/3 "2004-08-26T16:26:44Z")
_The R Document_ by Irving Wallace makes the President out to be something of a stooge, manipulated by a scheming FBI director, and can only be saved by a crusading Assistant Attorney General. But for two critical deus-ex moments (where characters blurt out information for no apparant reason but to advance the plot), it’s quite readable. ---
**Author:** ![Kaspar\_Hauser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b3f665/32.png) [@Kaspar\_Hauser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaspar_Hauser)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2004, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-presidents-as-characters/261617/4 "2004-08-26T16:33:04Z")
I should add that as long as the story’s good, I myself don’t care about the POTUS’s political persuasion. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2004, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-presidents-as-characters/261617/5 "2004-08-26T16:33:41Z")
For Alternate History, Turtledove’s How Few Remain/Great War/American Empire have various US and CS presidents as major characters. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2004, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-presidents-as-characters/261617/6 "2004-08-26T17:04:38Z")
This is going to drive me crazy. I just read a book with a president major character and I can’t remember what the book was and I got it from the library so I can’t just go find it on the bookshelf. Aiieee! ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2004, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-presidents-as-characters/261617/7 "2004-08-26T17:09:18Z")
And then, of course, as soon as I hit submit I remember the book and also remember why I forgot the book. _Exclusive_, by Sandra Brown. It sucks. So nevermind! ---
**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:** [August 26, 2004, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-presidents-as-characters/261617/8 "2004-08-26T17:19:05Z")
There was an entire genre of presidential thrillers in the 60s, beginning with Fletcher Knebel and Charles W. Bailey’s _Seven Days in May_. Knebel went on to write several other similar books, including _Vanished_ and _The Night of Camp David_. Robert J. Serling (Rod’s brother) wrote _The President’s Plane is Missing_, though, of course, the president is missing, too. Still, he’s a major character. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2004, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-presidents-as-characters/261617/9 "2004-08-26T18:02:55Z")
In _Action Comics_ in 1963, Superman reveals his secret identity to President Kennedy. By co-incidence, this comic, written & drawn _months_ in advance, hit the stands 24 hours after Kennedy’s death. Some storeowners, not unsuprisingl;y, destroyed them in grief & anger. It’s not DC Comics Company’s fault, of course. The issue is highly sought-after as a collector’s item. ---
**Author:** ![Uvula\_Donor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e19adc/32.png) [@Uvula\_Donor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uvula_Donor)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2004, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-presidents-as-characters/261617/10 "2004-08-26T18:30:02Z")
The narrator and protagonist of Kurt Vonnegut’s novel _Slapstick: Or Lonesome No More!_ is Dr. Wilbur Daffodil-11 Swain, the final President of the United States. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2004, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-presidents-as-characters/261617/11 "2004-08-26T18:35:19Z")
In those _Executioner_ pulp novels (there’re hundreds of them), Mac Bolan’s boss answers directly to the President, so “The President” makes frequent appearances in the stories. He is never named, though, as far as I know. ---
**Author:** ![QuizCustodet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ba0ec/32.png) [@QuizCustodet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuizCustodet)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2004, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-presidents-as-characters/261617/12 "2004-08-26T18:41:25Z")
The President’s actions are significant at the beginning of the book, but most of the story focuses on the election: _Interface_ by Neal Stephenson. A quick [amazon.com](http://amazon.com) search didn’t show it, though [amazon.co.uk](http://amazon.co.uk) definitely has it. Any US fans know if it has a different title over there? Or hasn’t been published? ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2004, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-presidents-as-characters/261617/13 "2004-08-26T18:46:08Z")
You must read Fail-Safe by Burdick and Wheeler (1962). This is one of the greatest Cold War books ever written, about a communication failure that triggers an accidental attack on the Soviet Union. The (fictional) President is featured prominently in this book, as he is faced with several agonizing but crucial decisions. ---
**Author:** ![Judith\_Prietht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b19c9b/32.png) [@Judith\_Prietht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Judith_Prietht)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2004, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-presidents-as-characters/261617/14 "2004-08-26T18:53:51Z")
> [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > _The R Document_ by Irving Wallace makes the President out to be something of a stooge, manipulated by a scheming FBI director, and can only be saved by a crusading Assistant Attorney General. But for two critical deus-ex moments (where characters blurt out information for no apparant reason but to advance the plot), it’s quite readable. Wallace does have some pretty clumsy exposition at times. I wanted to mention his novel _The Man_, about the impeachment trial of the first black president of the US, a man named Douglas Dilman. James Earl Jones portrayed Dilman in a film adaptation of the book. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2004, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-presidents-as-characters/261617/15 "2004-08-26T18:58:15Z")
Irving Wallace also wrote The Man, about the first black president of the United States. The VP had died in office, and before a new one was appointed the President and the Secretary of State died in a building collapse in Germany. The new president, Douglas Dillman, was next in line, an appointee. One line that is amusing now, and dates the book, is when Dillman, beset by the incredible pressure of the job, is speaking with his political mentor, another retired POTUS. Dillman mentions that the thought of resigning has crossed his mind and the old man says “No President of this country has ever disgraced this office by resigning, and you’re not going to be the first!” I think they made a TV movie out of the book, with James Earl Jones as the title character, but I never saw it. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2004, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-presidents-as-characters/261617/16 "2004-08-26T19:02:12Z")
Almost a simulpost! ---
**Author:** ![Judith\_Prietht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b19c9b/32.png) [@Judith\_Prietht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Judith_Prietht)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2004, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-presidents-as-characters/261617/17 "2004-08-26T19:17:57Z")
Creepy! Yours the better post, IMO; much more detail than mine. Also, if you want to go a little sleazy, try _American Rhapsody_ by Joe Eszterhas, the screenwriter who gave us _Showgirls_. The book has a lot to do with Hollywood and Bill Clinton, and while it isn’t technically fiction, the final chapter features a monologue from Clinton’s penis. ---
**Author:** ![vl\_mungo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2004, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-presidents-as-characters/261617/18 "2004-08-26T19:35:49Z")
The 3rd installment of the excellent **Flashman** series by George MacDonald Fraser, [Flash for Freedom!](http://homepage.ntlworld.com/m.hodder/flashfreedom.html) has the “protagonist” running into **Abe Lincoln** on a couple of occasions. You should probably read at least on of the first two episodes beforehand, though. ---
**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:** [August 26, 2004, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-presidents-as-characters/261617/19 "2004-08-26T19:38:14Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > In _Action Comics_ in 1963, Superman reveals his secret identity to President Kennedy. > > By co-incidence, this comic, written & drawn _months_ in advance, hit the stands 24 hours after Kennedy’s death. Not exactly true – I personally bought a copy _before_ the assassination. It was on the newsstands at the time, though. Of course, this provides the motive for[Superman killing JFK](http://www.sff.net/people/rothman/jfk.htp). ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2004, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-presidents-as-characters/261617/20 "2004-08-26T21:50:15Z")
Also, this might not count, because he’s not president when the book takes place, but “X-President” starts out in the future with somebody ghost-writing President Clinton’s biography (and Clinton shows up there), and then becoming part of a government project and travelling back in time to when Clinton was a teenager (and the teenaged Clinton shows up there) to change history. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novels-with-presidents-as-characters/261617.md?page=2)