# One Actor, Multiple Administrations **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 14, 2011, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-actor-multiple-administrations/585505 "2011-06-14T23:47:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2011, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-actor-multiple-administrations/585505/21 "2011-11-04T20:35:29Z")
Jay Koch played Ronald Reagan in _Hot Shots! Part Deux_, _Back to the Future 2_, and _Panther_. Timothy Bottoms played George W. Bush in _The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course_ and _DC 9/11: Time of Crisis_. Hal Holbrook was Lincoln in _Lincoln_, and the two _North & South_ miniseries. ETA: Not appropriate to the thread, but [Dann Florek](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dann_Florek), best known as Captain Donald Cragen in _Law & Order: SVU_, played Lincoln in the short-lived, controversial [Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_Diary_of_Desmond_Pfeiffer)! ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2011, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-actor-multiple-administrations/585505/22 "2011-11-04T20:36:46Z")
Gregory Peck played Abraham Lincoln in the miniseries _The Blue and the Gray_. He then played “The President” in _Amazing Grace and Chuck_. ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2011, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-actor-multiple-administrations/585505/23 "2011-11-04T21:09:17Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > Timothy Bottoms played George W. Bush in _The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course_ and _DC 9/11: Time of Crisis_. But only after honing the role in _[That’s My Bush!](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0268077/)_ ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2011, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-actor-multiple-administrations/585505/24 "2011-11-04T21:39:28Z")
[Fred Thompson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Thompson) is a genuine politician and, as such, is often asked to play them. From his Filmography section on the Wikipedia, he appears to have played: Andrew Jackson Ulysses S. Grant White House Chief of Staff Harry Sargent I suspect that one or two more listings are probably as some form of White House Aid, but that’s hard to determine from a character name. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2011, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-actor-multiple-administrations/585505/25 "2011-11-04T22:58:05Z")
Richard Dreyfus played the president in a live television remake of Fail Safe and then Alexander Haig in a TV movie called The Day Reagan Was Shot. (He also played a fictional South American president in Moon Over Parador and also a senator and presidential candidate in The American President.) ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2011, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-actor-multiple-administrations/585505/26 "2011-11-04T23:22:46Z")
\*\*Anna Deavere Smith \*\*- she was the NSA in the \*West Wing \*and the Press Secretary in _The American President_ John Spencer, on The West Wing, was Chief of Staff of the Bartlett Administration, then elected to Vice-President…he was on the ticket but died before election day (in real life) Bradley Whitford was Deputy Chief of Staff of the Bartlett Administration and Cheif of Staff of the Santos Administration. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2011, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-actor-multiple-administrations/585505/27 "2011-11-04T23:30:42Z")
**James Cromwell** played a former President on _the West Wing_ and the current President in _The Sum of all Fears_ ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2011, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-actor-multiple-administrations/585505/28 "2011-11-04T23:47:52Z")
Donald Moffat was the president in Clear and Present Danger, LBJ in The Right Stuff and one of FDR’s advisors in the TV movie Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years, which had Edward Herrmann as FDR. And then Herrmann played Nelson Rockefeller in Oliver Stone’s movie Nixon. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2011, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-actor-multiple-administrations/585505/29 "2011-11-05T00:55:22Z")
Jason Robards played PResident Ulysses S. Grant in the Klinton Spilsbury flop _ **The Lone Ranger.** _ He played Franklin Roosevelt in the TV movie _ **FDR: The Last Year.** _ He was fictional President Monckton in the TV miniseries: _ **Washington Behind Closed Doors.** _ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-actor-multiple-administrations/585505.md?page=1)