# Want to elect an unqualified celebrity president? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 31, 2004, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-elect-an-unqualified-celebrity-president/272197 "2004-10-31T21:40:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Nuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea666f/32.png) [@Nuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nuke)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-elect-an-unqualified-celebrity-president/272197/21 "2004-11-01T15:51:44Z")
Tom ‘Tiny’ Lister Jr. - He’s the guy who played the President in [The Fifth Element](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119116/). ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-elect-an-unqualified-celebrity-president/272197/22 "2004-11-01T17:09:40Z")
Jason Robards: Lincoln in “The Perfect Tribute”, “Abe Lincoln in Illinois”, and “Lincoln” Grant in “The Legend of the Lone Ranger” FDR in “FDR: The Last Year” Fictional Pres in “Washington: Behind Closed Doors” ---
**Author:** ![thwartme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@thwartme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thwartme)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-elect-an-unqualified-celebrity-president/272197/23 "2004-11-01T18:30:01Z")
> [@kellner](#): > > If you count former presidents, Anthony Hopkins played John Quincy Adams in _Amistad_ and Richard Nixon in _Nixon_, but he was born on the wrong side of the Atlantic. That’s funny, actually. I wonder how many times PotUS has been portrayed by someone who’s not American. I can think of one other, off the top of my head. Canadian actor Gordon Pinsent played the Pres in “Colossus, the Forbin Project.” (great flick). And Sellers, mentioned earlier, of course. thwartme ---
**Author:** ![MMI](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/53a042/32.png) [@MMI](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MMI)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-elect-an-unqualified-celebrity-president/272197/24 "2004-11-01T20:35:06Z")
The problem with voting for Martin Sheen is that you won’t know before hand whether you will get the liberal intellectual from the _West Wing_ or the no-nonsense apocalypse starter from the _Dead Zone_. (they both just make so much sense) And who knows whether Cristopher Walken will be there to save us? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-elect-an-unqualified-celebrity-president/272197/25 "2004-11-01T22:28:09Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Been there, done that. 1980. 1984. No idea what you mean by that. GW was not a celebrety. Reagan was much better known as a politician by 1980, his acting days were 30 years behind him. Arnold and Jesse both would fit this category when they ran for governor. The unqualified part I’ll leave for other forums. ---
**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:** [November 2, 2004, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-elect-an-unqualified-celebrity-president/272197/26 "2004-11-02T03:42:23Z")
Regarding Reagan, I daresay having been a successful governor of the largest state in the U.S. in itself qualifies someone to be president. Arnold hasn’t been in office long enough for anyone to judge his effectiveness (plus there’s the whole constitution thing) but if he can hold the job for eight+ years and leaves California better than how he found it, I can’t see why he’d be a _bad_ choice. [Frank McGlynn](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0569466/) (1866-1951) played Lincoln twelve times. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-elect-an-unqualified-celebrity-president/272197/27 "2004-11-02T06:08:36Z")
> [@MMI](#): > > The problem with voting for Martin Sheen is that you won’t know before hand whether you will get the liberal intellectual from the _West Wing_ or the no-nonsense apocalypse starter from the _Dead Zone_. Or the no-nonsense apocalypse starter from _Spawn_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-elect-an-unqualified-celebrity-president/272197.md?page=1)