Hollywood's Best Presidents in Movies and TV

Tackling a real-life president, or even a fictional one, presents an opportunity for an actor to explore much internal and external conflict, and these roles have been featured plentifully in Hollywood.

Top actors who have stepped into the shoes of past U.S. presidents include Josh Brolin as George W. Bush in W, Jon Voight as Franklin D. Roosevelt in Pearl Harbor, Paul Giamatti as John Adams in John Adams, Greg Kinnear as John F. Kennedy in The Kennedys miniseries and — on the comedic front — the late Robin Williams as Theodore Roosevelt in Night at the Museum and Stephen Colbert in the DreamWorks animated hit Monsters vs. Aliens.

And then there’s Geena Davis, who became Mackenzie Allen, the fictional first female president of the United States in Commander in Chief, and Patricia Wettig, who morphed into Caroline Reynolds, another fictional character, in Prison Break. (See more female presidents in film and TV here.)

In honor of Presidents Day, the time has come to revisit some of these classic presidential dramas and comedies.

Josh Brolin as George W. Bush
Josh Brolin starred as President George W. Bush in Oliver Stone’s 2008 biopic W., released while Bush was a lame duck in October 2008. It chronicled Bush’s life from college party-boy in 1966 till the end of the president’s first term in 2004.
John Travolta as Governor Jack Stanton
Primary Colors starred John Travolta as Jack Stanton, an ambitious governor running for the presidency. Stanton was an amalgamation of a number of U.S. presidents, but based mainly on Bill Clinton and his presidential campaign in 1991.
Martin Sheen as Josiah ‘Jed’ Bartlet
Martin Sheen played Democratic President Josiah “Jed” Bartlet in Aaron Sorkin’s The West Wing. The series began one year into the Bartlet presidency and lasted for seven seasons, ending with his successor (played by Jimmy Smits) getting elected and taking office.
Blair Underwood as Elias Martinez
Blair Underwood played President Elias Martinez, a leader stunned by the conspiracies and cover-ups surrounding American politics, in NBC’s sci-fi series The Event. The end of the first episode drew much buzz when the climax featured a passenger jet, about to be used to crash into the president’s press conference, vanishing in mid-air.
Harrison Ford as James Marshall
Harrison Ford kicked terrorist tail as James Marshall, a president forced to take matters into his own hands when his plane comes under attack by Russian terrorists, in Air Force One.
Dennis Haysbert as David Palmer
Dennis Haysbert played David Palmer in five seasons of Fox’s action thriller series 24. Calm, resourceful, and dedicated, Palmer was a former Maryland senator who survived an assassination attempt on the day of the California primary, but only served one term in office. He was forced to bow out of the race after being caught lying to police to protect his wife. He was later assassinated by a sniper.
Michael Douglas as Andrew Shepard
Michael Douglas starred as Andrew Shepard in The American President, a comedy-drama that featured a real rarity in the Oval Office: an unmarried president. Shepard was a widower learning about the limitations of the office on his dating life as he tried to woo a lobbyist, played by Annette Bening, while also passing a controversial crime bill.
Raymond Massey as Abraham Lincoln
Massey played our 16th president (1861-65) in 1962’s How the West Was Won. It was a role he knew well: He had previously played Lincoln in two stage productions (Abe Lincoln in Illinois and John Brown’s Body), in a movie (Abe Lincoln in Illinois) and on TV (The Day Lincoln Was Shot).
Paul Giamatti as John Adams
Paul Giamatti won an Emmy, a Golden Globe and a SAG Award for playing the second president of the United States in HBO’s critically acclaimed miniseries John Adams. The seven-part series followed Adams from his days as a Boston lawyer through his days as president to his retirement and death on the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Geena Davis as Mackenzie Allen
Geena Davis starred as President Mackenzie Allen in the ABC political drama Commander in Chief. The series ran from September 2005-June 2006 and was notable for speculating about what life would be like for the first female president. Davis’ character was a Republican vice president who, after the death of her running mate, became the head of state.
Morgan Freeman as Tom Beck
Morgan Freeman played fictional President Tom Beck in the 1998 sci-fi drama Deep Impact. Directed by Mimi Leder, the story centers around a deadly comet headed toward Earth and how the U.S. government and a few brave citizens attempt to save humanity.
Chris Rock as Mays Gilliam
Chris Rock wrote, directed and starred as an African-American presidential candidate in the 2003 comedy. Rock later said in an interview in 2008 that he did not think he’d see an African American president in his lifetime. “If I thought it was possible, I don’t think I’d have made the movie quite that silly,” he said.
Billy Bob Thornton as The President
Billy Bob Thornton plays the not-so-sweet American president who makes a pass at a secretary (Martine McCutcheon) while visiting the British Prime Minister (Hugh Grant) in the ensemble romantic comedy Love Actually.
Stephen Colbert as President Hathaway
The Colbert Report host Stephen Colbert voices President Hathaway, the dimwitted leader of America who plans to throw everything he’s got at invading aliens, in the DreamWorks animated hit Monsters vs. Aliens.
Robin Williams as Theodore Roosevelt
Williams took on the role of our 26th president, who served from 1901-09, in 2006’s Night at the Museum. He reprised the character — actually a wax figure come to life in a museum where Ben Stiller’s Larry Daley was the night security guard — in the 2009 sequel, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.
Patricia Wettig as Caroline Reynolds
On Prison Break, Patricia Wettig’s character Caroline Reynolds, who starts out as the Vice President of the United States, was seen as a villain on this series about two brothers attempting to escape from prison. As the series progressed, Wettig’s character poisoned the sitting president, ensuring herself the title of 46th President of the United States.
Kelsey Grammer as Andrew Boone
Kelsey Grammer starred opposite Kevin Costner in the 2008 dramedy Swing Vote. Grammer played the incumbent Republican, Andrew Carington Boone, who has to woo Costner’s character for the final vote that will decide the presidential election.
Greg Kinnear as John F. Kennedy
Greg Kinnear portrayed JFK, or Jack, in The Kennedys miniseries. While the eight part biopic was originally set to air on The History Channel, the ambitious and much-anticipated series was pulled from the network and eventually aired on ReelzChannel in April 2011.
Jon Voight as President Franklin D. Roosevelt
In 2001’s Pearl Harbor, Jon Voight takes on the role of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who wants to send a message to Japan after the attack on American soil.
Michael Keaton as President Mackenzie
In the 2004 comedy First Daughter, Michael Keaton plays a commander in chief who may control the armed forces, but he can’t tell his daughter (Katie Holmes) what to do when she enrolls in college and begins to spread her wings.
Tim Robbins as The President
Tim Robbins plays the unnamed president in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me who gets a good laugh when Dr. Evil (Mike Myers) demands $100 billion. “Dr. Evil. It’s 1969. That amount of money doesn’t even exist,” his character says.
Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln
Daniel Day-Lewis won an Oscar at the 2013 Academy Awards for his performance as Abraham Lincoln in Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln, while the film was also nominated in numerous other categories. Lincoln was adapted by Tony Kushner from Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book, following Lincoln’s struggles during the American Civil War. Sally Field, David Strathairn, James Spader, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Tommy Lee Jones also star.
Alec Baldwin as Donald Trump
Saturday Night Live is known for inciting much laughter when prominent actors impersonate well-known figures, and Alec Baldwin’s Donald Trump might be the most legendary of all. From the voice to the mannerisms, he offered such a comedic performance of the controversial former president that it might just go down as one of Baldwin’s best roles, having earned him an Emmy in 2017.
Tony Goldwyn as Fitzgerald Grant III
Tony Goldwyn played Fitzgerald Grant III in ABC’s drama series Scandal from 2012-18. Grant, aka “Fitz,” was married to Mellie (Bellamy Young) but having an affair with Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington) when the show started. After many relationship ups and downs, the series finale opened a path for the two to have their happy ending, though it let viewers decide for themselves if that was the case.