10. President “Unknown Name” - Henry Fonda (Fail Safe)
The 1960s saw Fonda perform in a number of war and western epics, including 1962’s The Longest Day and How the West Was Won, 1965’s In Harm’s Way and Battle of the Bulge. In the Cold War suspense film Fail-Safe (1964), Fonda played the resolute President of the United States who tries to avert a nuclear holocaust through tense negotiations with the Soviets who see an attack coming their way.
9. President Lindeberg – Tom Lister Jr. (The Fifth Element)
Lister was also featured in The Fifth Element in a bit of a turn from his usual thug characters as the cool-headed Galactic President. The Fifth Element also featured Lister’s Friday co-star Chris Tucker, although their characters never interact within the film.
8. President Alan Richmond - Gene Hackman (Absolute Power)
In this slick political thriller, an emotionally disconnected, aesthetically refined master thief is out for one final score before retiring to his treasure-lined hideaway. But during a robbery at a mansion near Washington, he witnesses a bizarre sex murder involving the President of the United States. As the president’s slimy handlers frantically cover the crime up, the career criminal–and only outside witness–becomes the Secret Service’s prime target. His relationship with his estranged daughter hangs in the balance. Adapted from the best-selling novel by David Baldacci
7. President Thomas J. Whitmore - Bill Pullman (Independence Day)
He’s the Chief Executive, the Chief Legislator, the Commander-In-Chief, the Chief Diplomat, and just about the Chief Everything. The President of the USA is one of the most symbolic and fictionalized figures in the world. Lets look back at some of what Hollywood had to offer us for President of the United States, and see how they sized up to mighty challenges. here are a few Movie Presidents to ever grace our screens.
6. President “Unknown Name” - Donald Pleasance (Escape from New York)
Fearing another four years of Jimmy Carter or four years of Republican rule, Donald Pleasence announced in 1980 that he was running for President as an Independent. He somehow managed to win the election and took the oath of office in January of 1981. In February of that year, Air Force One crash-landed on Manhattan Island (which at the time was a maximum-security prison) and Pleasence was captured by inmates.
A fugitive named Snake Plissken was assigned the task of finding the President before it was too late. He ended up beating the crap out of Isaac Hayes and saving Donald’s life. Hayes got revenge by landing a role on South Park in 1997, two years after Pleasence’s death, and then re-recording his own hit song, “The Theme from Shaft,” in 2000.
Pleasence was forced into resignation after Congress discovered he was British. This upset Pleasence, but he went back to work as Myers’ psychiatrist, who was always almost as crazy as his notorious mute patient.
5. President James Dale - Jack Nicholson (Mars Attacks)
Jack Nicholson as President James Dale: President of the United States, husband of Marsha Dale, father of Taffy Dale. Seeks to gain relations with the Martians. He is persuaded to be peaceful by his advisers and is dismayed that the Martians are not peaceful in return. He is later impaled by a Martian flag while trying to plead for clemency and peace.
4. President Tom Beck - Morgan Freeman (Deep Impact)
Although Armageddon was released around the same time as Deep Impact, Morgan Freeman’s performance — along with a far more scientifically accurate depiction of the possible end of life on earth —made the latter a superior film (although, sadly, no Aerosmith). It’s up to President Beck to break the news to the American people that the planet is about to be hit by a massive comet and that the government has been preparing underground caves to house a million lucky souls chosen to survive the calamity. And since Morgan Freeman pretty much has the most soothing voice ever, it stings just that much less.
3. President Andrew Shepherd - Michael Douglas (The American President)
Andrew Shepherd (Michael Douglas) is introduced as an immensely popular Democratic president from the state of Wisconsin preparing to run for re-election with a 63% approval rating. The President and his staff, led by Chief of Staff A.J. MacInerney (Martin Sheen), attempt to consolidate the administration’s high poll ratings by passing a moderate crime control bill. However, support for the bill from both parties is not very strong. Conservatives and Republicans don’t want the bill at all, and liberals and Democrats think the bill is too weak. If the bill passes, Shepherd’s re-election is presumed by his team to be a shoo-in.
2. President James Marshall - Harrison Ford (Air Force One)
Hijackers seize the plane carrying the President of the United States and his family, but he (an ex-soldier) works from hiding to defeat them.
1. President Merkin Muffley - Peter Sellers (Dr Strangelove)
Calling out Sellers’ role as President Muffley in the Stanley Kubrick masterpiece Dr. Stranglove is almost unfair: he also played Group Captain Lionel Mandrake and former Nazi scientist Dr. Strangelove, all three them facing nuclear annihilation after a crazed general orders a rogue attack on the Soviet Union. The darkly comedic and frantic film captures Cold War period paranoia in way few others have. It was nominated for 4 Oscars.
