Can current candidates hold up to fictional presidents?
Published 1:30 am Friday, July 1, 2016
Here we are, July already. The Republican and Democratic national conventions are nearly upon us, and the rowdy presidential race will soon be prime-time TV viewing.
First come the Republicans and Donald Trump, starting July 18 in Cleveland. That reality TV show will be followed, starting July 25 in Philadelphia, by Hillary Clinton and the Democrats — with what’s sure to be an exciting sideshow from her primary challenger, Sen. Bernie Sanders.
What a choice, “The Donald” vs. the former first lady. It’s like something out of the movies, a screwball comedy. Except, well, this is our country and the future of the world. A comedy isn’t exactly ideal.
Don’t worry, though, I’m not about to get serious here, not on the eve of a three-day weekend. I was just thinking about our 2016 choices and some fantasy choices, including people who have played presidents in movies and on TV.
Who would you rather vote for, one of our two actual presidential candidates or Morgan Freeman? As President Tom Beck, Freeman had to cope with a killer comet in “Deep Impact.” And as Allan Trumbull in “Olympus Has Fallen,” Freeman played a speaker of the House who becomes acting president.
Who would you rather vote for, Trump, Clinton or Harrison Ford? In “Air Force One,” Ford is President James Marshall. A Medal of Honor winner with plenty of edgy swagger, he of course saves the day.
Freeman and Ford are the most high-profile fictional presidents. There are many more.
Would you vote for George Clooney? He was President Devlin in “Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over.” How about Michael Douglas, President Andrew Shepherd in “The American President?” Perhaps Stephen Colbert deserves your vote. The successor to David Letterman on CBS’s “The Late Show” is the voice of President Hathaway in the animated “Monsters vs. Aliens.”
And yes, Mr. Trump, there have been TV presidents. Most notable was Martin Sheen as President Josiah Bartlet in NBC’s “The West Wing.” On the CBS drama “Madame Secretary,” actor Keith Carradine’s President Conrad Dalton is upstaged by well-dressed Secretary of State Elizabeth McCord, played by Tea Leoni.
Joining the fictional chief executives are actors who have portrayed the real deal.
Abraham Lincoln has been played by at least 30 movie actors, beginning in 1915 with Joseph Henabery in “The Birth of a Nation.” Henry Fonda was in “Young Mr. Lincoln” in 1939. And Raymond Massey was nominated for an Academy Award in 1941 for “Abe Lincoln in Illinois.”
The best Lincoln, and to my mind the best-ever screen president, was Daniel Day-Lewis. He won a Best Actor Academy Award for the 2013 film “Lincoln.” We can’t vote him into the White House. Born in London and with both British and Irish citizenship, Day-Lewis doesn’t meet the native-born citizen requirement to run for the U.S. presidency. Neither does Anthony Hopkins, a Welshman.
Hopkins, who scared us as killer Hannibal Lecter, played John Quincy Adams in “Amistad” and President Richard Nixon in Oliver Stone’s “Nixon.”
The Roosevelts loom large in presidential history. Robin Williams played Teddy Roosevelt in three “Night at the Museum” movies. The late Edward Hermann was known for his FDR portrayals. Hermann, who died in 2014, played the longest-serving U.S. president in the “Eleanor and Franklin” miniseries and a sequel, in the movie “Annie,” and in Ken Burns’ documentary series for PBS, “The Roosevelts: An Intimate History.”
Voters may have gone for the late Charlton Heston, who played President Andrew Jackson in two movies, “The Buccaneer” and “The President’s Lady.”
Some actors have made unlikely presidents. Wacky Leslie Nielsen was President Baxter Harris in “Scary Movie 2” and “Scary Movie 3.” And President Lyndon Johnson has been played by an eccentric trio, Randy Quaid, Bryan Cranston and Woody Harrelson.
There are faux-president impressionists, among them Dana Carvey as President George H.W. Bush and Darrell Hammond as Bill Clinton on “Saturday Night Live.” Would you vote for them?
There’s Frank Underwood, an aptly named evil president, played by Kevin Spacey in the Netflix series “House of Cards.” And there’s a new movie president, one who wears pantsuits.
Remember Bill Pullman as President Thomas Whitmore in “Independence Day?” He’s back in the sequel, “Independence Day: Resurgence,” but no longer president. Sela Ward has that job.
In an interview for “Variety,” conducted April 30 at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, the actress who plays President Elizabeth Lanford was asked, “Are you supporting Trump or Hillary?”
“I haven’t decided,” Ward said.
Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460; jmuhlstein@heraldnet.com.
