Of all the movie presidents—not fictional presidents like Morgan Freeman’s President Tom Beck in Deep Impact, but rather, actors’ portrayals of real presidents—which one did his best? To help you decide, Candice Drouet put together a quick video showing actors playing presidents, including Robin Williams as Dwight D. Eisenhower, Kevin Spacey as Richard Nixon, Jon Voight as FDR, and more.
The whole showcase goes from FDR to Obama (with no Gerald Ford). There’s one other glaring omission—George W. Bush in Harold and Kumar—which is, in my opinion, better than W’s, and the most realistic portrayal of a president in film history.
Here’s the list of movie presidents in the clip:
Franklin D. Roosevelt – Jon Voight – Pearl Harbor
Harry S. Truman – Gary Sinise – Truman
Dwight D. Eisenhower – Robin Williams – The Butler
John F. Kennedy – Bruce Greenwood – Thirteen Days
Lyndon B. Johnson – Liev Schreiber – The Butler
Richard Nixon – Kevin Spacey – Elvis & Nixon
Jimmy Carter – Fred Travalena – An American Carol
Ronald Reagan – Jay Koch – Back to the Future II
George H. W. Bush – James Cromwell – W
Bill Clinton – Dennis Quaid – The Special Relationship
George W. Bush – Josh Brolin – W
Barack Obama – Parker Sawyers – Southside With You
