There are many reasons why the presidency has vaulted to the heights of pop culture in modern times. One of the contributing factors has been Hollywood and its ongoing portrayal of these men and the dramatization of key events surrounding their time in office.
Movies about the presidents are never big at the box office like Star Wars or a Marvel film. However, some of them have provided a vehicle for best actor performances, memorable casts, and enduring popularity.
To be clear, I’m talking about movies featuring stories about real presidents, not fictional presidents like Harrison Ford (Air Force One), or Kevin Kline (Dave).
Topic
The dramatization of actual presidential crises can make for memorable movies. 13 Days, starring Bruce Greenwood as John F. Kennedy, Steven Culp as brother Robert F. Kennedy, and Kevin Costner as Kenny O’Donnell, is among the best at showing the palpable tensions over our nuclear confrontation with Russia in 1962.
All the President’s Men takes a deep dive into Richard Nixon’s Watergate misadventure that resulted in his resignation in 1974. Nixon himself never appears in the movie, with all the drama built around journalists Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) and Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) and their work to uncover one of the greatest presidential scandals of all time.
Featured President
The list of presidents whose stories were featured in major films is a long one. Literally hundreds of movies have been made about these men.
The standouts, with multiple movies, includes Washington (Forging of a Nation and We Fight to Be Free), John Adams (HBO series John Adams and The Adams Chronicles), Lincoln (Lincoln and Young Mr. Lincoln), Theodore Roosevelt (The Wind and The Lion and Rough Riders), Franklin Roosevelt (Pearl Harbor and Sunrise at Campobello), John F. Kennedy (JFK and 13 Days), Richard Nixon (Frost/Nixon and All the Presidents Men), Bill Clinton (Primary Colors and The Special Relationship), and George W. Bush (W and Vice).
Actors
A wide range of actors have played a president in a major motion picture. One of the most recognized is Daniel Day-Lewis’ portrayal of Abraham Lincoln in Lincoln in 2012 for which he won the Best Actor award.
Other A-List actors include Cliff Robertson (JFK in PT 109); Nick Nolte (Thomas Jefferson in Jefferson in Paris); Anthony Hopkins (Richard Nixon in Nixon and John Quincy Adams in Amistad ); John Travolta (Bill Clinton in Primary Colors); Robin Williams (Eisenhower in The Butler, and Theodore Roosevelt in Night at the Museum); Paul Giamatti (John Adams); Josh Brolin (George W. Bush in W); Bill Murray (Franklin Roosevelt in Hyde Park on the Hudson); John Cusack (Richard Nixon in The Butler); and Woody Harrelson (Lyndon Johnson in LBJ).
Directors
As you might imagine, movies about a president can attract top name directors as well. Stephen Spielberg has done it twice: Amistad in 1997 and Lincoln in 2012.
Oliver Stone directed JFK, Rob Reiner took on LBJ, Robert Altman did Secret Honor (about Nixon), John Ford directed Young Mr. Lincoln, and Roger Michell did Hyde Park on the Hudson.
You may wonder about Ronald Reagan, whose claim to fame prior to the presidency was as a successful Hollywood actor. Few movies have yet to be made about his presidency, but you can find Alan Rickman playing Reagan in 2013’s The Butler, with Jane Fonda playing Nancy Reagan. There’s also a documentary-style production from 2011 called Reagan by Eugene Jarecki.
My Favorites
One way to judge how well you like a movie is how many times you’ve seen it. For me, Lincoln with Daniel Day Lewis, Amistad with Anthony Hopkins, and John Adams with Paul Giamatti are among my favorites, seen multiple times over the years.
Interested in learning more about the presidents? Visit the Carolyn & James Millar Presidential Gallery on the upper level of the Booth Western Art Museum. The gallery features original letters and photographs of every U.S. president. Learn more at www.boothmuseum.org.
