History Main / InvisiblePresident

Note: this is '''only''' for when the political leader is supposed to be a real historical person -- FDR, Margaret Thatcher, whoever. If the leader is a fictional character, it's one of the other tropes for never-seen characters, like HeWhoMustNotBeSeen, TheFaceless, or TheGhost. Contrast NoCelebritiesWereHarmed.

* ''[[Film/ThePromisedLand2023 The Promised Land]]'': Despite his role in the plot, the Danish king's name is never given, and he only appears in one scene. We only see the back of his head.

To a certain degree, this also keeps the work from getting unintentionally political; putting controversial real-life politicians in your story is risky business, doubly so if the in-story president is specifically depicted in a positive or negative light. Compare the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysanthemum_taboo Chrysanthemum taboo]] on depictions of TheEmperor of UsefulNotes/{{Japan}} in Japanese media.

* The 2007 ''Film/{{Transformers}}'' movie featured a president whose face was blocked by a pair of feet wearing red socks, who asked an assistant to bring him a Ding-Dong [[UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush with a Texas accent]]. This is his only appearance in the film, though the Secretary of Defense later mentions that the current crisis could define his presidency, and after the climax, he [[spoiler:dissolves Sector 7 and orders the remains of the Decepticons be dumped in a very deep ocean trench]].

* An episode of the Simpsons has Homer fantasizing about receiving a medal from the president, who is just a white man in a suit with grey hair. When his fantasy ends, Homer wonders aloud "what president was that? He looked pretty generic."

* A scene of ''Manga/DeathNote'' has one of the organizations talking to the President of the U.S, but is referred to as "Mr.President". But only in the anime. The president is David Hoope in the manga. [[spoiler:He commits suicide after Mello threatens him with the Death Note in order to prevent nuclear war.]]

* ''ComicBook/JimmysBastards'' (also by Ennis) uses "the current administration" (written in 2017-2018) when the villains are discussing what would happen if they were to use their GenderBender phlebotinum on the U.S. According to them, said reaction would involve firing Tomahawks at the UK (finding somewhere else to play golf) and modifying his gender views to include "grabbing women by the dick". These are clearly references to the president at the time, UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump.
* Used in ''ComicBook/LargoWinch'' when Largo's company gets targeted by a foreign plot to destroy the U.S. economy [[spoiler:by secretly buying up majority shares in most Wall Street companies and running them into the ground at the same time, all for less than the cost of a missile barrage]]. Once the details are learned, he's debriefed at the same time as the President, who has a FaceFramedInShadow and ScaryShinyGlasses.
* Used in ''ComicBook/{{Secret War|2004}}''. But considering ComicBook/NickFury details a terrorist threat to the U.S., and the president simply dismisses it, they had to or they would face very serious legal trouble.
* In ''ComicBook/ThorVikings'', the President's voice is heard discussing the fallout of [[NukeEm a nuke]] being dropped in New York to stop the [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot Viking zombies]]. He is depicted as oblivious and incompetent, unable to tell that Washington might be affected given the short distance between the two cities and complains that nobody told him about this little fact.

* Another obvious Invisible LBJ "appears" in the 1966 film ''Film/BatmanTheMovie''. A close-up from the "President's" perspective (thus faceless) shows him reclining in his seat, stroking his dog, and congratulating the Dynamic Duo on the phone, in a cartoonishly stereotypical Texan accent (he even says "Howdy!") provided by Fort Worth-born Van Williams of ''Radio/TheGreenHornet''.

** Downplayed in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime The End of Time]]", in which the President is seen only briefly from behind but is clearly meant to be Barack Obama.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfSuperMarioBros3'', "Reptiles in the Rose Garden": Subverted. While the President and First Lady are not named (and only referred to as "Mrs./The President"), the First Lady is a striker for the late Barbara Bush, and, although seen only from the back, the President is clearly meant to represent George H.W. Bush.

* One episode of the ''Series/TheGoldenGirls'' shows Dorothy meeting the President (UsefulNotes/GeorgeHWBush) right in her own home, but all the viewer gets to see is the President's hands through the open door. (His voice is heard, provided by Creator/HarryShearer, using ''the exact same impression'' he would later use in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' - it's a bit distracting.)

* The Australian series ''Series/TheHollowmen'' is based around a department designed to add a positive spin to any and all of the federal government's policies. Despite there being at least a dozen meetings with the Prime Minister and various other politicians over the course of the series, not one of them is ever shown - the audience only ever gets to see just inside the door of the PM's office.

* A photograph of Ronald Reagan was prominently displayed in the NORAD command room in ''Film/WarGames.'' (Probably there because it's TruthInTelevision - US federal government buildings usually display a photograph of the current President, as with the French example below - but admirers of the "Gipper" have accused the movie of {{Anvilicious}}ly cutting away to his picture every time the Defcon alert was raised.)

* A scene of ''Manga/DeathNote'' has one of the organizations talking to the President of the U.S, but is referred to as "Mr.President".
** But only in the anime. The president is David Hoope in the manga. [[spoiler:He commits suicide after Mello threatens him with the Death Note in order to prevent nuclear war.]]

[[folder:Film -- Animated]]

[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]

* Used for satire in ''Film/{{Water 1985}}''. The President (implied to be UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan) is sitting in the Oval Office with his back to the audience as his staff (facing towards the audience) urge him to invade [[FictionalCountry Cascara]] to preempt a communist revolution.
-->"The decision appears to be unanimous, Mr. President. [DramaticPause] Well, shall we wake him?"

** The classic serial [[Recap/DoctorWhoS10E5TheGreenDeath "The Green Death"]] also portrayed the Prime Minister as an outstretched hand and as the unheard half of a telephone conversation with TheBrigadier. In the phone conversation, he was called "Jeremy", a reference to the then leader of the Liberal Party Jeremy Thorpe (who was never Prime Minister). This was an allusion to the brief resurgence in popularity the Liberal Party was seeing in the early 1970s after their severe decline following UsefulNotes/WorldWarII.
** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E4AliensOfLondon "Aliens of London"]], the Doctor asks Rose (after accidentally landing a year late to her home time) who the Prime Minister is. She stares at him cluelessly and explains it ''has'' been a year. The corpse of the Prime Minister himself is later found in the episode, though they make sure not to focus on his face. The extra playing the PM was hired on the understanding that he was a Tony Blair lookalike, but when he turned up on set it was discovered the resemblance was not as strong as hoped, so he is less visible than intended in the final episode, although other references to the Iraq War and a female MP "not being one of the Babes" make it clear who he is intended to be. (Although the episode was to be broadcast very close to the General Election, the huge majority Blair already had and the unpopularity of the opposition coupled with their low starting point meant that the result was never seriously in doubt.)
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E7TheIdiotsLantern "The Idiot's Lantern"]] used archival footage of the Queen's coronation since it was set during the event.
** Averted in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E12TheSoundOfDrums "The Sound of Drums"]], which has the Master kill off a fictitious president who likely was designed to be a parody of then-president George W. Bush.
** [[Recap/DoctorWho2007CSVoyageOfTheDamned "Voyage of the Damned"]]: When the Queen and her staff (and corgis) first evacuate the palace and then wave to a passing spaceship, she is only seen from the back. It is, however, clearly meant to be Queen Elizabeth II, and she even gets a line of dialogue (voiced by impressionist Jessica Martin, who had also voiced her in series such as ''Series/SpittingImage'').
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E6Extremis "Extremis"]] features the President of the U.S., but he's dark-haired and faceless [[spoiler:because he lies face-down on his desk, dead.]] The episode was written before but filmed after UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump's election, and the latter is implied to be President in the following episode. [[spoiler:The unnamed President with dark hair is, in fact, not a true person in-universe but a part of a computer simulation in which the whole episode is set.]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* Hilariously subverted in ''Webcomic/GrrlPower'', as [[http://grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1707 seen here.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' may or may not be an exception, with President Eden [[spoiler:being a computer]].
** It probably counts as an exception, since we do -- in a manner of speaking -- get to see his face. [[spoiler:That is, his monitor.]] There is also some uncertainty as to whether he legally speaking ''is'' the President, since the person to tell the surviving Enclave that he was a part of the previous President's cabinet was Eden himself, and we do know he lies and bends the truth...

* ''Series/IDreamOfJeannie'': In "My Son, The Jeannie" was filmed during Lyndon Johnson's presidency. Harold, the inept son of the Chief of the Genies, arrives to apprentice for a day with Jeannie. To make things more chaotic, that evening Major Nelson is chosen to host the Commander-In-Chief for dinner. After several minor disasters (including Harold blinking up a belly dancer to celebrate), Major Nelson greets the unseen, unnamed president while dressed in a Revolutionary War era uniform.

* Series/PetticoatJunction'': In "Joe Saves the Post Office", Uncle Joe impresses a crowd at the Lincoln Memorial by reciting the Gettysberg Address by memory. The invisible president comes to shake his hand, at which time Uncle Joe uses the opportunity to convince the president to save the post office. The episode aired in the February of 1969, soon after the inauguration of UsefulNotes/RichardNixon.

* ''Series/IDreamOfJeannie": In "My Son, The Jeannie" was filmed during Lyndon Johnson's presidency. Harold, the inept son of the Chief of the Genies, arrives to apprentice for a day with Jeannie. To make things more chaotic, that evening Major Nelson is chosen to host the Commander-In-Chief for dinner. After several minor disasters (including Harold blinking up a belly dancer to celebrate), Major Nelson greets the unseen, unnamed president while dressed in a Revolutionary War era uniform.

* On ''WesternAnimation/TheClevelandShow'', Cleveland initially [[TooDumbToLive does not realize]] that the [[UsefulNotes/BarackObama Barry Obama]] he beat at basketball as a child grew up to be President.

* Played with in the ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}''[=/=]''ComicBook/YoungAvengers'' ''ComicBook/SecretInvasion'' crossover miniseries. During the final battle against Chrell, Speed grabs Molly Hayes and Klara Prast and dumps them somewhere far away from the fighting. Klara looks around and suddenly exclaims "Mr. President!" [[spoiler:It turns out they've been dropped off in front of Mt. Rushmore.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' had a UsefulNotes/BillClinton-like President in one episode, and a UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush-like one in another. UsefulNotes/BarackObama and UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump have yet to appear.

* In the 2017 Korean thriller ''Film/SteelRain'', the plot involves the leader of North Korea, who's been wounded in a coup, being protected by a loyal North Korean agent. Kim Jong Un is never fully shown, just a body lying on a stretcher with the camera angle obscuring his face. He's never referred to by name, just as "Great General" or "Number One". Even a statue of their GloriousLeader shown toward the end of the movie has its head cropped by the top of the movie screen.

* In the 2017 Korean thriller ''Film/SteelRain'', the plot involves the GloriousLeader of North Korea, wounded in a coup, being protected by a loyal North Korean agent. Kim Jong Un is never fully shown, just a body lying on a stretcher with the camera angle obscuring his face. He's never referred to by name, just as "Great General" or "Number One". Even a statue of their GloriousLeader shown toward the end of the movie has its head cropped by the top of the movie screen.