History Main / PenPushingPresident

* Creator/IsaacAsimov's ''Literature/FoundationSeries'': In "Literature/TheMule", [[KingBobTheNth Mayor Indbur III]] inherited the post of absolute dictator for the Foundation from his grandfather (who was brutal but able) and father (who was brutal and nothing else) and is essentially a born pencil-pusher who happened to inherit absolute power. He always [[GrammarNazi corrects the grammar and spelling]] of the reports he reads before giving them his stamp of approval. It's evidence of his [[SuperOCD bookkeeper]] personality that he must correct the improper usage of commas before he will place a document in his Out Tray.

* ''Series/Mash'': In "[[Recap/MashS7E1CommanderPierce Commander Pierce"]] Hawkeye is left in command by Colonel Potter, and learns just how much paperwork comes with being the CO of an army unit. Hawkeye puts it off until Potter returns, forcing Potter to play catch up with the amount of paperwork that piled up while he was away.

Can be the reason for someone being KickedUpstairs. May result in TrashOfTheTitans if disorder comes on top of quantity. Compare VastBureaucracy, BeleagueredBoss, BeleagueredBureaucrat, ObstructiveBureaucrat and CorruptBureaucrat. May be a BadassBureaucrat.

* The Hokage is sometimes portrayed like this in ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', including Tsunade after she assumed the role. They are by definition one of the strongest fighters in their village, but their job is mostly to assign missions rather than go on them. The same goes for Naruto himself as during the ''Manga/{{Boruto}}'' period as he is seen constantly overloaded with piles of papers in his Hokage's office.

* In his ''Manga/FoodWars'' debut, Eishi Tsukasa, current First Seat of [[AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil the Elite Ten]], starts complaining about the massive amount of paperwork he had to deal with when Soma, Subaru and Takumi decided to hold two Shokugekis during the Fall Classic tournament. He briefly mopes about how stressful the responsibilities of a first seat can be. Later, [[spoiler:when Azami replaces Senzaemon as the new director of Tootsuki]], the bureaucratic changes that are taking place in the school increase the amount of paperwork that needs to be done, and most of this paperwork is given to Tsukasa. There's also a scene where two of the Elite Ten pushed their paperwork onto him, to which he's looking at with despair.

* In ''Film/AttackOfTheKillerTomatoes'', the President is seen continually signing pieces of paper, each with a different pen. It later gets revealed that he's signing ''blank pieces of paper'', so that it can be claimed that the President had signed something with the pen.

* In ''Film/{{Predator}}'', Dillon fulfils this role. As a Colonel he outranks everyone else on Dutch's team (Dutch included) and in his most famous line he says he's "been pushing papers for the CIA".

** ''Literature/TheFifthElephant'': Sergeant Colon becomes Acting Captain in Vimes' absence, and his reaction to the paperwork is to just throw it all in the fire. Including the pay dockets. The Watch goes on strike as a result, which actually ''lowers'' crime--criminals know that Mr Vimes will not be happy when he returns, and the last thing they need is draw his attention to them.
** In the Wizard books, Archchancellor Ridcully [[AvertedTrope just lets the paperwork pile up on his desk]], despite being headmaster of what is ostensibly the highest university of learning on the entire Disc. In fact, he periodically bins it, and assumes that if anything is ''really'' important someone will start shouting. Lampshaded in ''Literature/GoingPostal'': "Haven't I always said I wanted a paperless office, Stibbons?" "Yes sir, that's why you throw it out of the window."

* Creator/OksanaPankeeva: In ''Literature/StrangeKingdomChronicles'', that is King Shellar's primary occupation. According to flashbacks, it used to be borderline torture, even with him only needing two-three hours of sleep a day. When we first meet him, he is actually doing better, having figured out for most part how things work, so that he can have some social life as well.

* ''Literature/AscendanceOfABookworm'': Being an archduke is shown to entail a lot of paperwork, and the story keeps mentioning things that the duchy's archduke has to sign off on personally, such as authorizing adoptions involving nobles. This comes on top of a lot of paperwork that is best dealt with by the the archduke simply because he's one of the few people with the right skills to take care of it. It's implied that the duchy in which the protagonist lives is able to run smoothly, despite having a BrilliantButLazy archduke who doesn't like doing paperwork, because his main HypercompetentSidekick is a {{Workaholic}}.

* [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] in the first ''Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian'' story published, ''Literature/ThePhoenixOnTheSword''. It deals with an older Conan who has become king of Aquilonia. In his first scene he complains to his second-in-command, Prospero, about how the "matters of statecraft weary [him] as all the fighting [he has] done never did", and the narration mentions how out of place his tanned, athletic body seems "among those luxuriant surroundings." It describes him sitting behind a "ivory, gold-inlaid writing-table" and his first action being laying "down the golden stylus with which he had been laboriously scrawling on waxed papyrus", clearly drawing on this trope, but it's clear from the rest of the text that he's mostly burdened by the problems in his kingdom he can't just fight his way out of. Still, having to write decrees and such in order to deal with those problems is clearly not something he enjoys.

* On one episode of ''Series/RunningMan'', the final elimination game had it set up where one player was named the King, who was the only allowed to get players out by ripping off the name tags on players' backs. However, they were allowed to do this for a few minutes until they had to go back to their office to stamp sheet after sheet with the royal stamp for several minutes, leaving the other players free to hunt for the hidden paper ballots they could use to vote for a new King (including themselves).

* This is the basic concept of ''Series/YesMinister'' and sequels. One episode has Sir Humphrey remonstrating Bernard for not keeping the Minister busy with such paperwork, because otherwise he might start getting busy reforming the public service (i.e. putting Bernard and Sir Humphrey out of a job).

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': Becoming an inquisitorial representative is usually less clamoured for than other positions at the High Lords of Terra. The Inquisitor in question is now not only locked away from actively fighting the Emperor's enemies, but now has to somehow act as a spokesperson for the entire incredibly factionalized Inquisition, all while also navigating the complex politics of the High Lords. The role is therefore usually filled by members whose mandate is close to Terra anyway.

* Averted in ''VisualNovel/{{Melody}}'' with Hank Sharp, president of Sharp Records. Hank personally identifies talent for his company, and makes a point of attending his musicians’ shows when he can.

* In ''Webcomic/AwkwardZombie'', [[Videogame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Edelgarde assends to the throne and declares war on the Church of Seiros]]... only to find that war is not only hell but a logistical nightmare and finds herself up to her elbows in paperwork.

* ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'': In "Operation I.T", it is revealed that the job of Supreme Leader is this. When she isn't trying to keep everyone under control, Numbuh 362 is stuck signing paper work, preventing her from going on missions. It's one of the big reasons she wanted to give up the job.
* ''WesternAnimation/PennZeroPartTimeHero'': In "Defending the Earth", Penn zaps in as the President of an alternate Earth's United States. He immediately decides to have some fun with his position, such as prank calling China, or making homework illegal. Sashi is quick to point out that he can't do any of that, and that his job actually revolves around signing bills from the legistrative branch into law.

* Franz Joseph I, second-last emperor of Austria-Hungary. As the story goes, he would sit for many hours at his desk and even correct punctuation mistakes in the papers he worked at. The people nicknamed him "old Prochaska", as if he were a small clerk. "Prochazka" (very common as a surname for Czech-speaking people) meant "walker" and he got the nickname after his picture appeared in newspapers walking alone through Prague in 1901. The nickname outlined his modest appearance.
* UsefulNotes/VladimirPutin, then-Prime-Minister of Russia, quipped in September 2009: "Yesterday was the day for signing papers -- four suitcases of documents". At press conference 14 February 2008 he also said that he worked like a slave at the galleys for straight 8 years. Due to a lucky typo this caused some Memetic Mutations: namely, "like a slave" was mangled into "like a crab" (in Russian: "как раб" vs "как краб"), making "The Crab" a nickname for Putin in certain Internet circles.

* Adolf Hitler expressed his horror at the prospect of being stuck behind a desk signing papers.

* Speaking of pens and presidents, President Truman started the tradition of using multiple pens to sign a bill and giving the used pens to the people who helped pass the bill. Presidents will often go through twenty to thirty pens when signing landmark legislation. Lyndon B. Johnson used 120 pens to sign the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsonsMovie'': The President is disappointed that, instead of leading the country, he is forced to spend his days signing papers and approving motions.

** ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': After being appointed to a leadership role in an allied fleet, Martok finds that a larger part of his job is filling out paperwork, which he absolutely despises.