| 1 | %% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1536887055041352600 |
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| 4 | [[quoteright:300:[[ComicBook/Prez2015 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/first_teen_president1.jpg]]]] |
| 5 | [[caption-width-right:300:Neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty-five years, unless they're ''just too cool''!]] |
| 6 | %% |
| 7 | %% Caption selected per above IP thread. Please do not replace or remove without discussion here: |
| 8 | %% https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1404492079030138900 |
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| 10 | |
| 11 | ->'''Jim:''' Hey, you don't look like the president!\ |
| 12 | '''President:''' I'm one of those generic presidents they use on TV to keep shows from becoming dated. |
| 13 | -->-- ''WesternAnimation/EarthwormJim'', "The Origins of Peter Puppy" |
| 14 | |
| 15 | World leaders have provided much dramatic inspiration for creators over the years -- the prestige and power these people are afforded and the intrigue, dangers, and tensions that surround them can make for great stories. However, including the ''real'' world leader in your story can have several ramifications, not all of them good: if the depiction isn't particularly flattering (or even if it ''is'' -- just not to ''some'' people), this can see your work receive unwanted controversy, attention and (if the person in question happens to be alive and litigious) legal action. Or maybe your story takes place TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture. As such, many creators choose to create an entirely new and fictional leader out of whole cloth to include in their stories, and depending on the story these depictions can fall into several types, which are discussed below. |
| 16 | |
| 17 | %%Remember, the Rule Of Cautious Editing Judgment is firmly in place here. So proceed with caution. |
| 18 | |
| 19 | [[header:[[ActionPolitician President Action]]]] |
| 20 | ->''I'm going in there to save my men. And the reason is: because I'm the President of the great United States of America!'' |
| 21 | -->-- '''President Michael Wilson''', ''VideoGame/MetalWolfChaos'' |
| 22 | |
| 23 | A common character in TheNineties, this President [[RankScalesWithAsskicking kicks ass consistently and thoroughly]]. Oftentimes, he's far more a badass than his entire Secret Service detail combined. This particular detail is often {{justified|Trope}} by [[HandWave declaring]] that, before elected to office, he [[RetiredBadass was a decorated military hero]], as there are several real-world cases (see below). In fiction few leaders outside of the United States have been placed into this role. [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething King Action]], however, is fairly common, as in the past it was an explicit part of the King's duty to be a [[WarriorPrince battlefield leader]]. Note connections with {{Eagleland}}. |
| 24 | |
| 25 | If, more than just a badass, the president is an actual superhero, he would be a PresidentSuperhero. |
| 26 | |
| 27 | [[header:President Target]] |
| 28 | ->''"The President has been kidnapped by ninjas. Are you a bad enough dude to rescue the President?"'' |
| 29 | -->--''VideoGame/BadDudes vs. Dragon Ninja'' |
| 30 | |
| 31 | The direct opposite of President Action; this President is just the hapless target of whatever assassination attempt, kidnap attempt, assaulted-by-ninjas attempt, blackmail attempt, or otherwise evil conspiracy the bad guys have planned. Often has [[EvilChancellor an evil deputy]] or [[GovernmentConspiracy members of his own government]] gunning for him/her. Can have elements of the other Presidents attached to him (for example, [[LetsGetDangerous becoming President Action out of necessity at the last minute]]), but President Targets are often [[FlatCharacter ciphers]], with little information provided about them other than their status as President -- which means they might as well have a ''big'' target sign on their backs. This President basically exists for countless {{action hero}}es to answer this question: Are ''you'' a bad enough dude to rescue the president? Sometimes, it's the President's daughter who [[DamselInDistress gets kidnapped]]. |
| 32 | |
| 33 | [[header:President Personable]] |
| 34 | ->''"If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love actually is all around."'' |
| 35 | -->-- '''Prime Minister David''', ''Film/LoveActually'' |
| 36 | |
| 37 | The "NiceGuy" President. This President isn't nearly the badass that President Action is, and is often a bit older, but is often a decent, honorable, and kind man who treats his position, aides, and country with great respect and dignity. Often takes the role of the ReasonableAuthorityFigure. A President Personable needs to watch out, however, since the EvilChancellor is usually waiting in the wings (often as a scheming Vice President or deputy), the GovernmentConspiracy is often gunning straight at them, and they can easily end up as President Target. |
| 38 | |
| 39 | [[header:President Corrupt]] |
| 40 | ->''"Well, when the president does it, that means that it is ''not'' illegal."'' |
| 41 | -->-- '''President UsefulNotes/RichardNixon''', RealLife |
| 42 | |
| 43 | The diametric opposite of President Personable -- your (stereo)typical scheming, shifty, and {{corrupt politician}} who is in it only for what he can get out of it, legally or otherwise. Often seems to take great pleasure in screwing over the people and system he represents for his own personal gain. Bonus points awarded if he's having extramarital affairs (usually with his aides or secretaries) on the side. When a President Corrupt is in office, you can often find him right at the center of the GovernmentConspiracy, and is the quintessential VillainWithGoodPublicity -- at least, until the heroes get on his case. Sometimes appears to be one of the other types until the conspiracy is uncovered, with the possibility of a HaveYouToldAnyoneElse moment. President Corrupt is particularly susceptible to an EngineeredPublicConfession. |
| 44 | |
| 45 | [[header:President Scheming]] |
| 46 | ->''"I said things. I said I'd seen proof of life on Mars. I said I'd intervened at the Justice Department to put 100,000 computers in the classrooms, which I thought made me sound like a good guy."'' |
| 47 | -->-- '''Vice President Hoynes''', ''Series/TheWestWing'' |
| 48 | |
| 49 | A milder version of President Corrupt, President Scheming might not actually be involved in anything ''illegal'', but he's certainly a devious and shifty political operative who tends to play dirty tricks and has very loose ethics at best. He's usually in it not so much for the cash benefits as the political power. Make this guy the second banana and he'll almost immediately be [[TheStarscream trying very hard]] to make sure that he gets himself into the top job as soon as possible, by whatever underhanded methods necessary. |
| 50 | |
| 51 | [[header:President Jerkass]] |
| 52 | -> ''"Checkers, [[KickTheDog shut up]]! Or [[AsiansEatPets I'll feed you to the Chinese]]!"'' |
| 53 | -->-- '''President 'Dick' Nixon''', ''Film/{{Dick}}'' |
| 54 | |
| 55 | In contrast to the likeable President Personable, President {{Jerkass}} isn't a nice person at all. He's not necessarily corrupt or shifty: he's just a complete douchebag. He bullies his underlings, he's rude and thoughtless to his colleagues, he's arrogant, condescending and dismissive of the public he supposedly represents, and all in all is not a very nice guy at all. He's usually got very good P.R. skills, though, which explains how he manages to get elected: he's all huge smiles and smarmy charm in public, but behind closed doors he's a bit of a nasty piece of work. This President may be a less sympathetic President Target, or the story may require him to be taken down a peg or two in order to [[TookALevelInKindness become more of a President Personable]]. |
| 56 | |
| 57 | [[header:President Buffoon]] |
| 58 | -> ''"I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully."'' |
| 59 | -->-- '''President UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush''', RealLife |
| 60 | |
| 61 | TheDitz President. It's not immediately clear how this guy (or, rarely, girl) ever got elected, because he can barely seem to stand up on his own at times, but nevertheless he's the boss, and everyone's got to put up with it until his term of office is, thankfully, over. (Although sometimes he wasn't elected: President Buffoon simply got the job by being next in line after a standing President dies or otherwise leaves office.) President Buffoon typically shows his discomfort with the job of leading the country by taking lots of vacations. Often appears in kids' movies and TV shows and/or very broad satires. Depending on how savage the parody is, he may be either a lovable doofus or a hateful incompetent. President Buffoon lends himself very nicely to TheManBehindTheMan. See also PointyHairedBoss and Creator/StephenColbert. |
| 62 | |
| 63 | [[header:[[PuppetKing President Puppet]]]] |
| 64 | ->''"[[ImpliedDeathThreat Remember]]- you are [[OnlyServesForLife only]] President...for life."'' |
| 65 | -->-- '''Drug Lord Franz Sanchez''' to [[BananaRepublic El Presidente]], ''Film/LicenceToKill'' |
| 66 | |
| 67 | The President, whether he realises it or not, is merely a puppet of someone else and is in power to carry out another's agenda. As such, they are typically also any one of the other types, though President Buffoon is often the stereotype. Usually this indicates an implicit or explicit critique of the entire democratic process, as it doesn't matter whether this person was elected by the people or not (and in such cases, an electoral process that returns a puppet President must be flawed in some regard); they are '''not''' putting the interests of the people first, but serving the interests of another party first and foremost, though said party may sometimes be well-intentioned. For the ConspiracyTheorist (and sometimes, just the more cynical critics of the political system in general), ''every'' President is usually a President Puppet, putting the interests of Wall Street, big business, or some other nebulous and powerful, partisan, well-funded faction ahead of their election platform and promises. |
| 68 | |
| 69 | [[header:President Lunatic]] |
| 70 | ->''"The missiles are flying! Hallelujah, Hallelujah!"'' |
| 71 | -->-- '''President Greg Stillson''', ''Literature/TheDeadZone'' |
| 72 | |
| 73 | This President may be President Buffoon turned up to eleven, may be [[HolierThanThou overwhelmingly self-righteous]], may be [[TheFundamentalist a bit too eagerly into religion]], or may [[TheSchizophreniaConspiracy see enemies behind every curtain and hear ominous whispering behind every pot-plant]]. Whatever the deal, if this President gets into office, it's a genuine cause to panic, as he is ''[[TheCaligula completely and genuinely insane]]''. And he now has far-reaching governmental authority and a runaway military budget (often involving [[NukeEm nuclear missiles]]) to back up his particular brand of delusion. This kind of President often just needs a few little nudges to send him right into becoming a full-blown PresidentEvil. |
| 74 | |
| 75 | [[header:President Iron]] |
| 76 | ->''"To those waiting with bated breath for that favourite media catchphrase, the U-turn, I have only one thing to say: You turn if you want to. The lady's not for turning."'' |
| 77 | -->-- '''Prime Minister UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher''', RealLife |
| 78 | |
| 79 | President Iron [[{{Determinator}} doesn't compromise. Ever.]] Certain and correct in his (or her) every move (oftentimes [[KnightTemplar even if it's proven to be wrong]] -- good luck getting him/her to admit it), s/he charges ahead relentlessly with every action, every policy initiative, and especially every war s/he gets involved in. [[IronLady Women leaders tend to get placed in this trope]], perhaps as a consequence of the lasting influence of UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher, the first female British Prime Minister, who was a [[TruthInTelevision living ideal of this trope]] -- she was called "[[TropeNamers The Iron Lady]]", first by the Soviet press in 1976 [[http://www.margaretthatcher.org/speeches/displaydocument.asp?docid=102939 after an anti-Soviet speech]]. |
| 80 | |
| 81 | [[header:President Focus Group]] |
| 82 | ->'''[[TheBarnum Sir Humphrey]]:''' ''So we trust you to make sure that your Minister does nothing incisive or divisive over the next few weeks.''\ |
| 83 | '''Bernard:''' ''Yes, well, I think that is probably what he was planning to do anyway.'' |
| 84 | -->-- ''[[Series/YesMinister Yes, Prime Minister]]'' |
| 85 | |
| 86 | The opposite of President Iron -- this president does nothing ''but'' compromise. No action is taken without consulting the all-powerful Political Advisor (who is usually [[TheManBehindTheMan pulling the strings]]) or any number of focus groups: give this President an either/or choice and he'll be [[TheDitherer dithering]] all day, and the possibility of making a choice that might make him unpopular (or, even more importantly, lose him votes) will send him into a panic. So he'll most likely TakeAThirdOption by making a compromise. This way, instead of pissing off one side of the debate, he's sure to piss off everybody. |
| 87 | |
| 88 | [[header:PresidentEvil]] |
| 89 | ->''"And after I'm swept into office, I'll sell our children's organs to zoos for meat, and I'll go into people's houses at night and wreck up the place!"'' |
| 90 | -->-- '''President UsefulNotes/RichardNixon[='s=] Head in a Jar''', ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' |
| 91 | |
| 92 | President Corrupt or President Lunatic taken up to full-blown supervillainy levels. President Corrupt is often just a scheming jerk with few serious ambitions beyond lining his own pocket, and President Lunatic may have several screws loose but be otherwise harmless, but a President Evil genuinely wants to rule or destroy the entire world and has his own country as a power base with which to do so. For examples, see the linked trope. |
| 93 | |
| 94 | [[header:President Minority]] |
| 95 | ->''"I am proud to be America's first straight female President."'' |
| 96 | -->-- '''President Lisa Simpson''', ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' |
| 97 | |
| 98 | The President is female and/or from a minority background, ethnic or otherwise. How much her or his or her minority background is mentioned depends on the plot and whether anyone feels like invoking ''Theatre/{{Othello}}''. Resemblance to UsefulNotes/BarackObama (in works made in 2009 or later) is somewhat common if the minority background is specifically being of African/Black ethnicity and with UsefulNotes/KamalaHarris becoming the first woman of color to become Vice President, expect future works to have Resemblance to her as well. Resemblance to UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher is surprisingly rare.[[note]]It should be noted that black Americans overwhelmingly supported Obama, while Thatcher was loathed by many British women as she was no friend to feminism, among other things.[[/note]] Any resemblance to UsefulNotes/BenjaminDisraeli is even rarer. Sometimes used to depict a setting TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture in Zeerust-y sci-fi works (or in current works, as the USA and some other nations still haven't quite had a female president, and very few countries have had openly queer people in higher positions of political power). Now that it's actually happening, it should be interesting to see how it'll turn out. |
| 99 | |
| 100 | [[header:President Playboy]] |
| 101 | ->''"Well, I gotta go, but... look, if you're ever near the White House, there's a tool shed out back. I'm in there most of the day."'' |
| 102 | -->-- '''President UsefulNotes/BillClinton''', ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' |
| 103 | |
| 104 | The President is bedding attractive women -- or men -- to whom he or she is not married. Although the trope may overlap with President Corrupt (who, among his other sins, is usually getting some on the side as well), a President Playboy might be an otherwise perfectly decent, honorable and satisfactory leader who [[MrViceGuy just has trouble keeping it in his pants]]. |
| 105 | |
| 106 | [[header:President Geek]] |
| 107 | ->''"Let's face it: when TV Tropes calls him JustForFun/OneOfUs, he probably is."'' |
| 108 | -->-- '''Anonymous, on UsefulNotes/BarackObama''' |
| 109 | |
| 110 | A new variant of the President starting to enter the public consciousness with Barack Obama and a handful of fictional leaders, President Geek is, well, a geek. Technologically savvy and familiar with pop culture and memes, President Geek has a strong tendency to be a divisive figure in-setting, usually popular with younger and liberal segments of the population and unpopular with older and more traditional segments. Often seen tackling technological threats to the country or political issues. Usually portrayed as a good guy so far, often overlapping with Presidents Personable, Buffoon, and/or Minority, but generally awaiting a TropeCodifier. |
| 111 | |
| 112 | ---- |
| 113 | |
| 114 | And finally, on three less, and one more, specific forms of President: |
| 115 | |
| 116 | [[header:President Strawman]] |
| 117 | Politics being what it is, many not-that-great writers (and, to be fair, many great ones as well) can't resist beefing up their own views by [[StrawCharacter constructing an easily torn-down version of their opponents or an overly wonderful version of their own]] and putting him in high office. President Strawman is, essentially, any President who exists ''solely'' as either an easily lampooned caricature of an opposing point of view or [[CanonSue an overly idealistic and wonderful wish-fulfillment version of the writer's own beliefs]] (and who usually bears a not-entirely-coincidental resemblance to a current or former holder of office), and if he does possess any characteristics of any of the other presidents, it's usually a thin veneer at best -- savage versions often become President Buffoon. Note that a fictional President who happens to hold opposing viewpoints to yours isn't automatically President Strawman: it's only if the sole purpose of the character is to tear down or worship a particular point of view that he becomes a Strawman. It can, however, be a matter of opinion as to when this occurs, and theoretically from a certain perspective ''all'' of these characters could be Strawmen to an extent. Basically, it's when any resemblance of the above to a real-life President or Prime Minister ''isn't'' coincidental. |
| 118 | |
| 119 | [[header:President Sue]] |
| 120 | A sort of extreme version (on the friendly side) of President Strawman, President Sue is perfection itself: the sort of President that, say, [[Literature/ToKillAMockingbird Atticus Finch]] would make. Every decision is correct and impeccably moral. Every action is noble and heroic. Every belief is valid and correct and, not coincidentally, conforms to the beliefs of the person who created him. Count on President Sue to single-handedly save the whales, stop global warming, defeat the enemy, uplift the downtrodden, personally read aloud to all school-aged children, and have twelve national holidays in his or her honor. |
| 121 | |
| 122 | [[header:[[InvisiblePresident President Not-Appearing-In-This-Film]]]] |
| 123 | When, for various reasons, the President simply doesn't appear in the story, but is merely mentioned. For a complete and extensive list, see the link provided. |
| 124 | |
| 125 | [[header:[[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed President Unmodified]]]] |
| 126 | A specific, thinly veiled parody of a real President (usually, the one in office when the story was made, or, if the story is set in the past, the one in office at the time). This can range from a brief cameo that touches on the President's superficial traits, to a full-fledged political satire, although in the latter case the sitting President is usually named. |
| 127 | |
| 128 | The above President types are not all-encompassing: depending on how they're written, each character can be composed of elements of more than one type of President. The following categories are also not limited to the President of the United States and can be applied to ''any'' fictional world leader. However, given the sheer volume of fiction produced by the United States and the unparalleled influence and stature that its political leaders hold both at home and internationally, many creators choose to focus on the office of the President of the United States for inspiration. The presence of a fictional President is often explained by setting the story either in an AlternateUniverse or TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture. |
| 129 | |
| 130 | ---- |
| 131 | !!Examples: |
| 132 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 133 | |
| 134 | [[folder:Anime and Manga]] |
| 135 | * In ''Anime/ValvraveTheLiberator'', teenage student Shoko eventually becomes Prime Minister of New JIOR, and she's both a President Personable and a President Minority, and despite being quite young, she's got just enough brains to do a decent job. |
| 136 | * ''Manga/TheLegendOfKoizumi'' takes this trope and runs with it, oozing with enough PatrioticFervor to give ''VideoGame/MetalWolfChaos'' a run for its money! Pretty much every world leader is a sort of President Action that [[MundaneMadeAwesome delegates over games of mahjong.]] |
| 137 | * ''Manga/DeathNote'': |
| 138 | ** President David Hoope is mainly a President Personable: [[spoiler:he even commits suicide rather than risk being mind-controlled into starting [[WorldWarIII another world war]]]]. |
| 139 | ** Unfortunately, his successor George Sairas, meanwhile, is closer to a President Buffoon, but certainly not a funny one: [[spoiler:rather, he's a weak-kneed appeaser of Kira who, predictably, just opens the door for Kira to directly threaten him into working for him]]. |
| 140 | ** Meanwhile, ''Manga/DeathNoteSpecialChapter'', set in 2019, dispenses with the fictional presidents and deploys President Unmodified. Thus, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and United States President Donald Trump all appear as themselves. [[spoiler:Depending on how you see them, all three--but ''especially'' Trump--could be seen as Scheming, Corrupt and/or Strawman.]] |
| 141 | * The unnamed President of ''Anime/ReadOrDie'' OVA is a Buffoonish President Target, whose only role in the plot is to get attacked, wet himself, unsuccessfully order an attack on the enemy, and wet himself again.\ |
| 142 | He appears again in [[Anime/RODTheTV television show]]. Before he learns about Joker's real plan he's President Schemer [[UnwittingPawn wannabe]], afterwards he's a President Iron Wannabe who just can't keep up, as his only solution is basically "get bigger guns" [[spoiler: which are not helpful against Martian tripods and pterodactyls, for whatever reason]]. |
| 143 | * Fuhrer President King Bradley (King being his ''name'') of ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' is one of the most powerful and evil characters in the series, effortlessly defeating a foe who was a match for Ed about 16 times in a row, using only swords. If that's not president action, you're crazy. He also puts on a [[ObfuscatingStupidity front]] of being President Personable, which is to a degree [[AffablyEvil part of his real personality]] (along with the ANaziByAnyOtherName part) |
| 144 | ** He once fought a ''tank'' [[MemeticMutation with a sword]]. |
| 145 | *** And a hand grenade, don't forget. [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill Not that he needed it.]] |
| 146 | * Averted in ''Manga/{{Golgo 13}}'': whenever the US government hires the eponymous assassin, the president is... whichever president was in office at the time the story was written. (The Clinton administration hired him ''twice''.) They're also drawn surprisingly accurately, and portrayed in a fair light. Hell of a change from the [[{{Eagleland}} usual anime presentation]]. |
| 147 | * In ''Anime/SonicTheHedgehogTheMovie'', the President of South Island is both a Target (he's held hostage at the beginning, and has to be rescued from a burning aircraft at the end) and a Buffoon. (That aircraft he had to be rescued from? He crashed it.) |
| 148 | * ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'''s second half [[spoiler:makes Simon the leader of Kamina City, who rules as Commander-in-Chief Action, of course.]] |
| 149 | ** [[spoiler: Rossiu would be President Strawman, not even aware that he's taking his former village leader's tactics down a destructive path, though it's made clear to the audience. Though not a strawman for any real life politics, his defining characteristic is that he's acting out of an ideology completely at odds with the series' themes.]] |
| 150 | *** Of course, realistically, his actions were pretty much correct given the observed situation, [[spoiler:(impending destruction of all life on Earth)]] and would have been quite justified. His mistake was that he'd forgotten he lived in a world that runs on RuleOfCool where AWizardDidIt and [[MagicAIsMagicA Magic A is]] [[NewRulesAsThePlotDemands whatever the hell it wants to be.]] |
| 151 | * President [[{{Irony}} Funny Valentine]] from ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure Steel Ball Run]]'' is the [[PresidentEvil 23rd President of the United States]], who uses his Stand and charisma as means to obtain the series' {{MacGuffin}}s so he can make his country the greatest one in the world. [[spoiler:At the time of his death [[VillainWithGoodPublicity his approval rating is 91%]]]]. |
| 152 | * Trun Union President Mission Routh in ''Manga/TheFiveStarStories'' has a Grand Slam -- he's a President Personable, President Action, and President Playboy[[note]]Apparently, Megara tolerated his relentless skirt-chasing only due to being a [[ArtificialHuman Fatima]] and thus a subject to mind control.[[/note]] to the point of being a President Buffoon sometimes. Fortunately, he has much more responsible friends and allies to bail him out when his escapades turn South. |
| 153 | * The ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'' sequel novel ''Frozen Teardrop'', set 22 years after the end of the anime, has Dorothy Catalonia as the Earth Sphere President, with the nickname "The Neo-Titanium Lady", presumably making her a President Iron. However, the Martian President [[spoiler:a brainwashed Relena Peacecraft]] is decidedly a PresidentEvil, considering they apparently ordered the assassination of the previous President [[spoiler:Milliardo Peacecraft, her own brother]]. ''Endless Waltz'' has an unnamed President who doesn't really factor into the plot, but looks kinda like Andy Griffith. |
| 154 | * In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'', the Federation in Season 2 has a president very much inspired by President Obama. He answers to [[BigBad Ribbons]] [[TheManBehindTheMan Almark]], but it is unclear if he is truly in league with him or not. |
| 155 | * A portly and [[TheDitz dimwitted]] Chairman Yajnik in ''Manga/BattleAngelAlita: Last Order'', who couldn't even stand straight without [[TheManBehindTheMan his trusty second-in-command]], is a textbook example of a President Buffoon. |
| 156 | ** [[EvilChancellor Said assistant]], Aga Mbadi, is however a resident MagnificentBastard and the BigBad of the series, and, being KnightTemplar and VillainWithGoodPublicity he is, fits (Vice) PresidentEvil almost perfectly -- except that ''he'' [[WellIntentionedExtremist doesn't think]] he's evil. |
| 157 | * In the original Japanese version of ''Anime/BakutenShootBeyblade'', the president is one of the members of the Celebrity Team, put together for a charity match against representatives of the American, Japanese, and Brazilian teams. He qualifies as a President Personable, who takes the match and his opponents seriously and [[HumblePie delivers a much needed dose of humility and a lesson on team work to the American beyblader]]. Oh, and he's called George Smith, about the summum of generic American names. |
| 158 | * ''Anime/CaroleAndTuesday'' has Tuesday's mother, Valerie Simmons, who seems to be a [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed parody]] of Donald Trump. |
| 159 | * ''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex'': President Roberto Katze is a mix of Action, Playboy, and Minority. He's constantly flirting and making crude comments, but he's also a kindhearted man and a ReasonableAuthorityFigure who genuinely loves America and wants to do what's right for everyone. At several points, he takes up a gun and fights on his own (horrifying his Secret Service detail) just because he feels it's the right thing to do. It's also mentioned he's a Hispanic immigrant (which would be impossible in real life, but the series mentions that, before his Presidency, he lobbied to have an Amendment passed that removed the requirement for the President to have been born American). |
| 160 | [[/folder]] |
| 161 | |
| 162 | [[folder:Art]] |
| 163 | * ''Art/TheApotheosisOfWashington'' contains an ExaggeratedTrope of President Action, where Washington's military success is portrayed as being so great that he has taken a throne in Heaven above the Greek Gods and [[AnthropomorphicPersonification Freedom]] itself. |
| 164 | [[/folder]] |
| 165 | |
| 166 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 167 | * An ''Comicbook/{{Armageddon 2001}}'' issue of Creator/DCComics had an alternate-future Characters/{{Superman|TheCharacter}} as President of the United States. (The Supreme Court ruled that the opening of his birthing matrix in Kansas (in ''ComicBook/TheManOfSteel'' #1) counted as his "birth" for eligibility reasons. Birthers be damned.) |
| 168 | * The ''ultimate'' President Action has to be UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan in the comic series ''[[http://www.toonopedia.com/reagan.htm Reagan's Raiders]]''. Best described by Don Markstein: |
| 169 | -->The basic idea was to go the 1960s TV cartoon ''Super President'' one better, putting presidential incumbent Ronald Reagan himself, along with several top members of his administration, in red, white and blue costumes like ComicBook/CaptainAmerica's or The Shield's, and sending them out to do superhero work among the rice paddies and sand dunes of America's most hated enemies. This was accomplished by means of a technological marvel invented by a Professor Cashchaser, that gave the Raiders the bodies of young men (and instantly instilled commando training too, apparently). |
| 170 | * [[http://www.superdickery.com/president-reagan-bad-ass/ This]] undoubtedly ''epitomizes'' President Action. Note: that is [[spoiler: actually the ComicBook/MartianManhunter in disguise]]. |
| 171 | * ''Comicbook/TalesFromTheBullyPulpit'' has a couple of panels of UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln telling UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler: "Come on, boy. I'm gonna emancipate your teeth." |
| 172 | * ''ComicBook/{{Prez|1973}}'': Prez Rickard is that rare kind -- a President Teenager. Also extremely Personable, and possibly a Messiah figure in the context of the story. Something of a Sue, to be honest. |
| 173 | ** ''ComicBook/TheMultiversity'' briefly mentions Earth-47, a world that's basically TheSixties incarnate, where Prez is an ''immortal'' President who finances that Earth's major super-team, the Love Syndicate. |
| 174 | * While President [[Characters/SupermanLexLuthor Lex Luthor]] was... well, it's Lex flippin' ''Luthor''. What do you ''think'' he was? |
| 175 | ** In ''ComicBook/SupermanRedSon'', Lex Luthor was the greatest American President, bringing 14 states back into the union and defeating Communism, at the same time bringing the nation out of economic depression and defeating Superman with a single handwritten note. [[spoiler:His presidency is so amazing, his political and scientific policies eventually turn Earth into the paradise Krypton, in a bit of causality loop.]] He laments that if Superman were raised in America they could have been friends... |
| 176 | * In some [[{{Elseworld}} versions]] of the Franchise/MarvelUniverse, [[Characters/MarvelComicsSteveRogers Steve Rogers]] (a.k.a ComicBook/CaptainAmerica) has served as President -- often as something of a President Action himself. Well, what else did you expect? |
| 177 | ** In the core Marvel Universe, Cap was approached to run as a third-party candidate for the presidency in 1980. After considering it, he declined. ''ComicBook/WhatIf'' #26 has Cap accept the nomination and defeat Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter to win the presidency. Rogers is the ultimate President Personable and President Action, as epitomized by both his inspirational inaugural speech ''and'' the fact that he takes off in the middle of it to disarm and capture his would-be assassin! After which: |
| 178 | ---> '''Secret Service Agent #1:''' And we're supposed to be guarding ''him''?\ |
| 179 | '''Secret Service Agent #2:''' Yeah! But just seeing him makes me feel... ''safer'' somehow. |
| 180 | *** President Rogers ends up saving his country from the Red Skull one last time, [[HeroicSacrifice but at great cost]]. |
| 181 | ** Then there was that other ''ComicBook/WhatIf'' (v2, #28) in which Cap was really the Red Skull in a [[BodySurf cloned body]]. And was elected more times than Nixon in ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}''. [[PresidentEvil Given that he's a frickin' Nazi war criminal, do you really have to ask?]] |
| 182 | ** In the Ultimate Universe, [[spoiler: guess who takes the reins of a divided America? Yep, that's right. '''President America'''.]] |
| 183 | * Mad Jim Jaspers of the Franchise/MarvelUniverse is one of the few non-American President Action-characters (in this, as an Evil Prime Minister Action of the United Kingdom). His [[RealityWarper Reality Warping]] powers make him one of the most powerful characters in the entire [[TheMultiverse multiverse]], although his Lunacy (as suggested by his name) [[SanityHasAdvantages reduces his effectiveness somewhat]]. |
| 184 | * In ''ComicBook/{{Transmetropolitan}}'', "[[OnlyKnownByTheirNickname The Beast]]" is a full-blown President Corrupt (who does resemble Nixon quite a bit). He is mild compared to his replacement Gary Callahan, known as "The Smiler", who is a PresidentEvil and then some (and who, sans SlasherSmile, looks surprisingly like UsefulNotes/TonyBlair). The differences can best be summed up by their usage of the quote "If the president of the United States does it, it can't be a crime." (a reworking of "If the President does it it isn't illegal"; an actual Nixon quote) during their final interviews with Spider -- The Beast uses it in black humor, while Callahan says it with utter conviction. |
| 185 | * ComicBook/BlackPanther, King of Wakanda in the Franchise/MarvelUniverse, was already King Action by benefit of being a superhero in his original appearances. Over the last several years, he's ascended to King CanonSue, so thoroughly badass that by using simple wrestling moves he can have Heralds of Galactus wincing in pain (though to be fair, he used similar technology Doom used on the Silver Surfer in the past, but some fans tend to forget that), and defeating Mephisto by willingly ''giving'' him his soul (his soul belongs to the Panther God and he wouldn't let Mephisto take it) . |
| 186 | * ''ComicBook/{{Zenith}}'''s Peter St. John is a Government Minister and the secret ruler of the UK, and sits somewhere between President Personable, President Scheming and MagnificentBastard. He freely uses MindControl, {{Telepathy}} and deception to get and stay in power, because he feels only his genius can do a good job of running things. Trouble is, from all appearances, he's ''right''. He may be the real "hero" of the story, not {{Super Dick|ery}} Zenith; He drags Zenith into the SuperHero business and makes him stay despite his whining, he saves the world from Master Man's inner monster, he tricks the Lloigor into [[spoiler:getting trapped in a LotusEaterMachine for all eternity]], etc. |
| 187 | * In [[Creator/MarvelComics Marvel's]] ComicBook/TheNewUniverse, the VillainWithGoodPublicity Philip Voigt becomes POTUS with the help of his mind-control powers. He probably fits the Action, Scheming and Evil subtypes, at least. |
| 188 | * At other times in the Marvel Universe, the President just happens to be whoever's in office at the time, with varying degrees of any of the above-mentioned stereotypes. In ''ComicBook/UncannyXMen'' alone, we see UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter (during ComicBook/TheDarkPhoenixSaga), UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan (in follow-on stories to ComicBook/DaysOfFuturePast), and George H.W. Bush (in X-Men #1). In a discussion board thread, Creator/ChrisClaremont, talking about how his new X-Men Forever simultaneously follows on from X-Men #1 yet is set in 2009, essentially said "[[MST3KMantra Assume that the gent sitting in the White House was always Barack Obama, or perhaps George W. Bush, depending on when exactly the story takes place]]." One assumes that this also includes the [[FailedFutureForecast fact that there was still a Soviet Union in X-Men #1...]] Yeah, Marvel's sliding timeline probably causes more trouble than it's worth. |
| 189 | * The ''Comicbook/SquadronSupreme'' limited series started with Kyle Richmond, a CaptainErsatz of Characters/{{Batman|TheCharacter}}, as the President of the United States. After being mind-controlled by an alien being to conquer the Earth, he steps down from power... then things go FromBadToWorse |
| 190 | * In ''Comicbook/SupermanAndBatmanGenerations'', Hal Jordan becomes President in the 1980s. While in this version of reality Hal never became ComicBook/GreenLantern, he's still a President Action. [[spoiler:After his term ends, he does end up becoming GL in order to fight Sinestro, who is out to kill anyone who wore or was capable of wearing the ring.]] |
| 191 | * In the pre-''Flashpoint'' [[Franchise/TheDCU DC Universe]], the President was Martin Suarez, a Democrat President Minority who was elected in the 2008 election (as seen in ''DCU Decisions''), but not the same minority as the RW winner. The Comicbook/{{New 52}} President is simply Barack Obama. |
| 192 | * ''ComicBook/GiveMeLiberty'' has several, such as Howard Nissen, former Secretary of Agriculture who fell into the job after a terrorist attack, and President Rexall, a BrainInAJar {{Expy}} of UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan. |
| 193 | * In the post-''Comicbook/FiftyTwo'' multiverse, the Superman of Earth-23 is Kalel, a black Kryptonian, who in his secret identity as Calvin Ellis is also President (and apparently a pretty popular one at that). Trouble is, in concealing his true origin, he's holding the post illegally (post-''Comicbook/InfiniteCrisis'', Superman's origin has returned to being born on Krypton, which carries across to his Kryptonian alternates). Birthers would probably have the shock of their lives. |
| 194 | * In ''Comicbook/TheMultiversity: Pax Americana'' #1, the president of Earth-4, President Harley, is assassinated [[spoiler: as part of a plan where he's resurrected by Captain Atom and saves his world]]. |
| 195 | * ''ComicBook/UltimateXMen2001'': In the first arc, the daughter of the president is kidnapped by the Brotherhood of Mutant Supremacy, a terrorist mutant group, and the X-Men have to rescue her. In the climax, Magneto attacks Washington DC with an army of Sentinels under his control, and has George Bush naked and helpless at his feet while he provides the NewEraSpeech. Couldn't be more of a President Target because there was not enough space. This event led to the creation of ''ComicBook/TheUltimates''. |
| 196 | * Creator/IDWPublishing's ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' comics go through three presidents over the course of the series. The first is initially a President Invisible and becomes a short-lived President Target when Starscream kills him and his administration by shooting down Air Force One. The second is a generic President Buffoon who can’t handle situations with the Transformers at all. The third and most important is a President Minority (a black woman) and a bit of a President Jerkass; she’s not totally unreasonable and brings up some salient points, but is also snide, easily angered, and intensely distrustful of the Autobots. |
| 197 | * ''ComicBook/XMenTheEnd'', an 18-issue storyline depicting an alternate future for the X-Men, ends with a 20-year TimeSkip and the reveal that humans and mutants have finally achieved a peaceful coexistence under President [[Characters/MarvelComicsKittyPryde Kitty Pryde]] (covering President Action, President Personable and President Minority). |
| 198 | * In ''ComicBook/Youngblood2017'', Diehard is the President. Since he's [[RetiredBadass retired as a superhero]], he's mostly President Personable, rather than [[ActionPolitician President Action]], but he's still a cyborg with 70+ years of experience kicking ass. |
| 199 | [[/folder]] |
| 200 | |
| 201 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 202 | * ''Fanfic/HalloweenUnspectacular'': |
| 203 | ** The PURITY MythArc gives us two radically different examples: |
| 204 | *** The first was the unnamed President of the United States, who only appeared in ''Lair of the Hack Writer''. He largely serves as President Target, but he also has moments of President Iron (refusing to negotiate with PURITY no matter what), President Badass (managing to [[spoiler:take Rausseman by surprise and hold him at gunpoint -- and keep in mind, Rausseman is ''a SuperSoldier'']]), and President Personable (casually chatting with the heroes at the end). |
| 205 | *** His successor, President Fulton, is pretty much his exact opposite. Appearing for the rest of the arc, Fulton is largely President Corrupt, agreeing to [[spoiler:make a deal with PURITY in order to further his own ambitions and essentially turn America into a police state, and his later appearances plant him firmly in the PuppetKing position with some PresidentEvil leanings]]. |
| 206 | ** "Feeling Presidential" from the eighth edition shows what would happen if certain fictional characters became president. In order, we have [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Lisa Simpson]] (Personable with shades of OP-ness), [[WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius Ms. Fowl]] (seen as Buffoon, though it's argued she merely got into office at a horrible time), [[Franchise/ScoobyDoo Fred Jones]] (a mix of Corrupt and Iron, surprisingly enough), [[WesternAnimation/GravityFalls Dipper Pines]] (doesn't fit a solid category, though his run was mostly quiet), [[WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse Stevonnie]] (Minority and Sue, though it's noted that [[UnreliableNarrator Peridot]] wrote their section), [[Characters/BatmanTheCharacter Bruce Wayne]] (Action, of course), [[WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius Carl Wheezer]] (mild Playboy), [[WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents Mr. Crocker]] (Corrupt and Lunatic, but he managed to balance out the economy), [[WesternAnimation/InvaderZim Dib Membrane]] (possibly Buffoon), and [[WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom Dani Fenton]] (Personable). |
| 207 | * ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13406463/1/Gundam-SEED-Divisions Gundam SEED: Divisions]]'' has the President of the North American Security Alliance take up arms when her country is threatened by the Earth Alliance and other subsequent enemies. |
| 208 | * President Kaldwin in the ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' fanfic ''Fanfic/TheProgenitorChronicles'' is a mix of President Action, President Badass, President Iron, and President Scheming. One of her {{establishing character moment}}s comes with this line: |
| 209 | --> '''Robin Margaret Kaldwin''': “When he died, Adam bequeathed the DSO to me. He founded the DSO to be the Sword of the President, and I intend to wield this sword to its maximal effect – until every bioterrorist and their demonic creations lie decapitated at my feet.” |
| 210 | * Fanfic/TarkinsFist: Jonathan Harris, President of the North American Union, starts the story as a President Buffoon, concerned more with pandering to the oil companies and susceptible to being influenced by his staff. During the Empire-Earth War he abandons this attitude and starts off as President Personable, having a friendly, but commanding relationship with his staff, cabinet, and military advisors. Is seen by many as a President Iron for refusing to accede to Imperial demands or surrender, even after his wife and children are abducted and taken hostage. Later becomes President Target when a group of bounty hunters try to abduct him during the Empire-Earth War. Following the failed abduction Harris slowly becomes President Evil as the strain of repelling the Imperial invasion and his efforts to unite the world against the invaders cause him to resort to increasingly unethical means. |
| 211 | * ''Fanfic/TurningTables'': Apparently Peter had established something with the current president, who hysterically called Peter asking if he was responsible for bringing back everyone that was lost in the blip right after they reversed it and thanked him for reuniting him with his wife, making him President Personable. |
| 212 | [[/folder]] |
| 213 | |
| 214 | [[folder:Film - Animated]] |
| 215 | * Curiously, ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsonsMovie'' casts Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger in the role of a US President Buffoon -- curiously, because they already ''have'' an Arnie parody (Rainer Wolfcastle) who could just as easily have been put in the role to make the same joke and point (and possibly make it in a less-obvious fashion as well). |
| 216 | ** It was also odd because while it fits the parody, it doesn't exactly fit the governor we all know and love. A TakeThat, perhaps? Creator/MattGroening is supposedly a friend of Phil Angelides (who ran against Arnie in 2006). |
| 217 | *** The film took a long time to make, and they specifically chose someone who could never be President for the role, since they didn't want to run the risk of the film being outdated in the event that there was a different person in the actual White House when the film finally was released. |
| 218 | * In ''WesternAnimation/MonstersVsAliens'', you have [[Series/TheColbertReport Stephen Colbert]] [[InkSuitActor playing]] "[[AlterEgoActing himself]]" as a president buffoon, who attempts to make contact with a robotic probe by playing a kickass keyboard solo, puts {{Big Red Button}}s for launching nukes and making coffee next to each other, and tries to take out a 50-story alien robot with [[ShootingSuperman a handgun.]] |
| 219 | [[/folder]] |
| 220 | |
| 221 | [[folder:Film - Live-Action]] |
| 222 | * A President Personable with an [[EvilChancellor Evil Vice President]] appeared in ''Film/TheDayAfterTomorrow''. Curiously, the Evil Vice President later reformed. |
| 223 | ** Also, the Vice President is a thinly veiled stand in for Dick Cheney, making this President Strawman and President Unmodified as well. |
| 224 | * ''Film/MyFellowAmericans'' casts Jack Lemmon and James Garner as two bickering ex-US Presidents from different parties who end up on the run as the result of the machinations of a President Corrupt who frames them for his own dirty dealings. For their part, both Lemmon and Garner are President Personable, despite their ideological and personal differences, and Garner has a touch of President Playboy to him as well. |
| 225 | * ''Film/NationalTreasure: Book of Secrets'' featured a President Personable. |
| 226 | * Merkin Muffley in ''[[Film/DrStrangelove Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb]]'' is no Jack Kennedy. President strawman for the most part. Played by Creator/PeterSellers, he has plenty of caricaturesque moments, some taken the extreme during the ridicule phone call with his Russian counterpart. The man is compassionate and soft-spoken, but he comes off as weak, which is underscored by his baldness, poor eyesight and voice, affected by a cold in some scenes. To his credit, he's able to shut down Turgidson's gung-ho suggestions and is a ReasonableAuthorityFigure who takes the right decisions. These HiddenDepths are modeled after Adlai Stevenson's. Also note his MeaningfulName, meant to indicate that he is a massive puss- pussilanimous sort of person. |
| 227 | * The President of the United States in ''Film/EscapeFromNewYork'' is both a President Target and, given that he's something of a slimy fascist dictator, a President Corrupt as well. |
| 228 | ** His successor in ''Film/EscapeFromLA'' is a President Lunatic and verges into PresidentEvil towards the end of the movie. Given that the character is a very thinly veiled version of televangelist Jerry Falwell, he's a President Strawman as well. |
| 229 | * Billy Bob Thornton's unnamed President in ''Film/LoveActually'' is a very mild President Corrupt: we never actually see him do anything illegal, but he's certainly a bit of a bullying sleaze who isn't shy about coming on to the Downing Street staffer whom the British Prime Minister has a crush on (making him President Playboy as well). |
| 230 | ** On the other hand, David, the film's Prime Minister played by Creator/HughGrant is a Prime Minister Personable. He later becomes a Prime Minister Iron to an extent, publicly standing up to the President's arrogance -- but until the President makes a move on his girl, he didn't have the courage to stand up against the ideological disagreements the two nations were having. |
| 231 | * The President of the Magical Congress of the United States ([=MACUSA=]) in the ''Film/FantasticBeasts'' series, Seraphina Picquery, is a double President Minority as a black woman in 1926. The government in the American wizarding world is also more akin to a Parliamentary System so she’s more like a Prime Minister (which women have a much easier time becoming than a directly elected President) or Speaker of a House than a No-Maj President. WordofGod also says she's not the first female President in [=MACUSA=]'s history. The first film takes place forty-three years before a black woman (Shirley Chisholm) was even elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, fifty-eight years before a woman first ran on the presidential ticket (Geraldine Ferraro as Vice President), eighty years before a woman (UsefulNotes/NancyPelosi) became the Speaker of the House, eighty-two years before UsefulNotes/BarackObama won the election to be the first non-white president, ninety years before the first woman-lead presidential ticket (UsefulNotes/HillaryClinton) in the No-Maj world, and ninety-four before a woman of color ran on the presidential ticket and became the first woman of color to be vice president (UsefulNotes/KamalaHarris). |
| 232 | * ''Film/AbsolutePower1997'' features a President Corrupt who [[spoiler:murders his mistress and frames a passing crook for the crime]]. |
| 233 | * Despite being played by Creator/SamuelLJackson, in ''Film/BigGame'' William A. Moore is President Target, although he gets some Action ([[ActionSurvivor Survivor]]) elements as the movie goes on. And of course, he's President Minority. |
| 234 | * James Marshall in ''Film/AirForceOne'' is a President Action played by Creator/HarrisonFord. Around the time the film was coming out, Creator/DavidLetterman would say, "''Film/AirForceOne'', Harrison Ford, Ass-kicking President!" |
| 235 | --> '''President Marshall''': [[PunctuatedForEmphasis Get. Off. My. Plane.]] |
| 236 | * President Thomas Whitmore of ''Film/IndependenceDay'' is a President Action who used to be a fighter pilot. He flies an F/A-18 and leads a squadron into the final battle. |
| 237 | -->'''General Grey:''' ''(as the President straps into a flight suit)'' Mr. President, I'd sure like to know what you're doing. |
| 238 | -->'''President Whitmore:''' I'm a combat pilot, Will. I belong in the air. |
| 239 | * President Skroob in ''Film/{{Spaceballs}}'' is a Corrupt President Buffoon. "I can't make decisions! I'm a President!" |
| 240 | * President Bill Mitchell from ''{{Film/Dave}}'' is President Corrupt. Dave starts off as President Buffoon before working his way up to President Personable. |
| 241 | ** The power-brokers who convince Dave to impersonate the president ''claim'' that he's averting President Lunatic by doing so, confiding (falsely) that the Vice President is secretly insane. |
| 242 | * The French President in ''Film/District13'' is a President Corrupt who [[spoiler: thinks nothing of atom-bombing an entire slum just to get rid of the criminals living there.]] |
| 243 | * ''Film/HaroldAndKumarEscapeFromGuantanamoBay'' portrays George W. Bush as both President Personable and President Buffoon. |
| 244 | * The unnamed and (almost) unseen President in ''Film/InTheLineOfFire'' is a President Target. The story is about the Secret Service Agents assigned to protect him and the assassin out to kill him. |
| 245 | * In ''Film/{{Idiocracy}}'', President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho, porn superstar and five-time ultimate smackdown wrestling champion, is a strange mix of President Buffoon and President Personable. He lives in a future where the idiots have outbred intelligent people, thus leaving only the morons to march (and destroy) the planet. He is a complete moron by modern standards, but likable and charismatic (in a BoisterousBruiser sort of way), willing to listen to his advisors, not afraid to admit his mistakes, and clearly more well-spoken than most people in the future. |
| 246 | * President Joseph Staton of ''Film/AmericanDreamz'' is both a President Buffoon and a President Focus Group, but with a twist -- the plot involves him deciding to actually learn about world politics so that he can make some decisions for himself, much to the dismay of his staff. |
| 247 | * President Judson Hammond from the infamous ''Film/GabrielOverTheWhiteHouse'' embodies almost all the tropes. He starts off as a Strawman Buffoonesque Scheming Corrupt Playboy Personable President until he suffers a car accident and is possessed by Archangel Gabriel and becomes the Iron Action president and also Evil. Except, somewhat disturbingly, [[ValuesDissonance we're not supposed to see him as evil]]. |
| 248 | * The unnamed president in the 2007 ''Film/{{Transformers|2007}}'' movie was seen only briefly, with his face conveniently covered by his feet (which were pointed at the camera), making him bordering on President Invisible. His characterization during his brief appearance was more or less President Buffoon. (Also, he did sound a bit like George Bush II.) |
| 249 | ** President Obama becomes President Invisible in ''Film/TransformersRevengeOfTheFallen'' where he never appears but is mentioned as being taken to a bunker for protection. |
| 250 | *** The way that scene is set makes it pretty clear that when they filmed it they intentionally set it up so the voiceover newscast could refer to whomever the President would be when the film was released. Oddly, Michael Bay said he put his name in there as a sort of tribute... except it ends up being that Obama's administration is asking the Autobots to ''leave''. |
| 251 | * The President in ''Film/CanadianBacon'' is a total President Focus Group who's trying hard to be a President Personable but gets maneuvered into being a President Scheming by his cabinet. He's a gutless moderate loser (probably a parody of Bill Clinton) whose sleazy aide and [[GeneralRipper warmongering general]] persuade him to declare war on Canada. |
| 252 | * The President in the 2008 ''Film/GetSmart'' movie is based on George W Bush and is a Personable President Buffoon. In the movie, he's also a President Target. |
| 253 | ** Although he's presented as being a lot more likable and sympathetic than his Vice President, who is presented as a Vice President Jerkass (the President even stated he didn't really like him). Also a Vice President Action, given that his preferred method for handling arguments during a National Security Council meeting is to ''hold a full-contact sparring session in the middle of the conference table''. Although he ''does'' by all accounts get his ass kicked. |
| 254 | * "Tug" Benson, the President Action of ''Film/HotShotsPartDeux'' who does things even James Marshall couldn't do, despite being an extreme President Buffoon at the same time. |
| 255 | * The ''Franchise/StarTrek'' films have featured a total of two Federation Presidents: |
| 256 | ** ''Film/StarTrekIVTheVoyageHome'' had a President Personable who punished Kirk for violating regulations by just [[{{Unishment}} reducing him in rank to Captain]], seeing as he and his crew just saved the world. |
| 257 | ** ''Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry'' had the Federation President, a President Target whose (planned) assassination was one of many gears in a conspiracy that dug to the core of Starfleet. His equivalent on the other side, Chancellor Gorkon of the Klingon Empire, was a cross between President Target and President Personable. |
| 258 | * ''Franchise/StarWars'': The Supreme Chancellors of the Galactic Republic: |
| 259 | ** Valorum is Supreme Chancellor Focus Group. Though well-meaning, he's so beholden to bureaucrats and special interest groups that he's completely ineffectual in addressing the Naboo blockade crisis. This leads to his removal from power, and, ultimately, the fall of the Republic, orchestrated by his successor (see below). |
| 260 | ** Palpatine is [[PresidentEvil Supreme Chancellor Evil]], and a villainous take on Supreme Chancellor Action, whose [[UniversallyBelovedLeader public reputation]] (at least pre-Empire) is Supreme Chancellor Personable. Palpatine engineered his rise to power by bankrolling both sides of a Galaxy-spanning war, is secretly a Sith Lord who seeks to get revenge on the Jedi by destroying them, and ultimately succeeds in converting the Republic into an autocracy. |
| 261 | * The President in ''Film/TheSentinel2006'' is a President Target. The whole film revolves around the hunt for a mole within the secret service who's out to kidnap and possibly kill him. |
| 262 | * In ''Film/TheAmericanPresident'', President Andrew Shepherd (isn't that such a presidential-sounding name?) is President Personable, with a 63% approval rating. The film is about how the widowed president finds love again, so he's a President Romantic and also President Sue. The film was the spiritual predecessor to ''Series/TheWestWing'', which was created by the screenwriter Aaron Sorkin. |
| 263 | * The unnamed President in ''Film/AdviseAndConsent'' is a President Scheming, although he's one of the nicer versions: he genuinely is interested in doing what he thinks is right for the country. It's just that sometimes that involves breaking the odd metaphorical kneecap. |
| 264 | * In ''Film/{{Salt}}'', both the American President Lewis and the Russian President Matveyev are President Targets. |
| 265 | * ''Film/{{Contact}}'', based on [[{{Literature/Contact}} a novel]] by Creator/CarlSagan, features an appearance by an unmodified UsefulNotes/BillClinton. Almost. Creative editing of press conference footage, combined with judicious use of voice impersonators and body doubles, gave the appearance that the President was participating in the events of the film. White House staff were not amused. |
| 266 | * ''Film/UnderSiege'' begins with President George HW Bush giving the ship its sendoff, though he does not participate in the main action of the film. |
| 267 | * President Barbara Adams in ''Film/WhoopsApocalypse'' is a President Minority and President Focus Group. British PM Sir Mortimer Chris is a Prime Minister Lunatic (his policies include creating new jobs by pushing employed people off cliffs). |
| 268 | * ''Film/WelcomeToMooseport'': Ex-President Monroe "Eagle" Cole. He comes across as a mixture of a President Personable and a President Sue; a nice, grandfatherly charismatic man, so beloved by people that he retired with an 85% rating of approval (the highest FDR got was 84%), so popular that even a really small town like Mooseport knows him well (although it is his hometown as well). Also, he describes himself as "the most environmentally conscious president since Teddy Roosevelt". Nevertheless, at the same time, he's revealed to be an moderate President Jerkass who jokes about getting his adviser beaten up for not succeeding in his tasks, is arrogant, despised by his ex-wife, dates with the girlfriend of his mayoral candidate (and town plummer) Harold "Handy" Harrison, and plays it dirty when it comes to golf. By the end of the movie, President JerkWithAHeartOfGold probably sums him up, however. |
| 269 | * ''Film/{{Americathon}}'''s Chet Roosevelt is President Personable to an annoying degree. In his speech, he finished saying to the people, "This is the President and I love you." and when he got sworn in, he hugged the Justice of the Peace. |
| 270 | * In a rare instance where President Target is blended with President Iron, ''Film/{{Dreamscape}}'''s president defies his own advisers to pursue nuclear disarmament treaties, spurred on by nightmares about WorldWarIII. Unable to shake his resolve, the BigBad resorts to an attempted assassination using the film's dream-penetration technology. |
| 271 | * In ''Film/TheFifthElement'', President Lindberg, portrayed by: [[Creator/TinyLister Tom "Tiny" Lister, Jr.]], is both President Personable & President Minority. He is a no-nonsense person, but still takes time to ''try'' to talk to Korben Dallas' mother. |
| 272 | * The unnamed female president in ''Film/IronSky'', who is clearly an {{expy}} of UsefulNotes/SarahPalin, is a President Buffoon. |
| 273 | * William Cooper in ''Film/{{Pixels}}'' is President Geek as ex-retro gamer. After a recent public gaffe, many have labeled him President Buffoon. With his family and friends he's President Personable and by the end of the movie, he takes up a mantle of President Action. Being played by Kevin James helps with selling all the labels. |
| 274 | * President Ellis in ''Film/IronMan3'' is a President Target. He later makes appearances in ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'', with the first one setting him up as a President Puppet of Rosalind Price and the ATCU (Alien Threat Containment Unit) - however, this winds up being a subversion, since once the ATCU goes public Ellis starts pressuring Rosalind for results. Further appearances show him doing his job and trying to help SHIELD politically, but he hasn't shown enough traits to classify him as one of the other types. |
| 275 | * President Playboy appears in ''Film/MacheteKills''. Machete places a late night phone call to the US President. The phone is picked up by a sleepy yet hot female White House intern, who hands it to another female intern in the bed beside her, [[OverlyLongGag who hands it to another female intern]], who hands the phone to the President, who is played by that famous LatinLover [[Creator/CharlieSheen Carlos Estevez ]]. |
| 276 | * The Trump parody that serves as the villain of the horror-comedy movie ''Film/PresidentEvil'' is, as you might expect, a President Evil. |
| 277 | * Creator/LeslieNielsen plays President Buffoon Baxter Harris in ''Film/ScaryMovie 3'' to add his comedic flair to that installment of the series. [[spoiler:He also inadvertently becomes a President Action at the end, delivering the final blow to BigBad Tabitha by [[Film/{{Airplane}} opening a door behind her to wish the protagonists "Good luck -- we're all counting on you" and knocking her into a well.]]]] His first lines in the movie set the tone for his character: |
| 278 | -->'''Harris:''' (''doing a WalkAndTalk with his aides'') An evil videotape that kills people in seven days? Alien forces threatening the world? And who the hell is this Cindy Campbell? If what she says is true, we're facing an unprecedented crisis -- get me the president.\ |
| 279 | '''Aide:''' You ''are'' the president.\ |
| 280 | '''Harris:''' Good, then I already know about this. Let's order lunch. |
| 281 | [[/folder]] |
| 282 | |
| 283 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 284 | * ''Literature/JackRyan'': |
| 285 | ** President Jack Ryan was actually an action hero ''before'' he became President. He doesn't continue on to be President Action, though: the one time in his term that he's actually in the presence of an armed villain, his Secret Service detail physically restrains him from risking himself and arrests the would-be assassin. Although coming across as a MartyStu, Ryan himself lampshades how odd it is that he is so loved (which actually creeps him out a little), and why most of the time his idealism and reality don't mix. This is probably Ryan being Clancy's MetaGuy realizing what MartyStu Ryan looks like and reminding the audience that his AuthorAvatar isn't perfect, either. |
| 286 | ** Ed Kealty, in ''Literature/DebtOfHonor'', is Vice President Playboy and Vice President Strawman. In ''Literature/TheTeethOfTheTiger'', he's President Invisible, losing the "Vice" and "Playboy" parts, but not "Strawman". |
| 287 | * Creator/TomKratman: |
| 288 | ** ''[[http://www.webscription.net/chapters/0743471709/0743471709.htm?blurb A State of Disobedience]]'' features Wilhelmina Rottemeyer, a [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed thinly veiled pastiche]] that goes past PresidentEvil / Strawman territory. |
| 289 | ** In ''Literature/{{Caliphate}}'', President Buckman from the backstory is an insane PresidentEvil who eventually became TheEmperor (in name if not formal title) as the United States of America turned into the [[TheEmpire Imperial States of America]]. The office holder at the time of the majority of the story isn't seen at all, his actions being all off-screen, but is generally presented as being much more reasonable a leader. |
| 290 | * Greg Stillson in ''Literature/TheDeadZone'', in the future that the main character witnesses, becomes a religious fundamentalist President Lunatic who ends up starting WorldWarIII ("The missiles are flying! Hallelujah, Hallelujah!") |
| 291 | * President Curtis in ''Literature/PresidentsVampire'' is President Personable: kind, NiceGuy and terrified of the supernatural dangers. On the other hand, in Cade's flashbacks, real-life president Andrew Johnson comes across as President Jerkass with his treatment of Nathaniel, and the fact that he's always drunk or near drunk, although this might be because Johnson's... well, talking with a vampire. |
| 292 | * Lancelot R. Gilligrass is the President Buffoon in Creator/RoaldDahl's novel ''Literature/CharlieAndTheGreatGlassElevator''. He has a Vice-President Iron in the person of Miss Tibbs, his childhood nanny. |
| 293 | * The Creator/DanBrown novel ''Literature/DeceptionPoint'' revolves around a stunning scientific discovery and its implications in the upcoming presidential election. However, the two candidates are probably some of the most over-the-top examples in this page: |
| 294 | ** The President in office, Zach Herney, goes beyond President Personable into what could be described as Saint President: he insists on having NASA be funded by the federal government instead of the intelligence community to avoid its purpose being corrupted despite the billions of dollars in losses that entails; refuses to have evidence of his opponent's indiscretions be made public so that the American public doesn't lose its faith in its politicians (HA!) and when a massive conspiracy involving the aforementioned discovery that would otherwise cause devastating consequences to his reputation comes to light, he tells the entire truth on national television. One even wonders how the hell someone like that managed to succeed in politics in the first place. |
| 295 | ** By contrast, Herney's opponent, Senator Sedgewick Sexton is a Presidential Candidate Evil of the highest order: he has had affairs for most of his married life; used his wife's death in an accident to further his political career, both financially and as a means to gain support; when questioned about his stance in same-sex marriages he thinks to himself that if he were in charge "the faggots wouldn't even have the right to vote;" he is in cahoots with several private aerospace companies who illegally fund his campaign so that Sexton can dismantle NASA and sell it to them; and worst of all, was willing to ''let his own daughter die'' just so he could release evidence that could potentially destroy Herney, with the added bonus of her "cementing [his] sympathy vote". |
| 296 | * Fletcher Knebel's ''Literature/NightOfCampDavid'' is a political thriller invoking and deconstructing what a secret President Lunatic would be like, and how even the 25th Amendment doesn't guarantee he would be removed, as an objective, non-partisan diagnosis requires necessary evidence that might be impossible to collect in time. President Mark Hollenbach has long been known as a Personable type, but the first sign of something else comes when he makes a joking remark at the Gridiron Dinner about wiretapping every phone in America, something he later says is actual policy he wants to implement. During two late-night visits to Camp David with Sen. Jim [=MacVeagh=], he slowly reveals a much darker, manic side of himself, obsessed with those he feels he have wronged him, no matter how small or imagined the slight; finally, he outlines his concept for "Aspen", an American-led coalition with Canada (for its mineral resources) and Scandinavia (for its supposed purity of character), that will force other nations to join by military action if need be. [=MacVeagh=] is horrified, but -- because of his secret mistress being a key witness, his status as a failed VP pick for the coming election, and the Secret Service on his tail for suspicious behavior -- the serious but real allegation that the President may be insane is treated by many as a vindictive smear or Jim himself showing signs of paranoia. [[spoiler:Ultimately, Hollenbach reveals to the public that his heart murmur has worsened and resigns, with the reader left to drawn their own conclusion if Mark was genuinely always insane, or just unraveling from stress and mortal panic at his health condition.]] Amusingly, many of Hollenbach's personal neuroses (insomnia, an obsession with identifying enemies, and a penchant for surveillance) can end up looking very reminiscent of the not-far-off UsefulNotes/RichardNixon to modern readers.[[note]]The exact year isn't specified, but given that it's an election year and Johnson, mentioned to have taken office after Kennedy's death, is implied to be the fictional Hollenbach's predecessor, it seems to be set [[TwentyMinutesInTheFuture in 1968 or possibly 1972]]; in 1965, when the novel was written, Section 4, mentioned in the book as being part of the 25th Amendment, had been proposed but not yet ratified.[[/note]] |
| 297 | * IrvingWallace's ''Literature/TheMan'' is the story of the first accidental President Minority. |
| 298 | |
| 299 | * In Dougal [=MacLeish=]'s Canadian political thriller ''Literature/TheTraitorGame1968'', not only Prime Minister Target but PARLIAMENT Target is blown away by the machinations of Premier Corrupt; and Governor General Iron steps in to save the day. |
| 300 | * In Eric Romer's ''Literature/{{Ultimatum}}'', Canada is threatened by a President Iron who, by WordofGod, is supposed to be John Connolly. |
| 301 | * In the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' series, Cornelius Fudge started off as Minister Buffoon and Minister Focus Group (responding to people like Lucius Malfoy) before eventually becoming Minister Scheming/Corrupt, with a nice side helping of paranoia in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix''. |
| 302 | ** Fudge's successor, former Head of the Auror office Rufus Scrimgeour, was supposed to be a Minister Action instead. However, he ended up a Scheming Minister Iron. |
| 303 | ** [[spoiler:Voldemort's puppet Pius Thicknesse]] was a Definite Minister Focus Group, since, [[spoiler:being Imperiused, he wasn't even in control of himself]]. |
| 304 | ** [[spoiler:Kingsley Shacklebolt, former Auror and member of the Order of the Phoenix]], became the first true Minister Action after the war, and is also a [[BaldOfAuthority Minister Minority]]. |
| 305 | ** The Muggle Prime Minister seen at the beginning of the [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince sixth book]] was Minister Focus Group. His InnerMonologue was pretty much devoted to "What will the voters think?" Believed by some to be a parody of UsefulNotes/TonyBlair, whom Creator/JKRowling is said to be not fond of. His mannerisms are also reminiscent of [[Series/YesMinister Jim Hacker]], enough to be considered a ShoutOut if deliberate. |
| 306 | * President Coriolanus Snow in [[Literature/TheHungerGames The Hunger Games trilogy]] is certainly the PresidentEvil of the series, though [[spoiler:it certainly turns out that even the president of the supposed good guys from District 13, President Coin, is not so different [[BlackAndGrayMorality from Snow]]]]. |
| 307 | * In the ''Literature/LegacyOfTheAldenata'', there's a couple of them. The president at the start of the series is somewhat of a minor President Strawman, but becomes President Action towards the end of ''When the Devil Dances''. In his [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome CMoA]], he engages (along with his Secret Service and Marine guardians) [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Posleen]] emerging from a lander that came down near a human refugee camp he was visiting. His successor falls into the President Minority (woman) category, with more than a touch of President Strawman, with a strong aversion to using nuclear weapons (not entirely unjustified, given that nukes used by the Chinese didn't do more than delay the PRC's ultimate destruction, while poisoning the land for hundreds of years). |
| 308 | * Creator/DaveBarry promised in ''Dave Barry Turns 40'' that he would be a President Buffoon if elected: |
| 309 | -->I can hear you saying, "Oh yeah, Mr. Smartass? Well, what kind of leader would ''you'' be?" The answer is, I'd be a terrible leader. I'd be such an inadequate leader that within a matter of days the United States would rank significantly below Belize as a world power. But at least I'd try to be an ''interesting'' leader. |
| 310 | * In ''Literature/WhyNotMe'', Al Franken portrayed himself as a Corrupt President Playboy and [[AdamWesting much more of a jerk than he really is]]. |
| 311 | * ''Literature/AbrahamLincolnVampireHunter''. One guess as to what kind of president this is. |
| 312 | * The ''Literature/{{Illuminatus}}'' trilogy: |
| 313 | ** The unnamed President believes himself to be the President Iron, but in actuality he's straddling the line between President Buffoon and President Lunatic in his incessant drug addiction and willingness to start a nuclear war over a tiny Pacific island possibly going Communist. |
| 314 | ** The unnamed General Secretary of the Soviet Union believes himself to be the Premier Iron, but in actuality he's straddling the line between Premier Buffoon and Premier Lunatic in his incessant drug addiction and willingness to start a nuclear war over a tiny Pacific island possibly going Communist. |
| 315 | ** The unnamed Chairman believes himself to be the Chairman Iron, but in actuality he's straddling the line between Chairman Buffoon and Chairman Lunatic in his incessant drug addiction and willingness to start a nuclear war over a tiny Pacific island possibly going Communist. |
| 316 | * Given that the political side in ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' books often eclipses its [[MilitaryScienceFiction military half]], it's no wonder that the books are chock-full of various heads of governments, running the whole gamut. |
| 317 | ** Manticore during the series run have had one Queen and three Prime Ministers: |
| 318 | *** Elizabeth III is Queen Iron, due to being an IronLady since her teens, |
| 319 | *** Duke Cromarty, her uncle and the first series' PM was a PM personable and ReasonableAuthorityFigure, |
| 320 | *** Baron High Ridge was a poster boy for PM Corrupt and SleazyPolitician, while |
| 321 | *** Baron [[ShoutOut Grantville]] is a ReasonableAuthorityFigure again. |
| 322 | ** Haven swung even wider: |
| 323 | *** Hereditary President Harris of old Legislaturalist regime was a Personable President Target -- largely ineffective and harmless, |
| 324 | *** His successor, Chairman Pierre was, despite his tyrannical rule, more of a Scheming President Iron, being the WellIntentionedExtremist that he was, while ''his'' successor, Chairman Saint-Just was simply a tyrant and largely a President Strawman. |
| 325 | *** After their next -- and final -- revolution, President Eloise Pritchart is clearly a President Iron, bent on returning Haven back on the right path, but she is also a President Personable in that she treats her (non-idiot) subordinates with respect, listens to what they have to say, ''will'' admit she's wrong when she actually is, and is beloved (or at least well-liked) by most of the population. |
| 326 | * Johnny Gentle, the President of the United States in Creator/DavidFosterWallace's ''Literature/InfiniteJest'', is a former lounge singer and rabid germophobe who campaigns on making for a "neater, tighter America," and founds the [[FunWithAcronyms Clean US Party]] to get elected. His solution to the supposed dirtiness of America is to blast all the country's waste off the planet; when that proves to be too expensive, he sections off much of New England and Upstate New York as a gigantic toxic waste dump (with gigantic Lucite walls), hands it all over Canada, and forms the [[FunWithAcronyms Organization of North American Nations]] to make the whole thing work. Definitely a combination of President Buffoon and President Lunatic. |
| 327 | * In the ''Literature/CarrerasLegions'' series, the president of Balboa before he was tossed out in the next election was a President Corrupt. |
| 328 | * In a variant not listed above, the president from ''Literature/SnowCrash'', while technically a President Corrupt, probably ought to rate as a President ''Loser'': he holds office at a time when federal authority has diminished so catastrophically that nearly all of the current United States has been sold off to extraterritorial corporations. Upon meeting him, Y.T. doesn't even have a clue who he is, or care once he tells her. |
| 329 | * Zaphod Beeblebrox was chosen as President of the galaxy in ''Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' specifically ''because'' he's a natural for President Buffoon (with a side order of Playboy, Scheming and Personable), so as to distract attention away from anyone holding genuine authority. |
| 330 | * Although a senator rather than a president, Evangel [=McDowell=] of the web-novel ''Literature/{{Domina}}'' is a President Action. He helps fight off a horde of zombies and organize the survivors. |
| 331 | * The book ''{{Literature/Contact}}'' features a fairly personable President Minority; she is a woman and it's implied that she is not the first woman to have that office. She is a minor character, though she has a brief point-of-view section mentioning her husband, and the protagonist rather cynically thinks that worse people have been in office. |
| 332 | * ''Literature/DemocracyAnAmericanNovel'', written in 1880, may be the first work to depict a fictional U.S. president. The President's full name is never stated, but it's briefly mentioned that his first name is Jacob. He's a President Corrupt and President Buffoon, mostly based on UsefulNotes/UlyssesSGrant. |
| 333 | * In the Literature/LeftBehind book series, the current President at the time of the Rapture is Gerald Fitzhugh, a ReasonableAuthorityFigure who welcomes Nicolae Carpathia to the White House with open arms. However, he is rather uncertain about the idea of giving Carpathia and the United Nations (that would soon become the Global Community) control over the nations by letting him broker a deal with Israel to allow licensed use of Chaim Rosenzweig's synthetic fertilizer formula for seven years in exchange for peace for Israel, although due to Carpathia's brainwashing he ends up going along with it. After seeing his power as president being diminished by the new one-world government being put in place, Fitzhugh attempts to side with right-wing militia groups in order to wrest control of the United States and other free nations from Carpathia's grasp, only to be killed when Washington, D.C. was firebombed in a retaliatory attack. |
| 334 | * Creator/GregBear's ''Literature/TheForgeOfGod'' shows the President (along with a significant part of the rest of the population) transforming into a wibbling President Lunatic of the religious variety under the stress of knowing that the world is about to end and there is nothing anyone can do about it. Ultimately though this is of little consequence precisely because there is nothing anyone can do about it and going mad is as good a way of passing what little time remains as any. |
| 335 | * President Lawrence Thurston of the Literature/{{Emberverse}}'s United States of Boise is President Action and President Iron: he's an ex-Army Ranger who leads both his country and its armed forces, and is implacable in his goal of reestablishing the USA as a governing entity. Becomes a President Target, thanks to the actions of the Church Universal and Triumphant and Thurston's own son, Martin. Martin, who succeeds his father thanks to a bit of {{Patricide}}, is another President Action as well as President Corrupt; he becomes President Evil when the evil force behind the CUT decides it's time to establish just who is actually serving whom. |
| 336 | * President Cowley in ''Literature/TheLongEarth'' is a President Scheming Focus-Group, who'll say whatever makes him popular. Initially elected on anti-Stepping sentiment, he later becomes acclaimed (at least on Datum Earth) for the American Aegis, which claims all Stepwise counterparts of the US as part of the country. Following [[spoiler: the eruption of Datum Yellowstone]], however, his focus shifts to rallying people through the disaster, which is a natural fit for his oratory skills. Hardened cynic Mac calls him "just a soapbox Joe, but...damn, he's good." |
| 337 | * During his time as Grand Administrator of the Solar Empire, ''Literature/PerryRhodan'' is clearly a President Action -- with unfortunate forays into President Sue territory on occasions when the narration overemphasizes the supposedly horrible consequences of his no longer personally running the ship of state or when it's hinted (with the most outright statement admittedly coming from a soldier being interrogated by hostile aliens at the time) that despite all challenges he keeps getting honestly democratically reelected ''every time'' in the end for all the centuries said empire exists. He keeps the action tendencies later in the series, but while his necessarily well-established political credentials and experience keep him involved in that game his relevance in that arena is toned down to more reasonable "one-of-a-kind elder statesman" levels. |
| 338 | * In ''Literature/{{Victoria}}'', the fairly [[AntiVillain anti-villainous]] President Warner is a President Personable with some admixture of President Evil, while the later President Yancey is a straight example of the former type. |
| 339 | * In ''Literature/BreakfastOfChampions'', Kilgore Trout has a story where an "optimistic chimpanzee" somehow becomes President of the United States, and has bands playing "Hail to the Chief" everywhere he goes because he likes that. |
| 340 | * In ''Literature/TheLostStars'' (a spin-off series to ''Literature/TheLostFleet''), two [[OneNationUnderCopyright Syndic]] [=CEOs=], Gwen Iceni and Artur Drakon, conspire to free the Midway star system from Syndic control. As part of that, they try to break with Syndic rules and structure. Drakon begins to style himself a general, while Iceni decides to change her title to President. Her NumberTwo explains that the word has been historically used to describe various leaders, from weak Democratic heads of state to outright dictators. Thus it can mean whatever she wants it to mean. That said, she is not the sole ruler of Midway, as she needs Drakon's ground forces to maintain control over the planet while he needs Iceni's warships to secure the system. So they're essentially co-rulers, even though on paper she appears to be the only one. While they do allow local elections to unimportant positions, they stop at allowing citizens to elect higher officials, including the president. But there are those who are pushing for that as well, or even a direct democracy. Iceni begins to soften as time goes on, becoming less like a ruthless Syndic CEO and more like someone who cares about her people. |
| 341 | * ''Literature/{{Presidential}}'': The story's co-protagonist is Constance "Connie" Calvin, the first female US President who's also bisexual, juggling the Presidency, parenting her son (who has a heart condition too) while a widow and beginning to date his doctor (a woman) as she's facing the next Presidential election. |
| 342 | * The pro-industry "[[OnlyKnownByTheirNickname Prexy]]" in ''Literature/TheSheepLookUp'', as he is affectionaly known by his voter base. Never appears in person, always remaining TheGhost over the course of the novel, only heard making quippy statements on his way to and from photo opportunities. A mixture of President Buffoon and President Personable on the surface, gradually gives way to President Evil as the government takes harsher measures against anyone who is even mildly critical of the United States, as the country slides ever further into ecological disaster. |
| 343 | * In ''Literature/{{Bewilderment}}'', the unnamed president is a {{Trumplica}} who picks fights with foreign governments, writes capslocked social media posts with multiple exclamation marks per sentence, harasses immigrants, and pours billions of dollars into border patrols while cutting funding to everything else, especially anything related to astronomy or the environment. A combination of President Lunatic and President Strawman. |
| 344 | * ''Literature/MaddysDolphin'' has a President Target by proxy, as the president's daughter Lucy is kidnapped by men who want to exchange her for twenty imprisoned terrorists. |
| 345 | [[/folder]] |
| 346 | |
| 347 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 348 | * President Paul Hollister, played by Beau Bridges in ''10.5'', is a President Personable. |
| 349 | * President David Palmer of ''Series/TwentyFour'' was President Personable who had a habit of being a President Target every now and then. [[spoiler:And he succumbs to it in season five]]. President Charles Logan was PresidentEvil with a bit of ObfuscatingStupidity at first. |
| 350 | ** Palmer was also the first black President Minority, at least on a well-known scale. It's mentioned a bit in Season One, but becomes utterly irrelevant (as it should be) after then. |
| 351 | ** Palmer had a tendency to stray into President Sue territory occasionally. |
| 352 | ** President Allison Taylor looks like a sweet, middle-aged lady (she is, after all, played by Cherry Jones). '''Do not let this fool you.''' President Taylor ''will not budge'' once she has made up her mind about something... she's an IronLady and thus President Iron personified. |
| 353 | --->'''President Taylor:''' "I want that sonofabitch ''found''." |
| 354 | ** And now President Hassan of [[HollywoodAtlas Kamistan]] has gotten in on the action, mostly as President Target but now edging into [[spoiler:President Action territory after ''saving Jack Bauer'']]. |
| 355 | * President Dale Gilchrist of ''Series/SixteenHundredPenn'' seems to be a President Personable. However, we hear little about actual politics, since the show is a DomCom about his relationship with his family. |
| 356 | * ''Franchise/{{Arrowverse}}'': |
| 357 | ** Initially President Minority (as seen on ''Series/{{Arrow}}'', an African-American Man), then President Target (unnamed white man who gets abducted and vaporized in the ''[[Series/Invasion2016 Invasion!]]'' crossover), then President Minority x 2 (African-American woman vice-president) who is elevated into the presidency after the aforementioned vaporization of her predecessor. |
| 358 | ** ''Series/Supergirl2015'' has President Personable (hedging into President Iron, since she won't stop with her plan for alien rights) Olivia Marsden. [[spoiler:Also President Not Really Human.]] |
| 359 | * ''Series/BabylonFive'' had almost all of these variants during its run, including: |
| 360 | ** President Iron: the female Earth Alliance president from ''In the Beginning'', [[spoiler:as well as Sheridan]]. |
| 361 | ** President Target: [[spoiler:Luis Santiago, Sheridan, and Delenn in her roles as both ISA VP and president]]. |
| 362 | ** President Evil: [[spoiler:William Morgan Clark]]. |
| 363 | ** President Jesus: [[spoiler:First almost played straight, but then averted with Sheridan during the fifth season]]. |
| 364 | ** President Sue: [[spoiler:Definitely Sheridan]]. |
| 365 | ** And that's not counting heads of state other than actual Presidents... |
| 366 | * ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'' has four presidents, though one appears only in a flashback by Roslin on account of getting nuked. |
| 367 | ** President Laura Roslin is mostly President Iron except for brief forays into religious zeal that briefly make her President Lunatic as far as Commander Adama is concerned. |
| 368 | ** President Gaius Baltar is most of the less positive forms on this list at one time or another. And President Personable, which makes it worse. |
| 369 | ** Acting President Lee Adama is a President Action. |
| 370 | * ''Series/BlueBloods'' is a case of Our Mayors Are Different. Starting in season 2, Carter Poole is a Mayor Minority/Mayor Personable twofer. |
| 371 | * ''Series/CommanderInChief'' starred Geena Davis as a Minority President (with a side order of President Iron and President Personable), and a very competent one at that. Noteworthy that while her status as the first female President got plenty of mention, in practice her status as the first independent President (i.e. no party affiliation) since George Washington proved more important. |
| 372 | * In the spin-off of ''Series/ThatsSoRaven'', ''Series/CoryInTheHouse'', the eponymous Cory is living in the White House because his father got a job as head chef. The president is President Buffoon and President Minority, as he is Latino. Said president, Richard Martinez, also appears in a season 1 episode of ''Series/HannahMontana''. |
| 373 | * ''Series/DoctorWho'': |
| 374 | ** In [[Recap/DoctorWho20thASTheFiveDoctors "The Five Doctors"]], Lord President Borusa is President Corrupt if not President Evil, what with grabbing five versions of the Doctor along with their companions and enemies, including the Master, and dropping them in the Death Zone so they can steal the secret of immortality for him, and attempting to frame his Chancellor for it. |
| 375 | ** Harriet Jones starts as a Prime Minister Personable. She pushes for improved hospital care in her constituency, and would prefer to remain working for her constituents. However, by the time of [[Recap/DoctorWho2005CSTheChristmasInvasion "The Christmas Invasion"]], she's become firmly an Iron Prime Minister and a thinly veiled Margaret Thatcher analogy, who will override the US, UN and several secret organisations and blow up a retreating spaceship. |
| 376 | ** Queen Victoria became Queen Action in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E2ToothAndClaw "Tooth and Claw"]] when she shot the leader of the evil monks. |
| 377 | ** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E12TheSoundOfDrums "The Sound of Drums"]]: |
| 378 | *** US President Arthur Winters is something of a President Buffoon — although technically, he's only a President-''Elect''. |
| 379 | *** Mr. Saxon in the same episode is a Lunatic [[PresidentEvil Prime Minister Evil]] hiding behind a facade of Buffoonery. He's also [[spoiler:the Master, and thus an Alien Prime Minster Evil]] too. |
| 380 | *** Arthur Winters appears to be a thinly veiled President Unmodified based on then-President George W. Bush, playing up the widespread European perception of Bush as an arrogant, overbearing cowboy-type. (The Master [[spoiler:has him disintegrated.]]) Two years later, in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime "The End of Time"]] they dispensed with the veil and referred to President Obama by name. |
| 381 | ** [[spoiler:Lord President Rassilon]] in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime "The End of Time"]] is most definitely President Evil. Saxon pales in comparison. |
| 382 | *** Particularly as [[spoiler:the Master is revealed to have gone mad because of Rassilon's machinations to escape the Time Locked Time War]]. |
| 383 | ** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E2TheBeastBelow "The Beast Below"]]: Liz 10 of Starship UK is a Queen Action who investigates mysteries in her kingdom and goes GunsAkimbo on attacking robots. Basically, she rules. |
| 384 | ** The Doctor themself has been elected Lord President of Gallifrey multiple times; they usually make a break for it before they can be forced into the office, though. However, in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E12HellBent "Hell Bent"]], the Twelfth Doctor quite blatantly abuses the position in an attempt to [[spoiler:save Clara, potentially breaking the timeline.]] And earlier in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E12DeathInHeaven "Death in Heaven"]], UNIT temporarily made the Doctor President of Earth as part of their new protocols for combating alien invasions; during his brief term he was most definitely President Action. |
| 385 | ** Spinoff ''Series/TorchwoodChildrenOfEarth'' had Prime Minister Jerkass Brian Green. He spends the entire 4-5-6 incident making his most loyal civil servant take bullets for him, to the point of [[spoiler: forcing him to sacrifice his own children, which drives him to commit suicide.]] When the whole incident is finally cleared up, he says he feels "lucky" because his reputation has not been marred. Also President Corrupt.\ |
| 386 | \ |
| 387 | Fortunately, in his last appearance of the miniseries, it's strongly implied that [[spoiler:the [[TheStarscream Home Secretary]] is going to blackmail him into standing down so that she can take over]]. |
| 388 | * ''Series/TheEvent'' features a President Minority in U.S. President Elias Martinez (played by Creator/BlairUnderwood), who is Cuban. |
| 389 | * Prime Minister [=McLaughlin=] at the beginning of the Canadian mini-series ''[=H2O=]'' is Prime Minister Target, as the series starts with his mysterious death. He is succeeded by his son, Tom, who is Prime Minister [[spoiler:Corrupt, flirting with Evil]]. |
| 390 | %%** There is also a President Minority |
| 391 | * Julia Mansfield in ''Series/HailToTheChief'' is President Minority, the first female President of the US. (Notably, this appears to be the first American television series to depict a female President.) |
| 392 | * ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' has had a few variants: |
| 393 | ** In the dystopian future of "Five Years Gone", Nathan Petrelli [[spoiler:in reality, Sylar]] was President Evil, not to mention President Action when he felt like it. |
| 394 | ** The current president in the main timeline, first seen in the Volume Three finale, is President Minority (he's black). Interestingly, while the episode was aired after Obama won the 2008 election, it was probably filmed, and Creator/MichaelDorn almost certainly cast as the President, late in the campaign, when Obama's victory was likely, but far from certain. He hasn't actually been given a name, though some fans call him President [[Franchise/StarTrek Worf]]. |
| 395 | *** In the Volume Four finale, he's President Target, as Sylar, who has gained the power of VoluntaryShapeshifting, plans to kill him and take his place. |
| 396 | * Francis Urquhart in the ''Series/HouseOfCardsUK'' trilogy of books and TV serials is a Prime Minister Corrupt. |
| 397 | * Francis "Frank" Underwood in ''Series/HouseOfCardsUS'' is President Corrupt who masquerades as a President Personable. |
| 398 | * Reginald J. Priest in Season Four of ''Series/{{Lexx}}'' is a viciously presented Corrupt President Buffoon. He borders on PresidentEvil at times (such as nuking countries that piss him off and letting the plant aliens eat Japan), but that is to be expected when you remember that he's [[{{Satan}} Prince's]] puppet. |
| 399 | * ''Series/RoboCopTheSeries'' features a President Minority as the finale featured a female President, which was hinted in prior episodes. |
| 400 | * Vasiliy from ''Series/ServantOfThePeople'' is a President Personable, with some traits of President Ditz. He is idealistic, devoted and honest president, who lives with his parents, rides a bicycle to work (when he doesn't take a bus) and overall thinks and acts as a regular person. He struggles with several aspects of high-powered politics due to being a FishOutOfWater (he was a history teacher who became president pretty much by accident), but it doesn't detract from his desire to do right by his people. In a noteworthy case of LifeImitatesArt, his actor, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, actually became president of Ukraine in 2019. |
| 401 | * The ''[[Theatre/TheTamingOfTheShrew Taming of the Shrew]]'' segment of ''Shakespeare Retold'' had Katherine as a UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher-esque Conservative politician who at the end of the show becomes Prime Minister. Presumably, she would be a Prime Minister Iron, although oddly, she also seemed to be slightly Prime Minister Personal. |
| 402 | * Randall Winston from ''Series/SpinCity'' is definitely a Buffoon Mayor. The only reason New York City runs is because of HypercompetentSidekick Mike Flaherty. |
| 403 | * ''Series/StargateSG1'''s President Henry Hayes is a President Personable, replacing an Invisible President in season 7. Of course his [[spoiler:first]] VP is the resident CorruptPolitician and corporate stooge, (ex-Senator) Kinsey. |
| 404 | ** Hayes is also a President Iron. This shows most when he confronts [[spoiler:a holographic projection of Anubis]]. |
| 405 | * ''Series/ThatsMyBush'' presented George W. Bush as a lovable President Buffoon who got into all sorts of {{Zany Scheme}}s that were more akin to what you would see in a sitcom than a political drama or satire (such as trying to get free cable, or [[TwoTimerDate attend two separate dinners at the same time]]). That's because the show wasn't meant to poke fun of the then-incumbent president, but at the sitcoms that dominated the '80s. |
| 406 | * ''Series/TheThickOfIt'' has two [[InvisiblePresident invisible PMs]], at least one of whom is also Unmodified (Tom Davis is pretty obviously UsefulNotes/GordonBrown). The other one went almost totally unmentioned, but given the circumstances, is also more or less Unmodified (for UsefulNotes/TonyBlair). |
| 407 | ** There was yet another invisible PM in series 4 (which it took place after a general election and change of government) - probably a more or less Unmodified version of David Cameron. |
| 408 | * In an episode of ''Series/TimeTrax'', the time-traveling hero saves the life of an African-American senator whom he knows will one day become a President Minority. |
| 409 | * ''Series/TheUndeclaredWar'': Andrew Makinde is President Minority (he's black) and tries to be President Iron. Although, since this is set in the UK, he's actually Prime Minister. |
| 410 | * President Jed Bartlet in ''Series/TheWestWing'' is a President Personable. He's also been accused from some quarters (particularly right-wing) of being a liberal President Strawman, and his staff occasionally view him as a President Sue, but he presents enough well-rounded CharacterDevelopment, deep-seated character flaws and contrary opinions to avoid falling into this trap. |
| 411 | ** He was supposed to be a President Invisible, or nearly so, when the series began. But Martin Sheen is awfully good at what he does. |
| 412 | ** He also showed moments of being a President Buffoon in the first season. His first mention was of him riding a bicycle into a tree, and in a later episode he comes into the Oval Office loopy on medication and can't remember any of his staff's names. |
| 413 | ** He is also President Target, being wounded in one assassination attempt and having his youngest daughter kidnapped on another occasion. |
| 414 | ** President Matt Santos is a President Minority. Probably the first of what will presumably be a long list of that character type to be intentionally based off of UsefulNotes/BarackObama. The writers actually talked to David Axelrod for characterization help. |
| 415 | *** Extremely notable for being based on Barack Obama after the latter's 2004 convention speech. As in, [[LifeImitatesArt before Obama collected a dime for 2008]]. |
| 416 | ** British Prime Minister Maureen Graty of the same series is firmly an Iron Prime Minister, launching a full-scale war over the terrorist shooting of a British plane. |
| 417 | ** Bartlet's first VP, John Hoynes, was a Vice President Scheming who eventually had to resign when it was revealed that he was a Vice President Playboy as well. His replacement, Robert Russell, was a mild Vice President Buffoon. |
| 418 | *** "Bingo Bob" Russel was a VP Buffoon, as he recognized that his ties to mining companies could paint him as a VP Scheming if his opponents took him more seriously. |
| 419 | * President Johnny Cyclops in ''Series/WhoopsApocalypse'' is a President Buffoon; a former film star who has actually been lobotomised. The British PM, Kevin Pork, is a Prime Minister Lunatic who believes he's Characters/{{Superman|TheCharacter}} (probably a dig at UsefulNotes/HaroldMacmillan's "Supermac" nickname). |
| 420 | ** Cyclops does sometimes seem to show some good sense, in contrast to everybody else's insanity, in which case he slides more towards President Focus Group. |
| 421 | * Jim Hacker of ''[[Series/YesMinister Yes, Prime Minister]]'' tends to be a Personable Prime Minister Focus Group, easily swayed by his Cabinet Secretary [[TheBarnum Humphrey Appleby]], although he can develop a very strong Iron streak when he feels his moral integrity is threatened--or thinks he can get an advantage over Sir Humphrey out of it. |
| 422 | [[/folder]] |
| 423 | |
| 424 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 425 | * Dunkelzahn of ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'' fame is this trope crossed with OurDragonsAreDifferent. Let that sink in a bit. As a great dragon, he was powerful enough to change reality through force of will, but he was keenly interested in humanity, running charities, humanitarian organizations and even a talk show. He eventually ran for ''president'' and got in before dying ten hours later, breaking numerous records including largest president, oldest president, only president born before the Christian era, and shortest presidential term. |
| 426 | ** His immediate predecessor, and possibly others before, were both President Corrupt and President Scheming, having gotten into office via the rigged "Remote-Vote" system, the exposure of which resulted in impeachment and an immediate special election. |
| 427 | * Randel Portman from Creator/WhiteWolf's ''TabletopGame/{{Aberrant}}'' was an explicitly realistic superhero who entered the US presidential elections as the Democratic Party's candidate. His bid was presented in a pretty realistic manner: his failings, a track record in politics that could be charitably described as "minor grass-roots experience" (not to mention obvious political jabs his opponents could and would make about a novice running on sheer star power and media glitz) were all well represented. Given that this was a setting teeming with inhumanly intelligent, charismatic, beautiful or canny super-powered "novas" the world over (Russia was ran from behind the scenes by a nova Minister of the Treasury whose inhuman intelligence had enabled him to formulate a plan that catapulted the whole country out of The Second Great Depression: many Americans were mentioned as telling pollsters that "they'd prefer a nova president with a superior intellect"), Portman was definitely an Average Joe candidate who simply happened to have supernatural powers that made him a great fireman, and a personality that made him personally very likable. The game line suggested he went on to win the Presidency, but was silent on how his term in office turned out. |
| 428 | * One previewed test run for the Burn Legend setting in ''Shards of the TabletopGame/{{Exalted}} Dream'' used Richard Nixon (and his counterpart from another universe) as equal parts President Action and President Evil. It concluded with our universe's Nixon using [[OneWingedAngel Demon Emperor Shintai]] and kicking the other's backside. |
| 429 | [[/folder]] |
| 430 | |
| 431 | [[folder:Theatre]] |
| 432 | * John P. Wintergreen, main character of the musical ''Theatre/OfTheeISing'', presents himself to his party bosses as "nominated by the people, absolutely my own master, and ready to do any dirty work the committee suggests." He becomes something of a President Buffoon once he's elected (with the backing of corrupt political operatives and a campaign based on ThePowerOfLove). His Vice-President, Throttlebottom, is a non-entity acknowledged by nobody until he reminds them who he is (which he has to do quite often). |
| 433 | * Franklin D. Roosevelt in ''I'd Rather Be Right'' is predominantly a President Personable, trying to think up a way to balance the budget that the Supreme Court (whose nine members keep popping up from behind bushes) wouldn't disallow. He could also dance, unlike the RealLife FDR but like George M. Cohan (who played him). |
| 434 | * In ''Music/{{Evita}}'' Juan Perón shows certain elements of President Buffoon. In the musical number [[CrowdSong "A New Argentina"]], he expresses a desire to retire from politics and live the easy life in Paraguay. He is quickly shut down by his scheming wife, Eva, who convinces him to run for president. |
| 435 | * Not a president, but the Governor from ''Film/TheBestLittleWhorehouseInTexas'' deserves a mention for how ''gleeful'' he is about being a President Focus Group / President Scheming hybrid. Just listen to his OneSceneWonder song, "Sidestep". |
| 436 | [[/folder]] |
| 437 | |
| 438 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 439 | * In what is '''definitely''' the most utterly insane version on this list, President Michael Wilson in ''VideoGame/MetalWolfChaos'' is a ''completely'' [[RefugeInAudacity over-the-top]] President Action who spends the game in a heavily-armed HumongousMecha yelling SoBadItsGood one liners and blowing up about half of the United States (killing ''lots'' of people in the process) in an attempt to rescue the remaining half from his [[EvilChancellor Evil Vice President]] (who, of course, is ''also'' in a HumongousMecha). |
| 440 | ** '''[[SayMyName MICHAELLLLL!!!]]''' |
| 441 | *** '''[[SayMyName RICHAAAAAARD!!!]]''' |
| 442 | * ''[[VideoGame/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice Sam & Max]]: Abe Lincoln Must Die!'' had a President Buffoon who turned out to be [[spoiler:literally a puppet]]. He's replaced by ''Max'', of all living things, who is the definition of President Lunatic. |
| 443 | ** Max mixes in a lot of President Action since he still rides around town with Sam and solves crimes. |
| 444 | ** Max is also President Corrupt since he abuses his power as much as he can in order to advance the story. |
| 445 | *** He starts a [[spoiler:civil war between the Dakotas]] to obtain emergency powers and access to the War Room and its missiles. He then blows up Antarctica and Krypton (if the missile ever gets there). |
| 446 | *** Later Max [[spoiler:sells the US to Canada]] to get one of Bosco's inventions thus making him essentially President Traitor. |
| 447 | *** The Secret Service has contingency plans for when Max goes "really bad". The second most probable scenario is Max turning into an EldritchAbomination and rampaging through New York. |
| 448 | * George Sears (aka. Solidus Snake) from ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' is something of a President Action and President Corrupt -- he's running his own conspiracy to kill the conspirators. Then a player-controlled {{Tykebomb}} comes after him, and he's dual-wielding high frequency blades in some kind of power suit... |
| 449 | ** President Johnson from the same series is more of a President Target then anything, though he does have overtones of President Corrupt. |
| 450 | * President Jacobi from ''VideoGame/{{Freelancer}}'' [[spoiler:turns out to be President ActionGirl]]. |
| 451 | * President John Henry Eden from ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' is an uncommon combination of both PresidentEvil and [[AffablyEvil President Personable]], having an impeccably polite manner and delivering morally uplifting "talks" on his radio station to the people of the Capital Wasteland in the vein of FDR's fireside chats, promising to bring back America's glory days and deliver its inhabitants from despair. Of course, he neglects to mention his ultimate plan for doing this would result in [[spoiler:nearly everyone in the Capital Wasteland dying]]. He also has something of a [[EvilChancellor treacherous Second-in-Command]] in the form of Colonel Augustus Autumn who, while not ultimately as sinister, is also much less [[AffablyEvil affable]]. |
| 452 | ** Colonel Autumn is really more of a Well-Intentioned Extremist. For instance, the reason he is rebelling against President Eden is because he DOESN'T want everyone in the wasteland to die. |
| 453 | * President Aaron Kimball of ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' is a warhawk President Iron as well as a President Target during a mission where he appears to make a speech. Depending on which path you're on, the player is tasked with either protecting him or assassinating him. |
| 454 | * In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', you have President Shinra, a President Evil before becoming a President Target, and his son Rufus, who is simultaneously a President Evil and a President Action, before becoming an [[TheAtoner atoner]] President MagnificentBastard. |
| 455 | ** ''Technically'' they're only presidents of an electric company. Said electric company basically runs the world, but still. |
| 456 | *** The highest-ranking government official you meet, the Mayor of Midgar, is a Mayor Ineffectual. Shinra doesn't even bother to ''pretend'' to respect him, and he's openly under their thumb. [[TheDogBitesBack He helps the group out just to stick it to the man.]] |
| 457 | * 'Mr. President' from ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'' and ''VideoGame/ShadowTheHedgehog'' is a President Target. |
| 458 | * ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' has two characters as examples. The first is a PresidentEvil, Galbadian President Vinzer Deling. The second is Estharian president [[spoiler: Laguna Loire]], who fits several of the subtropes. He's a subversion of President Buffoon. Prior to his being revealed as the President, the game portrays him as awkward, dimwitted, and reckless. However, he seems to be doing quite well as president. He's also President Action [[spoiler: (You get to control him for several portions in the game, and he wields a machine gun, his theme is even called "The Man With The Machine Gun")]], he's also a pretty nice guy once you finally meet him, making him President Personable as well. He's also[[spoiler: the main character's father]]. |
| 459 | * In ''VideoGame/DestroyAllHumans 2'', Crypto has risen to the presidency of the United States, allowing the player to control a combination of PresidentEvil and [[RankScalesWithAsskicking President Action]]. Mwahahahaha!!! |
| 460 | * ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlertSeries'': |
| 461 | ** In [[VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert2 the second game]], President Michael Dugan is mainly a combo of President Personable (he tries diplomacy first by contacting Soviet Premier Romanov when the US military first detects the incoming invasion force) and President Target in a couple of campaign missions (extracting him out of an occupied Washington in the third Allied mission, hunting him down and capturing him at the Alamo in the ninth Soviet mission). He also takes on President Iron when things get serious, such as ordering nuclear retaliation against the Soviets when diplomacy fails (too bad Yuri sabotaged that) and being the one who gives the NonEntityGeneral Allied player the mission objectives after [[spoiler:General Carville is assassinated by a Crazy Ivan suicide bomber]]. |
| 462 | ** President Howard "Screw 'Em All!" Ackerman of ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert3'' pretty much epitomizes the concept of President Iron along with President Lunatic/President Evil. His solution to illegal immigration? ''Attack dogs!'' His position on serving special interests? None; he's too busy serving the Commies a steaming platter of ''shame'', with a side order of ''suck it!'' Vote for Ackerman, ''if you want to live.'' His hatred for the Soviets leads him to try and use superweapons (not nukes; they haven't been invented thanks to the eradication of Albert Einstein from the timeline) to obliterate the USSR from a secret base in Mount Rushmore after the rest of the Allies are readying a cease-fire with them, [[spoiler:though he turns out to be right not to trust them.]]. Then again, his militant attitude is due to the fact that [[spoiler:he's a Japanese Cyborg Spy sent to make the Allies more aggressive towards the Soviets.]] |
| 463 | ** The third game also includes the rare non-American President Action, as the Japanese Emperor personally takes to the field in his HumongousMecha. |
| 464 | * President Orwen from ''VideoGame/FrontMissionGunHazard'' definitely qualifies as a ''President Personable''; he's a genuine nice guy, but gets screwed over by his subordinates early on. Orwen doesn't go down without a fight though, and has a ''President Badass'' moment when he rams the truck he's driving into [[EvilChancellor Ark Hellbrand's]] [[RealRobotGenre Wanzer]], forcing Ark to retreat. |
| 465 | * The unnamed President in ''VideoGame/GhostSquad2004'' is President Target, and ''high-fives'' you the second time you rescue him. |
| 466 | * The unnamed President in ''VideoGame/PerfectDark'' is both President Minority (being black) and President Target, with the ''intense'' mission where you sneak aboard Air Force One to save him before the plane crashes in the Alaskan wilderness, at which point you must rescue him ''again'' and kill the clone the villains made to be more agreeable to their plans. He could also be described as President Suicidal, what with his bizarre habit of running right in front of you when you're firing a submachine gun. |
| 467 | * ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' has three: |
| 468 | ** President Action Gabriel of the [[FloatingContinent floating]] military nation of Zepp, who was a RebelLeader and took power in the successful staging of a coup-d-état; |
| 469 | ** The ''Butterfly and her Gale'' novel has the President Puppet of a nation known as A Country [[spoiler:implied to be a heavily-weakened United States of America]], a young girl and a puppet of [[TheSyndicate The Assassin's Guild]], Erica Batholomew. [[spoiler: When Erica [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight gets sick of being a President Puppet]] and tries to ally herself with Gabriel, the Assassins put her on their shit list and Chipp Zanuff becomes her bodyguard, protecting her until she finally can pass laws that kick them out of the A Country's Goverment.]] |
| 470 | ** As of ''Xrd'' there's [[spoiler:the aforementioned Chipp Zanuff]], who runs a minor nation he founded himself, known as [[spoiler: the Eastern Kingdom of Chipp]].. |
| 471 | * President Richter Karst of the Republic of Bastok in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI'' is President Jerkass. [[spoiler: At least until you so later missions and find out that he isn't that much of a {{Jerkass}}. He has a (very) gruff persona, but did a lot for the citizens of Bastok that few people actually know about.]] |
| 472 | * ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps'''s zombie level that takes place in the Pentagon ("Five") makes [[UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy President Kennedy]] a President Action via the player. As the level can be 4-player co-op, it also allows for a Cuban President Action (Fidel Castro), a Secretary of Defense Action (Robert [=McNamara=]), and a Presidential Candidate/Future President Action (UsefulNotes/RichardNixon). |
| 473 | * President Baelheit in ''VideoGame/BatenKaitos Origins'' is a blatant President Evil despite being a President Personable as well. Despite being the villain for the entirety of the game, [[spoiler:you still can't stop him from being fairly elected because the people of his home continent love him so much]]. |
| 474 | * President Dylan Paradine of Strahta in ''VideoGame/TalesOfGraces'' is a President Personable with shades of President Action. He travels in casual clothes to personally see the developments in his country, and refuses to be manipulated by the interests of the elite. |
| 475 | * The FinalBoss of the online TowerDefense game ''[[http://www.kongregate.com/games/yellowbouncyball/planet-juicer Planet Juicer]]'' is Barack Obama, in a tank, throwing grenades. A definite President Action. |
| 476 | * Captain Qwark in ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClankAll4One'' is the galactic president, having been elected between this game and ''A Crack In Time''. As a playable character, he's President Action, but the game starts with an attempt by [[MadScientist Dr. Nefarious]] to kill him, making Qwark President Target. And through it all, he's President Buffoon. |
| 477 | * In ''VideoGame/SaintsRowIV'', The Boss is now a combination of President Action and President Evil who now has to fight off an alien invasion with the help of newly-gained superpowers. At other points, they are President Buffoon (making "pew pew" noises while using a sniper rifle on lookout duty), President Jerkass (50% of your past time with Pierce is, supposedly, spent insulting him "all in good fun"), President Playboy (you can have casual sex with something like six of your teammates and one of your first orders was to install stripper poles in the White House), President Iron (never backing down though the heavens fall), a tiny bit of President Personable (always loyal to a member of the crew), a generous dose of President Lunatic (many of the actions taken during the game are not the decisions of a sane person), and potentially a dash of President Minority (depending on character creation and a few choices during the game, you can be the first bisexual, mixed-race female French President of America). Basically, you are any of the options listed at the top of the page that either improve, or are neutral towards, your ability to kill stuff and wreak havoc. |
| 478 | * In the ''Franchise/MassEffect'' series, the United States of America is now the United North American States (the result of a merger with Canada and Mexico.) It seems to be even more dysfunctional than its predecessor, with President Enrique Aguilar being assassinated in 2176, and President Christopher Huerta suffering a stroke in 2184 that left him legally dead for 90 minutes. This results in a heated battle over succession when Huerta's brain functions are successfully transferred to a computer - Huerta's supporters claim that he's still alive inside the computer, and his detractors claim that what currently passes as Huerta is essentially a VI, and Huerta himself is dead. Shepard can agree with either faction during a filler conversation in the third game, but the conversation implies that most North Americans fall into the "Huerta is dead" camp. |
| 479 | * President Skye Holloway in ''VideoGame/{{Bombshell}}'' is President Target, getting kidnapped at the start of the game, as well as President Minority, being female. [[BadassInDistress She's also a President Action]], having a military background and the EyepatchOfPower to show for it. She gets to prove it, too, once freed. |
| 480 | * The Osean president Vincent Harling in ''VideoGame/AceCombat5TheUnsungWar'' walks the line between President Personable and President Target. He is introduced as one of the game's few {{Reasonable Authority Figure}}s, whose calm and reasonable encouragement helps a rookie pilot land their plane safely, but [[spoiler:in end of the same mission, he is secretly captured by the NebulousCriminalConspiracy's agents and spends half of the game imprisoned until you break him out during the final missions. After that he assumes the BigGood position until the end of the campaign]]. |
| 481 | * The Flash game ''Bush Shoot-Out'' depicts George W. Bush as a President Action who nearly single-handedly shoots his way out of the White House after it gets attacked by terrorists. |
| 482 | * ''Videogame/{{Tropico}}'' positively encourages the player to play President Corrupt...er, El Presidente Magnifico, joyingly trampling at will on most of the rights of the people and basing a large chunk of the score and storyline on embezzlement and the cult of personality, providing the opportunity to rig or cancel elections, and having a whole submenu devoted to bribing, arresting or assassinating political opponents. |
| 483 | * Of course we have to mention ''VideoGame/BadDudes'', [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext in which you must become a bad enough dude to rescue President Target from an army of evil ninjas]]. He’s also President Personable, given he takes you out for burgers once the job’s done. The arcade version [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed had him looking just like Ronald Reagan]], but later versions feature more generic-looking Presidents. |
| 484 | * Hitler in ''Videogame/Wolfenstein3D'' is a villainous President Action. Also overlaps with StupidJetpackHitler, given that when you face him as the final boss he is in a mech suit with quad miniguns. |
| 485 | * ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}'' had a set of events where the [[BugWar Prethoryn Queen]], a gigantic HiveMind leader, could be captured, turned to your side, making them a special character Admiral, and then in certain civilisations, that HiveMind Consciousness Admiral could then be democratically elected to run the entire Government. |
| 486 | * ''VideoGame/ShatteredUnion'': The events of the game start with the election of David Jefferson Adams in 2008, who hovers between President Corrupt, President Buffoon and full-on PresidentEvil. Described as the most unpopular president in U.S. history, he came to power likely through voter fraud, his presidency is marked by a rise in riots, militias, domestic terrorism and martial law. After a heavily-contested sham election in 2012 granted him a second term, he becomes President Target when a low-yield nuclear weapon goes off on Inauguration Day 2013. With him and most of the chain of command dead, it sets the stage for [[DividedStatesOfAmerica the balkanization of America]]. |
| 487 | * ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077'': Rosalind Myers is a President Iron and President Minority in the main game, and proves to be an extremely capable President Action in the ''Phantom Liberty'' expansion. |
| 488 | |
| 489 | |
| 490 | [[/folder]] |
| 491 | |
| 492 | [[folder:Visual Novels]] |
| 493 | * President Robertson in ''VisualNovel/QueensGambit'' is a President Personable, a likable and reasonable man whose policies have the best interests of the country in mind. In Tom Walker's route, he's also a President Target: TheConspiracy contracts [[spoiler:the player character, codename Shield,]] to assassinate him because his reforms stand to interfere with their goals. [[spoiler:When Shield does an end run around actually killing Robertson via creative interpretation of her mission orders, the unamused Triumvirate blows her cover to the news media and sends another less ethically-inclined agent to finish the job.]] |
| 494 | * President Di-Jun Huang of ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigations 2'' [[spoiler:(or rather, his body double)]] is a combination of President Iron through his stubbornness in the investigation, President Target, and President Evil [[spoiler:through everything about him revealed in The Grand Turnabout]]. [[spoiler:The real Di-Jun Huang was more of a President Personable, greatly respected and much more honorable than his body double.]] |
| 495 | [[/folder]] |
| 496 | |
| 497 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 498 | * ''Webcomic/KillroyAndTina'' has Wrestling/JesseVentura as a President Action who doesn't need Secret Service protection, he kicks down walls and takes his cabinet to strip clubs. A one-off joke that later became a plot point, especially when Dubya seemingly declares himself president and challenges him to a fight for the title. |
| 499 | * In one of the worlds visited by the cast of ''Webcomic/StrangeCandy'', Sarah Palin is a bizarre Sailor Moon parody and the US is threatened by [[BearsAreBadNews Robotic Bears]]. As you would expect, the President is basically Creator/StephenColbert as he appears in his TV show, a President Buffoon which is completely incompetent and was, according to Palin, elected because he makes people laugh. |
| 500 | * In ''Webcomic/FakeNewsRumble'', UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush is a classic President Buffoon. |
| 501 | * ''Webcomic/IrregularWebcomic'' has President Allosaurus, who mainly roars and eats people. |
| 502 | * ''Webcomic/SaturdayMorningBreakfastCereal'' has a standard figure for the president of the United States (sometimes in practice representing all humanity). He's an older black guy with glasses, but his personality isn't really set between comics, since they all tell a variety of different stories/jokes, so he can fit various other types aside from President Minority. |
| 503 | * ''[[Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcninja Dr. McNinja]]'' has President Maria Funkhouser, who is a combination of President Action and President Minority. Action, due to sporting an EyepatchOfPower, piloting a giant mech (and mentioning she always wanted one), and taking down three of mind controlled secret service guards. Minority, due to being a woman and AmbiguouslyBrown. |
| 504 | * In ''Webcomic/ArthurKingOfTimeAndSpace'', President Lucius Roman (the Modern Arc incarnation of Emperor Lucius) is President Scheming. [[spoiler: Arthur]] is President Personable Iron Geek. |
| 505 | * In ''Webcomic/{{Rhapsodies}}'', the President of the United States is Elizabeth (Liz) R. Dudley. A combination of President Minority and President Iron. Brian does some consultation for her on occasion though extremely under the table since Dudley considers him [[http://rhapsodies.wpmorse.com/comic/06022011/ "political poison."]] |
| 506 | * ''Webcomic/LeifAndThorn'' has Olive Romarin as a President {{Cloudcuckoolander}}. (Also, President Minority, identified as [[http://leifandthorn.com/comic/thorn-explains-ethnic-groups/ Ceannis' first Getsunan president]] in [[AllThereInTheManual a Sunday infodumping strip]]). Unlike a President Buffoon, she has a record of successfully doing good things, but tends to lose track of which things she's done, has to be reminded when it's an election year, and can get sidetracked by dessert. |
| 507 | -->'''President Romarin:''' I organized the control of the Kudzu problem, meaning the mage named Kudzu who got all murder-y up in the northeast, and the control of the kudzu problem, meaning the invasive plant that tried to overgrow half of the gulf coast. Also! I have a specialty pie named after me! Can any of my opponents say that? |
| 508 | * ''Webcomic/LegostarGalactica'' has a ReasonableAuthorityFigure President Personable in Carl Weyland, who supports the heroes in their efforts to save [[TheFederation the Alliance]] from threats like the Sith and the King in Yellow. His predecessors, [[Franchise/StarWars Darth Sidious]] and [[TheStarscream Darth Creepius]] are both solidly [[PresidentEvil Presidents Evil]], as is his successor, [[ANaziByAnyOtherName La-a]]. |
| 509 | [[/folder]] |
| 510 | |
| 511 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 512 | * At one point in ''WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment'' (specifically, as an ImagineSpot during a review of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' where Sorceress Edea, despite being feared for her powers, somehow gets elected into office) , Dr. Insano is elected president. Three guess as to which one he is. He even lampshades this in his inaugural address: |
| 513 | -->"I even used my real name! You voted for guy named ''Dr. Insano''!!! What the hell is wrong with you people?" |
| 514 | ** His platform includes: building a giant sawblade to cut Canada off at the top and then attach it to Australia, forcing the zombified corpses of political dissidents to fight to the death for his amusement, replacing the entire US population with robots, and turning [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SuicideGirls the Suicide Girls]] into his own personal harem. Also, Fu Manchu was his running mate. He won by a landslide. |
| 515 | * [[Franchise/{{Transformers}} "Optimus Prime]] for President" returns 145,000 hits on Website/{{Google}}. Like the aforementioned Characters/{{Superman|TheCharacter}}, he's disqualified, having been born on Cybertron, not in the US. Would be counted as President Action (with the {{BFG}} to back it up). |
| 516 | ** He ''could'' argue that given [[DeathIsCheap he died, and was later reborn]], with said rebirth usually happening in the US, he counts as being born there. |
| 517 | ** In some continuities, mainly those closest to the original Generation 1, he may qualify due to the Constitution's given exception to the natural-born-citizen rule for persons living in the US at the time the Constitution was signed, given that he was living (albeit unconscious) on US soil for millions of years before the Constitutional Convention. |
| 518 | * ''WebVideo/EpicRapBattlesOfHistory'' portrays UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln as a President Action, interrupting the battle for Obama VS Romney just to bitchslap them both. So is Theodore Roosevelt, who got fed up with the lack of ERB over the summer and threatened Peter and [=LLoyd=] to come out with an official schedule or he'll carve his face out of Mount Rushmore and beat them with his own stony chin. Speaking of Obama VS Romney, he is portrayed as a President Jerkass and President Playboy. Obama responds to his insults about his parents by saying that it might get crazy, if the White House has a first, second, and a third lady! [[PresidentEvil Take a wild guess]] as to UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler's role. |
| 519 | * ''WebVideo/{{Kickassia}}'': |
| 520 | ** RealLife President of Molossia Kevin Baugh is portrayed equal-parts Action, Scheming and Sue. Action in that he is perfectly willing to defend Molossia from the invading reviewers by himself with nothing but a sword, a cannon and his inexplicable TeleportSpam power. Scheming in that when it becomes clear that the invaders are too strong, he puts on the PaperThinDisguise of "Baron Fritz Von Baugh, Minister of Keeping Things Orderly" where he sows distrust among the newly established Kickassian Regime. Sue in that he keeps a cool head throughout the entire ordeal and successfully takes his country back completely in-tact. |
| 521 | ** When the Nostalgia Critic becomes the "democratically elected" leader of the nation after his army of internet reviewer's second invasion of Molossia, he immediately becomes President Lunatic, having wired the whole place with TNT to destroy Molossia (now named Kickassia) and kill everyone in it should someone try to take it from him. He also has bits of Buffoon, since all he does with his power is sit on the couch and watch TV while the other Kickassians try to run the place, and Geek, his uniform being an [[Franchise/StreetFighter N. Bison]] costume. |
| 522 | * ''Literature/KentuckyFriedPolitics'': |
| 523 | ** [[UsefulNotes/LyndonJohnson LBJ]] (D-TX, 1961-65) becomes Eisenhower's successor, and is mainly President Schemer and President Iron for his war on Cuba. |
| 524 | ** The Colonel (R-KY, 1965-73) becomes a mixture of President Personable and President Iron for his stance on the Cold War, particularly for the wars in South-East Asia. |
| 525 | ** Walter Mondale (D-MN, 1973-81) is mostly President Iron due to his interventions in Uganda and Ethiopia to keep the peace, but also due to his disagreements with his VP Mike Gravel. |
| 526 | ** Jeremiah Denton (R-AL, 1981-86) is initially President Iron for his hardline stance against Gaddafi in Libya, [[spoiler: but drops into President Corrupt when he starts covering up sexual pestering scandals within his administration, which eventually cause him to resign the presidency]]. |
| 527 | ** Jack French Kemp (R-NY, 1986-89) is President Personable for his improvement of US foreign relations, but is pretty mild otherwise. He doesn't even manage to win re-nomination for election. One could say that it actually helped his short tenure, as the lack of pressure for campaigning means he can focus on the job. |
| 528 | ** Carol Bellamy (D-NY, 1989-93) is definitely President Minority as the first woman president, but also [[IronLady President Iron]] for her unwavering focus on the job (and possibly a dig at her unmarried status). |
| 529 | ** Lee Iacocca (R-CA, 1993-95) is a mix of Presidents Iron and {{Jerkass}} due to his belligerence, and although he did a lot for the economy and healthcare, he hated the gridlock in Congress and often resorted to executive orders. [[spoiler: Then he becomes President Target when he is assassinated]]. |
| 530 | ** Larry Dinger (R-IA, 1995-2001) is a mix of Presidents Iron and Personable like the Colonel, but more on the Iron side from his overseeing of the Second Korean War and the zero-tolerance war on drugs. |
| 531 | ** Jesse Jackson Sr. (D-SC, 2001-09), as TTL's first black President, is President Minority, as well as President Personable, overseeing many progressive reforms under his tenure. |
| 532 | ** Paul Wellstone (D-MN, 2009-13), is also President Minority as the first Jewish-American president much like his predecessor Jackson, but was a VP Personable when he diplomatically handled the unrest in the Congo when the latter was unable to intervene. |
| 533 | ** Kelsey Grammer (R-CA, 2013-2020) is mainly President Iron for his tougher stances on issues than Wellstone. |
| 534 | ** Harley Brown (R-ID, 2020-21) is mainly President Iron like Grammer, but also President Jerkass for his statements. |
| 535 | ** Charlotte Pritt (D-WV, 2021-present) is a mixture of President Personable and Minority, as the second female President of the United States and oversees many liberal policies passed in Congress. |
| 536 | * [[RichardNixonTheUsedCarSalesman President James Dean]] of ''WebVideo/TheMonumentMythos'' is mostly a President Personable, with a bit of Action and Iron thrown in. He's a man of few words, with speeches that rarely run over two minutes and treat the American people like friends, an inauguration that consisted of him giving the microphone to civil rights activists to speak their case to America and ended with him playing a bongo solo, and a hobby of track racing his old political rival Richard Nixon. During the [[WesternTerrorists Anti-Dean Association]] national air raid siren attack he jumped into Action, destroying a nearby siren with a commandeered truck despite being heavily bruised and permanently deafened. After the attack had left tens of millions of Americans with permanent hearing loss, he moved into Iron, pushing the government to create an organization to mobilize all US tech companies to mass produce cochlear hearing implants, effectively ''eradicating deafness in the US'' in just over a month. [[spoiler: [[PresidentEvil Of course,]] he is also most likely a HumanoidAbomination with CharmPerson powers and a self-generating cult of personality, and the ADA attack may have been a FalseFlagOperation to get rid of people immune to his power.]] Even so, his actions, beliefs and general demeanor have led to him being beloved both InUniverse and out. |
| 537 | --> "This is Jimmy, signing off." |
| 538 | * In the ''WebVideo/WizardsWithGuns'' video "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xf9-6MDc4Tg What Would Happen If You Vote for the "Other Guy"]]", the President declares his first act as president is to fire all of the US's nukes onto everyone before he even gives the Oath of Office. He doesn't even give a reason, just a list of places he wants to drop them on, including Atlantis and the US itself. |
| 539 | [[/folder]] |
| 540 | |
| 541 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 542 | * Possibly the ''ultimate'' President Action -- a cartoon called ''Super President'' featured an ''actual superhero'' as the President of the United States. |
| 543 | * UsefulNotes/RichardNixon('s head in a jar) in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' is an Evil Scheming Corrupt Lunatic Gargantuan Cyborg President. In his own words: |
| 544 | -->'''Nixon:''' Computers may be twice as fast as they were in 1973, but your average voter is still as drunk and stupid as ever. The only thing that's changed is me. I've become bitter and, lets face it, crazy over the years, and once I'm swept into office I'll sell our children's organs to zoos for meat, and I'll break into people's houses at night and wreck up the place! Mwahahahahahaha!! |
| 545 | ** Nixon's Head's predecessor, President [=McNeal=], was a President Jerkass who thought he was a President Target and then became one for real. He was ready to surrender Earth to invading aliens until the aliens sent the message "Bring us [=McNeal=]." Despite mobilizing Earth's army, he is given up to the aliens anyway and killed, even though the "[=McNeal=]" they were referring to was the star of a TV show from 1,000 years prior, and the real reason for their invasion. |
| 546 | ** In the episode "Decision 3012", Senator (and later [[spoiler: for about five seconds]] President) Chris Travers is President Personable to a level bordering on President Sue. He's the OnlySaneMan and an AllLovingHero, who manages to get pretty much everyone except the villains on his side and would have been able to fix all the world's problems with ease. Sadly, [[spoiler: he only gets to be President for about five seconds before being destroyed by a time paradox; he's actually a time traveller who came back to stop Nixon from destroying the world, since he accomplished that by being elected he no longer had a reason to go back.)]] |
| 547 | * In ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueCrisisOnTwoEarths'', the League visits a mirror universe where their heroes are bad guys, and their villains, good guys. The president in this world is Slade Wilson, also known in the main universe as frikkin' ''Deathstroke the Terminator''. |
| 548 | ** In the ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' episode "A Better World", the AlternateUniverse where Luthor became PresidentEvil briefly showed his replacement: an incredibly meager President Focus Group that bends to the Justice Lords' every order (his only objection to keeping elections from being held was that they were a tradition ''like football and Macey's parade''), who Justice Lord Superman likely personally appointed. |
| 549 | * In ''WesternAnimation/TotallySpies'', one episode has world leaders of multiple nations including Malaysia, Japan and the United States all become President Targets and replaced with EvilTwin cyborg copies who turn national landmarks into crazy and dangerous theme park attractions. |
| 550 | * President Man from ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' is [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} a mix of President Buffoon and President Lunatic]]. Considering the [[CrapsackWorld setting]] of the series, this is probably the best they could hope for. |
| 551 | * ''WesternAnimation/MenInBlackTheSeries'' -- The MIB are forced to break cover and work with the government during the GrandFinale. The US President is female (President Minority) and a ReasonableAuthorityFigure (President Personable). |
| 552 | * UsefulNotes/BarackObama made a cameo (voiced by Creator/KevinMichaelRichardson) in one episode of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold''. |
| 553 | * In a couple of ''WesternAnimation/EarthwormJim'' cold opens, the president is just some random guy whoever's meeting him doesn't recognize. The "president" then explains that he's just a ''generic president'' animated shows use so they don't show their age as time goes by. |
| 554 | * The president, for some strange reason in the 1988 ''WesternAnimation/MightyMouse'' episode "Mundane Voyage," is Abraham Lincoln. |
| 555 | * We never see a presidential figure in the ''WesternAnimation/DangerMouse'' episode "The Statue Of Liberty Caper" because he is surrounded by Secret Service agents at his Oval Office desk. We can only hear his mumbling, which his Service charges translate in government-ese. |
| 556 | -->'''D.M.:''' Thank you, Mr. President...uh, nice to have almost met you! |
| 557 | * Richard Nixon, as he appears in the animated version of ''WesternAnimation/BlackDynamite'', is just as big of a President Evil as he is in ''Futurama'', if not even worse-- he spends almost all of his time plotting out insidious ways to screw over the black community, as well as Black Dynamite himself, whom he considers his sworn nemesis. He concocts a scheme to frame the black community for the death of Music/ElvisPresley, thus giving him an excuse to eradicate them with [[NukeEm the N-Bomb]], which nearly succeeded if not for the King's tendency to slip into random comas. Actually Nixon makes it clear he doesn't hate the black community in particular, he mostly just hates Black Dynamite himself. |
| 558 | -->'''Kissinger''': Is it really that important to have the whole black community on drugs? |
| 559 | -->'''Nixon:''' Of course not. I could give a damn about the black community and its mama. This is about Black Dynamite! He thinks he's so black and dynamite. |
| 560 | * The President of Outer Space in ''WesternAnimation/DuckDodgers'' is President Buffoon. When Dodgers claims he was late for a meeting because he was attending his grandmother's funeral, and I.Q. High points out Dodgers's grandparents have been dead for centuries and only an idiot would believe that, the President offers his condolences. |
| 561 | * ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' has Sir Lord Quentin Trembly III, Esq., the 8-and-a-half President of the United States, as a solid President Lunatic; elected by a landslide (as in all the other candidates were crushed by a literal landslide), he proceeded to outlaw pants, declare war on pancakes, and appointed babies to the Supreme Court. He was deposed and replaced by UsefulNotes/WilliamHenryHarrison, and the government did their best to make Trembly an UnPerson. [[spoiler: He later went on to found Gravity Falls, only to be deposed again and replaced by Nathaniel Northwest before encasing himself in peanut brittle in an attempt to live forever. He succeeded and was freed by the Mystery Twins.]] |
| 562 | * ''WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien'' had an episode where Ben's FutureBadass Ben 10,000 mentionned having been president of Earth for a short while during an alien invasion, probably as President Action. He ended up stepping down, and his cousin Gwen took over. |
| 563 | ** ''WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse'' has an episode showing a future where [[LovableRogue Argit]], of all people, had become the president. Knowing the character, he was almost certainly President Corrupt. |
| 564 | * The President from ''WesternAnimation/MrMagoo2019'' is clearly supposed to be based on Barack Obama, despite the show coming out three years after his final term. |
| 565 | * In ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'', the President serves as a recurring figure with an ongoing grudge against Rick. While fairly buffoonish, he's also capable of personally kicking ass though his obsessions with trying to outdo Rick does tend to lead to him devoting resources into satiating his pride. |
| 566 | [[/folder]] |
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