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Our Presidents Are Different
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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 Twenty Minutes Into The Future. 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.
President Action
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! —President Michael Wilson, Metal Wolf Chaos
A common character in the 1990s, this President kicks ass consistently and thoroughly. Oftentimes, he's far more a badass than his entire Secret Service detail combined; this particular detail is often handwaved by declaring that, before elected to office, he was a decorated military hero — there are several real-world cases (see below), but in fiction few leaders outside of the United States have been placed into this role; it is difficult (although not impossible, given the few examples below) to imagine a Prime Minister of the United Kingdom kicking ass in such a fashion, as much as we'd like to see it.
President Target
The President has been kidnapped by ninjas. Are you a bad enough dude to rescue the President? — Bad Dudes vs. Dragon Ninja
The direct opposite of President Action; this President is just the hapless target of whatever assassination attempt, kidnap attempt, kidnapped-by-ninjas attempt, blackmail attempt, or otherwise evil conspiracy the bad guys have planned. Often has an evil deputy or members of his own government gunning for him / her. Can have elements of the other Presidents attached to him, but President Targets are often 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 heroes to answer this question: Are you a bad enough dude to rescue the president? Sometimes, it's The President's Daughter who gets kidnapped.
President Personable
If you look for it, I've got a sneaking suspicion love actually is all around. —Prime Minister David, Love Actually
The " Nice Guy" President. This President isn't nearly the badass that President Action is, and is often a bit older, but is often a decent, honourable, and kindly man who treats his position, aides, and country with great respect and dignity. Often takes the role of the Reasonable Authority Figure. A President Personable needs to watch out, however, since the Evil Chancellor is usually waiting in the wings (often as a scheming Vice President or deputy), the Government Conspiracy is often gunning straight at them, and they can easily end up as President Target.
President Corrupt
If the president of the United States does it, it can't be a crime. —President Richard Nixon
The diametric opposite of President Personable — your (stereo)typical scheming, shifty, and corrupt politician who is only in it 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 them right at the centre of the Government Conspiracy, and is the quintessential Villain With Good Publicity — 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 Have You Told Anyone Else moment. President Corrupt is particularly susceptible to an Engineered Public Confession.
President Scheming
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. —Vice President Hoynes, The West Wing
A milder version of President Corrupt, President Scheming might not actually be involved in anything illegal, but (s)he's certainly a devious and shifty political operative who tends to play dirty tricks and has very loose ethics at best. They're usually in it not so much for the cash benefits as the political power; make this guy the second banana and they'll almost immediately be trying very hard to make sure that they get themselves into the top job as soon as possible, by whatever underhanded methods necessary.
President Jerkass
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 become more of a President Personable.
President Buffoon
The Ditz 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 often gets the job after a President dies.) 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 The Man Behind The Man. See also Stupid Boss, Pointy Haired Boss.
President Lunatic
The missiles are flying! Hallelujah, Hallelujah! —President Greg Stillson, The Dead Zone
This President may be President Buffoon turned up to eleven, may be a bit too eagerly into religion, or may 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 they are completely and genuinely insane. And they now have far-reaching governmental authority and a runaway military budget (often involving nuclear missiles) to back up their particular brand of delusion. This kind of President often just needs a few little nudges to send them right into becoming a full-blown President Evil.
President Iron
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. — Margaret Thatcher
President Iron doesn't compromise. Ever. Certain and correct in their every move (even if it's the wrong one — good luck getting them to admit it), they charge ahead relentlessly with every action, every policy initiative, and especially every war they get involved in. Women leaders tend to get placed in this trope, perhaps as a consequence of the lasting influence of Margaret Thatcher, the first female British Prime Minister, who was a living ideal of this trope — she was called "The Iron Lady", first by the Soviet press in 1976 after an anti-Soviet speech .
President Focus Group
Sir Humphrey: So we trust you to make sure that your Minister does nothing incisive or divisive over the next few weeks. Bernard: Yes, well, I think that is probably what he was planning to do anyway. — Yes, Prime Minister
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 pulling the strings) or any number of focus groups; give this President an either/or choice and he'll be dithering all day, and the possibility of making a choice that might make them unpopular (or, even more importantly, lose them votes) will send him into a panic. So he'll most likely Take A Third Option by making a compromise. This way, instead of pissing off one side of the debate, he's sure to piss off everybody.
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! —President Richard Nixon, Futurama
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 / her own pocket, and President Lunatic may be several screws lacking but otherwise harmless — a President Evil genuinely wants to rule or destroy the entire world, and has their own country as a power base for which to do so. For examples, see the linked trope.
President Minority
I am proud to be America's first straight female President. —President Lisa Simpson, The Simpsons
When the President is female and/or from a minority background. How much their ethnicity is mentioned depends on the plot and whether anyone feels like invoking Othello. Any resemblance to Barack Obama... probably actually is coincidental, as this trope has been around for a while. Resemblance to Margaret Thatcher is surprisingly rare.
President Playboy
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. —President Bill Clinton, The Simpsons
When the President is bedding attractive women — or men — that they're not married to. Although the trope may overlap with President Corrupt (who, amongst their other sins, are usually getting some on the side as well), a President Playboy might be an otherwise perfectly decent, honourable and satisfactory leader who just has trouble keeping it in his / her pants.
And finally, on three less, and one more, specific forms of President:
President Strawman
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 constructing an easily torn-down version of their opponents or an overly wonderful version of their own and putting them 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 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 they do 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 they become 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.
A sort of extreme version (on the friendly side) of President Strawman, President Mary Sue is perfection itself: the sort of President that, say, 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.
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.
A specific, thinly veiled parody of a real President (usually, the one in office when the story was made). 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.
It goes without saying that 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 Alternate Universe or Twenty Minutes Into The Future.
Examples
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Anime
- President David Hoope from Death Note is mainly a President Personable: he even commits suicide rather than risk being mind-controlled into starting another world war.
- Unfortunately, his successor George Sairas, meanwhile, is closer to a President Buffoon, but certainly not a funny one — 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.
- The unnamed President of Read Or Die is a Buffonish President Target, who's only role in the plot is to get attacked, wet himself, unsuccessfully order an attack on the enemy, and wet himself again.
- Before he learns about Joker's real plan he's President Gullible, afterwards he's a President Iron Wannabe who just can't keep up, as his only solution is basically "get bigger guns" which are not helpful against Martian tripods and pterodactyls, for whatever reason.
- In the OVA, his specific orders were to nuke the I-Jin superfortress (before wetting his pants)
- President Fuhrer King Bradley (King being his name) of Full Metal Alchemist 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 front of being President Personable, which is to a degree part of his real personality (along with the A Nazi By Any Other Name part)
- Averted in Golgo 13: whenever the US government hires the titular 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 usual anime presentation.
- George Reitmann, President of "A" Country from Mai-Chan's Daily... WAITOMGNO—
Comic Books
- Possibly the ultimate President Action — a cartoon called Super President featured an actual superhero as the President of the United States.
- An 'Armageddon 2001' issue of DC Comics had an alternate-future Superman as President of the United States.
- The ultimate President Action has to be Ronald Reagan in the comic series Reagan's Raiders. Best described by Don Markstein:
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 Captain America'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).
- This undoubtedly epitomizes President Action.
- Note: that is actually the Martian Manhunter in disguise.
- Tales from the Bully Pulpit has a couple of panels of Abraham Lincoln telling Hitler: "Come on, boy. I'm gonna emancipate your teeth."
- Prez Rickard in DC Comics 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.
- While President Lex Luthor was... well, it's Lex flippin' Luthor. What do you think he was?
- In Red Son, Lex Luthor was the greatest American President, he brought 14 states back into the union and defeated communism, at the same time bringing the nation out of economic depression and defeating Superman with a single handwritten note. He laments that if Superman was raised in America they could have been friends...
- In some versions of the Marvel Universe, Steve Rogers (a.k.a Captain America) has served as President — often as something of a President Action himself. Well, what else did you expect?
- In 616-Marvel he was approached for a run at the Presidency in 1983 and refused after a lot of thought. In one of the What-Ifs he changed his mind, shook off the people who were hoping to use him for their agendas, picked a black politician that he trusted as his VP, and won. Definitely President Action/Personable; during the acceptance speech when he unmasked someone tried to assassinate him, and when his Secret Service guards tried to find the shooter Cap was ahead of them, catching the man easily. One of the guards said something to the effect of "We are supposed to protect him?", another reflected that he felt safer with Cap there. Of course, Cap's archenemy the Red Skull later decided to grab a nation of his own to use a superweapon from, and naturally only Cap could stop it. Both he and the Skull died.
- Mad Jim Jaspers of the Marvel Universe is one of the few non-American President Action-characters (in this, as an Evil Prime Minister Action of the United Kingdom). His Reality Warping powers make him one of the most powerful characters in the entire multiverse, although his Lunacy (as suggested by his name) reduce his effectiveness somewhat.
- In Transmetropolitan, "The Beast" (whose name has long since been eclipsed by his nickname) 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 President Evil and then some (and who, sans Slasher Smile, looks surprisingly like Tony Blair). 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.
- Black Panther, King of Wakanda in the Marvel Universe, was already King Action by benefit of being a superhero in his original appearances. Over the last several years, he's ascended to King Canon Sue, so thoroughly Bad Ass that by using simple wrestling moves he can have Heralds of Galactus wincing in pain, and defeating Mephisto (basically The Devil) by willingly giving him his soul. (Not to mention randomly getting hitched to one of comics' premier Strong Confident Females but still getting to keep his royal harem.)
- Not to mention his Omniscient Morality License. The guy withholds technology that could cure diseases like cancer from the rest of the world because people allegedly don't respect Wakanda enough.
- 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 Magnificent Bastard. He freely uses Mind Control, 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's arguably the real "hero" of the story, not Super Dick Zenith; He drags Zenith into the Super Hero business and makes him stay despite his whining, he saves the world from Master Man's inner monster, he tricks the Lloigor into getting trapped in a Lotus Eater Machine for all eternity, etc.
- In Marvel's The New Universe, the Villain With Good Publicity Philip Voigt becomes POTUS with the help of his mind-control powers. He probably fits the Action, Scheming and Evil subtypes, at least.
- 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 Uncanny X-Men alone, we see Jimmy Carter (during the Dark Phoenix Saga), Ronald Reagan (in follow-on storys to Days Of Future Past), and George H W Bush (in X-Men #1). This troper remembers a discussion board thread in which Chris Claremont, talking about how his new X-Men Forever simultanelously follows on from X-Men #1 yet is set in 2009, essentially said "Assume that the gent sitting in the White House was always BarackObama, or perhaps GeorgeWBush, depending on when exactly the story takes place." One assumes that this also includes the fact that there was still a Soviet Union in X-Men #1...
Film
- A President Personable with an Evil Vice President appeared in The Day After Tomorrow. Curiously, the Evil Vice President later reformed.
- Also, the Vice President is a thinly veiled stand in for Dick Cheney, making this President Strawman and President Unmodified as well.
- President Andrew Shephard in The American President is a President Personable.
- My Fellow Americans 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.
- National Treasure: Book of Secrets featured a President Personable.
- Merkin Muffley in Dr Strangelove; or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb is either an ineffectual President Personable or a President Buffoon or a President Unscathed (being a thinly disguised satire of Real Life Presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson). Or perhaps all three.
- The President of the United States in Escape From New York is both a President Target and, given that he's something of a slimy fascist dictator, a President Corrupt as well.
- His successor in Escape From L.A. is a President Lunatic and verges into President Evil towards the end of the movie. Given that the character is a very thinly veiled version of teleevangelist Jerry Falwell, he's a President Strawman as well.
- Billy Bob Thornton's unnamed President in Love Actually 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 maid whom the British Prime Minister has to have a crush on.
- On the other hand, David, the film's Prime Minister played by Hugh Grant is a Prime Minister Personable. He later becomes a Prime Minister Iron to an extent, publically standing up the President's arrogance — not because of ideological disagreements (although those certainly didn't help), but because the President made the moves on his girl.
- Absolute Power features a President Corrupt who murders his mistress and frames a passing crook for the crime.
- James Marshall in Air Force One is a President Action.
- President Thomas Whitmore of Independence Day 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.
General Grey: (as the President straps into a flight suit) Mr. President, I'd sure like to know what you're doing.
President Whitmore: I'm a combat pilot, Will. I belong in the air.
- President Skroob in Spaceballs is a Corrupt President Buffoon. "I can't make decisions! I'm a President!"
- President Bill Mitchell from Dave is President Corrupt. Dave starts off as President Buffoon before working his way up to President Personable.
- The French President in District 13 is a President Corrupt who thinks nothing of atom-bombing an entire slum just to get rid of the criminals living there.
- Harold And Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay portrays George W. Bush as both President Personable and President Buffoon.
- The unnamed and (almost) unseen President in In The Line of Fire is a President Target. The story is about the Secret Service Agents assigned to protect him and the assassin out to kill him.
- In Idiocracy, President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho, porn superstar and five-time ultimate smackdown wrestling champion is a President Ditz with a side dish of President Buffoon, due to the fact that he lives in a future where the idiots have outbred intelligent people, thus leaving only the morons to march (and destroy) the planet.
- President Joseph Staton of American Dreamz 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.
- President Judson Hammond from the infamous Gabriel Over The White House 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 in the iron action president and thanks that Your Mileage May Vary, also evil.
- The unnamed president in the 2007 Transformers movie was only briefly seen 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.)
- President Obama becomes President Invisible in Revenge of The Fallen where he never appears but is mentioned as being taken to a bunker for protection.
- The President in Canadian Bacon 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 warmongering general convince him to declare war on Canada.
- The President in the 2008 Get Smart movie is a Personable President Buffoon. Guessed who he's based on. No, go on, guess. In the movie, he's also a President Target.
- 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.
- Let's not forget "Tug" Benson, the President Action of Hot Shots! Part Deux who does things even James Marshall couldn't do.
- The Star Trek films have featured a total of two Federation Presidents:
- Star Trek IV had a President Personable who punished Kirk for violating regulations by just reducing him in rank to Captain, seeing as he and his crew just saved the world.
- Star Trek VI had a President Target whose (planned) assasination 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 also one.
Literature
- President Jack Ryan in Tom Clancy's novels 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.
- He's also a President Iron and President Jesus, which isn't surprising since he is a Marty Stu. To be fair, he's a Wish Fufillment character, and Clancy did subvert many of his ideals by the next book (not everything he attempted came to pass), and Ryan himself lampshades in rather Genre Savvy fashion 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, though this is probably Ryan being Clancy's Meta Guy realizing how Marty Stu Ryan looks like and reminding the audience his Author Avatar isn't perfect either.
- Ed Kealty, in Debt of Honor, is Vice President Playboy and Vice President Strawman. In The Teeth of the Tiger, he's President Invisible, losing the "Vice" and "Playboy" parts, but not "Strawman".
- Tom Kratman's A State of Disobedience features Wilhelmina Rottemeyer, a thinly veiled pastiche that goes past President Evil / Strawman to territory. Read the Teaser for yourself, but don't say you weren't warned.
- To be fair, the author himself has admitted it's not that good a work, even for being his first one.
- Greg Stillson in The Dead Zone, in the future that the main character witnesses, becomes a religious fundamentalist President Lunatic who ends up starting World War III ("The missiles are flying! Hallelujah, Hallelujah!")
- Lancelot R. Gilligrass is the President Buffoon in Roald Dahl's novel Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator. He has a Vice-President Iron in the person of Miss Tibbs, his childhood nanny.
- The Dan Brown novel Deception Point revolves around a stunning scientific discovery and it's implications in the upcoming presidential election. However, the two candidates are probably some of the most over-the-top examples in this page:
- 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 it's 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 in national television. One even wonders how the hell someone like that managed to succeed in politics in the first place.
- 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 was 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".
- In the Harry Potter 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.
- 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.
- Voldemort's puppet Pius Thicknesse was a Definite Minister Focus Group, since, being Imperiused, he wasn't even in control of himself.
- Kingsley Shackelbot, former Auror and member of the Order of the Phoenix, became the first true Minister Action after the war, and is also a Minister Minority.
- The Muggle Prime Minister seen at the beginning of the sixth book was Minister Focus Group. His Inner Monologue was pretty much devoted to "what will the voters think?" Believed by some to be a parody of Tony Blair, whom JK Rowling is said to not be fond of. His mannerisms are also reminiscent of Jim Hacker, enough to be considered a Shout Out if deliberate.
- In the Posleen War Series, 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 CMoA, he engages (along with his Secret Service and Marine guardians) 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).
Live Action TV
- President Jed Bartlet in The West Wing is a President Personable. He's also been accused from some quarters (particularly right-wing) of being a liberal President Strawman, but he presents arguably enough well-rounded Character Development, deep-seated character flaws and contrary opinions from to avoid falling into this trap.
- 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.
- 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.
- He is also President Target, being wounded in one assassination attempt, and having his youngest daughter kidnapped on another occasion.
- 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 Barack Obama. The writers actually talked to David Axelrod for characterization help.
- 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.
- 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.
- President Arthur Winters in the Doctor Who story The Sound of Drums is something of a President Buffoon — although technically, he's only a President-Elect.
- Mr. Saxon in the same episode is a Lunatic Prime Minister Evil hiding behind a façade of Buffoonery. He's also the Master, and thus an Alien Prime Minster Evil too.
- Harriet Jones on Doctor Who 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 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.
- Unfortunately, the attack was more than justified in that the aliens had shown that they were more than prepared to break their promises. Even worse, Britain's Golden Age under Harriet Jones- which the Ninth Doctor foretold- has now been officially derailed: the Tenth Doctor decided he didn't like Harriet anymore and had her removed from office. Two seasons later, Harriet sacrificed her life in an attempt to summon the Doctor. His reaction? Blank shock, and then down to angsting about his companions again. Bastard.
- President Paul Hollister, played by Beau Bridges in 10.5, is a President Personable.
- Jim Hacker of Yes, Prime Minister tends to be a Personable Prime Minister Focus Group, easily swayed by his Cabinet Secretary Humphrey Appleby, although he can develop a very strong Iron streak when he feels his moral integrity is threatened.
- President David Palmer of 24 was President Personable who had a habit of being a President Target every now and then. And he succumbs to it in season five. President Charles Logan was President Evil with a bit of Obfuscating Stupidity at first.
- 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.
- Francis Urquhart in the House Of Cards trilogy of books and TV serials is a Prime Minister Corrupt.
- Stargate SG 1's President Hayes is a President Personable, replacing an Invisible President in season 7. Of course his first VP is the resident Corrupt Politician and corporate stooge, (ex-Senator) Kinsey.
- Hayes is also a President Iron. This shows most when he confronts a holographic projection of Anubis.
- Randall Winston from Spin City is definately a Buffoon Mayor. The only reason New York City runs is because of Hypercompetent Assistant Mike Flaherty.
- Reginald J. Priest in Season Four of Lexx is a viciously presented Corrupt President Buffoon.
- President Gaius Baltar in Battlestar Galactica is... um, probably most of the less positive forms on this list at one time or another. And President Personable, which makes it worse.
- President Laura Roslin of the same series is mostly President Iron. Except for brief forays into religious zeal that arguably make her President Lunatic.
- Acting President Lee Adama of the same series recently morphed into President Action. In some sense, the trope was avoided, however, considering that Adama was a crack Viper pilot earlier in the series, making his actions in Season 4.5 more credible than usual.
- 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 Corrupt, arguably flirting with Evil.
- Babylon 5 had almost all of these variants during its run, including:
- President Iron: arguably the female Earth Alliance president from In the Beginning, as well as Sheridan
- President Target: Luis Santiago, and again Sheridan at times
- President Evil: William Morgan Clark
- President Jesus: First almost played straight, but then averted with Sheridan during the fifth season
- And that's not counting heads of state other than actual Presidents...
- The Taming Of The Shrew segment of Shakespeare Retold had Katherine as a Margaret Thatcher-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.
- In the spinoff of Thats So Raven, Cory In The House, the titular 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.
Theatre
- John P. Wintergreen, main character of the musical Of Thee I Sing, becomes something of a President Buffoon once he's elected (with the backing of corrupt political operatives and a campaign based on The Power Of Love). 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).
Video Games
- In what is
possibly definitely the most utterly insane version on this list, President Michael Wilson in the video game Metal Wolf Chaos is a completely over-the-top President Action who spends the game in a heavily-armed Humongous Mecha yelling So Bad Its Good 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 Evil Vice President (who, of course, is also in a Humongous Mecha). Seriously, — mere words cannot do this justice.
- Sam & Max: Abe Lincoln Must Die! had a President Buffoon who turned out to be literally a puppet. He's replaced by Max, of all people, who is the definition of President Lunatic.
- George Sears (aka. Solidus Snake) from Metal Gear Solid 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...
- President Johnson from the same series is more of a President Target then anything, though he does have overtones of President Corrupt.
- President Jacobi from Freelancer turns out to be President Action Girl.
- President John Henry Eden from Fallout 3 is an uncommon combination of both President Evil and 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 nearly everyone in the Capital Wasteland dying. He also has something of a treacherous Second-in-Command in the form of Colonel Augustus Autumn who, while not ultimately as sinister, is also much less affable.
- Estharian president Laguna Loire in Final Fantasy VIII. In addition to being President Action (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. Oh, and did I mention he's also the main character's father?
- In Final Fantasy VII, 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 atoner President Magnificent Bastard.
- 'Mr. President' from Sonic Adventure 2 is a President Target.
- In Destroy All Humans 2, Crypto has risen to the presidency of the United States, allowing the player to control a combination President Evil and President Action. Mwahahahaha!!!
- President "Screw 'Em All!" Ackerman of Red Alert 3 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, though he turns out to be right not to trust them.. Then again, his militant attitude is due to the fact that he's a Japanese Cyborg Spy sent to make the Allies more aggressive towards the Soviets.
- This game also includes the rare non-American President Action, as the Japanese Emperor personally takes to the field in his Humongous Mecha.
- President Orwen from Front Mission: Gun Hazard 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 Ark Hellbrand's Wanzer, forcing Ark to retreat.
- The unnamed President in Ghost Squad is President Target, and high-fives you the second time you rescue him.
- The unnamed President in Perfect Dark is both President Minority (being black) and President Target, with the intense mission where you sneek 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.
- Two examples in Guilty Gear: President Gabriel of the floating military nation of Zepp, who took power in the successful staging of a coup-d-état; and the President of a nation implied to be a heavily-weakened United States of America, who is a young girl and a puppet of The Assassin's Guild.
Tabletop Games
- Dunkhelzahn of Shadowrun fame is this trope crossed with Our Dragons Are Different. 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.
Western Animation
- Curiously, The Simpsons Movie casts Arnold Schwarzenegger 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).
- It was also odd because while it fits the parody, it doesn't exactly fit the governor we all know and love. A Take That, perhaps? Matt Groening is supposedly a friend of Phil Angelides (who ran against Arnie in 2006).
- Richard Nixon('s head in a jar) in Futurama is an Evil Scheming Corrupt Lunatic Gargantuan Cyborg President. In his own words:
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!!
- In Monsters Vs Aliens, you have Stephen Colbert playing "himself" as a president buffoon, who attempts to make contact with a robotic probe by playing a kickass keyboard solo as well as putting Big Red Buttons for launching nukes and making coffee next to each other.
Webcomics
- Killroy And Tina has Jesse Ventura 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.
Real Life
- Real life example, from Canada, of all places: Former prime minister Jean Chretien, in office from 1993 to 2003, was popularly seen as the "little guy from Shawinigan", but some observers called him the "little street fighter from Shawinigan". He could and did get physical on occasion, personally beating up at least one protester who got too close, and being ready to use an Inuit sculpture to beat up a radical separatist who broke into the prime minister's official residence in the middle of the night.
- Even cooler? That was actually his wife's CMOA.
- And let's not forget the Shawinigan Handshake where the Rt. Honourable Prime Minister Chretien put an anti-poverty protester who was harassing him in a choke-hold, shoved the protester down to the ground, and managed to break one of the protester's teeth. Chretien even managed to achieve this Crowning Moment of Awesome while wearing some Cool Shades.
- The best part of politics is that there are people who both love and hate this guy (this Canadian Troper was always just a bit indifferent). If you are from out west, he is Prime Minister Evil, if you vote Conservative, then he was Prime Minister Corrupt. If you vote Liberal, however, he was Prime Minister Sue. This Troper found the above posts proof that he was undoubtably Prime Minister Action with a little bit of Prime Minister Iron mixed in. People who have talked to him would probably see him as Prime Minister Personable (again, opponents would probably peg him as Affably Evil). This Troper thinks we should just name him the Canadian posterboy for this Trope and be done with it. If the above posters are any indication, he could easily give President Michael Wilson of Metal Wolf Chaos a run for his money.
" I'm going in there to stop those protesters. And the reason is: because I'm the Prime Minister of the great United Nation of Canada!"
- Irving Layton said it best, I think: "In Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Canada has at last produced a political leader worthy of assassination." Obfuscatingly Buffoonish Prime Minister Jerkass Irons.
- During a press conference he was attending that was stormed with protesters hurling objects at the podium, he refused to have security make him leave.
- Silvio Berlusconi, Italy's Prime Minister, fits several tropes at once.
- President Corrupt: a perfect one. He used his power as Prime Minister to depenalise False in Balance, a crime he was guilty of. He owns or controls politically 5 out of 6 main Italian TV Channels and has used them to make himself a Villain With Good Publicity. He constantly tries to create new laws of which he would be the main beneficiary.
- President Playboy. He has had several extramarital affairs.
- President Jerkass. Saying something inflammatory, then replying he was "misquoted", or outright denying he said it, has become a trademark. He has often shown himself as very sexist and self-centered (he proclaimed himself the best prime minister in 150 years of Italian history). Let's not count his bad jokes too.
- President Lunatic. Are you someone who doesn't say good of Berlusconi, even in foreign press? Good, you are part of some (usually communist) conspiracy specifically set against him.
- To his credit, he's also a President Personable, which is one reason of his success in Italy.
- Former Russian President and current Russian Prime Minister Vladmir Putin is a former KGB Colonel and a advanced Judo expert. So Yeah. The Russian media also likes to portray him like this. He's also widely accused of being a President Corrupt, with the fact that upon giving up the Russian Presidency he all-but arranged for himself to get the job of Prime Minister prompting these accusations (as well as being a real life Evil Chancellor and The Man Behind The Man).
- Okay, he wasn't a national leader but former New South Wales premier John Fahey once tackled a protester who approached Prince Charles and fired two shots from what turned out to be a starter's pistol. The fact the weapon wasn't lethal didn't alter the fact that Fahey didn't hesitate to
"save" one of the creepiest people alive act on what could have been a more serious threat.
- In that case, let's not forget British Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, who similarly handled himself quite impressively after a protester got a bit too close and physical with him. He has some experience in boxing and he actually won some boxing tournaments.
- Several US Presidents have been President Action before they entered office, usually owing to military service. Few have been known to have personal combat abilities and / or issue righteous smackdowns to bad guys whilst in office, but one or two have:
- Theodore Roosevelt probably owns this list, however; his physical prowess and enthusiasm for outdoor life is legendary, but during his Presidential campaign in 1912 he was actually shot by an assassin before giving a speech. Most people would cancel the speech and go straight to hospital. Roosevelt talked for ninety minutes (after first apologising to his audience for possibly not being at his best, having been shot and all). And amazingly, pulled through. The man was practically indestructible.
- Andrew Jackson is one of the rare Presidents who issued a smackdown whilst in office; an attempted assassin shot at him with two different pistols, both of which misfired as he attempted to shoot Jackson. He was unfortunate enough to meet the business end of Jackson's cane in response. Reportedly, the crowd who came to Jackson's aid ended up having to pull Jackson off the assassin.
- It was later determined that the guns were in perfect working order, leaving it a mystery as to why they didn't go off. Popular theory holds that the bullets were afraid of Jackson.
- In an interesting twist, George W. Bush waded into the fray to rescue a member of the Secret Service.
- President John F. Kennedy was a naval lieutenant in World War II before going into politics. He was also a war hero, as he saved the crew of his ship, the PT-109, after it was sunk by a Japanese destroyer. He swam three miles to the shore, leading his men and towing an injured crewmember with the strap of his lifejacket between his teeth. Yes, those◊ teeth.
- Let us not forget the Iron Lady herself.
- Warren G. Harding was a President Buffoon, chosen by party bosses to run for office mostly just because he "looked presidential." He is often cited as the worst president in American history.
- The man up and admitted it, even. "I am not fit for this office and should never have been here."
- Kim Jong Il is quite likely President Lunatic.
- So such so that Kim Il Sung is the actual "eternal President". Sung is also President Dead.
- Prime Minister of Israel, Golda Meir, aside from being a unique "President Little Old Lady", preceded Thatcher by almost a decade with the President Iron attitude. She waved off considerable minority outrage in the early 1970s (famously saying that the dissidents were "not nice"), and ended up ignoring military build-up by Egypt and Syria (despite ample warnings from King Hussein of Jordan himself), which led to being completely surprised in the 1973 Yom-Kippur war.
- What's not mentioned is that she won the war by threatening to nuke the Earth. Thus proving that little old ladies are terrifying.
- While Richard Nixon's generally portrayed as the achetypal President Corrupt, Grant's and Harding's administrations come closer to this.
- Several of the nations with Westmister-style parliments (Germany, Ireland, Italy, etc.) give us President Figurehead; appointed by a democratic process (or representatives thereof), but without any power except to sign laws (and they rarely do not).
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