YMMV / Hail to the Chief

• Crosses the Line Twice: Or more. The discussion of nuking the world, with racist descriptions of China, India, and Africa (yes, not just an African country, just "Africa"), for example.
• Fair for Its Day: Randy was one of very few gay characters on American TV at the time, and while there's a lot of Camp Gay in his depiction, he's also shown as a well-rounded character (as much as anyone is) and a Badass in a Nice Suit Secret Service agent.
• Unintentional Period Piece: This is part of why the show didn't last; while Soap had broken many barriers in The '70s, this show made by the middle of The '80s was trying things that even at the time was clear were going to date it.
  • Having a female President (around the same time as the Geraldine Ferraro vice-presidential nomination, no less) and a gay character weren't as controversial as the show tried to paint them. Hell, having a recurring gay character was one of the barriers Soap was credited for breaking.
  • The Cold War is going on just as it did under Ronald Reagan, with a key underlying plot being efforts by the Soviet premier to weaken President Mansfield.
  • The joke in the first episode about New York City being 'Hymietown' is a reference to Jesse Jackson using the term a few months prior to the show's initial airing.
• Values Dissonance: Pretty much every character who isn't an obvious good guy drops some sort of casual racism joke at some point.

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