History Main / PenPushingPresident

* In the ''Creator/RobertSilverberg'' series ''Literature/Majipoor'' the Coronal lives in a splendid palace at the top of a mountain and enjoys all the perks of a King- until he becomes the Pontifex and has to live in a vast underground labyrinth overseeing the planet's bureaucracy.[[/folder]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Film]]

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

* Emperor Gregor in Literature/VorkosiganSaga.

* In ''{{Series/NewsRadio}}'', when Lisa is given Dave's job of News Director she has this experience.

[[folder:Theater]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/RenAndStimpy'', when Ren becomes president of Stimpy's fan club, this is all he does (specifically, answering Stimpy's fan mail), and it leads him to have a mental breakdown.

* In one episode of the eighties ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1987}} Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' cartoon, the turtles find themselves stuck in an alternate world where they never existed and Shredder rules all. After spending the whole episode dodging his henchman and trying to figure out a way back home they finally meet him--and he begs them to take him back with them. Turns out that running the '''entire world''' is a ''massive'' pain in the ass.

** Also delightfully and colorfully known as a R.E.M.F.--Rear Echelon Mother Fucker.

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

** Averted by Archchancellor Ridcully, who just lets the paperwork pile up on his desk, periodically bins it, and assumes that if anything is ''really'' important someone will start shouting soon enough. Lampshaded in ''Discworld/GoingPostal'': "Haven't I always said I wanted a paperless office, Stibbons?" "Yes sir, that's why you throw it out of the window."

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

And now that you have won the election, here is a pen and a stamp: warm up your arm, 'cause from now on you will use them ''a lot''. Apparently, the main activity of people in charge is to spend their days with a desk and giant piles of papers as only company. Of course it ''is'' TruthInTelevision to some extent (notably in law-related responsibilities), but naturally, in fiction it tends to be [[UpToEleven exaggerated to the point of torture.]] Expect some secretary to occasionally show up in the office with an additional pile, to the dismay of their boss. Usually PlayedForLaughs to show a less glamourous side of leadership. May be PlayedForDrama if the effect is to make the character [[WantingIsBetterThanHaving wish they'd never sought or accepted the job]] in the first place.

Despite the title, it can apply to "Presidents" but also to any job involving some kind of important leadership.

** At press conference 14 February 2008 he also said that he worked like a slave at the galleys for straight 8 years. Due to a lucky typo this caused some Memetic Mutations: namely, "like a slave" was mangled into "like a crab", making "The Crab" a nickname for Putin in certain Internet circles.

->''For all the talk of men coveting the Emperor's throne, Ivan had never heard of anyone speak of coveting his ''desk''.''

* In ''Caligula'' or Tinto Brass, the eponymous emperor is shown signing papers 'in the name of the senate and the people of Rome' without even reading them or asking anything about them, until he rapidly gets tired.

* In ComicBook/{{Fables}}, Prince Charming becomes mayor with [[Literature/BeautyAndTheBeast Beauty]] as his deputy, only for both to discover just how much paperwork they have to deal with, hate their jobs, and make a general mess of it. [[spoiler:He eventually resigns and goes back to military strategy and tactics (which he's actually pretty good at), but Beauty stays on, after eventually getting a handle on the job]].

* King Enma in ''Franchise/DragonBall'', as the man in charge of deciding who will go to Heaven or Hell ''in the entire universe'' is usually shown chain-stamping files without so much as looking at them, while complaining about his insane amount of work.

* In one episode of the eighties [[WesternAnimation/{{Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1987}} Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]] cartoon, the turtles find themselves stuck in an alternate world where they never existed and Shredder rules all. After spending the whole episode dodging his henchman and trying to figure out a way back home they finally meet him--and he begs them to take him back with them. Turns out that running the '''entire world''' is a ''massive'' pain in the ass.

** Averted by Archchancellor Ridcully, who just lets the paperwork pile up on his desk, periodically bins it, and assumes that if anything is ''really'' important someone will start shouting soon enough.

* In his ''Manga/ShokugekiNoSoma'' debut, Eishi Tsukasa, current First Seat of [[AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil the Elite Ten]], started complaining about the massive amount of paperwork he had to deal with when Soma, Subaru and Takumi decided to hold, not one, but two Shokugekis during the Fall Classic tournament and briefly mopes about how stressful the responsibilities of a first seat can be.

* Commander Nebular from ''BuzzLightyearOfStarCommand'', due to being the Space Ranger's commander, is forced to constantly do paperwork by his robotic desk.
* ''TheSimpsonsMovie'': The President is dissapointed that, instead of leading the country, he is forced to spend his days signing papers and approving motions.

-->--''[[Literature/VorkosiganSaga Captain Vorpatril's Alliance]]''

* Emperor Gregor in VorkosiganSaga.

* Philip II of Spain is considered a dedicated bureaucrat.

* The one dictator in ''{{Foundation}}'' who inherited the post from his grandfather (who was brutal but able) and father (who was brutal and nothing else) and is essentially a born pencil-pusher who happened to inherit absolute power.

* In ''{{NewsRadio}}'', when Lisa is given Dave's job of News Director she has this experience.