List of fictional U.S. Presidents
Since the office of President of the United States is somewhat hallowed, fiction writers often choose to 'invent' a president in their stories to prevent a real one from being possibly insulted, to avoid having their stories become 'dated' over time, for dramatic license, or to provide literary flexibility.
Presidents are listed in alphabetical order by the first letter in their last name.
A
President Barbara Adams
B
President Robert Baker
President Josiah Bartlet
- President in: The West Wing (television)
- Democrat
- Qualities/attributes: Irascible yet good-humored, quite liberal. Known for a fascination with trivia, esp. historical trivia ("Did you know that this chair was presented to the United States as a gift from the King of Liechtenstein in gratitude for our ambassador marrying his daughter in 1871?"1)
- Played by: Martin Sheen
President Tom Beck
President Becker
President Thomas "Tug" Benson
President Blake
C
President Gary Callahan
President Carlson
President James Cassidy
President Calvin Craig
President Johnny Cyclops
- President in: Whoops Apocalypse (television, 1982)
- Qualities/attributes: A former screen actor, recently lobotomised. Hated at home and desperate to regain popularity. With other world leaders, causes World War III and nuclear holocaust.
- Played by: Leon Ames
President James Dale
President Tom Dering
- President in Doctor Who: Option Lock and Doctor Who: Millennium Shock
- defeated Clinton in the Presidential race of 1996. His Vice-President was Jack Michaels.
President Matt Douglas
President Charles Carter Durant
President Dugan
President Roger Durling
E
President Walter Emerson
President Jackson Evans
F
President John Fields
- President in: William Atherton
President Mallard Fillmore
- President of the United Species of America in Captain Carrot and his Amazing Zoo Crew
- A duck
- His name is a play on Millard Fillmore
President James Foster
President William Foster
President Robert "Bob" Fowler
G
President Mays Gilliam
H
President Jeremy Haines
President William Haney
President Harris
President Spencer Harvey
President Jonathan Hayes
President Paul Hollister
President J. Edgar Hoover
- President in the Red Dwarf episode Tikka to Ride
- When the Red Dwarf crew inadvertently prevented the assasination of John F. Kennedy, he was impeached in a sex scandal in 1964 and succeeded by Hoover. Being blackmailed by the Mafia (who had evidence he was a cross-dresser) Hoover allowed the U.S.S.R to set up an nuclear base in Cuba, leading to the widespread desertion of American cities.
President Harley M. Hudson
- President in: Lew Ayres
- Succeeds to presidency upon death of predecessor
J
President James Johnson
- President in: Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
- Comments: 44th President, succeeded President George Sears. Actually a puppet of The Patriots, a secret group that controls the United States.
K
President Florentyna Kane
- President in: The Prodigal Daughter and Shall we tell the president? (Jeffrey Archer)
- Comment: Shall we tell the president was written before Archer devised the Florentyna Kane character, and the president was originally Edward Kennedy. In a later revision of this work, Archer replaced Kennedy with his presidential candidate from "The Prodigal Daughter".
President Kang
President Tim Kegan
- President in: Winter Kills, both book by Richard Condon and movie
- Assassinated president that is never fully seen during one flashback scene in movie. No credit was given to the arm.
President John F. Kennedy Jr.
- President in: Connor Loock
President Joseph Kennedy
President Russell P. Kramer
President Robert Kinsey
L
President Lassiter
- President in: The West Wing (television)
- Mentioned only
- Josiah Bartlett's Republican predecessor
President Manfred Link
President Lockwood
President Lex Luthor
President Jordan Lyman
M
President Mackenzie
President James Marshall
President Ted Matthews
- President in: My Fellow Americans
- Played by: John Heard
- Became President after Bill Haney resigned
President Robert McCallister
President Leslie McCloud
President Thomas McKenna
President McKenna
- President in: X-Men 2: X-Men United
- Played by: Dave
- Real President's qualities: Philandering heel
- President Dave's qualities: Personable, loving and strongly pro-job growth
- Played by: Kevin Kline
President Horace C. Mitchell
President Thomas D. Moss
President Merkin Muffley
- President in: Dr. Strangelove
- Qualities/attributes: A bald, middle-aged man, Muffley is perhaps the only character in the movie who seems to have a 'down to earth' attitude towards an escalating nuclear crisis. However, his indecisiveness and desire out hear all sides and options ad nauseum renders him largely ineffective.
- Played by: Peter Sellers
- Quote: "Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room!"
President Fillmard Millmore
- President in: Dave
- Played by: Ben Kingsley
- Succeeds to presidency upon death of predecessor
President Jack Neil
President D. W. Newman
President "Chuck" Norris
- President in Andrew Cartmel novel: "Doctor Who: The New Adventures: Warhead"
- Elected President in 2004 (defeating Bruce Springsteen) this extremely right-wing politician ended immigration to the United States, and presided over the establishment of Local Development laws which prevented the unemployed from leaving their local area to find work.
O
President A. Thorton Osgood II
P
President David Palmer
President Chet Roosevelt
President Pete Ross
President Paul Roudebush
President Jack Ryan
S
President Elaine Sallinger
- Presidency mentioned in the Red Dwarf novel Better Than Life
- Described as "perhaps the greatest American President of all time"
- Appears only as the fifth carving on Mount Rushmore
President Newton Sanders
- President in Mark Lawson's novel: "Idlewild"
- In a universe in which President John F. Kennedy survived the assassination attempt on his life, and went on to be re-elected in 1964, Newton Sanders won the 1992 Presidential election running as a third party candidate - defeating President George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton.
- He was assassinated via a "baby bomb" (an infant wrapped in semtex - and detonated) by Yusaf Yusaf (a.k.a "Anderson Kempinski Fraser"), and due to not having a Vice-President, was succeded by the Speaker of the House.
President Adam Scott
- President in: The Kidnapping of the President
- Kidnapped by revolutionaries on a visit to Toronto, Canada
- Played by: Hal Holbrook
President George Sears
- President in: Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
- Comment: 43rd President, actually Solidus Snake, agent of The Patriots, a secret group that controls the United States. Succeded by President James Johnson.
President Andrew Shepherd
President Bubba Shrub
President Lisa Simpson
President Robert "Bud" Smith
President Springhead
President Bruce Springsteen
- President in Jim Mortimore's novel: "Doctor Who: The New Adventures: Eternity Weeps"
- Defeated President Tom Dering in the election of 2000, after retiring from the music business. Perhaps his most famous act as President was ordering a nuclear attack on Turkey and the Moon in an attempt to stop the spread of the alien terraforming virus known as "Agent Yellow".
President Arch Stanton
President David Stevens
President Patrick J. Sullivan
President Donald Trump
President Thomas Nelson Tucker
V
President Margaret Valentine
W
President Glenallen Walken
- President in: The West Wing (television)
- Played by: John Goodman
- Speaker of the House, becomes President for two days when a national emergency involves a member of Josiah Bartlet's family and President Bartlet invokes the 25th Amendment and temporarily resigns
President Thomas J. Whitmore
- President in: Independence Day
- Fought in the first Gulf War as a fighter pilot; led the allied forces into battle against the invading aliens personally
- Played by: Bill Pullman
President Widmark
Unnamed presidents
President "Russ" (no last name given) in: Franchot Tone
Unnamed President in: Gregory Peck
Unnamed President "Bobby" (no last name given) in: Being There
Unnamed President in: Canadian Bacon
- Starts a fake war with Canada as a campaign distraction
- Played by: Alan Alda
Unnamed President in: Dreamscape
Unnamed President in: Escape from New York
Unnamed President in: Fail-Safe
Unnamed President in: The Illuminatus! Trilogy
Unnamed President in: Love Actually
Unnamed President in: The Pelican Brief
Unnamed President in: The Rock
Unnamed "American President" in The Tomorrow People
- Uses nuclear weapons to get involved in an intergalactic battle, distrusts the super-powered children and their secretive alien connections
- Played by: Wag the Dog (1997)
- Starts a fake war with Albania as a campaign distraction
- Played by: Michael Belson
Notes
1President Bartlet's comments are meant to make him sound erudite, but frequently misfire – in the example cited, for instance, there has never been a king of Liechtenstein (it is a principality, ruled by a prince); the Prince in 1871 was Johannes II, who was unmarried, and had no daughter; and the United States has no ambassador to Liechtenstein (the Ambassador to Switzerland serves Liechtenstein's needs). It is unclear if this is an "intentional" error (intended to show that Bartlet is sometimes mistaken) or an unintentional error on the part of the writers of The West Wing.
See also
