The president of the United States used to be such a lofty figure, so far removed from the fantasy life of the American people, that he (or she) was seldom portrayed as a recurring character on TV dramas. But somewhere between Bill Clinton's saxophone solo on the old Arsenio Hall late-night talk show and Barack Obama's interview with comic Zach Galafianakis on "Between Two Ferns," the chief executive became a TV pop culture staple.
These days, you can barely change the channel without coming across a small-screen president, whether on ABC's "Scandal," CBS' "Madam Secretary," or NBC's "State of Affairs." Not to mention the about-to-launch seasons of Netflix's "House of Cards" and HBO's "Veep," whose ambitious lead characters (played by Kevin Spacey and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, respectively) will finally be settling into the Oval Office in this year's story arcs.
Of course, TV presidents are all over the map, and not just in the red-state-blue-state sense. Some are feckless, some faultless, and some funny. Here's how some of our favorites rate in the polls, from worst to best.
17. Charles Logan (Gregory Itzin). On "24," Charles Logan initially seemed like a decent president, one who would try to uphold the legacy of David Palmer. But not only was he inept at thwarting terrorists, he was actually complicit in the assassination plot that killed his predecessor. Also, he tried to gaslight his poor wife (Jean Smart) when she got wind of the conspiracy. So: Worst. TV. President. Ever.
16. Caroline Reynolds (Patricia Wettig). On "Prison Break," Wettig's Caroline Reynolds was the vice president, but after a Borgia-like poisoning plot, she ascended to the White House. She was a terrible president but an effective villain.
15. Standrich Gilchrist (Bill Pullman). In "Independence Day," Bill Pullman's president fought off an alien invasion. As President Gilchrist on NBC's short-lived comedy "1600 Penn," he mostly had to defend the prestige of his office from his embarrassing family, particularly the ne'er-do-well Standrich Gilchrist Jr., portrayed by Josh Gad. No wonder his term of office was so brief -- just 13 episodes in 2012-13.
14. Fitzgerald Grant (Tony Goldwyn). On "Scandal," Fitz is probably a terrible president -- though who can say, really, what his policies are? But he's a great romantic hero, heedless in his efforts to maintain his illicit romance with power broker Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington). There's the hideaway he builds her in Vermont, the phone sex, and most importantly, keeping a lid on his justifiably rageaholic wife, Mellie (Bellamy Young).
13. Wayne Palmer (D.B. Woodside). Wayne Palmer may have been a decent fellow, and he may have reminded some people of his slain brother, but the "24" character was no David Palmer. Often weak and indecisive, he was not an impressive heir to the Palmer dynasty.
12. Elias Martinez (Blair Underwood). In the NBC sci-fi series "The Event," which lasted just one season, Underwood's Elias Martinez didn't get much of a chance to prove his mettle; his biggest achievement was surviving the title incident, in which a jetliner vanished before crashing into his press convference. But he certainly was the handsomest of all TV presdients.
11. Conrad Dalton (Keith Carradine). On the new CBS series "Madam Secretary," it's Carradine's President Dalton who persuaded Tea Leoni's Elizabeth McCord to leave academia for public service. But when she took charge at the State Department, she found Dalton none to supportive. Indeed he's hardly present at all on the show, and when he is, he's usually trying to do the politically expedient thing, rather than the right thing. Good thing that (for dramatic purposes, at least), Elizabeth is the one calling all the shots.
10. Julia Mansfield (Patty Duke). On the now-forgotten sitcom "Hail to the Chief" (it ran for just seven episodes on ABC in 1985) Patty Duke played the first woman president of the United States. Not only did she have to manage Cold War geopolitics, but she also had to deal with problems no president had ever faced -- like the First Gentleman's impotence.
9. George W. Bush (Will Ferrell). There have been a lot of presidential impressions on "Saturday Night Live" over 40 years, but probably none so celebrated as Will Ferrell's George W. Bush. He captured W.'s Texas swagger, his frat-boy sense of humor, and his fondness for coining new words ("strategery"). Ferrell even turned his impression into a Broadway show, which in turn became an HBO special.
8. John F. Kennedy (Greg Kinnear). Lots of actors in TV and movies have played JFK, but probably none did such a through job recreating his career in the Senate, his marriage to Jackie, and his presidency as Greg Kinnear in the Reelz mini-series "The Kennedys." The Bahhston accent gave him some trouble, but he managed to give us a JFK rarely seen -- callow, in frequent pain (from Addison's disease), but able to rise to the occasion during events like the Cuban Missile Crisis.
7. Barack Obama (Jordan Peele). On "Saturday Night Live," Jay Pharoah does an uncanny job mimicking President Obama's distinctive speech rhythms, but there's no real bite to his impression. On Comedy Central's "Key and Peele," however, Jordan Peele does a more satirically effective Obama, one who can barely contain his rage at the knee-jerk opposition he faces from the right. Fortunately, he usually has Luther, an anger-management consultant played by Keegan-Michael Key, at his side.
6. Mackenzie Allen (Geena Davis). On the short-lived ABC series "Commander-in-Chief," Davis had been the first female veep and had succeeded the president unexpectedly. Nominally a Republican, she was constantly at odds with a conservative House speaker (Donald Sutherland) who didn't think she was right-wing enough. Trying to balance running the free world with her duties as a mom, Davis' president proved more than a match for any opponent; her fierce will and her imposing height meant she typically got her way.
5. Constance Payton (Alfre Woodard). As on fellow freshman series "Madam Secretary," "State of Affairs" seems to show the president letting an underling (Katherine Heigl's Charleston "Charlie" Tucker) essentially run America's foreign policy, including all covert ops. Indeed, if Alfre Woodard's Constance Payton feels any stress over being America's first black female president, it's hardly worth mentioning next to the headaches generated by the secretive Charlie. (It doesn't help that Charlie was engaged to marry Constance's slain son.) At least Woodard gives the NBC drama the gravitas that the still dewy-eyed Heigl lacks.
4. Allison Taylor (Cherry Jones). After Charles Logan and Wayne Palmer, Allison Taylor was a refreshing change in the White House, a throwback to the glory days of "24" when David Palmer was the chief executive. Taylor proved no less steely in her determination and integrity. Besides, she did the smartest thing a president can do: trust Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) to clean up the messes.
3. John Adams (Paul Giamatti). Giamatti may not be the first guy you think of when casting a patrician, WASPy aristocrat, but he was certainly convincing as founding father and second president John Adams in the HBO mini-series "John Adams." Giamatti's Adams wasn't likable or amiable, as he was more interested in a stern adherence to principles, but then, that's how history suggests the real Adams was.
2. David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert). The era of the U.S. president as TV action hero begins with Dennis Haysbert's David Palmer on "24." Stalwart, fearless, and blessed with that booming baritone, Palmer had just one flaw: his Lady Macbeth of a wife. He lasted four seasons, longer than any other president on the terror-plagued show, until his shocking assassination at the beginning of Season 5. Still, he made an impression, back in 2001-05, when the idea of a black president was still a novelty. Who knows, he may have made viewers comfortable enough with the idea that, before long, they elected one in real life.
1. Josiah "Jed" Bartlet (Martin Sheen). Having played virtually every male member of the Kennedy family, Martin Sheen was a natural to play a fictional president for seven seasons on "The West Wing." The most eloquent president in TV (and the only unabashed liberal Democrat), Sheen's Jed Bartlet was uniquely capable of rattling off long strings of rhythmic Aaron Sorkin dialogue. Initially, Bartlet was to be an almost invisible character on the show, which revolved around his support staff, but Sheen brought such presence to the role that he became the show's star and launched the modern vogue for presidents as dramatic TV characters.
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