American Presidents - on the Screen

A Gallery of American Presidents factual and fictional in the Movies with facts, photos and posters.

Joseph Hanebery as a rather scary looking Abe Lincoln in the hugely successful and controversial silent movie epic The Birth of a Nation (1915) directed by D.W. Griffith. 190mins

Based on the novel The Clansman by Thomas F. Dixon jr

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) was the 16th President of the United States. He was the first President to be assassinated (by John Wilkes Booth).

IMDB rating 7.0

Walter Huston as Abe in D.W. Griffith's Abraham Lincoln (1930). 90mins.

Based on the story by John W. Considine jr

More actors have played Abraham Lincoln in films than any other President, at no.2 is Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

IMDB rating 5.9

Shirley Temple as The Littlest Rebel (1935) with Frank McGlynn Sr as Lincoln, directed by David Butler. 73mins

IMDB rating 6.7

Henry Fonda as Young Mr. Lincoln (1939), directed by John Ford. 100mins.

Oscar nominated for Best Screenplay.

IMDB rating 7.6

Raymond Massey as Old Mr. Lincoln in Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940) directed by John Cromwell and also starring Gene Lockhart and Ruth Gordon. 110mins.

Oscar nominated for Best Actor (Massey) and Best Cinematography.

IMDB rating 7.4

Alexander Knox plays Woodrow Wilson in Wilson (1944) directed by Henry King and also starring Charles Coburn, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Thomas Mitchell, Cedric Hardwicke and Vincent Price. 154mins

Won Oscars for Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Art Direction and Best Sound. Also nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Knox), Best Music (Alfred Newman) and Best Special Effects.

Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) was the 28th President of the United States.

IMDB rating 6.9

Charlton Heston as Andrew Jackson in The Buccaneer (1958) directed by Anthony Quinn, produced by Cecil B DeMille and starring Yul Brunner and Claire Bloom. 119mins.

Based on the novel Lafitte, the Pirate by Lyle Saxon

Oscar nominated for Best Costume Design.

Andrew Jackson (1767-1845) was the 7th President of the United States.

IMDB rating 6.3

The late Cliff Robertson as Lt. John F. Kennedy in PT 109 (1963) directed by Leslie H. Martinson. 140mins.

Based on the book by Robert J. Donovan.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917-1963) was the 35th President of the United States.

IMDB rating 6.3

Peter Sellers as President Merkin Muffley in Doctor Strangelove or: How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) directed by Stanley Kubrick and also starring George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Keenan Wynn and Slim Pickens. 95mins.

Oscar nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Sellers) and Best Screenplay.

Based on the book Red Alert by Peter George

IMDB rating 8.6

Henry Fonda as the unnamed President of the United States in Fail-Safe (1964) directed by Sidney Lumet and also starring Walter Matthau, Dan O'Herlihy and Larry Hagman. 112mins.

Based on the novel by Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler.

IMDB rating 8.0

Fredric March as President Jordan Lyman in Seven Days in May (1964) directed by John Frankenheimer and starring Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas and Ava Gardner. 118mins

Oscar nominated for Best Supporting Actor (Edmond O'Brien) and Best Art Direction.

Based on the novel by Fletcher Knebel and Charles W. Bailey II

IMDB rating 7.9

Executive Action (1973), a fictional account of the assassination of John F. Kennedy, directed by David Miller and starring Burt Lancaster and Robert Ryan. 91mins

IMDB rating 6.5

The Missiles of October (1974) starred William Devane as JFK and co-starred Martin Sheen as Robert Kennedy, a TV movie which centered on the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962. Directed by Anthony Page.150mins.

IMDB rating 8.1

Brian Keith as President Theodore Roosevelt in The Wind and the Lion (1975) directed by John Milius and starring Sean Connery, Candice Bergen and John Huston. 119mins.

Oscar nominated for Best Music (Jerry Goldsmith) and Best Sound.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) was the 26th President of the United States.

IMDB rating 6.9

Donald Pleasance as the unnamed President of the USA in Escape from New York (1981) directed by John Carpenter and starring Kurt Russell as Snake Plissken, Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgnine and Isaac Hayes as the Duke of New York. 99mins.

IMDB rating 7.1

Martin Sheen as John F. Kennedy in Kennedy (1983) a TV mini-series directed by Jim Goddard and also starring Blair Brown as Jackie Kennedy and John Shea as Robert Kennedy. 282mins.

Golden Globe nominations for Best Mini-series or Made for TV movie, Best Actor in a Mini-series (Sheen) and Best Actress in a Mini-series (Blair Brown).

IMDB rating 8.0

Donald Moffat as Lyndon B. Johnson in The Right Stuff (1983) directed by Philip Kaufman and starring Sam Shepard, Scott Glenn, Ed Harris, Dennis Quaid, Fred Ward and Barbara Hershey. 193mins.

Based on the book by Tom Wolfe

Won Oscars for Best Music (Bill Conti), Best Editing, Best Sound and Best Sound Effects Editing, also nominated for Best Picture, Best Actor (Shepard), Best Cinematography and Best Art Direction.

Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908-1973) was the 36th President of the United States.

IMDB rating 7.9

JFK (1991) the assassination of Kennedy and investigations over the alleged cover-up and conspiracy. Directed by Oliver Stone and starring Kevin Costner, Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Oldman. 189mins (206mins).

Based on the books On the Trail of the Assassins by Jim Garrison and Crossfire: The Plot that Killed Kennedy by Jim Marrs.

Won Oscars for Best Editing and Best Cinematography, also nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Jones), Best Music (John Williams), Best Screenplay and Best Sound.

IMDB rating 8.0

Kevin Kline plays Dave Kovic who looks like President Bill Mitchell and makes a living impersonating him in the comedy-drama Dave (1993) directed by Ivan Reitman and also starring Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Mitchell. 110mins.

Oscar nominated for Best Screenplay.

IMDB rating 6.8

In the Line of Fire (1993) directed by Wolfgang Peterson and starring Clint Eastwood as Agent Frank Horrigan out to stop killer Mitch Leary (John Malkovich) from assassinating the President, played by Jim Curley. 128mins.

Oscar nominated for Best Supporting Actor (Malkovich), Best Screenplay and Best Editing.

IMDB rating 7.2

Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump (1994) meets Presidents John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon during his travels. Directed by Robert Zemeckis and also starring Sally Field, Gary Sinise and Robin Wright. 142mins.

Based on the novel by Winston Groom

Won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Hanks), Best Screenplay, Best Editing and Best Visual Effects, also nominated for Best Supporting Actor (Sinise), Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Make Up, Best Sound and Best Sound Effects Editing.

IMDB rating 8.7

Donald Moffat as President Bennett in Clear and Present Danger (1994) directed by Philip Noyce and starring Harrison Ford, Willem Dafoe and Anne Archer. 141mins.

Based on the novel by Tom Clancy

Oscar nominated Best Sound and Best Sound Effects Editing.

IMDB rating 6.8

Truman (1995) a made for Cable movie directed by Frank Pierson and starring Gary Sinise as Harry S. Truman. 135mins

Won Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Made for TV movie (Sinise) and nominated for Best Made for TV movie.

Harry S. Truman (1884-1972) was the 33rd President of the United States. The 'S' in his name does not stand for anything.

IMDB rating 7.3

Anthony Hopkins as Richard Nixon in Oliver Stone's Nixon (1995) also starring Joan Allen, Ed Harris and Paul Sorvino. 192mins (212mins).

Oscar nominated for Best Actor (Hopkins), Best Actress (Allen), Best Music (John Williams) and Best Screenplay.

Richard Milhous Nixon (1913-1994) was the 37th President of the United States.

IMDB rating 7.0

Nick Nolte as Thomas Jefferson in Jefferson in Paris (1995) directed by James Ivory and also starring Gwyneth Paltrow. 139mins.

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) was the 3rd President of the United States.

IMDB 5.6

Michael Douglas as President Andrew Shepherd in The American President (1995) directed by Rob Reiner and also starring Annette Bening, Martin Sheen and Michael J. Fox. 114mins.

Oscar nominated for Best Music (Marc Shaiman).

IMDB rating 6.7

Bill Pullman as President Thomas Whitmore in Independence Day (1996) directed by Roland Emmerich and starring Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum.

Won Oscar for Best Visual Effects also nominated for Best Sound.

IMDB rating 6.7

Jack Nicholson as President James Dale in Mars Attacks! (1996) directed by Tim Burton and also starring Glenn Close, Pierce Brosnan, Annette Bening, Danny De Vito and Michael J. Fox. 106mins.

IMDB rating 6.3

Tiny Lister as President Lindberg in The Fifth Element (1997) directed by Luc Besson and starring Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman and Milla Jovovich. 126mins.

Oscar nomination for Best Sound Effects Editing.

IMDB rating 7.5

Harrison Ford as President James Marshall out to stop terrorists on board Air Force One (1997) directed by Wolfgang Peterson and also starring Gary Oldman and Glenn Close. 124mins.

Oscar nominated for Best Editing and Best Sound.

IMDB rating 6.3

Anthony Hopkins as John Quincy Adams in Amistad (1997) directed by Steven Spielberg and also starring Morgan Freeman, Djimon Hounsou and Matthew McConaughey. 155mins.

Oscar nominated for Best Supporting Actor (Hopkins), Best Music (John Williams), Best Cinematography and Best Costume Design.

John Quincy Adams (1767-1848) was the 6th President of the United States.

IMDB rating 7.1

Morgan Freeman as President Tom Beck in Deep Impact (1998) directed by Mimi Leder and starring Robert Duvall, Tea Leoni and Elijah Wood. 120mins

IMDB rating 6.0

John Travolta as Governor Jack Stanton in a thinly veiled take on Bill Clinton's campaign for the 1992 Presidency. Primary Colors (1998) directed by Mike Nichols and also starring Emma Thompson, Billy Bob Thornton and Kathy Bates. 143mins.

Based on the novel by Joe Klein.

Oscar nominations for Best Supporting Actress (Bates) and Best Screenplay.

William Jefferson Clinton (1946-) was the 42nd President of the United States.

IMDB rating 6.7

Martin Sheen as President Jed Bartlet in The West Wing (1999-2006) TV series 7 Seasons.

Won 26 Emmy Awards and 3 Golden Globes.

IMDB rating 8.7

Bruce Greenwood as John Kennedy, Steven Culp as Robert Kennedy in Thirteen Days (2000) directed by Roger Donaldson and starring Kevin Costner. 145mins

Based on the book - The Kennedy Tapes - Inside the White House During the Cuban Missile Crisis - by Ernest May and Philip Zelikow

IMDB rating 7.2

Jeff Bridges as President Jackson Evans in The Contender (2000) directed by Rod Lurie and also starring Gary Oldman, Joan Allen and Christian Slater. 126mins.

Oscar nominations for Best Supporting Actor (Bridges) and Best Actress (Allen).

IMDB rating 6.9

Jon Voight as Franklin D. Roosevelt in Pearl Harbor (2001) directed by Michael Bay and starring Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett, Kate Beckinsale and Alec Baldwin. 183mins.

Won Oscar for Best Sound Effects Editing, also nominated for Best Sound, Best Song and Best Visual Effects.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945) was the 32nd President of the United States.

IMDB rating 5.6

Dennis Haysbert as President David Palmer in "24" (2001-2010) TV Series 8 Seasons and starring Keifer Sutherland as Agent Jack Bauer.

Won 20 Emmy Awards and 2 Golden Globes.

IMDB rating 8.5

James Cromwell as President J. Robert Fowler in The Sum of All Fears (2002) directed by Phil Alden Robinson and starring Ben Affleck, Morgan Freeman and Bridget Moynahan. 124mins.

Based on the novel by Tom Clancy

IMDB rating 6.3

James Brolin as Ronald Reagan and Judy Davis as Nancy Reagan in The Reagans (2003) a TV movie directed by Robert Allan Ackerman. 180mins.

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes - Best Actor in a TV movie (Brolin) and Best Actress in a TV movie (Davis).

Ronald Wilson Reagan (1911-2004) was the 40th President of the United States.

IMDB rating 6.3

Paul Giamatti as John Adams (2008) a TV mini-series directed by Tom Hooper and also starring Laura Linney. 7 Episodes. 501mins.

Won 13 Emmy Awards and 4 Golden Globes.

John Adams (1735-1826) was the 2nd President of the United States.

IMDB rating 8.7

Frank Langella as Richard Nixon and Michael Sheen as David Frost in Frost/Nixon (2008) directed by Ron Howard and also starring Sam Rockwell, Kevin Bacon and Matthew Macfadyen. 122mins.

Oscar nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Langella), Best Screenplay and Best Editing.

IMDB rating 7.8

Josh Brolin as George W. Bush in Oliver Stone's 'W' (2008) also starring Elizabeth Banks as Laura Bush, James Cromwell as George Bush Sr, Ellen Burstyn as Barbara Bush and Richard Dreyfus as Dick Cheney. 129mins.

George Walker Bush (1946-) was the 43rd President of the United States. His father George Herbert Walker Bush (1924-) was the 41st President.

IMDB rating 6.5

Robert Wisden as President Richard Nixon in an alternate Earth timeline. Watchmen (2009) directed by Zack Snyder and starring Billy Crudup, Jackie Earl Haley, Malin Akerman, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Matthew Goode, Patrick Wilson and Carla Gugino. (162mins) (186mins) (215mins)

Based on the graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons.

IMDB rating 7.7

Danny Glover as President Thomas Wilson in 2012 (2009) directed by Roland Emmerich and starring John Cusack, Amanda Peet and Woody Harrelson. 158mins

IMDB rating 5.8

The Kennedys (2011) TV mini-series directed by Jon Cassar and starring Greg Kinnear as John Kennedy, Barry Pepper as Robert Kennedy, Katie Holmes as Jackie Kennedy and Tom Wilkinson as Joe Kennedy.

8 x 45 minute episodes.

Won 4 Emmy Awards.

IMDB rating 7.6

Benjamin Walker as Abraham Lincoln - Vampire Hunter (2012) directed by Timur Bekmambetov and also starring Dominic Cooper, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Anthony Mackie and Rufus Sewell. 105mins.

Based on the novel by Seth Grahame-Smith

IMDB rating 6.5

Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln in Steven Spielberg's Lincoln (2012) also starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jared Harris, Sally Field and Tommy Lee Jones. 150mins.

Based on the book Team of Rivals: The Political Genus of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin.

IMDB rating 8.4