Presidents' Day in Pop Culture

Paul Giamatti as John Adams in HBO's mini-series
on the second president and father of the sixth

In celebration of Presidents' Day, I've decided to list every US president I've seen portrayed in a movie, TV show, or on stage and the actor who played him that I can think of. Of course, this discounts fictional presidents such as Josiah Bartlett, Art Hockstatter, or the one Patty Duke played on that short-lived sitcom from Susan Harris (Soap). I'm sure I'll leave out plenty, but here are all the ones that come to mind without doing too much research--cause this is just for fun.

George Washington--Barry Bostwick (that CBS miniseries); David Morse (John Adams on HBO)

John Adams--George Grizzard (The Adams Chronicles); William Daniels (1776); Paul Giamatti (John Adams on HBO); Brent Spiner (1776 revival from Roundabout)



Thomas Jefferson--Sam Neill (that other CBS mini-series); Ken Howard (1776); Stephan Dillane (John Adams on HBO); Nick Nolte (Thomas Jefferson in Paris)

James Madison, James Monroe--whoever played them on The Adams Chronicles

John Quincy Adams--William Daniels (The Adams Chronicles); Samuel Barnett (John Adams on HBO); Anthony Hopkins (Amistad)

Andrew Jackson--Charlton Heston (old Hollywood movie about Jackson on TCM); Benjamin Walker (Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson)

Martin Van Buren--Nigel Hawthorne (Amistad)

William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, James Polk, Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce--That song from the Simpsons where the kids at Springfield Elementary put on a pageant about forgotten presidents, Lisa Simpson played one of them

James Buchanan--Ken Howard (1600 Pennsylvania Ave., Bway flop)

Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, and whoever played Lincoln
on that third-season episode of Star Trek
when they were getting really crazy ideas

Abraham Lincoln--Raymond Massey (Abe Lincoln in Illinois); Henry Fonda (Young Abe Lincoln); Hal Holbrook (Sandburg's Lincoln); Sam Waterston (Abe Lincoln in Illinois revival at Lincoln Center, Gore Vidal's Lincoln, The Civil War PBS); Jason Robards (ABC attempt to rip-off the PBS Civil War when it got a lot of ratings, so they did the same thing); Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln); Bob Stillman (A Civil War Christmas at NYTW); whoever played Lincoln on that episode of Star Trek where Kirk and Spock and some Vulcan leader fight a bunch of bad guys and a talking pile of rocks decides the outcome.

Andrew Johnson--Van Heflin (movie about Johnson which I caught a few minutes of on TCM)

Ulysses S. Grant--Donald Moffat (A Few Stout Individuals at Signature Theatre Company); Jared Harris (Lincoln); Jpe Early (Steve Allen's Meeting of Minds)

Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, Chester A. Arthur--None except Ken Howard (1600 Pennsylvania Avenue)

Grover Cleveland--Pat McCormack (Buffalo Bill and the Indians)

Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley--None

Theodore Roosevelt--Len Cariou (Teddy and Alice, flop Bway musical); Brian Keith (The Wind and the Lion);

Woodrow Wilson--Alexander Knox (Wilson); Robert Vaughan (Backstairs at the White House)

William Howard Taft--Victor Buono (Backstairs at the White House)

Warren G. Harding--George Kennedy (Backstairs at the White House)

Calvin Cooolidge--Ed Flanders (Backstairs at the White House)

Herbert Hoover--Larry Gates (Backstairs at the White House)

Franklin Roosevelt--Edward Hermann (Eleanor and Franklin, Annie movie); Merwin Foard (Annie revival); Bill Murray (Hyde Park on Hudson); Jason Robards (FDR: The Last Year); Ralph Bellamy (Sunrise at Campobello); Kenneth Branagh (Warm Springs)

Harry S. Truman--James Whitmore (Give em Hell, Harry); Gary Sinise (Truman); Harry Morgan (Backstairs at the White House); Ed Flanders (Plain Speaking)

Dwight Eisenhower--Andrew Duggan (Backstairs at the White House); Robert Duvall (that TV movie about WWII and Ike's affair with the woman played by Lee Remick)

John F. Kennedy--William Devane (The Missiles of October); Martin Sheen (the TV mini-series); Kevin Costner (Thirteen Days)

Lyndon Johnson--Michael Gambon (HBO movie about Vietnam); Randy Quaid (TV miniseries); Pat Buttram (the guy from Green Acres who did a lot of LBJ impressions)

Richard Nixon--Anthony Hopkins (Nixon); George S. Irving (lots of TV impressions, An Evening with Richard Nixon on Bway); David Frye and Rich Little (lots of TV impressions); Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon on Broadway and film); Dan Akroyd (Sat. Night Live)

Gerald Ford--Chevy Chase (Sat. Night Live); whoever played Ford in that one Pink Panther movie, whoever played Ford in the musical Assassins (it was Will Parry in the original, I don't remember who did it in the revival)

Jimmy Carter--Dan Akroyd (Sat. Night Live)

Ronald Reagan--James Brolin (that cable TV movie every Repub. was so offended by with Judy David that they cancelled and put on another network)

George HW Bush--Dana Carvey (Sat. Night Live)

Bill Clinton--I stopped watching Sat. Night Live at this point so I don't know the name of the guy who did Clinton and I don't feel like looking it up.

George W. Bush--Josh Brolin (W); Jay O. Sanders (Stuff Happens); Will Farrell (You're Welcome America, An Evening with George W. Bush)

Barack Obama--Fred Amisen (Sat. Night Live); I just know this because I've seen him on Portlandia and I read he did Obama on SNL.

Happy President's Day.