20 notable films about American Presidents

Abraham Lincoln seems to be the President most frequently portrayed on the big screen. That makes sense, given how important he was and also his distinct look. The most critically and commercially successful Presidential biopic is also Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln.” It made a ton of money and earned several Oscar nominations. Daniel Day-Lewis won his third Best Actor Oscar for playing Abe Lincoln, but his take on Lincoln’s tics and vocal inflections changed how actors played the 16th President going forward.

Richard Nixon offered up plenty of options as well. We may be partial to “Dick,” the goofy Watergate riff, but we’ll go with a bit more prestige. “Frost/Nixon” is a Ron Howard movie, which is to say, by the numbers but viable. Frank Langella plays Nixon, while Michael Sheen plays David Frost, who famously interviewed the former president. The movie earned five Oscar nominations, including for Langella.

While the most famous movie involving JFK is, um, “JFK,” that’s about the aftermath of the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Also, it is entirely bananas and full of wonky conspiracies. One of the selling points for Kennedy’s run for president in 1960 was the events that unfolded on PT 109, a Navy boat that Kennedy commanded during World War II. The story of the boat was dramatized with Cliff Robertson playing young JFK. The film came out in June 1963, when Kennedy was serving as President of the United States. Of course, by November, he would no longer be with us.

We mentioned Oliver Stone’s batty “JFK,” and he also directed “Nixon.” That’s not all, though. Stone helmed “W.” a movie about George W. Bush that came out just at the end of his second term in office. Josh Brolin plays W, and while the trailer made it look like a somewhat comedic exploration of a man who failed upwards to the most important political position in the world, the actual movie proved more staid. Also, weirdly sympathetic toward Bush, especially for a Stone movie.

You may be familiar with “Secret Honor,” Robert Altman’s movie about Nixon that only features Philip Baker Hall in the cast. It is a true one-man show. That’s not the only such film about a President. “Give ‘em Hell, Harry” began life as a one-man stage play about Harry S. Truman. It was then adapted into a movie in 1975. James Whitmore played Truman, and he actually earned an Oscar nomination for the movie. That means the entire cast of “Give ‘em Hell, Harry” was nominated. Impressive!

There was a Lyndon Baines Johnson movie made for theatrical release a few years ago, but you didn’t even need to blink in order to miss it. That’s how little impact it made. “All the Way” may be a made-for-HBO film, but it looms as a better-remembered, and just plain better, LBJ movie. After all, Bryan Cranston reprised the lead role in the film after playing LBJ in the Broadway version of “All the Way.” Cranston was nominated for an Emmy for the movie, but unlike when he played Walter White, he did not win.

Reagan was himself an actor, a successful one, all things considered, so it makes sense that there would be a movie about him. That goes double given the outsized conservative cult of personality that emerged around him. None other than the director of the “Bratz” movie helmed “Reagan.” Noted grizzled conservative Dennis Quaid made an on-the-nose choice to play the Gipper. The likes of Jon Voight, Nick Searcy, and Kevin Sorbo are in it. Scott Stapp plays Frank Sinatrz. We assure you this isn’t a bit.

There have been a few movies about Andrew Jackson, but how could we resist writing about a movie called “The Gorgeous Hussy?” The cast is quite impressive. A young Joan Crawford plays a fictionalized version of Peggy O’Neill, a confidante of Jackson’s, and the cast includes Lionel Barrymore as Jackson as well as Melvyn Douglas and James Stewart. The whole thing is a bit of a lark, which is in juxtaposition the real Jackson, who was violent, vindictive, and mean-spirited.

Bill Murray doesn’t have an Oscar. It seemed that “Lost in Translation” would make that a reality for him, but that proved inaccurate. When “Hyde Park on Hudson” was announced, there were murmurs that it would be an Oscar play. That was the intent. Murray plays FDR in “Hyde Park on Hudson,” which definitely felt like Oscar bait. Then, the movie arrived and was largely panned. No Oscar nominations emerged.

Oddly, there aren’t many movies about George Washington. He may be the first president, but he’s not as well-covered as Lincoln or even Nixon. In fact, “The Crossing” is a made-for-TV movie. One made for A&E at that! And yet, it’s the most notable of the Washington movies. It stars Jeff Daniels as Washington, which helps. Also, it’s largely about the crossing of the Delaware River, one of the defining moments of Washington’s time as a general.

No, not the Bill Hader TV show. Even though Barack Obama’s presidency was not all that long ago, he’s already been at the center of a couple of films. They have been about his younger days, with movies about his time as president likely to come, but they are still Obama biopics. This Netflix movie focuses on Obama’s college days, back when he was known as Barry.

A movie about James Buchanan, possibly the worst president? One released in 2019 at that? Indeed, it happened, but the movie is aware of Buchanan’s tenure as the 15th President of the United States. “Raising Buchanan” is about an unwell woman who decides to steal the body of James Buchanan to hold it for ransom. She then finds nobody wants the body, and then things spiral out from there. Rene Auberjonois plays Buchanan in what was his last role.

John Milius both wrote and directed “The Wind and the Lion,” so you know it’s out there. This is the war-loving, gun-toting guy who also wrote and helmed “Conan the Barbarian” and “Red Dawn.” Set in 1904, Sean Connery plays a guy named Mulai Ahmed er Raisuli, which should ring alarm bells for you. The film is based on a real international incident involving a hostage taking, Theodore Roosevelt was involved in the affair, and is one of the main characters in the film.

Spielberg is back. In 1997, he tried to replicate the one-two punch he pulled off in 1993 with “Jurassic Park” and “Schindler’s List.” This time, “Lost World” wasn’t quite as good as the original, and “Amistad” didn’t land with the same punch as “Schindler’s List.” Perhaps this story built upon an actual revolt aboard a slave ship was a little too focused on the white characters? This movie pulls presidential double duty, as both John Quincy Adams and Martin Van Buren are in it.

Famed studio head Darryl Zanuck loved Woodrow Wilson. He personally spearheaded a Wilson biopic, and even greenlit a budget of over $5 million, huge for the 1940s. Critically, “Wilson” was well-received. It was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor. It won for Best Original Screenplay and four others. However, because it was so expensive, it proved a box-office bomb, much to Zanuck’s chagrin.

Ali Abbasi went from the morbid, eerie “Holy Spider” to a movie about Donald Trump. His “The Apprentice” focuses on Trump’s real estate business in the 1970s and 1980s, and particularly his relationship with odious, hateful lawyer Roy Cohn. Sebastian Stan plays Trump, while Jeremy Strong plays Cohn. “The Apprentice” premiered at Cannes, and got solid reviews, but finding distribution has proven tricky, especially in the United States, due to legal threats from Trump’s team of lawyers.

Okay, so John Travolta is technically playing the fictional politician Jack Stanton. However, to call “Primary Colors” a thinly veiled take on the rise of Bill Clinton would undersell the robustness of a thin veil. After all, the book it was based on, originally released anonymously, turned out to be written by Joe Klein, who had covered the Clinton campaign for “Newsweek.” Mike Nichols’ film is about Bill Clinton, even if it is about Jack Stanton. Nobody would argue with that these days.

Merchant Ivory has produced many a fine costume drama. “A Room with a View,” “Howards End,” and “The Remains of the Day” are all produced by Ismail Merchant and James Ivory. Ivory also directs “Jefferson in Paris,” which is a series of set pieces telling (fictionalized) stories of Thomas Jefferson’s time as Ambassador to France. Nick Nolte plays Jefferson, which is not expected casting but in 1995 Nolte’s whole vibe was a bit different.

The idea of making a movie about Andrew Johnson that depicts him in a positive light would probably not be done in 2024. Johnson, who only became president due to the assassination of Lincoln, was a feckless racist unfit for the role. Van Heflin plays a version of Johnson who is a good man who wants to reunite the nation, if only the “Radical Republicans” wouldn’t stand in his way. While the movie was probably trying to bolster patriotism and unity during World War II, not everybody accepted it that way. The NAACP protested it, as did some actors including Zero Mostel and Vincent Price.

We end with a clearinghouse of U.S. Presidents on film. Lee Daniels’ “The Butler” stars Forest Whitaker as Cecil Gaines, a fictionalized version of Eugene Allen, who served as the head butler at the White House for over three decades. We get Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Reagan as characters, with Ford, Obama, and Jimmy Carter appearing in archival footage. Now that’s a lot of presidential action!