Freeman played the president twice on the big screen. In this sci-fi disaster flick directed by Mimi Leder, his Beck is not quite up to the task of dealing  with a giant comet hurtling through space that will likely cause humanity’s extinction. He tries to stop the comet’s path by having astronauta rig it with atomic bombs, but it causes one to be blinded and another to be flung into space. While a select few Americans get to take shelter underground, a last-ditch scheme to deflect the now two comets with ballistic missiles fail. Basically, Beck is one of the worst film presidents for not protecting countless millions of people both in the U.S. as well as Europe and Africa die.  His second term as a U.S. president came in the third installment of the “Has Fallen” action-film series, 2019’s “Angel Has Fallen,” as his recurring character Allan Turball is a target of a drone attack.

This political action thriller directed by Roland Emmerich initially didn’t do well at the box office or with the critics, but Foxx’s Sawyer jumps right in to protect the White House as well as his pristine Air Jordans when terrorists try to take over. Yes, he needs to put on his glasses in order to shoot a gun. But at least he has a sense of humor even while joining forces with Channing Tatum’s Capitol Police officer, as a bomb goes off at the Capitol while Washington, D.C., goes into lockdown. The movie suffered in comparison to “Olympus Has Fallen,” that came out three months earlier.

Several actresses previously tried to succeed with a TV series featuring the first female commander in chief, including Patty Duke in the 1985 sitcom “Hail to the Chief,” which only lasted seven episodes on ABC. Cherry Jones had a more successful run on Fox’s “24” playing Republican first female president Allison Taylor on Seasons 7 and 8, winning a supporting Emmy in the bargain. But Davis took center stage in her ABC political drama as Mackenzie Allen, an Independent who ends up as the first female vice president and the first woman president when her predecessor dies. Too bad she only got one season to show her leadership chops.

Mike Nichols directed while Elaine May was responsible for the adapted screenplay that was based on the best-seller that was inspired by Bill Clinton’s first presidential campaign in 1992. Stanton is a charming Southern governor who is vying to be the Democrat’s presidential candidate. It turns out that Jack was arrested during the anti-war protest during the 1968 Democratic Convention. He uses his connections to have his police record expunged while also sporting a reputation as a womanizer. After his indiscretions cause one of his loyal staff to commit suicide, Jack tells his rival he will not bring up any dirt from his past and he ends up becoming the president.

Tim Burton’s spoof of ‘50s B-movie sci-fi thrillers featured Nicholson as a president who thinks he has the diplomatic skills to talk the Martians out of invading the planet and creating chaos. He suggests, “Why can’t we work out our differences? Why can’t we work things out? Little people, why can’t we all just get along?” That is when all heck breaks loose and the outer-space visitors employ a ray gun to take down the leader of the US of A.

In this political yarn directed by Rod Lurie, Democratic President Evans, a dutiful and decent politician must choose a new vice president following the death of the current one. He decides to choose a female contender in order to break the glass ceiling and decides to back Ohio Senator Laine Hanson (Joan Allen). Her nomination is in danger of being blocked by a Republican Congressman Sheldon Runyon (Gary Oldman), who digs up supposed photographic evidence of her participating in a drunken orgy tied to a sorority initiation while in college. Evans, however, stands by his woman and manages to dig up his own dirt on Runyon’s choice for VP while asking for a confirmation vote for Hanson. Bridges was Oscar-nominated as a supporting actor.

Known as just the U.S. president, Thornton’s character reveals himself to be quite the scallywag when he has a meeting with England’s new Prime Minister David (Hugh Grant). When the men run into Natalie (Martine McCutcheon), whose job is to serve tea and biscuits at 10 Downing Street, the president makes salacious comments about her body. Later on, David walks in on Natalie as she serves the president tea and it is clear that something untoward has happened. When the leaders give a joint interview to the press, the president says that the relationship between the two nations “is still very special.” But the prime minister disagrees, saying that their relationship has become bad while adding, “A friend who bullies us is no longer a friend. And since bullies only respond to strength, from now onward I will be prepared to be much stronger.” Of course, the bachelor prime minister himself charms Natalie and he gets the girl.

On the HBO series, the comedy actress won seven lead acting Emmys for her role as the charismatic, self-serving and crass Meyer, first as the vice president and later as the president. She manages her staff and her private life as if she were a bull-dozer with lots a cursing. A typical quote: “I’m the Vice President of the United States, you stupid little xxxxers! These people should be begging me! That door should be half its height so that people can only approach me in my office on their goddamn, mother-xxxxing knees!.

This epic sci-fi action thriller imagines what would happen if a worldwide attack by a fleet of aliens invaders from space targeted Earth with destructive beams, including New York City, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. – which results in destroying the White House. Whitmore, a former fighter pilot and Gulf War veteran, proves himself up to the task for stopping the destruction while recruiting volunteers with flight experience to take on the enemy. His inspirational words Whitmore delivers before he and other brave souls take off into the sky to stop the destruction has been compared to Shakespeare’s St. Crispin’s Day battle from “Henry V.” That oratory moment concludes: “We will not go quietly into the night! Will not vanish a fight! We’re going to live on! We’re going to survive! Today we celebrate Independence Day!

Sellers, as was often was his wont in several of his movies, played three roles in Stanley Kubrick’s dark Cold War comedy, including British military captain Lionel Mandrake and ex-Nazi scientist Dr. Strangelove, who uses a wheelchair while serving as the president’s scientific advisor in the War Room. But it was his twitchy and out-of-touch Muffley who bumbles his way through an accidental nuclear-bomb nightmare. His most famous line? “Gentlemen, you can’t fight in here! This is the War Room.” Sellers was Oscar-nominated for Best Actor. P.S. – look up the definition of merkin.

Kiefer Sutherland starred as Jack Bauer on the Fox series, a member of a counter-terrorist unit that helps protect the United States from plots to harm the country. That includes protecting the welfare of the confident and commanding Palmer, a former Maryland Democratic senator who becomes the president. He is saved from an assassination plot against him while campaigning. His best quality is supporting Bauer, who goes on to foil such threats as a nuclear bomb, which he finds and detonates in a remote area. Haysbert has more than a few messy family affairs that sometimes cause him trouble and a less than loyal staff, but Jack almost always has his back.

This Capra-esque satirical comedy written by Gary Ross and directed by Ivan Reitman finds Kline’s Dave, who is a dead ringer for the president (also played by Kline), recruited as a stand-in for the leader of the free world. But the gig goes full-time when the actual president suffers a stroke while enjoying a sexual escapade with his secretary. Frank Langella’s power-hungry chief of staff asks Dave to play the part a bit longer. While those in the know try to play him as a useful tool, Dave has some ideas of his own on how the government should be run and actually puts his country first. Also, this Everyman finds that the long-suffering First Lady (Sigourney Weaver) is just his type.

This action thriller directed by Wolfgang Petersen features Ford as a butt-kicking hero in chief. When the Vietnam War veteran and a Medal of Honor recipient learns while taking off from Moscow that Russian hijackers led by a ruthless monologuing-prone Gary Oldman have taken over Air Force One and have killed agents and military personnel on board and plan to go after civilians. Marshall fakes his escape from the plane and instead hides in the cargo hold. He manages to eventually to push Oldman out of the aircraft while shouting the movie’s most famous line, “Get off my plane!”

Yes, Sheen’s Bartlet hid his multiple sclerosis diagnosis from his constituency and staff. He also was a bit of a windbag when it comes to telling yarns based on years past. But he was smart, highly knowledgeable, a deal maker, personable and someone who was loyal and kind to those who served under him, even if he didn’t always remember their names. He was also a dedicated family man and almost always put duty and country first. This Aaron Sorkin creation is utterly human but also one of the best Democratic presidents, real or fictional, to serve.

In a film directed Rob Reiner and written by Aaron Sorkin, Douglas plays a smart, charming, caring and confident Democratic president who has been reelected. He lost his wife to cancer three years earlier. When the president of France comes to the U.S. for a dinner in his honor, Shepherd lacks a female companion when his cousin falls ill and can’t attend. But when he meets with Sydney Ellen Wade (Annette Bening), a lobbyist for environmental issues, they immediately make a romantic connection. Standing in the way, however, is getting enough votes to support a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. The commander in chief eventually doubles down on his environmental bill while also emboldening a weak crime bill, one that now includes gun control measures.