Well, if you’re reading this, it means that you’ve survived yet another presidential election.
You might be thrilled with last night’s results, or you might be banging your head against a wall, wondering how you’re gonna survive the next four years.
Either way, at least we can all take solace in the fact that the quadrennial barrage of panhandling text messages has now come to an end.
And now that you can once again turn on your TV without being bombarded by mudslinging political ads, what better time to revisit some of the best presidential biopics?
Politicians and pollsters might tell you they know what the future holds, but that picture is always a murky one.
Thankfully, we can always look to America’s past for encouraging reminders of challenges we’ve overcome and the heroes who have risen to the occasion.
Of course, no list of presidential cinema would be complete without a few villains in the mix.
So whether you’re looking for inspiration or hoping for further confirmation of your theory that Washington, DC is a festering cesspool, we’re sure you’ll find what you’re looking for in the list below. Check it out:
The Best:
Lincoln (2012)
Arguably the gold standard for presidential biopics, Steven Spielberg‘s portrait of Honest Abe benefitted from beloved source material (Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Team of Rivals) and a stellar script from Tony Kushner.
And let’s not forget Daniel Day Lewis’ stunning work in the title role, for which he quite deservedly received his third Academy Award.
Despite its straightforward title, the film is not a comprehensive overview of Lincoln’s brief but epic life.
Rather, it focuses on the passage of his administration’s most significant piece of legislation: the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery in the United States.
As taut as any political thriller, Lincoln is also a character study of tremendous nuance and subtle tragedy.
It lost Best Picture to Ben Affleck’s Argo, but we think it’s safe to say that this film has more effectively withstood the test of time.
Nixon (1995)
Many Oliver Stone fans would rank put the director’s better-known political biopics ahead of this one.
But for our money, Stone’s surprisingly sympathetic portrayal of our controversial 37th president outshines both JFK and W.
Stone is a Vietnam vet with no great love for Tricky Dick, and he doesn’t shy away from Nixon’s many scandals.
But the film’s interest in Nixon’s human side — his difficult childhood and his anguish over Watergate — came as a surprise to audiences when the film first hit theaters.
Thirty years later, that multi-faceted approach elevates this three-hour-plus epic above the mass of mediocre political flicks.
John Adams (2008)
Okay, you caught us. This one’s not a biopic in the strictest sense of the term, but rather an HBO limited series.
Hey, just because we’re writing about politicians doesn’t mean you have to be such a stickler!
Anyway, about midway through HBO‘s brief run as the number-one name in the world of prestige TV, the network further asserted its dominance with this seven-part portrayal of our nation’s second prez.
Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney both received Emmys for their work as John and Abigail Adams.
They were backed by an absurdly talented cast featuring such heavy-hitters as Stephen Dillane, Justin Theroux, Sarah Polley, Rufus Sewell, Mamie Gummer, and Danny Huston.
You even get The Bear‘s Ebon Moss-Bachrach as young John Quincy Adams! That’s two Emmy-winners playing presidents for the price of one!
Frost/Nixon (2008)
Hey, remember when we praised Oliver Stone for his nuanced, sympathetic portrayal of Nixon?
Well, Ron Howard was less interested in treating his subject with kid gloves in 2008’s Frost/Nixon.
In fact, this thrilling film — which focuses on a famous 1977 series of interviews between Nixon and journalist David Frost — presents our 37th prez as a paranoid, lecherous, alcoholic megalomaniac.
And while Stone received criticism for casting Anthony Hopkins as Nixon (not much physical resemblance there), Howard received no such complaints for his selecting Frank Langella as his lead.
In fact, the screen legend is so spot-on here that it’s almost distracting.
Interesting footnote: Howard also adapted JD Vance’s memoir Hillbilly Elegy for Netflix, making him perhaps the only filmmaker in history to unwittingly direct a vice presidential biopic!
JFK (1991)
Okay, this one also is not a biopic in the strictest sense of the word — in fact, the title president barely appears on screen.
But we’d be remiss if we didn’t include the most famous — and infamous — president-adjacent flick of the 1990s.
Once again, we have Oliver Stone at the helm, and this time, the man has zero interest in “both sides” subtlety.
In fact, he’s 100 percent certain that he knows who killed John F. Kennedy (hint: it wasn’t Lee Harvey Oswald), and he’s prepared to make his case with three hours of bonkers melodrama that must be seen to be believed.
We won’t spoil the ending here, but if you decide to embark on this journey, be advised that it’s best to simply let go and follow along with one of our most controversial auteurs as he leads you through the looking glass.
Southside With You (2016)
One of two Barack Obama biopics that hit theaters in his final year in office (the other was the somewhat lackluster Barry), this one focuses on the future president’s first date with a young Michelle Robinson.
As you might’ve guessed this entry on our list is light on politics and heavy on romance, making it an ideal choice for anyone who wishes to temper the vitriol of election season with a reminder that even presidents are human beings.
Of course, as we watch the young couple-to-be make their way from an African art exhibit to a screening of Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing, the film gently alludes to the shared beliefs that served as the foundation of their relationship.
The Apprentice (2024)
And how could we wrap up this list of the best presidential biopics without discussing the most recent entry into that hyper-specific subgenre?
Like Southside With You, this one focuses on an early period in its subject’s life.
In it, we meet a young Donald Trump in 1973 as he first makes the acquaintance of notoriously ruthless lawyer Roy Cohn.
A far more political — and less flattering — film than the Obama one, The Apprentice sparked major controversy when it premiered on the festival circuit, and there was a time when it looked like it might never hit theaters.
Your enjoyment of this one might depend somewhat on your politics, but there’s no denying that director Ali Abbassi has crafted a thought-provoking film with two incredible talents (Sebastian Stan as Trump, Jeremy Strong as Cohn) in its lead roles.
The Worst
Hyde Park on Hudson (2012)
Bill Murray stars in a comedic farce about the messy love life of Franklin Delano Roosevelt? What could go wrong?
Well, quite a lot, unfortunately.
Murray’s performance is commendable, and the film’s setting (it’s 1939 and the prospect of world war looms over the domestic drama) is fertile ground for international intrigue.
Sadly, this flick is more concerned with what happens between the sheets than overseas, and it does a poor job of balancing the personal and the political.
LBJ (2016)
Speaking of talented actors doing their best with lackluster scripts, Woody Harrelson shines in Rob Reiner’s film about the first days of the Lyndon B. Johnson administration.
Unfortunately, the rest of the flick is as disastrous as Johnson’s approach to Vietnam.
Beginning on the day of JFK’s assassination and LBJ’s ascension to the presidency, this one has all the makings of a compelling historical character study.
Sadly, the pieces never come together. And the less said about Harrelson’s prosthetic nose, the better.
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012)
This (very) loose interpretation of the life and times of the Great Emancipator has accumulated a cult following over the years.
And its source material — a 2010 novel by Seth Grahame-Smith — is a fun, breezy read.
But for some reason, director Timur Bekmambetov decided to jettison the book’s lighthearted tone, opting instead to take a deadly serious approach to the story.
It’s a gamble that doesn’t pay off.
That said, the action scenes offer some impressive effects and many a good laugh — even if some of the humorous moments are unintentional.
Reagan (2024)
And we’ll wrap things up with 2024’s other controversial biopic about a relatively recent White House resident.
With the look and feel of a low-budget direct-to-streaming release, this hagiographic look at the Great Communicator fails to convincingly make its point.
Which is strange, as its only argument (“Ronald Reagan was the absolute best guy ever!”) is a rather straightforward one.
It’s never easy to capture the essence of someone as complex as an American president with a couple brief hours of screen time.
But the challenge is made more prodigious when your director won’t acknowledge that his subject possessed faults that were any more serious than a persistent craving for jelly beans.
Over to you, TV fanatics! Did we leave out your favorite (or most hated) presidential biopic? Hit the comments section below to share your thoughts!
