In case you hadn’t heard, it’s an election year for the office of president of the United States. I, personally, am not a political person. I am going to use my right to vote this year; however there have been years that I used my freedom of choice to not vote. Being an American is a wonderful thing. Being an American president though, probably is not.
Let’s take a few examples of things that a couple of my favorite presidents have gone through. One had his private jet hijacked. Another, a widower, has problems because he is dating a lobbyist, and as it is an election year, his opponent challenges his character.
Okay, you might be wondering which presidents I’m talking about, but I’m guessing that there are some people out there who know exactly who these people are. Remember, I didn’t say that my favorite presidents were real people.
The first, President James Marshall (Harrison Ford) deals with Russian hijackers in 1997’s Air Force One. He had just made a speech in Russia about how America has a zero-tolerance policy for terrorists. His wife and daughter are on board, as well as his National Security Advisor. The hijackers want a radical general released from prison or they will execute a hostage every half-hour. Vice President Kathyrn Bennett (Glenn Close) must handle the situation from the White House and worry about whom on the plane has survived. She also has to make the decision whether or not to add her name to the document signed by the cabinet members, thereby declaring the president incapacitated (as provided for by the 25th amendment.)
This is a Harrison Ford movie, so even if you haven’t seen the movie, you can probably guess how it ends. Despite the amount of violence in this movie, it is one of my all time favorites. Harrison Ford as President? I’d vote for him.
The second example I used, the widower president – that was Andrew Shephard (Michael Douglas) in 1995’s The American President. He is approaching the end of his first term in office. When he ran the first time, his wife had just passed away, so his political opponent, Senator Bob Rumson (Richard Dreyfuss) couldn’t attack his character. This time however, President Shephard has a girlfriend, Sydney Helen Wade (Annette Bening,) who is discovered having spent the night at the White House. Shephard won’t fight back and his popularity rating starts to fall. This leads to Shephard having to choose between two bills that are under consideration, one that Sydney was hired to get passed, the other one that will increase his popularity.
Again, this is one of my all time favorite movies. There isn’t any violence in it, but it does have a killer cast. Besides the previously mentioned names, Martin Sheen (who played the president in The West Wing and was fabulous,) Michael J Fox, John Mahoney and John Mahon also have prominent roles. Michael Douglas as President? I’d vote for him.
There are several other movies that have the president of the United States as a main character. Dave, All the President’s Men, American Dreamz and Wag the Dog are a few. I have not seen these to comment on; however, I have added a few of them to my growing list of must-sees.
Perhaps this will inspire you to watch something new, or something old for that matter. If you have any suggestions on great movies that will keep me entertained, please feel free to email me. For that matter, if there is anything that you would like me to discourse on, let me know that too. My email is at the top of this column or I can be found often at the Independent office in E-049.