Throughout cinematic history, U.S. presidents have been a popular subject for filmmakers. From biopics to fictionalized dramas to outright comedies, movies about presidents offer a fascinating lens through which to view American history, politics, and culture.
Some of the best presidential films seek to humanize these larger-than-life figures, going beyond their public personas to explore their private struggles and inner lives. Others use the president as a vehicle for social commentary, satire, or even pure escapist entertainment.
In this blog post, we’ll count down the 25 greatest movies ever made about U.S. presidents. These films represent a wide range of genres, eras, and approaches, but they all offer memorable depictions of the men who have held America’s highest office.
Whether you’re a history buff, a political junkie, or just a lover of great cinema, there’s something on this list for you.
25. Sunrise at Campobello (1960)
Kicking off our list is this classic biopic about Franklin D. Roosevelt’s battle with polio in the 1920s. Ralph Bellamy delivers a stirring performance as FDR, capturing the future president’s charm, determination, and political savvy as he fights to overcome his disability and relaunch his career.
Sunrise at Campobello is a poignant, inspiring portrait of personal courage in the face of adversity. It may be a bit staid and stagey by today’s standards, but it remains a powerful testament to FDR’s indomitable spirit.
24. The American President (1995)
Rob Reiner’s romantic comedy imagines what might happen if a widowed U.S. president (Michael Douglas) fell in love with a lobbyist (Annette Bening). Part wish-fulfillment fantasy, part political fairy tale, The American President is a charming, idealistic film that argues love and integrity can triumph in the oft-cynical world of Washington.
Douglas and Bening have wonderful chemistry, and the crackling Aaron Sorkin screenplay is full of wit, passion, and stirring (if sometimes glib) political rhetoric. The American President may not be the most realistic depiction of White House life, but it’s hard to resist its frank capra charm.
23. W. (2008)
Oliver Stone’s biopic about George W. Bush was released while its subject was still in office, making it a rare example of a cinematic “instant history.” Anchored by a uncanny performance from Josh Brolin as the embattled 43rd president, W. chronicles Bush’s journey from hard-partying frat boy to born-again Christian to polarizing political leader.
While Stone’s film has clear point of view, it’s not a simple hatchet job. W. seeks to understand Bush as a man – flawed, misguided, but ultimately well-intentioned. It’s a surprisingly empathetic portrait, even as it critiques the catastrophic consequences of his presidency.
22. Warm Springs (2005)
Like Sunrise at Campobello, this HBO film dramatizes Franklin D. Roosevelt’s struggle with polio, focusing on his time at the therapeutic resort in Warm Springs, Georgia that would become his second home. Kenneth Branagh disappears into the role of FDR, capturing his effortless magnetism, his crippling insecurities, and his growing sense of purpose.
Warm Springs is a small, intimate film that offers a poignant look at a pivotal chapter in FDR’s life. It shows how his experiences at Warm Springs deepened his empathy and resolve, planting the seeds for the kind of president he would become.
21. The Contender (2000)
When a sex scandal derails a vice presidential nominee, the president (Jeff Bridges) taps a female senator (Joan Allen) to take his place – unleashing a firestorm of controversy. The Contender is a gripping political thriller that explores issues of gender, power, and double standards in Washington.
Allen is superb as a principled woman who refuses to apologize for her past, even as she’s grilled about her sex life in lurid detail. Bridges brings his laid-back charm to the role of a savvy president who relishes the political gamesmanship. The Contender crackles with great dialogue and moral complexity.
20. Secret Honor (1984)
Philip Baker Hall delivers a one-man tour de force as Richard Nixon in this audacious, almost experimental film from Robert Altman. Set in the years after his resignation, Secret Honor imagines a drunken, raving Nixon dictating his memoirs and grappling with his demons in a claustrophobic study.
It’s a wild, unhinged performance that captures Nixon’s paranoia, self-pity, and grandiose sense of himself as a misunderstood visionary. Secret Honor is a strange, unsettling film, but it offers a provocative look inside the mind of our most infamous president.
19. Thirteen Days (2000)
This taut political thriller dramatizes the Cuban Missile Crisis from inside the Kennedy White House. Bruce Greenwood is excellent as JFK, conveying his cool charisma and inner turmoil as he faces the very real possibility of nuclear war.
Thirteen Days is a gripping procedural that shows how Kennedy navigated the crisis through a combination of shrewd diplomacy, strategic gamesmanship, and sheer nerve. It’s a fascinating portrait of leadership under almost unimaginable pressure.
18. Hyde Park on Hudson (2012)
Bill Murray goes for broke as Franklin D. Roosevelt in this breezy historical dramedy set during a pivotal 1939 meeting between FDR and the King and Queen of England. Murray plays FDR as a charming rascal, using his wit and magnetism to navigate tricky diplomatic waters while juggling an affair with his distant cousin (Laura Linney).
Hyde Park on Hudson is a slight, amiable film that coasts on Murray’s sheer force of personality. It offers an irreverent, sometimes tawdry look at an American icon, suggesting that even great presidents are only human.
17. The Missiles of October (1974)
Before Thirteen Days, there was this gripping TV movie about the Cuban Missile Crisis. William Devane is uncanny as JFK, perfectly capturing his clipped Boston accent and cool, cerebral demeanor under pressure.
Like Thirteen Days, The Missiles of October is a tense procedural that takes you inside the Kennedy White House as the world teeters on the brink of nuclear war. It’s a chilling reminder of just how close we came to catastrophe.
16. Wilson (1944)
This lavish biopic about Woodrow Wilson was a passion project for legendary producer Darryl F. Zanuck. Alexander Knox stars as the 28th president, tracing his journey from academic to reformist governor to wartime leader.
Wilson is an old-fashioned “great man” biopic, painting its subject in broad, heroic strokes. But it’s a handsomely mounted production with a towering central performance from Knox. It captures Wilson’s idealism, his stubbornness, and his ultimate tragic downfall.
15. Give ’em Hell, Harry! (1975)
James Whitmore reprises his one-man stage show as Harry S. Truman in this filmed record of his acclaimed Broadway performance. Whitmore uncannily embodies the plain-spoken 33rd president, capturing his folksy wit, his blunt honesty, and his fierce sense of right and wrong.
Give ’em Hell, Harry! is a delightful showcase for Whitmore’s acting chops and Truman’s salty, colorful personality. It’s a warm, affectionate portrait that argues Truman’s simple decency was his greatest asset as a leader.
14. Truman (1995)
Gary Sinise disappears into the role of Harry S. Truman in this acclaimed HBO biopic. Like Give ’em Hell, Harry!, Truman celebrates its subject as a plain-spoken man of the people, an accidental president who rose to the occasion with honesty and grit.
But Truman is a more sober, probing character study, delving into Truman’s insecurities, his stubbornness, and his anguished decision to drop the atomic bomb. Sinise delivers a powerhouse performance, capturing Truman’s decency and his flaws in equal measure.
13. PT 109 (1963)
Cliff Robertson stars as a young John F. Kennedy in this dramatization of his World War II heroics as the skipper of a PT boat in the South Pacific. PT 109 is a stirring war movie that burnishes the Kennedy legend, depicting JFK as a courageous leader who risked his life to save his men.
Made with the full cooperation of the Kennedy family, PT 109 is unabashed hagiography. But it’s also a rousing adventure yarn, and Robertson is convincing as the charismatic young Kennedy. It’s easy to see how this movie helped cement JFK’s image as an American hero.
12. Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)
Henry Fonda gives one of his greatest performances as the young Abraham Lincoln in this fictionalized account of his early days as a lawyer in Illinois. Directed by John Ford, Young Mr. Lincoln is a loving tribute to the 16th president, depicting him as a homespun sage with a deep sense of justice.
Fonda perfectly captures Lincoln’s awkward charm, his sly wit, and his fierce moral compass. Young Mr. Lincoln is a masterful piece of mythmaking, turning Lincoln into a folk hero for the ages.
11. Amistad (1997)
Steven Spielberg’s historical drama tells the true story of a group of African slaves who revolt on a Spanish ship and end up on trial in the United States. The case becomes a cause célèbre, with former president John Quincy Adams (Anthony Hopkins) arguing for the Africans’ freedom before the Supreme Court.
Amistad is a powerful, sometimes brutal film that grapples with America’s legacy of slavery. Hopkins is magnificent as Adams, delivering a barn-burning courtroom monologue that ranks among the greatest in cinema history. The film is a testament to the power of the law to right even the most grievous of wrongs.
10. JFK (1991)
Oliver Stone’s controversial epic about the assassination of John F. Kennedy is a fever dream of a movie, mixing fact, speculation, and paranoid fantasy into a dizzying cinematic cocktail. Kevin Costner stars as Jim Garrison, the New Orleans DA who becomes convinced of a vast conspiracy behind the president’s murder.
JFK is a wild, over-the-top ride that bends the truth in service of a larger “truth.” It’s a film that captures the sense of disillusionment and distrust that followed the Kennedy assassination, the feeling that the official story didn’t add up. Love it or hate it, JFK is a one-of-a-kind cinematic experience.
9. Nixon (1995)
Oliver Stone takes on another controversial president in this sprawling biopic about Richard Nixon. Anthony Hopkins delivers a tour-de-force performance as Nixon, capturing his awkward mannerisms, his deep-seated insecurities, and his Shakespearean downfall.
Nixon is a Freudian fever dream of a movie, delving deep into its subject’s psyche to paint a portrait of a brilliant, tormented man undone by his own demons. It’s a film that humanizes Nixon even as it condemns his actions, a tragedy on an epic scale.
8. Primary Colors (1998)
Based on the bestselling novel by Anonymous (later revealed to be journalist Joe Klein), Primary Colors is a thinly veiled roman à clef about Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign. John Travolta stars as Jack Stanton, a charismatic Southern governor with a wandering eye and a gift for retail politics.
Primary Colors is a smart, savvy political satire that captures the circus-like atmosphere of a modern presidential campaign. Travolta is uncanny as a Clinton stand-in, perfectly mimicking his mannerisms and charm. The film is a warts-and-all portrait of a flawed but magnetic leader.
7. Lincoln (2012)
Steven Spielberg’s majestic biopic focuses on the final months of Abraham Lincoln’s life, as he works to pass the 13th Amendment and end the Civil War. Daniel Day-Lewis delivers an Oscar-winning performance as Lincoln, disappearing into the role with uncanny precision.
Lincoln is a stately, talky film that captures the 16th president’s political genius, his folksy charm, and his deep moral conviction. It’s a portrait of a leader who used his wit, his empathy, and his sheer force of will to bend history to his vision.
6. All the President’s Men (1976)
Alan J. Pakula’s gripping Watergate drama follows Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) and Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) as they uncover the scandal that would bring down Richard Nixon. While Nixon himself is only seen in news footage, his presence looms large over the film.
All the President’s Men is a taut, paranoid thriller that captures the sense of unease and distrust that pervaded the Nixon era. It’s a celebration of dogged journalism and a reminder of the power of the press to hold even the most powerful accountable.
5. Frost/Nixon (2008)
Ron Howard’s adaptation of the hit play imagines the behind-the-scenes drama of David Frost’s landmark 1977 interviews with Richard Nixon. Frank Langella reprises his stage role as Nixon, delivering a mesmerizing performance as a man trying to rehabilitate his image and secure his legacy.
Frost/Nixon is a riveting cat-and-mouse game between two men with everything to prove. Langella’s Nixon is a tragic figure, alternately charming and pathetic, brilliant and deluded. The film is a fascinating portrait of a disgraced president trying to write his own history.
4. Dr. Strangelove (1964)
Stanley Kubrick’s pitch-black Cold War satire imagines a world on the brink of nuclear annihilation, with a deranged U.S. general launching a rogue attack on the Soviet Union. Peter Sellers plays three roles, including the hapless President Merkin Muffley, who tries desperately to avert catastrophe.
Dr. Strangelove is a savage, hilarious takedown of the absurdities of the nuclear age. It’s a film that mocks the idea of a “winnable” nuclear war and the men who would lead us into it. Sellers is brilliant in all his roles, but his turn as the mild-mannered Muffley is a particular highlight.
3. Seven Days in May (1964)
This taut political thriller imagines a military coup against a U.S. president (Fredric March) who has just signed a nuclear disarmament treaty with the Soviet Union. Burt Lancaster stars as the charismatic general who leads the conspiracy, with Kirk Douglas as his loyal subordinate who tries to stop him.
Seven Days in May is a chilling what-if scenario that feels all too plausible in our current political climate. It’s a film that questions the very foundations of our democracy and the delicate balance of power between civilian and military leaders.
2. The West Wing (1999-2006)
Okay, so it’s a TV show, not a movie. But Aaron Sorkin’s beloved political drama is too important to ignore on any list of great presidential fiction. Martin Sheen stars as Josiah Bartlet, the idealistic, intellectual president at the heart of Sorkin’s vision of a kinder, gentler Washington.
Over seven seasons, The West Wing offered a fascinating look inside the workings of a (fictional) White House, tackling issues from terrorism to campaign finance reform with wit, passion, and an unabashed love of public service. Sheen’s Bartlet became the platonic ideal of a modern president: brilliant, compassionate, and uncompromising in his principles.
1. Lincoln (2012)
Was there any doubt? Steven Spielberg’s towering achievement takes the top spot on our list, and with good reason. Daniel Day-Lewis’s performance as Abraham Lincoln is one for the ages, a masterclass in embodying a historical figure with empathy, intelligence, and sly humor.
But Lincoln is more than just a great performance. It’s a film that grapples with the very essence of American democracy: the slow, painful, sometimes ugly process of change. It shows Lincoln not as a marble saint but as a flesh-and-blood politician, willing to compromise and cajole to achieve his noble ends.
In the end, Lincoln is a film about the power of words and ideas to change the world. It’s a celebration of a president who used his intellect, his empathy, and his sheer force of will to bend the arc of history toward justice. And it’s a reminder that, even in our darkest hours, the American experiment endures.
So there you have it: the 25 best movies about U.S. presidents. From biopics to satires to thrillers, these films offer a fascinating glimpse into the lives and legacies of the men who have shaped our nation’s history. They remind us of the awesome power and responsibility of the presidency, and the ways in which our leaders have risen – or fallen – to meet the challenges of their time.
Whether you’re a history buff, a political junkie, or just a lover of great cinema, these movies are essential viewing. They offer insight, entertainment, and inspiration, and they remind us of the enduring fascination we have with the most powerful office in the world.
