14 Best Fictional Movie Presidents

8. President White (Donald Pleasance) - Escape From New York

lloyd bridges hot shots
AVCO Embassy Pictures

A slightly different take on the Presidency from Pleasance, in John Carpenter’s brilliantly bleak vision of near-future America. Ravaged from the effects of World War 3, the USA is gripped by a crime wave which sees Manhattan turned into a maximum-security prison zone.

Bad luck, therefore for President White, when Airforce One crashes there, while en route to peace talks with China and the Soviet Union.

Enter Kurt Russell, as the iconic Snake Plisken, ex-special forces and current convicted inhabitant of New York City, offered a pardon if he can rescue the President.

To account for a British sounding President, Pleasance apparently concocted a back story including a Margaret Thatcher-led Britain taking over the world. Carpenter opted to ignore this.

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Freelance writer, full-time father, part-time hat wearer. Specialising in film and TV and prone to referencing Douglas Adams a little too often.