List of other fictional United States Presidents
Encyclopedia
This list forms part of the List of fictional Presidents of the United States.
Unnamed President in: Amazing Grace and Chuck
Unnamed President in: Amerika
Unnamed President in: Area 7
by Matthew Reilly
Unnamed President in: Armageddon
Unnamed President in: Atomic Train
Unnamed President in: Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
Unnamed President in: "The Awakening", adapted from Howard Fast
's "The General Zapped an Angel", on Masters of Science Fiction
(ABC, 2007)
"Bobby" (no last name given) in: Being There
Unnamed President in By Dawn’s Early Light (1990 film, set in 1991).
Unnamed President in: Canadian Bacon
Unnamed President in: City Beneath the Sea
Unnamed President in: Dark Horse
Unnamed President in: Death Race 2000
Unnamed President in: Donkey Kong in: Banana Day 24
Unnamed President in: Dreamscape
Unnamed President in: Earthworm Jim
Unnamed President in: Escape from L.A.
Unnamed President in: Escape from New York
Unnamed President in: Escape from the Planet of the Apes
Unnamed President in: Fail-Safe
(novel)
Unnamed President in False Memory
by Dean Koontz
, 1999
Unnamed President in The Fifth Horseman
, Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre, 1980.
President "Harold" (no last name given) in: Guarding Tess
Unnamed President in: Heroes
Unnamed President in: The Holy Land
Unnamed President (Secret Service
codename "Wrangler") in: The Hunt for Red October
and Clear and Present Danger
Unnamed President in: I Am Legend (2007 film)
Unnamed Presidents in: The Illuminatus! Trilogy
Unnamed President (Secret Service
codename "Traveler") in: In the Line of Fire
Unnamed President in The Island
(2005)
Unnamed President in: Love Actually
Unnamed President in: Mastodonia by Clifford Simak
Unnamed President in: Medusa's Child
Unnamed President in: the Mr. Show
episode "The Cry of a Hungry Baby"
Unnamed President in The Shape of Things to Come
(H.G. Wells)
Unnamed President in National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007)
Unnamed President in: Not This August
by C.M. Kornbluth
Unnamed President in: Pandora's Clock
Unnamed President in: The Pelican Brief
Unnamed President in: Perfect Dark
Unnamed President in: PreEmpt
by John Vorhies
Unnamed President in:The Last Man on Earth (1924 film)
Unnamed President in: The Puppet Masters
Unnamed President in: The Rock
Unnamed President in: "The Rogue" by Poul Anderson
(part of "Tales of the Flying Mountains")
Unnamed President in: The Second Civil War (TV movie, 1997, dir: Joe Dante
)
Unnamed President in: Shadow Conspiracy
Unnamed President "Prexy" in: The Sheep Look Up
by John Brunner
, 1972.
Unnamed President in: The Silence of the Lambs
Unnamed President in: Slapstick of Another Kind
Unnamed President in: Slatewiper by Lewis Perdue
, 2003
Unnamed President in: Solution Unsatisfactory
by Robert Heinlein
Unnamed President in Species II
Unnamed President in the Spidey Super Stories
short, "Spidey Meets the Funny Bunny", aired as part of the PBS
children's television series, "The Electric Company
."
Unnamed President in: Spock's World
by Diane Duane
.
Unnamed President in: The Stand
by Stephen King
.
Unnamed President in: Stargate SG-1
Unnamed President in: The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!
.
Unnamed President in: Superman II
and Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut
Unnamed "American President" in The Tomorrow People
Unnamed President in Transformers (2007)
Unnamed President in Transmetropolitan
Unnamed President in The Unit
Unnamed President in Wag the Dog
(1997)
Unnamed President in Warday
Unnamed President in X-Men: The Last Stand
(2006)
Unnamed President in You Only Live Twice
(1967)
Unnamed President in an AT&T
commercial (2010)
in fiction, although they did not hold the office in real life. This is done either as an alternate history
scenario, or occasionally for humorous purposes. Also included are actual US Presidents with a fictional presidency at a different time and/or under different circumstances than the one in actual history.
:
Aaron Burr Alston was the grandson of Aaron Burr
as well as the son of Theodosia Burr Alston
and Joseph Alston
. In "The War of '07" by Jayge Carr
in the anthology Alternate Presidents
, Alston becomes President in 1836 upon the death of his grandfather, whom he became Vice President to in 1836. It is implied that the Presidency will henceforth be a hereditary office - Alston's own Vice President is "Paul Aaron Burr".
Benedict Arnold
takes charge of the American Revolutionary cause after the death of George Washington
from pneumonia at Valley Forge
and the disintegration of his army, in the story "Arnoldstown" by Mitchell Cummings. In a series of brilliant campaigns, Arnold snatches victory from the jaws of near-certain defeat and goes on to become the First President of the United States and its most revered Founding Father. The story's name is derived from the US capital in this timeline being "Arnoldstown, D.C.", with his name also being commemorated in the State of Arnoldia on the Pacific Northwest and numerous other placenames.
David Rice Atchison
takes office when both Zachary Taylor
and Millard Fillmore
are killed in a carriage accident in the story "How the South Preserved the Union" by Ralph Roberts in the Anthology Alternate Presidents. In the story, New England secedes, then attempts to overthrow the Washington government. In the end, Atchison orders all slaves freed and armed, and the "Civil War" fails.
, elected President in 1996 (possibly already having served a first term beginning in 1993) in the story "Prince Pat" by George Alec Effinger
in the anthology Alternate Kennedys. Defeated in 2000 by Patrick Bouvier Kennedy.
Alben W. Barkley
succeeds Franklin D. Roosevelt
as the president in Robert A. Heinlein
's novel To Sail Beyond the Sunset
. He in turn is succeeded in 1949 by George Patton.
James G. Blaine
is elected President in 1880 in the alternate history novel How Few Remain
by Harry Turtledove
. He is the only Republican President in that timeline except for Lincoln. Blaine gets the United States into a second losing war with the Confederate States which cost the country part of Maine
as part of the armistice, and sets up a vengeful militarist ideology which would lead the US to enter a World War I
fought also in America, on the side of Imperial Germany.
Chastity Bono
mentioned in The Simpsons
episode "Bart to the Future
" and was president sometime before Lisa Simpson
.
John Wilkes Booth
was president in the DC Comics
"Earth-Three
" alternate history, and was assassinated by actor Abraham Lincoln
. (No detailed explanation given of how this came about, this is just one example of Earth-Three being "the place where everything was the opposite of our world".)
John W. Bricker
is President in The Man in the High Castle
, by Philip K. Dick
. He is elected President in 1940, following John Nance Garner
. Like Garner, he fails to combat the Great Depression
and remains strongly isolationist. As a result of their combined presidencies, the Axis Powers
win World War II
and invade and conquer the United States in 1948.
Jerry Brown
is President of the United States in one of alternate realities depicted in The Coming of the Quantum Cats
by Frederik Pohl
. Considered weak by one of the characters in his timeline, he is largely a puppet ruler, with the military the real force governing the country.
William Jennings Bryan
Aaron Burr
becomes President by manipulating events in the 1800 election in the story "The War of '07" by Jayge Carr
in the Anthology Alternate Presidents. He keeps promising to step down after one more term. Eventually, he becomes President for life, and dies leaving the office as an inheritance to his children and grandchildren, thus turning the United States into a de facto monarchy
or family dictatorship
.
George H.W. Bush
Jeb Bush
is president of a Communist United States in Kim Newman
and Eugene Byrne
' Back in the USSA
, succeeding Eugene V. Debs
. Capone serves as a parallel to Joseph Stalin
. He is succeeded by Barry Goldwater
(a parallel to Nikita Khrushchev
).
Dave Chappelle
Dick Cheney
Winston Churchill
Chelsea Clinton
Hillary Clinton
George Clooney
is a former president in the episode "The Suite Smell of Excess" of The Suite Life of Zack & Cody. Zack and Cody Martin traveled to an alternate universe where everything had changed from their original world and where President Clooney was depicted on the quarter
.
James M. Cox
is elected President in 1920 after Warren G. Harding
dies of a stroke in the story "A Fireside Chat" by Jack Nimersheim in the Anthology Alternate Presidents. In 1921, Cox is assassinated by an anti-League of Nations
activist, leaving his Vice President, Franklin D. Roosevelt
the new President.
Davy Crockett
is elected in 1828 over Andrew Jackson
in the story "Chickasaw Slave" by Judith Moffett
in the Anthology Alternate Presidents.
Mario Cuomo
is portrayed in the British comic 2000 AD
(in the 1993 story Maniac 5) as vice president to President Al Gore, and succeeds to the presidency when Gore is killed by aliens during the Fourth World War. Cuomo is pressured by his advisers into taking drastic measures to win the war, against his better judgment, and shoots himself in remorse. His successor is seen but not named. He is also President in the Stoney Compton novel Russian Amerika
, although the US in that book is limited to New England and the Upper Midwest and the capital is Columbus, Ohio
.
George Armstrong Custer
is mentioned as a President in the story "How the South Preserved the Union" by Ralph Roberts in the Anthology Alternate Presidents. He is named as the victor at the Battle of Little Big Horn.
is president of a Communist United States in Kim Newman
and Eugene Byrne
' Back in the USSA
, overthrowing the presidency of Charles Foster Kane
in 1917 as a parallel of Vladimir Lenin
. He is succeeded by Al Capone
(a parallel to Joseph Stalin
).
Thomas E. Dewey is the subject of two stories in the Anthology Alternate Presidents
.
Bob Dole
is President in several stories.
Stephen A. Douglas
is elected in 1860 in the story "Lincoln's Charge" by Bill Fawcett in the anthology Alternate Presidents
. The Civil War occurs as in our time, and failed candidate Abraham Lincoln
accepts a commission as a Union General.
Michael Dukakis
wins in 1988 in the story "Dukakis and the Aliens" by Robert Sheckley
in the anthology Alternate Presidents
. Dukakis is eventually revealed as an enemy alien, and "friendly" aliens have to adjust the timeline to ensure that George H. W. Bush
is elected instead.
is elected President in 1908 in the novel And Having Writ by Donald R. Bensen
. In this book, the aliens whose ship crashed in the Tunguska event
instead land safely. They create an effective hearing aid for Edison and cure the infirmities of Kaiser Wilhelm II and Czarevitch Alexei, the son of Czar Nicholas II. Edison is nominated by the Republicans
over William Howard Taft
and elected by a technology-enthused public. After pursuing the aliens and their companion, H. G. Wells
, across Europe, he briefly tries to imprison them in order to obtain more of their secrets, but later relents. President Edison chooses not to run in 1912.
David Eisenhower
(grandson of real-life president Dwight D. Eisenhower
) was President of the United States in 1985 in the 1975 movie Tunnelvision, and a former President in 1997 in Americathon
. Both were Neil Israel directed motion pictures.
Michael J. Fox
is mentioned as a former president in the 1989 video game Mean Streets
. (In real life, Fox is ineligible for the presidency, as he was born in Canada.)
Al Franken
was president in Why Not Me?, a satirical novel by Franken. He was elected in 2000, running on eliminating ATM fees. He was the first Jewish President and won in a landslide. Franken's running mate was Senator Joe Lieberman
of Connecticut
, making the Franken-Lieberman ticket the first all-Jewish ticket since Reconstruction. As president, Franken suffered from severe depression and mood swings; he attacked Nelson Mandela
and appointed Sandy Koufax
as Secretary of Veterans Affairs. President Franken resigned after 144 days in office on June 10, 2001. In his resignation speech, he said: "It is my fondest wish that, in the fullness of time, the American people will look back on the Franken presidency as something of a mixed bag and not as a complete disaster."
Benjamin Franklin
assumed office after the successful 1794 Whiskey Rebellion
led to the overthrow and execution of George Washington
in the book The Probability Broach
. Gallatin reformed the system of government, severely limiting its powers, and his legacy eventually led to the formation of the North American Confederacy
John Nance Garner
John Glenn
was elected President in 1976 and 1980 in the 1999 short story, "Hillary Orbits Venus" by Pamela Sargent
.
Barry Goldwater
:
Al Gore
ascends to the presidency after Abraham Lincoln
is killed by a sniper at the Battle of Fort Stevens
in 1864 in Harry Turtledove
's "Must and Shall". Hamlin oversees a Reconstruction of the South that is far more vindictive and brutal than in real history, resulting in a South that continues to chafe under military occupation into the 1940s.
President Harriman, mentioned in The Number of the Beast
by Robert A. Heinlein
, is presumably W. Averell Harriman
. In reading an almanac from our universe, it's noted that Dwight D. Eisenhower
served one of his terms in office (meaning he either served from 1949-1957 or 1957–1965).
William Henry Harrison
, the actual 9th President of the US, had an alternate presidency in Tom Wicker's "His Accidency". The Point of Departure
is Harrison's apparently trivial decision to wear a hat and a coat to his inauguration in March 1841 and cut in half the inauguration speech he prepared, delivered in the open on a cold and rainy day. Thereby, Harrison avoided the pneumonia which in actual history killed him a month later, and served out his full term. Thus, Vice President John Tyler
never ascended to the presidency. In actual history Tyler - a Virginian - had actively promoted Texas, a slave state
, joining the Union; conversely, in Wicker's alternate history the surviving Harrison, a Northerner, was lukewarm to the idea. As a result, the Texans accepted the offer of Mexico to recognise Texas provided that it remained independent and did not join the US. Texas indeed remained the Lone Star Republic and did not join the US. The Mexican War did not break out and thus California, Arizona and New Mexico remained part of Mexico. Harrison's care for his personal health turned out to have seriously derailed Manifest Destiny
.
Gary Hart
is president from 1980-88 in an alternate world inhabited by Susannah Dean
, Eddie Dean, and Jake Chambers
at the end of Stephen King
's novel The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower. Eddie mentions that Hart was elected in a landslide in the 1980 election after almost dropping out due to the "Monkey Business business." In real life, Hart ran for president in 1984 and 1988 (not 1980 and 1984), and the Monkey Business scandal happened in 1987 (not 1980). In this alternate timeline, Ronald Reagan
never entered politics.
Ernest Hemingway
was president between 1956 and 1964 in Harry G. Kaufman's story "Boozing in the Oval Room". He entered the 1956 elections as an independent, after the death of both Dwight D. Eisenhower
and Adlai Stevenson II (from sickness and a road accident respectively). President Hemingway invited Fidel Castro
to the White House in 1959 and forged a close alliance with Castro's Cuba. In 1962 Hemingway engaged in a scandalous fist fight inside the White House with the much younger John Kennedy, here Mayor of Boston, over the favours of Marilyn Monroe
.
Paris Hilton
was portrayed as president in an alternate universe on The Suite Life of Zack and Cody
episode The Suite Smell of Excess. She makes it illegal to weigh more than 108 pounds. Hilton herself once joked in a famous YouTube
video that she would run in the 2008 United States presidential election, after John McCain
used footage of her to negatively portray Barack Obama
as a mere celebrity.
Ernest Hollings
is president in an alternate reality briefly visited by Father Callahan
in Stephen King
's novel The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla. Although the real Hollings sought the candidacy in the 1984 election, in Wolves of the Calla he was elected in 1980.
Herbert Hoover
, the actual thirty-first President of the United States, gets a very different presidency in Harry Turtledove
's Southern Victory Series (American Empire: The Center Cannot Hold
& American Empire: The Victorious Opposition
). He is initially elected Vice President in 1932 on the Democratic ticket with Calvin Coolidge
. However, Coolidge dies a month before he is sworn-in, and so Vice President-elect Hoover becomes president. Hoover is also the 31st president in this timeline. Despite a tremendous victory, Hoover squanders it by allowing the Confederate States to re-arm under Jake Featherston
, and is unable to turn around the economic depression facing the country. He is defeated in 1936 by Socialist Al Smith
.
J. Edgar Hoover
Cordell Hull
became President upon the death of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the Harry Turtledove
alternate history novel Worldwar: Striking the Balance
. Henry Wallace
had been killed in a nuclear strike prior to Roosevelt's death.
- The movie World Gone Wild (1988) is set in 2087 where civilization collapsed after a nuclear war. In one scene of the movie, a character is looking at pre-war relics and finds a copy of Iacocca's autobiography
. He mentions that Iacocca had been a great President.
by L. Neil Smith
. In the book itself, he's only referred to as "President Jackson"; his identity is confirmed in the later sequel The Gallatin Divergence.
Michael Jackson
was president in the short story, "SEAQ and Destroy" by Charles Stross
.
Duane Johnson
, who in reality is a staff member of the anime convention Otakon
, appears in various fandub
parodies as President.
Rev. Jesse Jackson
was president in Greg Costikyan
's 1994 story "The West is Red", in which the Soviet Union
won the Cold War
. Jackson tried to walk a tightrope, instituting moderate social democratic reforms and partial nationalisations without altogether dismantling Capitalism
. But an attempted coup d'état in 1989 tipped the balance and in the aftermath of its failure the United States fully adopted Communism.
Lyndon Johnson is still alive in 1991 and still President (at least nominally), in David Drake
's "Arc Riders" (http://www.amazon.com/dp/0446601527). Johnson was used as a figurehead by a ruthless cabal which - instigated by a fanatic American nationalist time traveler from the future - overthrew constitutional government in 1968 and seized power with the intention of winning the Vietnam War
at all costs. By 1991 the whole of North Vietnam
is occupied by American troops but the war continues unabated in central China
, and the US is on the verge of collapse and a nuclear civil war. President Johnson, kept alive by constant medical attention, has no real power and little knowledge of the acts perpetrated by generals and secret policemen in his name.
Patrick Bouvier Kennedy was elected in 2000 in the story "Prince Pat" by George Alec Effinger
in the anthology Alternate Kennedys, defeating the incumbent Republican, former Secretary of State James A. Baker. In real life Patrick Kennedy, son of President John F. Kennedy
, was born August 7, 1963, and died two days later of Infant respiratory distress syndrome
. This would have made him, at 37, the youngest President in History. In style and plot, the story parallels the Shakespeare
play Henry V
.
John F. Kennedy
Robert Kennedy
Ted Kennedy
Revd Dr Martin Luther King, Jr.
(in one of the episodes What If?, program of Discovery Channel
) was Vice President
under Robert Kennedy and succeeded him in September 1969. Major of his initiatives are détente and continue program of Great Society
(but under a new name). He was assassinated in 1971. He was succeeded by Vice President McGovern.
Wynton Kelly
(in the German Tageschau for the Wende Gruppe Wiedervereinigungsfest) was President of the United States in the 1970s, during a crisis between the US and the USSR around the "Herald des Freien Westens", a communication satellite. The secret services of both sides of the Iron Curtain claimed that the other side had stolen crucial parts of the satellite for military purposes. Kelly gave a broadcast speech in which he warned the Soviet leaders to immediately deliver to stolen parts back to the US under threat of a nuclear attack. In return General Bravonov, the Soviet leader, warned the US to return their parts of the satellite. The broadcast speech can be viewed on YouTube under the tag "Wiedervereinigungsfest".
won the 1924 election, but died the following year (as he did in real life) in the story "Fighting Bob" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
in the Anthology Alternate Presidents.
Fiorello H. La Guardia was elected president in 1951 in the 1939 Robert A. Heinlein
novel For Us, The Living: A Comedy of Customs
, after democracy was restored from an extreme-right dictatorship in the late 1940s. La Guardia served two terms, mainly concerned in a titanic struggle with the banks, ending with the American banks effectively nationalised and a system of social credit
established. Posterity remembers him as one of the United States' greatest presidents.
Le Duc Tho
was President in a story in The Onion
publication Our Dumb Century
, where Gerald Ford
surrenders the United States to the Viet Cong after the end of the Vietnam War
. Le's policies include renaming Washington, DC to New Hanoi, DC; arrested Ford and his cabinet; and converting the US to a collectivized-agrarian economy.
Rush Limbaugh
portrays himself as President in The 1/2 Hour News Hour
. Ann Coulter
serves as his vice president.
Charles Lindbergh
Belva Ann Lockwood
defeated Benjamin Harrison
in 1888 in the story "Love Our Lockwood" by Janet Kagan
in the Anthology Alternate Presidents. She inspired both male and female suffragettes, and was the one to serve between the split terms of Grover Cleveland
.
Huey Long
defeats Franklin Roosevelt in 1936 in the story "Kingfish" by Barry N. Malzberg
in the Anthology Alternate Presidents. He invites Adolf Hitler
to visit America, and allows him to be assassinated via a bomb.
George Marshall
Thomas R. Marshall
Eugene McCarthy
Joseph McCarthy
George B. McClellan
John William McCormack
George McGovern
President McNamara -- presumably Robert S. McNamara
Walter Mondale
Marilyn Monroe
Thomas More
Charlie Murphy
Richard Nixon
:
Chuck Norris
George W. Norris
Oliver North
. Frank Morgan at Mission Control stated that she had gone with her sister to Chicago
to be with their ailing father Barack Obama
rather than witness humans landing on Mars
at Mission Control. Although not specifically identified, Malia would meet the minimum age requirement of 35 by 2033, assuming no changes to the Constitution of the United States and some trickery with the United States presidential line of succession
after July 5, 2033 by being at most Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
.
Twin Presidents Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen
was the first American President-For-Life and leader of the Union Party
in the alternate timeline "Reich 5" in the GURPS
sourcebook Infinite Worlds
. In this timeline, America becomes a fascist
state with the aid of a victorious Nazi Germany
.
Ross Perot
is president in the cartoon Eek! The Cat
and voiced by Charlie Adler.
President Patton, mentioned in The Number of the Beast
by Robert A. Heinlein
, is presumably General George S. Patton
. In reading an almanac from our universe, it's noted that Dwight D. Eisenhower
served one of his terms in office (meaning he either served from 1949-1957 or 1957–1965).
Colin Powell
is President of a post-Communist United States in Kim Newman
and Eugene Byrne
's Back in the USSA
, serving as a parallel to Vladimir Putin
. He is also mentioned to have been President in an episode of SeaQuest 2032. Powell was also mentioned as having been President in the 2000 movie Deterrence
set in the then future year 2008. An aircraft carrier had been named after him, and he was mentioned to taken heroic action in a crisis involving Venezula.
is President in the year 2000 on Knight Rider 2000
and portrayed as having become president in a October 1988 Saturday Night Live
sketch "Dan Quayle: President".
is President of the United States in one of alternate realities depicted in The Coming of the Quantum Cats
by Frederik Pohl
. She is considered a strong and assertive President, who successfully guides her version of the US through the major crisis of an invasion from a different timeline. Her husband Ronald
, known as "The First Gentleman", is mostly disregarded.
Robert Redford
is rumored to be considering running in the 1988 Presidential election at the end of the comic Watchmen
.
Thomas Brackett Reed
is mentioned as being president in Harry Turtledove's Southern Victory Series.
Nelson Rockefeller
is mentioned as the sitting president's immediate predecessor in Michael P. Kube-McDowell
's novel Alternities. He is described as having had a difficult term in office.
Keanu Reeves
is mentioned as president in the Only Fools and Horses
episode Heroes and Villains, although it turns out only to be a part of Rodney's
nightmare. In real life, Reeves is ineligible to run for the Presidency as he was born in the Lebanon
.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Richard Russell, Jr.
is mentioned as being President in Warlords of Utopia
by Lance Parkin
. The Dixiecrat
President is shown as having kept the United States out of World War II
.
is elected president in 1984 in Mitchell J. Freedman's novel A Disturbance of Fate. A Republican, Sadler's pursuit of conservative policies triggers a second civil war that, after much destruction, results in his arrest and the drafting of a new Constitution in which the office of the presidency is abolished.
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Horatio Seymour
Upton Sinclair
was elected in 1920 as the first Socialist president after defeating President Theodore Roosevelt
in Harry Turtledove's Southern Victory Series. After two terms he was succeeded by his vice president Hosea Blackford, who was subsequently defeated for reelection by Calvin Coolidge
.
Al Smith
Bruce Springsteen
appears in Jim Mortimore's Doctor Who
novel Eternity Weeps
. President Springsteen orders a nuclear attack on Turkey and the Moon in an attempt to stop the spread of an alien terraforming virus known as "Agent Yellow".
Joseph Stalin
was president in Harry Turtledove
's alternate history short story "Joe Steele". In it, Stalin's parents emigrated to the United States, where he took the name Joe Steele (as Stalin means 'Man of Steel' in Russians). Stalin takes the place of Franklin Roosevelt as 32nd President, and is as authoritarian in his fictional American incarnation as he was in our timeline's Soviet one. The story is inspired by the Janis Ian
song "god & the fbi", where one of the lyrics is "Stalin was a Democrat".
Harold Stassen
was president in Colonization: Aftershocks
by Harry Turtledove
. After serving being twice elected to the vice presidency, Stassen ascends after President Earl Warren
commits suicide.
D. C. Stephenson
is President in the novel K is for Killing by Daniel Easterman. He is elected as Vice President to Charles Lindbergh
in the 1932 election, and becomes President in 1940 after planning an assassination of Lindbergh and his wife to prevent him from discovering a secret nuclear weapon collaboration plan with Nazi Germany
. Shortly after becoming President, Stephenson is murdered by his own wife, and is succeeded by Speaker of the House
Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr.
Kennedy blames Stephenson's murder on German agents and uses it as a pretext to sever all ties with Germany.
Howard Stern
is shown as the current president in Sliders
episode 21, "The Young and the Relentless."
Adlai Stevenson II
Norman Thomas
is referred to as a former two-term President for the Populist Party in Ward Moore's 1953 novel Bring the Jubilee
.
William Hale Thompson
, who as the Whig party candidate defeated populist President Thomas R. Marshall in 1920, and won a second term against Al Smith in 1924 in Ward Moore's novel Bring the Jubilee
.
Samuel J. Tilden
Donald Trump
was mentioned as being president before Lisa Simpson
in the year 2030. Trump was a very bad president and bankrupted the American economy, causing a crisis for Lisa when she took over. He was mentioned in the "Bart to the Future
" episode of The Simpsons
Rexford Tugwell
is President in The Grasshopper Lies Heavy, a novel-within-a-novel of The Man in the High Castle
by Philip K. Dick
. In it, he is elected President in 1940 after Franklin Roosevelt chooses to run for only two terms; he ensures the US has a large enough naval strength to enter World War II in a dominant position, ensuring Allied victory.
was president from 1941 to 1945 in the 1939 Robert A. Heinlein
novel For Us, The Living: A Comedy of Customs
.
Jesse Ventura
Kurt Vonnegut
is president of a Communist United States in Kim Newman
and Eugene Byrne
's Back in the USSA
, serving as a parallel to Mikhail Gorbachev
.
Earl Warren
is president in the Colonization series
by Harry Turtledove
. Initially elected in 1960, he is very popular and easily wins re-election 1964. However, after ordering the nuclear destruction of Indianapolis
to appease the Lizards after they learned the US had attacked their colony fleet in Earth orbit, Warren commits suicide and is succeeded by Vice President Harold Stassen
.
Adam Weishaupt
is the first President in The Illuminatus! Trilogy
by Robert Shea
and Robert Anton Wilson
, after murdering and taking the identity of George Washington
.
Burton K. Wheeler
:
Harrison A. Williams
was a President in the 1960s in the timeline of Robert A. Heinlein
's "Double Star
". Not much information is given, as this is an event of the distant past for the book's protagonists.
Wendell Willkie
was elected President in 1940 (when Franklin D. Roosevelt
decided to not seek a third term) in the S. M. Stirling
novel Marching Through Georgia
. He led the United States into involvement in World War II
Oprah Winfrey
Victoria Woodhull
is elected President after an amendment restricts Ulysses S. Grant
to one term in the story "We are Not Amused" by Laura Resnick
in the anthology Alternate Presidents. In the story, Queen Victoria corresponds with the new female president, approvingly at first, but less so as her "libertine" ideas on social mores and customs take hold in the Empire.
was Robert F. Kennedy
's successor as president in Mitchell J. Freedman's novel A Disturbance of Fate. He serves two terms and subsequently is killed during the events of the "Second Civil War".
| List of fictional United States Presidents |
|---|
| A – F |
| G – M |
| N – T |
| U – Z |
| Other |
| Candidates |
| Vice Presidents |
Unnamed presidents
Unnamed President in: Advise and ConsentAdvise and Consent
Advise and Consent is a 1959 political novel by Allen Drury that explores the United States Senate confirmation of controversial Secretary of State nominee Robert Leffingwell who is a former member of the Communist Party...
- Was governor of CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
when nominated. - Died in office of a heart attack after the defeat of his controversial nominee for Secretary of StateUnited States Secretary of StateThe United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...
. - Played in the movie version by Franchot ToneFranchot ToneFranchot Tone was an American stage, film, and television actor, star of Mutiny on the Bounty and many other films through the 1960s...
, and is referred to only as "Russ".
Unnamed President in: Amazing Grace and Chuck
Amazing Grace and Chuck
Amazing Grace and Chuck is a 1987 film starring Gregory Peck, Jamie Lee Curtis and William Petersen.-Plot:Chuck Murdock, a 12-year-old boy from Montana and son of a military jet pilot, becomes anxious after seeing a Minuteman missile on a school field trip...
- Played by Gregory PeckGregory PeckEldred Gregory Peck was an American actor.One of 20th Century Fox's most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1960s, Peck continued to play important roles well into the 1980s. His notable performances include that of Atticus Finch in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird, for which he won an...
Unnamed President in: Amerika
Amerika (TV miniseries)
Amerika – suggesting a Russified name for the United States – is an American television miniseries that was broadcast in 1987 on ABC. It starred Kris Kristofferson, Mariel Hemingway, Sam Neill, Robert Urich, and a 17-year-old Lara Flynn Boyle in her first major role. Amerika was about life in the...
- President Elected in 1992 over Devin Milford, and served as a Soviet Puppet after an EMP attack on the United States.
- Was born in Jefferson City, Missouri.
- Played by Alan Royal
Unnamed President in: Area 7
Area 7 (novel)
Area 7 is a novel written by Australian thriller writer Matthew Reilly. It is his fourth book, published in 2001, and is the sequel to Ice Station.-Plot summary:...
by Matthew Reilly
Matthew Reilly
Matthew John Reilly is an Australian action thriller writer. His novels are noted for their fast pace, twisting plots and intense action.- Biography :...
- Previous Governor of Large Southwestern State (probably TexasTexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
) - Has satellite emitter secretly attached to his heart (if his heart stops beating, massive plasma bombs will explode all around the North of America)
- Televised assault on President (referred to as the "Prez" by Mother) by Caesar Russel during attempted reformation of America to pre-Civil WarHistory of the United States (1789–1849)With the election of George Washington as the first president in 1789, the new government acted quickly to rebuild the nation's financial structure. Enacting the program of Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, the government assumed the Revolutionary war debts of the state and the national...
state - Accompanies Shane Schofield around the complex and into space
- Awards participants in the battle classified medals at the end of the book
Unnamed President in: Armageddon
- Makes a speech before the astronauts set off to destroy the asteroid.
- Approved a premature detonation of NASA's nuclear warhead to deflect the asteroid after the drilling of the asteroid proceeds badly; the astronauts stopped the detonation and were able to finish the mission.
- Played by: Stanley AndersonStanley AndersonStanley Anderson is an American actor.-Biography:Anderson was born in Billings, Montana. A Theatre Masters Degree graduate of San Jose State University in the sixties, he began his professional acting career in 1967...
Unnamed President in: Atomic Train
Atomic Train
Atomic Train is a 1999 action-thriller film about an accidental nuclear explosion destroying the city of Denver. It was originally broadcast on NBC as a two-part miniseries.-Cast:*Rob Lowe as John Seger*Kristin Davis as Megan Seger...
- During administration, DenverDenver, ColoradoThe City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
was devastated by a Russian nuclear weapon concealed with hazardous chemicals and toxic waste on board a runaway freight train that has suffered from brake failure. - Played by: Edward HerrmannEdward HerrmannEdward Kirk Herrmann is a U.S. television and film actor. He is best known for his Emmy-nominated portrayals of Franklin D...
Unnamed President in: Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, released in 1999, is the second film in the Austin Powers series that began with 1997's Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery and continued with Austin Powers in Goldmember. The film was directed by Jay Roach, co-written by Mike Myers and screenwriter...
- Is threatened by Dr. EvilDr. EvilDr. Evil is a fictional character, played by Mike Myers in the Austin Powers film series. He is the antagonist of the movies, and Austin Powers' nemesis. He is a parody of James Bond villains, primarily Donald Pleasence's Ernst Stavro Blofeld . Dr...
(Mike MyersMike Myers (actor)Michael John "Mike" Myers is a Canadian actor, comedian, screenwriter, and film producer of British parentage...
); he must pay a ransom of $100 billion or a laser erected on the moonMoonThe Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
will destroy Earth - Briefly considers blowing up the moon in response, asking his advisors "Would you really miss it?"
- Played by Tim RobbinsTim RobbinsTimothy Francis "Tim" Robbins is an American actor, screenwriter, director, producer, activist and musician. He is the former longtime partner of actress Susan Sarandon...
- Takes place in 1969
Unnamed President in: "The Awakening", adapted from Howard Fast
Howard Fast
Howard Melvin Fast was an American novelist and television writer. Fast also wrote under the pen names E. V. Cunningham and Walter Ericson.-Early life:Fast was born in New York City...
's "The General Zapped an Angel", on Masters of Science Fiction
Masters of Science Fiction
Masters of Science Fiction is an American television anthology series by the same creators as Masters of Horror. The show debuted on ABC on August 4, 2007 at 10PM for a run of four episodes...
(ABC, 2007)
- Played by: William B. DavisWilliam B. DavisWilliam Bruce Davis is a Canadian actor, known for his role as The Smoking Man on The X-Files. He has also appeared in Stargate SG-1 as Damaris, a Prior of the Ori and as Mayor Tate on Smallville...
"Bobby" (no last name given) in: Being There
Being There
Being There is a 1979 American comedy-drama film directed by Hal Ashby. Adapted from the 1971 novella written by Jerzy Kosinski, the screenplay was coauthored by Kosinski and Robert C. Jones. The film stars Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine, Melvyn Douglas, Jack Warden, Richard A...
- Played by: Jack WardenJack WardenJack Warden was an American character actor.-Early life:Warden was born John Warden Lebzelter in Newark, New Jersey, the son of Laura M. and John Warden Lebzelter, who was an engineer and technician. He was of Irish and Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry...
Unnamed President in By Dawn’s Early Light (1990 film, set in 1991).
- Played by: Martin LandauMartin LandauMartin Landau is an American film and television actor. Landau began his career in the 1950s. His early films include a supporting role in Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest . He played continuing roles in the television series Mission: Impossible and Space:1999...
- Confronted with a plot be renegade Soviet officers to ignite nuclear war. Being wounded and blinded by a nuclear blast, and assumed to be dead, the Secretary of the InteriorUnited States Secretary of the InteriorThe United States Secretary of the Interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior.The US Department of the Interior should not be confused with the concept of Ministries of the Interior as used in other countries...
acts as President and is about to order an all-out nuclear strike on the Soviet Union, but the true President is able at the last moment to reassert control and avert the strike, and though Americans and Soviets sustained much damage, a complete destruction was averted.
Unnamed President in: Canadian Bacon
Canadian Bacon (film)
Canadian Bacon is a 1995 comedy film which satirizes Canada – United States relations along the Canada – United States border written, directed and produced by Michael Moore, his only non-documentary feature...
- An uninspiring president suffering from low popularity, he and his advisors started a fake cold warCold war (general term)A cold war or cold warfare is a state of conflict between nations that does not involve direct military action but is pursued primarily through economic and political actions, propaganda, acts of espionage or proxy wars waged by surrogates...
with CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
to rally American citizens and boost his approval ratings. - Played by: Alan AldaAlan AldaAlphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo , better known as Alan Alda, is an American actor, director, screenwriter, and author. A six-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award winner, he is best known for his role as Hawkeye Pierce in the TV series M*A*S*H...
Unnamed President in: City Beneath the Sea
City Beneath the Sea (1971 film)
City Beneath the Sea is a 1971 science fiction television film and television pilot for a proposed series by Irwin Allen. It started as a conceptual 10 minute demo reel as a means to sell the plot and concept to television studios. The concept wasn't bought initially and a few years later Allen...
- Played by: Richard BasehartRichard BasehartJohn Richard Basehart was an American actor. He starred in the 1960s television science fiction drama Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, in the role of Admiral Harriman Nelson.-Career:...
Unnamed President in: Dark Horse
Dark Horse (2008 novel)
Dark Horse is a 2008 novel by conservative activist Ralph Reed.-Plot summary:The book is set in an unknown election year in the near future . It begins at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, where there has been an extremely tight race for the nomination over California...
- His administration unsuccessfully attempts to overthrow the IranIranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
ian government - Vice President is Harris Flaherty, who is the nominee of the Republican Party for President until he is assassinated.
- Appoints former Secretary of State (and running mate of Flaherty) David Petty as Vice President after Flaherty assassination, who is then elevated to the Presidential nomination
- Chooses not to interfere in the House Vote for the Presidency after a deadlocked election, frustrated that he was not used on the campaign trail
- Chief of Staff: Sam Syms
- Party: RepublicanRepublican Party (United States)The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
Unnamed President in: Death Race 2000
Death Race 2000
Death Race 2000 is a 1975 cult action film directed by Paul Bartel, and starring David Carradine, Simone Griffeth and Sylvester Stallone. The film takes place in a dystopian American society in the year 2000, where the murderous Transcontinental Road Race has become a form of national entertainment...
- Referred to only as "Mr. President"
- The fascist dictator since "the world crash of '79", he is absolute ruler of America, and it is implied, most of the world
- Played by: Sandy McCallum
Unnamed President in: Donkey Kong in: Banana Day 24
Club Nintendo
Club Nintendo is the name of several publications and a more well-known customer loyalty program provided by Nintendo. The loyalty program is free to join and is committed to providing rewards in exchange for consumer feedback and loyalty to purchasing official Nintendo products...
- Only referred to as "Mr. President"
- Appears as a likeable and helpful person, in contrast to misc. U.S. Presidents in the Mario universe.
- Held a summit to search for a solution of the sudden global drop of temperatureClimate changeClimate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
all over the world. - Has easy to convince extraterrestrialsExtraterrestrial lifeExtraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...
.
Unnamed President in: Dreamscape
Dreamscape (film)
Dreamscape is a 1984 science fiction horror film directed by Joseph Ruben and written by David Loughery, with Chuck Russell and Ruben co-writing...
- Played by: Eddie AlbertEddie AlbertEdward Albert Heimberger , known professionally as Eddie Albert, was an American actor and activist. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1954 for his performance in Roman Holiday, and in 1973 for The Heartbreak Kid.Other well-known screen roles of his include Bing...
Unnamed President in: Earthworm Jim
- A parody: Jim had gotten a chance to "meet the President" for his heroic deeds. Upon meeting him he exclaims "Hey! You're not the President!" The President responds "I'm one of those generic Presidents they put into TV shows to stop them from getting dated." Psy-Crow later crashed into the White HouseWhite HouseThe White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
and made the same observation, receiving the same response from the President.
Unnamed President in: Escape from L.A.
Escape from L.A.
Escape From L.A. is a 1996 film directed by John Carpenter. The sequel to the action film Escape from New York, the film follows former war hero Snake Plissken, played by Kurt Russell...
- Christian fundamentalist president who changes the Constitution to become president-for-life.
- Played by: Cliff RobertsonCliff RobertsonClifford Parker "Cliff" Robertson III was an American actor with a film and television career that spanned half of a century. Robertson portrayed a young John F. Kennedy in the 1963 film PT 109, and won the 1968 Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in the movie Charly...
Unnamed President in: Escape from New York
Escape from New York
Escape from New York is a 1981 American science fiction action film directed and scored by John Carpenter. He co-wrote the screenplay with Nick Castle. The film is set in the near future in a crime-ridden United States that has converted Manhattan Island in New York City into a maximum security...
- Crashlands in the Maximum Security prison of New York, and has to be rescued.
- Played by: Donald PleasenceDonald PleasenceSir Donald Henry Pleasence, OBE, was a British actor who gained more than 200 screen credits during a career which spanned over four decades...
Unnamed President in: Escape from the Planet of the Apes
Escape from the Planet of the Apes
Escape from the Planet of the Apes, directed by Don Taylor, is a 1971 science fiction film starring Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Bradford Dillman and Ricardo Montalbán. It is the third of five films in the original Planet of the Apes series produced by Arthur P. Jacobs, the second being Beneath the...
- Played by: William WindomWilliam Windom (actor)William Windom is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his work on television, including several episodes of The Twilight Zone; playing the character of Glen Morley, a congressman from Minnesota like his own great-grandfather and namesake in The Farmer's Daughter; the character of John...
Unnamed President in: Fail-Safe
Fail-Safe (novel)
Fail-Safe is a novel by Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler, published in 1962.The popular and critically acclaimed novel was first adapted into a 1964 film of the same name directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Henry Fonda, Dan O'Herlihy, and Walter Matthau. In 2000, the novel was adapted again for...
(novel)
- When a fatal mistake causes American planes to bomb MoscowMoscowMoscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
and destroy it, the President (who seems to be modeled on John F. KennedyJohn F. KennedyJohn Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
) takes the harsh decision to order an American plane to bomb New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and destroy it, as the only way to mollify the angry Soviets and avert an all-out nuclear war in which New York and many other cities would have been destroyed. The President also makes the hard personal decision not to warn the First Lady, who is in New York, letting her become one of the victims of his decision. - Played by Henry FondaHenry FondaHenry Jaynes Fonda was an American film and stage actor.Fonda made his mark early as a Broadway actor. He also appeared in 1938 in plays performed in White Plains, New York, with Joan Tompkins...
in the 1964 film adaptation and by Richard DreyfussRichard DreyfussRichard Stephen Dreyfuss is an American actor best known for starring in a number of film, television, and theater roles since the late 1960s, including the films American Graffiti, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Goodbye Girl, Whose Life Is It Anyway?, Stakeout, Always, What About...
in the 2000 TV remake.
Unnamed President in False Memory
False Memory (novel)
False Memory is a novel by the best-selling author Dean Koontz, released in 1999.-Editions:The main idea of the story is the creation of false memories or a memory that never occurred....
by Dean Koontz
Dean Koontz
Dean Ray Koontz is a prolific American author best known for his novels which could be described broadly as suspense thrillers. He also frequently incorporates elements of horror, science fiction, mystery, and satire. A number of his books have appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List, with...
, 1999
- His administration was investigating corruption in the Commerce Department
- To stop this, an unnamed organization contracted to a group which employed Dr. Mark Ahriman to use drug and hypnosis brainwashing techniques to have a famous actor attack the president and bite his nose off, after which the actor would be killed.
- The attack takes place, but Ahrimann's involvement is soon brought to light.
Unnamed President in The Fifth Horseman
The Fifth Horseman (novel)
The Fifth Horseman is a novel written by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre. In a suspenseful novel of terrorist threat, Libyan leader Gaddafi holds New York City hostage with the threat of setting off a hidden nuclear bomb...
, Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre, 1980.
- Compelled to negotiate with Muammar al-GaddafiMuammar al-GaddafiMuammar Muhammad Abu Minyar Gaddafi or "September 1942" 20 October 2011), commonly known as Muammar Gaddafi or Colonel Gaddafi, was the official ruler of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and then the "Brother Leader" of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011.He seized power in a...
over a nuclear weapon Gaddafi has hidden in New York City. - Depicted as having attributes of both Jimmy CarterJimmy CarterJames Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
and Ronald ReaganRonald ReaganRonald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
, the two real-world candidates for U.S. President the year the novel was written.
President "Harold" (no last name given) in: Guarding Tess
Guarding Tess
Guarding Tess is a 1994 film starring Shirley MacLaine and Nicolas Cage, directed by Hugh Wilson.MacLaine plays the part of a fictional former First Lady protected by an entourage of Secret Service bodyguards led by a reluctant Doug Chesnic ....
- Vice president under James Carlisle, another fictional chief executive, he succeeded to the presidency upon Carlisle's death in office sometime in the 1980s. He was still in power as of 1992. He is likely a native of TexasTexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. - Quote: "Or next time, you'll be guardin' my dog, do you hear me son?"
- Played by: Hugh Wilson
Unnamed President in: Heroes
Heroes (TV series)
Heroes is an American science fiction television drama series created by Tim Kring that appeared on NBC for four seasons from September 25, 2006 through February 8, 2010. The series tells the stories of ordinary people who discover superhuman abilities, and how these abilities take effect in the...
- Signs off on Nathan Petrelli'sNathan PetrelliNathan Petrelli, portrayed by Adrian Pasdar, is a fictional character on the NBC science fiction drama series Heroes. He is a New York lawyer-turned-senator with the power of self-propelled flight. Ambitious and pragmatic, Nathan has a decidedly anti-hero streak, which exacerbates his complex...
plan to hunt down and contain people with super powers. - Played by: Michael DornMichael DornMichael Dorn is an American actor, and voice artist who is best known for his role as the Klingon Worf from the Star Trek franchise.-Early life and career:...
Unnamed President in: The Holy Land
Robert Zubrin
Robert Zubrin is an American aerospace engineer and author, best known for his advocacy of the manned exploration of Mars. He was the driving force behind Mars Direct—a proposal intended to produce significant reductions in the cost and complexity of such a mission...
- Fundamentalist and entirely corrupt, considers alien "pagans" an abomination.
Unnamed President (Secret Service
United States Secret Service
The United States Secret Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency that is part of the United States Department of Homeland Security. The sworn members are divided among the Special Agents and the Uniformed Division. Until March 1, 2003, the Service was part of the United States...
codename "Wrangler") in: The Hunt for Red October
The Hunt for Red October
The Hunt for Red October is a 1984 novel by Tom Clancy. The story follows the intertwined adventures of Soviet submarine captain Marko Aleksandrovich Ramius and CIA analyst Jack Ryan.The novel was originally published by the U.S...
and Clear and Present Danger
Clear and Present Danger
Clear and Present Danger is a novel by Tom Clancy, written in 1989, and is a canonical part of the Jack Ryan universe. In the novel, Jack Ryan is thrown into the position of CIA Acting Deputy Director and discovers that he is being kept in the dark by his colleagues who are conducting a covert war...
- Mentioned as being a former prosecutingProsecutorThe prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the common law adversarial system, or the civil law inquisitorial system...
attorneyLawyerA lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political... - Apparently a RepublicanRepublican Party (United States)The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
, since Fowler (his opponent in Clear and Present Danger) is a DemocratDemocratic Party (United States)The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
Unnamed President in: I Am Legend (2007 film)
I Am Legend (film)
I Am Legend is a 2007 post-apocalyptic science fiction film directed by Francis Lawrence and starring Will Smith. It is the third feature film adaptation of Richard Matheson's 1954 novel of the same name, following 1964's The Last Man on Earth and 1971's The Omega Man. Smith plays virologist Robert...
- In December 2009, he gives a radio address declaring a military quarantineQuarantineQuarantine is compulsory isolation, typically to contain the spread of something considered dangerous, often but not always disease. The word comes from the Italian quarantena, meaning forty-day period....
of New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in an attempt to control the spread of KV. - His voice is similar to Dick CheneyDick CheneyRichard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....
's.
Unnamed Presidents in: The Illuminatus! Trilogy
The Illuminatus! Trilogy
The Illuminatus! Trilogy is a series of three novels written by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson first published in 1975. The trilogy is a satirical, postmodern, science fiction-influenced adventure story; a drug-, sex-, and magick-laden trek through a number of conspiracy theories, both...
Unnamed President (Secret Service
United States Secret Service
The United States Secret Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency that is part of the United States Department of Homeland Security. The sworn members are divided among the Special Agents and the Uniformed Division. Until March 1, 2003, the Service was part of the United States...
codename "Traveler") in: In the Line of Fire
In the Line of Fire
In the Line of Fire is a 1993 American thriller film about a disillusioned and obsessed former CIA agent who attempts to assassinate the President of the United States and the Secret Service agent who tracks him...
- Played by: Jim Curley
Unnamed President in The Island
The Island (2005 film)
The Island is a 2005 American science fiction/thriller film directed by Michael Bay and starring Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson. It was released on July 22, 2005 in the United States, and was nominated for three awards including the Teen Choice Award....
(2005)
- Tom Everett as the President of America and his "insurance policy" in the movie.
- Played by: Tom EverettTom EverettTom Everett is an American actor known for his performances in political films such as Air Force One and Thirteen Days.-Film:-TV:-External links:...
Unnamed President in: Love Actually
- Depraved "typical American" foil to the BritishUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
PMPrime Minister of the United KingdomThe Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
(played by Hugh GrantHugh GrantHugh John Mungo Grant is an English actor and film producer. He has received a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA, and an Honorary César. His films have earned more than $2.4 billion from 25 theatrical releases worldwide. Grant achieved international stardom after appearing in Richard Curtis's...
). Acting in extremely arrogant and overbearing manner during a visit to London. On top of his crude conduct om political issues, the President's crude attempt to seduce the British PM's secretary (Martine McCutcheonMartine McCutcheonMartine McCutcheon is an English singer, television personality and Laurence Olivier Award-winning actress. McCutcheon had minor success as one third of the pop group Milan in the early 1990s; however, it was her role as Tiffany Mitchell in BBC's EastEnders that made her a household name in the UK...
), with whom the PM himself is in love, precipitates an open breach in US-British relations. - Played by: Billy Bob ThorntonBilly Bob ThorntonBilly Bob Thornton is an American actor, screenwriter, director and musician. Thornton gained early recognition as a cast member on the CBS sitcom Hearts Afire and in several early 1990s films including On Deadly Ground and Tombstone...
Unnamed President in: Mastodonia by Clifford Simak
- Strongly opposed to a Congressional bill by which newly discovered time travelTime travelTime travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
would be used to settle welfare beneifiaries on virgin soil 25 million years in the past and give them a new start, financed by the US government. After the bill is passed by both houses, the President immediately vetoes it. Congress overturns his veto, but the President resorts to the expedient of the State Department defining the past as "a foreign country" and forbidding US citizens from traveling there, on grounds of "national security" and "public health". The President's act precipitate unprecedented mass riots in slums and ghettos all over the country, with thousands killed in the course of five days and the US brought to verge of total chaos. Finally, the President has no choice but to give in stop obstructing the "HomesteadHomestead (buildings)A homestead is either a single building, or collection of buildings grouped together on a large agricultural holding, such as a ranch, station or a large agricultural operation of some other designation.-See also:* Farm house* Homestead Act...
ing the Past" program.
Unnamed President in: Medusa's Child
- Played by: Martin SheenMartin SheenRamón Gerardo Antonio Estévez , better known by his stage name Martin Sheen, is an American film actor best known for his performances in the films Badlands and Apocalypse Now , and in the television series The West Wing from 1999 to 2006.He is considered one of the best actors never to be...
Unnamed President in: the Mr. Show
Mr. Show
Mr. Show with Bob and David is an American sketch comedy series featuring former Saturday Night Live writer/actor Bob Odenkirk and stand up comedian/actor David Cross...
episode "The Cry of a Hungry Baby"
- Played by: David CrossDavid CrossDavid Cross is an American actor, writer and stand-up comedian perhaps best known for his work on HBO's sketch comedy series Mr...
Unnamed President in The Shape of Things to Come
The Shape of Things to Come
The Shape of Things to Come is a work of science fiction by H. G. Wells, published in 1933, which speculates on future events from 1933 until the year 2106. The book is dominated by Wells's belief in a world state as the solution to mankind's problems....
(H.G. Wells)
- In the 1980s makes a last-ditch effort to stop the United States being swallowed by the emergent world state, issuing a decree to dissolve the Air and Food Trust of America (the world government's American representative) - but with the US Federal Government little more than an empty shell the President is unable to enforce it. Aeroplanes from DearbornDearborn-Places:In the United States, all named after Henry Dearborn :* Dearborn, Michigan* Dearborn, Missouri* Dearborn County, Indiana* Fort Dearborn * Fort Dearborn , in present-day Odiorne State Park...
- one of the world government's main bases - circle with impunity over the capital and White House and drop parodies of the President’s decree. This is apparently the last President of the US on this timeline, as "long before 2000" Washington D.C. becomes no more than "a historical capital".
Unnamed President in National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007)
- Studied architectural historyArchitectural HistoryArchitectural History is the main journal of the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain .The journal is published each autumn. The architecture of the British Isles is a major theme of the journal, although it includes more general papers on the history of architecture. Member of...
at Yale UniversityYale UniversityYale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States... - Favorite President was Abraham LincolnAbraham LincolnAbraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
- Revealed the location of the President's Book, a list of all the nation's secrets compiled by all previous Presidents for the sole use of the President, to Benjamin Gates during his birthday party at Mount VernonMount VernonThe name Mount Vernon is a dedication to the English Vice-Admiral Edward Vernon. It was first applied to Mount Vernon, the Virginia estate of George Washington, the first President of the United States...
, and asked Gates to resolve an unnamed secret listed on page 47 of said book. Gates technically kidnapped him, but the President later told the Secret Service that they were exploring a tunnel when the door closed and Gates saved his life. - Played by: Bruce GreenwoodBruce GreenwoodBruce Greenwood is a Canadian actor and musician. He is generally known for his roles as U.S. presidents in Thirteen Days and National Treasure: Book of Secrets and for his role as Captain Christopher Pike in the 2009 Star Trek film...
Unnamed President in: Not This August
Not This August
Not This August, also known as Christmas Eve, is a science fiction novel by C.M. Kornbluth. It was originally published in 1955 by Doubleday. It was serialized in Maclean's Magazine in May and June 1955. A revised edition with a new foreword and afterword by Frederik Pohl was published in 1981 by...
by C.M. Kornbluth
- During his term, the United States is invaded and conquered by the combined forces of the Soviet UnionSoviet UnionThe Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and the People's Republic of ChinaPeople's Republic of ChinaChina , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
. - He announces the US surrender over CONELRADCONELRADCONELRAD was a method of emergency broadcasting to the public of the United States in the event of enemy attack during the Cold War. It was intended to serve two purposes; to prevent Soviet bombers from homing in on American cities by using radio or TV stations as beacons, and to provide...
. - He and his Vice-President are both summarily executed.
Unnamed President in: Pandora's Clock
Pandora's Clock
Pandora's Clock is a 1996 Television movie based on a novel by John J. Nance about a deadly virus on a Boeing 747-200 from Frankfurt to JFK Airport...
- During administration, Quantum Airlines flight 66 carries 247 passengers and one man infected with a doomsday virusBiological agentA biological agent — also called bio-agent or biological threat agent — is a bacterium, virus, prion, or fungus which may cause infection, allergy, toxicity or otherwise create a hazard to human health. They can be used as a biological weapon in bioterrorism or biological warfare...
from Frankfurt, Germany to New York, New York. The plane is unable to land and rogue elements within the government plans to shoot it down. - Played by: Edward HerrmannEdward HerrmannEdward Kirk Herrmann is a U.S. television and film actor. He is best known for his Emmy-nominated portrayals of Franklin D...
Unnamed President in: The Pelican Brief
The Pelican Brief
The Pelican Brief is a legal-suspense thriller written by John Grisham in 1992. The hardcover edition was published by Doubleday in that same year. Two paperback editions were published, both by Dell Publishing in 1993...
- A first term president, his re-election prospects are jeopardized by an attempted cover-up regarding two Supreme CourtSupreme Court of the United StatesThe Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
justices' assassinations. - Played by: Robert CulpRobert CulpRobert Martin Culp was an American actor, scriptwriter, voice actor and director, widely known for his work in television. Culp first earned an international reputation for his role as Kelly Robinson on I Spy , the espionage series in which he and co-star Bill Cosby played a pair of secret agents...
Unnamed President in: Perfect Dark
Perfect Dark
Perfect Dark is a first-person shooter video game developed by Rare for the Nintendo 64 video game console. It is considered the spiritual successor to Rare's earlier first-person shooter GoldenEye 007, with which it shares many gameplay features...
- Was the victim of an assassination attempt aboard Air Force OneAir Force OneAir Force One is the official air traffic control call sign of any United States Air Force aircraft carrying the President of the United States. In common parlance the term refers to those Air Force aircraft whose primary mission is to transport the president; however, any U.S. Air Force aircraft...
by adviser Trent Easton and the Blonde Men, after repeatedly refusing to loan the science vessel Pelagic II to the Datadyne corporation. The attempt failed when he was rescued by Joanna Dark and the alien ElvisElvis PresleyElvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
. - Was President during the human race's first contact with extraterrestrials, namely the peaceful Maians and warlike Skedar.
- According to an in-game biography, he was a 50-year-old African-AmericanBlack president in popular culture (United States)Before the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States in 2008, the idea of a black president was explored by various writers in novels , movies and television. Numerous actors, comedians and celebrities portrayed a black president...
and unfairly portrayed as "easily led" by political commentators. - Set in 2023.
Unnamed President in: PreEmpt
Preempt
Preempt is a bid in contract bridge whose primary objectives are to thwart opponents ability to bid to their best contract, with some safety, and to fully describe one's hand to one's partner in a single bid. A preemptive bid is usually made by jumping, i.e. skipping one or more bidding levels...
by John Vorhies
- Ordered two nuclear missiles to be fired into the Tasman SeaTasman SeaThe Tasman Sea is the large body of water between Australia and New Zealand, approximately across. It extends 2,800 km from north to south. It is a south-western segment of the South Pacific Ocean. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman, the first recorded European...
on September 6, 1973, in order to hit the rogue nuclear submarineNuclear submarineA nuclear submarine is a submarine powered by a nuclear reactor . The performance advantages of nuclear submarines over "conventional" submarines are considerable: nuclear propulsion, being completely independent of air, frees the submarine from the need to surface frequently, as is necessary for...
"Nathan HaleNathan HaleNathan Hale was a soldier for the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He volunteered for an intelligence-gathering mission in New York City but was captured by the British...
". The submarine was fatally disabled, but the President's act constituted a violation of an international treaty signed by the US and duly ratified by Congress. Therefore, impeachment proceedings were started against him and on October 19, 1973 the President was found guilty or violating his oath and removed from office.
Unnamed President in:The Last Man on Earth (1924 film)
The Last Man on Earth (1924 film)
The Last Man on Earth is a silent comedy produced by Fox Film Corporation and loosely based on Mary Shelley's 1826 novel The Last Man. The film was remade as the semi-musical comedy It's Great to Be Alive , and influenced the sci-fi novel Mr...
- A woman, elected President after a mysterious disease killed nearly all men in the world. Her name is not given.
Unnamed President in: The Puppet Masters
The Puppet Masters
The Puppet Masters is a 1951 science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein in which American secret agents battle parasitic invaders from outer space...
- President in 2007 (decades in the future at the time of writing), unclear if this is his first or second term. Establishes a secret intelligence service under his personal control, authorised to act both inside the US and abroad, bypassing the CIACentral Intelligence AgencyThe Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
and FBIFederal Bureau of InvestigationThe Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
and unreported to Congress - constitutionally highly questionable but it turns out to save the world from a vicious alien invasion. On one occasion the President's first name is given as "Tom", his family name never mentioned. In the 1994 film version he is "President Douglas", which is not attested in the original HeinleinRobert A. HeinleinRobert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of...
book. - The book also makes a brief reference to "The Crisis of '96", when "The President-Elect was laid up with pneumonia and an actor delivered the inaugural address in his place". No further details are given of that president.
Unnamed President in: The Rock
The Rock (film)
The Rock is a 1996 action film that primarily takes place on Alcatraz Island and in the San Francisco Bay area. It was directed by Michael Bay and stars Sean Connery, Nicolas Cage and Ed Harris. It was produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer and released through Hollywood Pictures. The film...
- He approves the air strike against Alcatraz.
- Played by: Stanley AndersonStanley AndersonStanley Anderson is an American actor.-Biography:Anderson was born in Billings, Montana. A Theatre Masters Degree graduate of San Jose State University in the sixties, he began his professional acting career in 1967...
Unnamed President in: "The Rogue" by Poul Anderson
Poul Anderson
Poul William Anderson was an American science fiction author who began his career during one of the Golden Ages of the genre and continued to write and remain popular into the 21st century. Anderson also authored several works of fantasy, historical novels, and a prodigious number of short stories...
(part of "Tales of the Flying Mountains")
- Leader of The Social JusticeSocial justiceSocial justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being. The term and modern concept of "social justice" was coined by...
Party (Esjays), wins the Presidency and a Congrssional majority at an unspecified year in the late 21st Century or the early 22nd. Displeased with the unrestrained Private enterprise flourishing at the American colonies in the Asteroid BeltAsteroid beltThe asteroid belt is the region of the Solar System located roughly between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter. It is occupied by numerous irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids or minor planets...
, and authorises sending a warship with secret instructions to arrange "an accident" so as to destroy Sword Enterprises, the company of budding space tycoon Mike Blades. Blades managges to outwit the saboteurs, in what would become the first skirmish in an Asterite War of IndependenceWar of IndependenceA war of independence is a conflict occurring over a territory that has declared independence. Once the state that previously held the territory sends in military forces to assert its sovereignty or the native population clashes with the former occupier, a separatist rebellion has begun...
recounted in later stories of the series.
Unnamed President in: The Second Civil War (TV movie, 1997, dir: Joe Dante
Joe Dante
Joseph "Joe" Dante, Jr. is an American film director and producer of films generally with humorous and science fiction content....
)
- Played by: Phil HartmanPhil HartmanPhilip Edward "Phil" Hartman was a Canadian-American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and graphic artist. Born in Brantford, Ontario, Hartman and his family moved to the United States when he was 10...
Unnamed President in: Shadow Conspiracy
Shadow Conspiracy
Shadow Conspiracy is a 1997 political thriller film starring Charlie Sheen, Donald Sutherland and Linda Hamilton. Sam Waterston, famous for his role as a district attorney in Law & Order, appears in the film as the president of the United States. It is the final film directed by George P...
- His Vice President Saxon is trying to kill him and take his place.
- Played by: Sam WaterstonSam WaterstonSamuel Atkinson "Sam" Waterston is an American actor and occasional producer and director. Among other roles, he is noted for his Academy Award-nominated portrayal of Sydney Schanberg in 1984's The Killing Fields, and his Golden Globe- and Screen Actors Guild Award-winning portrayal of Jack McCoy...
Unnamed President "Prexy" in: The Sheep Look Up
The Sheep Look Up
The Sheep Look Up is a science fiction novel by British author John Brunner, first published in 1972. The novel's setting is decidedly dystopian; the book deals with the deterioration of the environment in the United States...
by John Brunner
John Brunner (novelist)
John Kilian Houston Brunner was a prolific British author of science fiction novels and stories. His 1968 novel Stand on Zanzibar, about an overpopulated world, won the 1968 Hugo Award for best science fiction novel. It also won the BSFA award the same year...
, 1972.
- Genial idiot President in Brunner's dystopian SF novel.
Unnamed President in: The Silence of the Lambs
The Silence of the Lambs (novel)
The Silence of the Lambs is a novel by Thomas Harris. First published in 1988, it is the sequel to Harris' 1981 novel Red Dragon. Both novels feature the cannibalistic serial killer Dr. Hannibal Lecter, this time pitted against FBI Special Agent Clarice Starling.- Plot summary :The novel takes...
- Takes a personal interest in the kidnapping and threatened murder and mutilation of Catherine Baker Martin, the daughter of Senator Ruth Martin. Based on the President's authorization to make all possible efforts, the psychopatic murderer and cannibal Hannibal LecterHannibal LecterHannibal Lecter M.D. is a fictional character in a series of horror novels by Thomas Harris and in the films adapted from them.Lecter was introduced in the 1981 thriller novel Red Dragon as a brilliant psychiatrist and cannibalistic serial killer...
is asked to help. Lecter does help save the Senator's daughter - but also uses the opportunity to escape and commit a whole series of horrific new murders of his own.
Unnamed President in: Slapstick of Another Kind
Slapstick of Another Kind (film)
Slapstick of Another Kind is an American comedy film. It was filmed in 1982, and released in March 1984 by both The S. Paul Company/Serendipity Entertainment Releasing Company and International Film Marketing...
- Played by: Jim BackusJim BackusJames Gilmore "Jim" Backus was a radio, television, film, and voice actor. Among his most famous roles are the voice of Mr...
- In the Kurt VonnegutKurt VonnegutKurt Vonnegut, Jr. was a 20th century American writer. His works such as Cat's Cradle , Slaughterhouse-Five and Breakfast of Champions blend satire, gallows humor and science fiction. He was known for his humanist beliefs and was honorary president of the American Humanist Association.-Early...
novel Slapstick on which the film is based, the President is named Dr. Wilbur Daffodil-11 Swain. In the film Swain and the Unnamed President are separate characters.
Unnamed President in: Slatewiper by Lewis Perdue
Lewis Perdue
Lewis Perdue is the author of 20 published books including Daughter of God, and The Da Vinci Legacy. Perdue was sued by Random House in 2003 when he charged that Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code plagiarized those two books. Random House won the lawsuit but lost their demand to have Perdue pay their...
, 2003
- Is beholden to the chairman of a giant Japanese pharmaceutical firm for campaign funds.
- Prone to mood swings and violent temper, which he controls via Prozac
Unnamed President in: Solution Unsatisfactory
Solution Unsatisfactory
"Solution Unsatisfactory" is a 1940 science fiction short story by Robert A. Heinlein. It describes the US effort to build a nuclear weapon in order to end the ongoing World War II, and its dystopian consequences to the nation and the world....
by Robert Heinlein
- The story, written in late 1940 or early 1941, correctly predicted that the US would establish a secret research project to look into constructing Nuclear Weapons. The project is headed by Senator Manning, the authorization apparently given by Roosevelt (already re-elected in 1940 at the time of writing) though this is not explicitly stated. Unlike in the actual Manhattan ProjectManhattan ProjectThe Manhattan Project was a research and development program, led by the United States with participation from the United Kingdom and Canada, that produced the first atomic bomb during World War II. From 1942 to 1946, the project was under the direction of Major General Leslie Groves of the US Army...
, building a nuclear bomb is found unfeasible and the project turns instead to developing a lethal radioactive dust. In 1945 the new, unnamed president (mentioned as having been previously the Mayor of an unspecified city and a US Senator, and who speaks fluent German) takes the decision to end World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
by dusting BerlinBerlinBerlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
and killing all its inhabitants. Afterwards, the US decides to keep its monopoly of the Dust and orders all other countries to hand over their airplanes. The Soviet Union which developed the Dust for itself launches a surprise attack on the US, but the Americans win the ensuing war. In the aftermath, the Commission of World Safety is created, headed by Manning, whose Peace Patrol has complete control of the Dust. Entrusting the Dust to an international body rather than to the US Army weakens the President, who needs to take an Isolationist running mate in order to win the 1948 elections. On February 17, 1951, the President is killed in an air accident. The Isolationist new President demands Manning's resignation. Manning responds by having planes of the Peace Patrol fly over Washington, D.C. and threaten to Dust it. Thereby, Manning becomes the hated military dictator of the entire world - the Unsatisfactory Solution of the title.
Unnamed President in Species II
Species II
Species II is a 1998 sequel to the 1995 film Species. It stars Natasha Henstridge, Michael Madsen and Marg Helgenberger, all of whom reprise their roles from the first film. It also features actor James Cromwell as "Senator Judson Ross"...
- Played by: Richard BelzerRichard BelzerRichard Jay Belzer is an American stand-up comedian, author, and actor. He is perhaps best known for his role as John Munch, which he has portrayed as a regular cast member on the NBC police drama series Homicide: Life on the Street and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, as well as in guest...
Unnamed President in the Spidey Super Stories
Spidey Super Stories
"Spidey Super Stories" was a live-action, recurring skit on the PBS children's television series The Electric Company. Episodes featured the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man, provided to the Children's Television Workshop free of charge, and was played by puppeteer Danny Seagren...
short, "Spidey Meets the Funny Bunny", aired as part of the PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
children's television series, "The Electric Company
The Electric Company
The Electric Company is an educational American children's television series that was produced by the Children's Television Workshop for PBS in the United States. PBS broadcast 780 episodes over the course of its six seasons from October 25, 1971 to April 15, 1977...
."
- Played by Melanie Henderson. Some sources indicate that Melanie may have been the first female African AmericanAfrican AmericanAfrican Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
actress to portray an AmericanUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
presidentPresidentA president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
on television. - The plot had a mischievous woman (Judy GraubartJudy GraubartEsther Judith "Judy" Graubart is an American actress and comedienne. She is best remembered for being a regular cast member of The Electric Company, the revolutionary children's show from the 1970s produced by the Children's Television Workshop...
) dressing in a rabbitRabbitRabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world...
costume and damaging Easter baskets by sitting on them. Spidey (Danny Seagren) eventually foils the villain's plans to disrupt the annual White House Easter Egg Roll.
Unnamed President in: Spock's World
Spock's World
Spock's World is a novel by Diane Duane, set in the fictional Star Trek universe. The plot revolves around a movement on the planet Vulcan to secede from the United Federation of Planets...
by Diane Duane
Diane Duane
Diane Duane is an American science fiction and fantasy author. Her works include the Young Wizards young adult fantasy series and the Rihannsu Star Trek novels.-Biography :...
.
- By the early 23rd century, the office of President of the United States is merely a ceremonial post on the United Earth. Vulcan Ambassador SarekSarekSarek is a fictional character in the Star Trek media franchise. He is a Vulcan astrophysicist, the Vulcan ambassador to the United Federation of Planets, and father of Spock...
makes the President laugh when he delivers a speech at a state dinner in a "flawless Texas accent."
Unnamed President in: The Stand
The Stand
The Stand is a post-apocalyptic horror/fantasy novel by American author Stephen King. It demonstrates the scenario in his earlier short story, Night Surf...
by Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
.
- Held in low regard by several characters in the book. He makes an address to try to allay fears of the Superflu, but during his speech, he exhibits early symptoms himself.
Unnamed President in: Stargate SG-1
Stargate SG-1
Stargate SG-1 is a Canadian-American adventure and military science fiction television series and part of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Stargate franchise. The show, created by Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner, is based on the 1994 feature film Stargate by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich...
- The President was never onscreen, but an impostor played by Roger Allford appeared at the end of "Divide and Conquer".
- The President of the United States was mostly unnamed throughout the series; not until season 7 was there a named President (Henry Hayes). Nevertheless, the idea of Robert Kinsey becoming President was a constant annoyance to Stargate CommandStargate CommandThe Stargate Program is a fictional top-secret program that plays a key role in the Stargate franchise: it surrounds the operations of the Stargate on Earth. The core of the Stargate Program is Stargate Command , based at the Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station near Colorado Springs, Colorado...
during the tenure of Hayes' unnamed predecessor. This predecessor presumably started the Stargate Program, and signed Earth's first interstellar treaty, a pact with the Tok'raTok'raThe Tok'ra are a fictional alien race on the science fiction television series Stargate SG-1. They first appear in the season 2 episode . In the show, the Tok'ra are biologically the same species as the Goa'uld who inhabit human hosts in a symbiotic relationship, and are opposed to the evil System...
.
Unnamed President in: The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!
The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!
The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! is an American television series based upon Nintendo's Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 2 video games. It was originally broadcast via first-run syndication to mostly independent or Fox television stations from September 4, 1989, to December 1, 1989, with...
.
- Only called "Mr. President".
- Give golden symbols to plumbers after they have cleared the Plumber's Academy, such as MarioMariois a fictional character in his video game series, created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Serving as Nintendo's mascot and the main protagonist of the series, Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creation...
and LuigiLuigiis a fictional character, featured in video games and related media released by Nintendo. Created by prominent game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, Luigi is portrayed as the slightly younger fraternal twin brother of Nintendo's mascot Mario, and appears in many games throughout the Mario series,...
. - Gives outlandish politicians such as Soviet PresidentPresident of the Soviet UnionThe President of the Soviet Union , officially called President of the USSR was the Head of State of the USSR from 15 March 1990 to 25 December 1991. Mikhail Gorbachev was the only person to occupy the office. Gorbachev was also General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union between...
Mikhail GorbachevMikhail GorbachevMikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
a dive-by tour around BrooklynBrooklynBrooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
during their visit. - Chooses the United States armyUnited States ArmyThe United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
to recruit odd characters (such as the Ratrigator, a large, mutated character, a mix between a rat and an alligator).
Unnamed President in: Superman II
Superman II
Superman II is the 1980 sequel to the 1978 superhero film Superman and stars Gene Hackman, Christopher Reeve, Terence Stamp, Ned Beatty, Sarah Douglas, Margot Kidder, and Jack O'Halloran. It was the only Superman film to be filmed by two directors...
and Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut
Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut
Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut is a 2006 re-edit of the 1980 superhero film, Superman II, by Richard Donner, who shot a large part of the original movie before being replaced as director by Richard Lester. It stars Gene Hackman, Christopher Reeve, Terence Stamp, Margot Kidder and Marlon Brando...
- Forced to capitulate to the KryptonianKryptonianKryptonians are a fictional extraterrestrial race of the DC Comics universe who hail from the planet Krypton. The term originated from the stories of DC Comics superhero, Superman...
villains General ZodGeneral ZodGeneral Zod is a fictional character who appears in comic books published by DC Comics, a supervillain who is one of Superman's more-prominent enemies. The character first appeared in Adventure Comics #283 , and was created by Robert Bernstein and George Papp...
, Ursa and Non, who had been imprisoned in the Phantom ZonePhantom ZoneThe Phantom Zone is a fictional prison dimension featured in the Superman comic books and related media published by DC Comics. It first appeared in Adventure Comics #283 , and was created by Robert Bernstein and George Papp...
until their escape. Restored to power after SupermanSupermanSuperman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
defeats the trio of villains. - Played by: E.G. Marshall
Unnamed "American President" in The Tomorrow People
The Tomorrow People
The Tomorrow People is a British children's science fiction television series, devised by Roger Price. Produced by Thames Television for the ITV Network, the series first ran between 1973 and 1979. The series was re-imagined in 1992, Roger Price acting as executive producer...
- Uses nuclear weapons to get involved in an intergalactic battle, distrusts the super-powered children and their secretive alien connections
- Played by: John F. ParkerJohn F. ParkerJohn Frederick Parker , was one of four men detailed to act as United States President Abraham Lincoln's bodyguard on April 14, 1865, the night Lincoln was assassinated at Ford’s theater.-Biography:...
Unnamed President in Transformers (2007)
- Requests Ding DongDing DongA Ding Dong is a chocolate cake that is sold by Hostess Brands. It is round with a flat top and bottom, about three inches in diameter and a little more than an inch high, similar in shape to a hockey puck. A white creamy filling is injected into the center, and a thin coating of chocolate glaze...
s - A parody of President George W. BushGeorge W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
. In the IMAXIMAXIMAX is a motion picture film format and a set of proprietary cinema projection standards created by the Canadian company IMAX Corporation. IMAX has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems...
cut, nine Presidents, from HooverHerbert HooverHerbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
to Bush, are listed as having visited the headquarters of Sector Seven, a secret group "above the government" guarding a device called the Allspark, hinting that this President is meant to be Bush himself.
Unnamed President in Transmetropolitan
Transmetropolitan
Transmetropolitan is a cyberpunk comic book series written by Warren Ellis with art by Darick Robertson and published by DC Comics. The series was originally part of the short-lived DC Comics imprint Helix, but upon the end of the book's first year the series was moved to the Vertigo imprint as DC...
- Nicknamed "The Beast", loses election to Gary Callahan
Unnamed President in The Unit
The Unit
The Unit is an American action-drama television series that focuses on a top-secret military unit modeled after the real-life U.S. Army special operations unit commonly known as Delta Force...
- Sends the Unit to an unnamed Asian country to authenticate a pro-American rebel leaders request for support of a coup.
- Played by: William H. MacyWilliam H. MacyWilliam Hall Macy, Jr. is an American actor and writer. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as Jerry Lundegaard in Fargo. He is also a teacher and director in theater, film and television. His film career has been built mostly on his appearances in small, independent films, though...
. First seen in episode 25, "The Broom Cupboard".
Unnamed President in Wag the Dog
Wag the Dog
Wag the Dog is a 1997 black comedy film starring Dustin Hoffman and Robert De Niro, co-starring Anne Heche, Denis Leary and William H. Macy about a Washington spin doctor who, merely days before a presidential election, distracts the electorate from a sex scandal by hiring a Hollywood film producer...
(1997)
- Starts a fake war with AlbaniaAlbaniaAlbania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
as a campaign distraction from a sex scandal before election time. He was running against Senator John Neal (Craig T. NelsonCraig T. NelsonCraig Theodore Nelson is an American actor. He is probably best known for his Emmy-winning roles as Hayden Fox on the TV series Coach, and as Steve Freeling in the 1982 film Poltergeist. He also starred in The Incredibles in 2004 as Mr...
). - Played by: Michael Belson
Unnamed President in Warday
Warday
Warday is a novel by Whitley Strieber and James Kunetka, first published in 1984. It is a fictionalized account of the authors traveling across America five years after a limited nuclear attack in order to assess how the nation had changed after the war. The novel takes the form of a research...
- President on October 28, 1988 when the US was devastated in a nuclear exchange with the Soviets. Might be Ronald ReaganRonald ReaganRonald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
, as the book was published in 1984 when Reagan was already President with a good chance of being re-elected. The war resulted from the President taking the fatal decision to deploy "Spiderweb", a space-based weapons system capable of detecting and destroying all missiles shot from Soviet territory (a clear reference to Reagan's Strategic Defense InitiativeStrategic Defense InitiativeThe Strategic Defense Initiative was proposed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan on March 23, 1983 to use ground and space-based systems to protect the United States from attack by strategic nuclear ballistic missiles. The initiative focused on strategic defense rather than the prior strategic...
). Rather than be left at the Americans' mercy, the Soviets launched a pre-emptive strike when Spiderweb was about to be deployed. Escaping from Washington and conducting operations from the air, the President was unable to stop the war from starting, but did manage to make the exchange "limited" so that, though the US and Soviet Union were both devastated and disintegrated, much of their populations survived; moreover, the NATO European allies were left out of the war and escaped unscathed. The President was killed when the Presidential plane crashed near KittyhawkKitty Hawk, North CarolinaKitty Hawk is a town in Dare County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 3,000 at the 2000 census. It was established in the early 18th century as Chickahawk....
, North CarolinaNorth CarolinaNorth Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
due to the Soviet Electromagnetic pulseElectromagnetic pulseAn electromagnetic pulse is a burst of electromagnetic radiation. The abrupt pulse of electromagnetic radiation usually results from certain types of high energy explosions, especially a nuclear explosion, or from a suddenly fluctuating magnetic field...
. He was succeeded (in name, though with little actual power) by President White, who had been Undersecretary of the Treasury until the outbreak of the war. (See under "W".)
Unnamed President in X-Men: The Last Stand
X-Men: The Last Stand
X-Men: The Last Stand is a 2006 superhero film and the third in the X-Men series. It was directed by Brett Ratner and stars an ensemble cast including Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Famke Janssen, Kelsey Grammer, Anna Paquin, Shawn Ashmore, Aaron Stanford, Vinnie Jones,...
(2006)
- Responds to MagnetoMagneto (comics)Magneto is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is the central villain of the X-Men comic, as well as the TV show and the films. The character first appears in X-Men #1 , and was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby...
's acts of terrorism by ordering that a newly developed mutant cure be incorporated into weapons. - Played by: Josef SommerJosef SommerJosef Sommer is an American film actor.He was born Maximilian Josef Sommer in Greifswald, Germany and was raised in North Carolina, the son of Elisabeth and Clemons Sommer, a professor of art history at the University of North Carolina. He studied at the Carnegie Institute of Technology...
- In the novelization of the movie by Chris ClaremontChris ClaremontChris Claremont is an award-winning American comic book writer and novelist, known for his 17-year stint on Uncanny X-Men, far longer than any other writer, during which he is credited with developing strong female characters, and with introducing complex literary themes into superhero...
, the President is named Dave CockrumDave CockrumDavid Emmett Cockrum was an American comic book artist known for his co-creation of the new X-Men characters Nightcrawler, Storm, and Colossus...
, after the artist who worked on the series in the late 1970s.
Unnamed President in You Only Live Twice
You Only Live Twice (film)
You Only Live Twice is the fifth spy film in the James Bond series, and the fifth to star Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film's screenplay was written by Roald Dahl, and loosely based on Ian Fleming's 1964 novel of the same name...
(1967)
- Deals with the disappearances of U.S. and Soviet spacecrafts by SPECTRESPECTRESPECTRE is a fictional global terrorist organisation featured in the James Bond novels by Ian Fleming, the films based on those novels, and James Bond video games...
, in hopes of starting a war. Places U.S. military on high alert, only to rescind the order after James BondJames BondJames Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
destroys the enemy spacecraft. - Played by: Alexander KnoxAlexander KnoxAlexander Knox was a Canadian actor and author of adventure novels set in the Great Lakes area during the 19th century.-Biography:...
Unnamed President in an AT&T
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
commercial (2010)
- Mentioned by the announcer as the fifty-seventh president.
- Commercial states how "one moment changes everything", showing his future-father changing his train ticket using an AT&T phone in order to board the train of an attractive woman he saw through the train window (which turned out to be the future president's mother).
Real people with a fictional presidency
The following is a list of real or historical people who have been portrayed as President of the United StatesPresident of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
in fiction, although they did not hold the office in real life. This is done either as an alternate history
Alternate history (fiction)
Alternate history or alternative history is a genre of fiction consisting of stories that are set in worlds in which history has diverged from the actual history of the world. It can be variously seen as a sub-genre of literary fiction, science fiction, and historical fiction; different alternate...
scenario, or occasionally for humorous purposes. Also included are actual US Presidents with a fictional presidency at a different time and/or under different circumstances than the one in actual history.
A
Spiro AgnewSpiro Agnew
Spiro Theodore Agnew was the 39th Vice President of the United States , serving under President Richard Nixon, and the 55th Governor of Maryland...
:
- In Stephen KingStephen KingStephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
's The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla, Father CallahanFather CallahanFather Donald Frank Callahan is a fictional character created by Stephen King. He originally appeared in Salem's Lot and later the Dark Tower, appearing in The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla, The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah and finally The Dark Tower...
briefly wanders into an alternate reality where Agnew is president and supports an unspecified NASANASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
terraformingTerraformingTerraforming of a planet, moon, or other body is the hypothetical process of deliberately modifying its atmosphere, temperature, surface topography or ecology to be similar to those of Earth, in order to make it habitable by terrestrial organisms.The term is sometimes used more generally as a...
program.
Aaron Burr Alston was the grandson of Aaron Burr
Aaron Burr
Aaron Burr, Jr. was an important political figure in the early history of the United States of America. After serving as a Continental Army officer in the Revolutionary War, Burr became a successful lawyer and politician...
as well as the son of Theodosia Burr Alston
Theodosia Burr Alston
Theodosia Burr Alston was the daughter of Theodosia Bartow Prevost and the controversial U.S. Vice President Aaron Burr.-Early life:...
and Joseph Alston
Joseph Alston
Joseph Alston was the 44th Governor of South Carolina from 1812 to 1814.-Early life and career:Born in All Saint's Parish near Georgetown, Alston attended the College of New Jersey, but left in 1796 without graduating. He then went to study law at the office of Edward Rutledge and was admitted to...
. In "The War of '07" by Jayge Carr
Jayge Carr
Jayge Carr is the pen name of science fiction and fantasy author Margery Ruth Morgenstern Krueger , also known as Margery Krueger and Marj Krueger. She is best known for her "Rabelais" series.-Life:...
in the anthology Alternate Presidents
Alternate Presidents
Alternate Presidents is a 1992 Tor science fiction anthology, edited by Mike Resnick. Each story is by a different author, and presents a scenario where an individual becomes President of the United States in a way that did not occur in real life.-Stories:...
, Alston becomes President in 1836 upon the death of his grandfather, whom he became Vice President to in 1836. It is implied that the Presidency will henceforth be a hereditary office - Alston's own Vice President is "Paul Aaron Burr".
Benedict Arnold
Benedict Arnold
Benedict Arnold V was a general during the American Revolutionary War. He began the war in the Continental Army but later defected to the British Army. While a general on the American side, he obtained command of the fort at West Point, New York, and plotted to surrender it to the British forces...
takes charge of the American Revolutionary cause after the death of George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
from pneumonia at Valley Forge
Valley Forge
Valley Forge in Pennsylvania was the site of the military camp of the American Continental Army over the winter of 1777–1778 in the American Revolutionary War.-History:...
and the disintegration of his army, in the story "Arnoldstown" by Mitchell Cummings. In a series of brilliant campaigns, Arnold snatches victory from the jaws of near-certain defeat and goes on to become the First President of the United States and its most revered Founding Father. The story's name is derived from the US capital in this timeline being "Arnoldstown, D.C.", with his name also being commemorated in the State of Arnoldia on the Pacific Northwest and numerous other placenames.
David Rice Atchison
David Rice Atchison
David Rice Atchison was a mid-19th century Democratic United States Senator from Missouri. He served as President pro tempore of the United States Senate for six years...
takes office when both Zachary Taylor
Zachary Taylor
Zachary Taylor was the 12th President of the United States and an American military leader. Initially uninterested in politics, Taylor nonetheless ran as a Whig in the 1848 presidential election, defeating Lewis Cass...
and Millard Fillmore
Millard Fillmore
Millard Fillmore was the 13th President of the United States and the last member of the Whig Party to hold the office of president...
are killed in a carriage accident in the story "How the South Preserved the Union" by Ralph Roberts in the Anthology Alternate Presidents. In the story, New England secedes, then attempts to overthrow the Washington government. In the end, Atchison orders all slaves freed and armed, and the "Civil War" fails.
B
James A. BakerJames Baker
James Addison Baker, III is an American attorney, politician and political advisor.Baker served as the Chief of Staff in President Ronald Reagan's first administration and in the final year of the administration of President George H. W. Bush...
, elected President in 1996 (possibly already having served a first term beginning in 1993) in the story "Prince Pat" by George Alec Effinger
George Alec Effinger
George Alec Effinger was an American science fiction author, born in 1947 in Cleveland, Ohio.-Writing career:...
in the anthology Alternate Kennedys. Defeated in 2000 by Patrick Bouvier Kennedy.
Alben W. Barkley
Alben W. Barkley
Alben William Barkley was an American politician in the Democratic Party who served as the 35th Vice President of the United States , under President Harry S. Truman....
succeeds Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
as the president in Robert A. Heinlein
Robert A. Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of...
's novel To Sail Beyond the Sunset
To Sail Beyond the Sunset
To Sail Beyond the Sunset is a science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein published in 1987. It was the last novel published before he died in 1988....
. He in turn is succeeded in 1949 by George Patton.
James G. Blaine
James G. Blaine
James Gillespie Blaine was a U.S. Representative, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, U.S. Senator from Maine, two-time Secretary of State...
is elected President in 1880 in the alternate history novel How Few Remain
How Few Remain
How Few Remain is a 1997 alternate history novel by Harry Turtledove. It is the first part of the Southern Victory Series saga, which depicts a world in which the Confederacy won the American Civil War. The book received the Sidewise Award for Alternate History in 1997, and was also nominated for...
by Harry Turtledove
Harry Turtledove
Harry Norman Turtledove is an American novelist, who has produced works in several genres including alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction.- Life :...
. He is the only Republican President in that timeline except for Lincoln. Blaine gets the United States into a second losing war with the Confederate States which cost the country part of Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
as part of the armistice, and sets up a vengeful militarist ideology which would lead the US to enter a World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
fought also in America, on the side of Imperial Germany.
Chastity Bono
Chastity Bono
Chaz Salvatore Bono is an American transgender advocate, writer, actor, and musician. Bono is the only child of American entertainers Sonny and Cher, though each had children from other relationships...
mentioned in The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
episode "Bart to the Future
Bart to the Future
"Bart to the Future" is the seventeenth episode of the eleventh season of the American animated sitcom The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 19, 2000. In the episode, after their vacation in the woods is cut short due to a mosquito infestation, the...
" and was president sometime before Lisa Simpson
Lisa Simpson
Lisa Marie Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She is the middle child of the Simpson family. Voiced by Yeardley Smith, Lisa first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Cartoonist Matt Groening...
.
John Wilkes Booth
John Wilkes Booth
John Wilkes Booth was an American stage actor who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre, in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. Booth was a member of the prominent 19th century Booth theatrical family from Maryland and, by the 1860s, was a well-known actor...
was president in the DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
"Earth-Three
Earth-Three
Earth-Three is a fictional alternate universe set in the . It is the Earth of an alternate reality in the DC Multiverse. It first appeared in Justice League of America #29 .-Pre-Crisis:Its history is a mirror image to the Earth we know...
" alternate history, and was assassinated by actor Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
. (No detailed explanation given of how this came about, this is just one example of Earth-Three being "the place where everything was the opposite of our world".)
John W. Bricker
John W. Bricker
John William Bricker was a United States Senator and the 54th Governor of Ohio. A member of the Republican Party, he was the Republican nominee for Vice President in 1944.-Early life:...
is President in The Man in the High Castle
The Man in the High Castle
The Man in the High Castle is a science fiction alternate history novel by American writer Philip K. Dick. It won a Hugo Award in 1963 and has since been translated into many languages....
, by Philip K. Dick
Philip K. Dick
Philip Kindred Dick was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist whose published work is almost entirely in the science fiction genre. Dick explored sociological, political and metaphysical themes in novels dominated by monopolistic corporations, authoritarian governments and altered...
. He is elected President in 1940, following John Nance Garner
John Nance Garner
John Nance Garner, IV , was the 32nd Vice President of the United States and the 44th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives .- Early life and family :...
. Like Garner, he fails to combat the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
and remains strongly isolationist. As a result of their combined presidencies, the Axis Powers
Axis Powers
The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...
win World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and invade and conquer the United States in 1948.
Jerry Brown
Jerry Brown
Edmund Gerald "Jerry" Brown, Jr. is an American politician. Brown served as the 34th Governor of California , and is currently serving as the 39th California Governor...
is President of the United States in one of alternate realities depicted in The Coming of the Quantum Cats
The Coming of the Quantum Cats
The Coming of the Quantum Cats is a 1986 science fiction novel by American writer Frederik Pohl. It was originally serialized in Analog science-fiction magazine, January–April 1986.- Plot introduction :...
by Frederik Pohl
Frederik Pohl
Frederik George Pohl, Jr. is an American science fiction writer, editor and fan, with a career spanning over seventy years — from his first published work, "Elegy to a Dead Planet: Luna" , to his most recent novel, All the Lives He Led .He won the National Book Award in 1980 for his novel Jem...
. Considered weak by one of the characters in his timeline, he is largely a puppet ruler, with the military the real force governing the country.
William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan was an American politician in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. He was a dominant force in the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, standing three times as its candidate for President of the United States...
- In Ward MooreWard MooreWard Moore was the working name of American author Joseph Ward Moore. Moore grew up in New York City, and later moved to Chicago, and then to California....
's novel Bring the JubileeBring the JubileeBring the Jubilee by Ward Moore is a 1953 novel of alternate history. The point of divergence occurs when the Confederate States of America wins the Battle of Gettysburg and subsequently declares victory in the "War of Southron Independence" on July 4, 1864 after the surrender of the United States...
, one of the time-traveling characters in the alternate reality witnessed the 1896 presidential election, where he had to resist the temptation of covering the confident bets made by McKinley's supporters, who were unaware that Bryan would go on to serve three terms as president. He was the candidate for the Populist Party. - Bryan was elected in 1896 over William McKinleyWilliam McKinleyWilliam McKinley, Jr. was the 25th President of the United States . He is best known for winning fiercely fought elections, while supporting the gold standard and high tariffs; he succeeded in forging a Republican coalition that for the most part dominated national politics until the 1930s...
in the story "Plowshare" by Martha SoukupMartha SoukupMartha Soukup is a Nebula award-winning and Hugo award-nominated science fiction author, and playwright for the emerging playwrights group. In 2003, she won their annual commission....
in the Anthology Alternate Presidents. He ends the Spanish-American War by granting full independence to Cuba, the Philippines, Puerto Rico and Hawaii, and in 1915, prepares to oppose President Theodore RooseveltTheodore RooseveltTheodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
's plan to take the US into World War I.
Aaron Burr
Aaron Burr
Aaron Burr, Jr. was an important political figure in the early history of the United States of America. After serving as a Continental Army officer in the Revolutionary War, Burr became a successful lawyer and politician...
becomes President by manipulating events in the 1800 election in the story "The War of '07" by Jayge Carr
Jayge Carr
Jayge Carr is the pen name of science fiction and fantasy author Margery Ruth Morgenstern Krueger , also known as Margery Krueger and Marj Krueger. She is best known for her "Rabelais" series.-Life:...
in the Anthology Alternate Presidents. He keeps promising to step down after one more term. Eventually, he becomes President for life, and dies leaving the office as an inheritance to his children and grandchildren, thus turning the United States into a de facto monarchy
Monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...
or family dictatorship
Family dictatorship
A hereditary dictatorship, or family dictatorship, in political science terms a personalistic regime, is a form of dictatorship that occurs in a nominally or formally republican regime, but operates in practice like an absolute monarchy, in that political power passes within the dictator's family...
.
George H.W. Bush
- Becomes the 42nd President of the United States rather than the 41st in The White House Mess by Christopher Buckley, roundly defeating his predecessor Thomas Nathaniel Tucker in 1992.
- Serves two full terms, 1988 to 1992 and 1992 to 1996, in the Science Fiction novel Einstein's BridgeEinstein's Bridge (book)Einstein's Bridge is a hard science fiction novel by John G. Cramer, first published in June 1997.The plot revolves around three central human characters, George Griffen, Roger Coulton, and Alice Lang. Set in 1987 through 2004, the book details the efforts of physicists George and Roger as they...
. In 1991 he is not content with liberating Kuwait but continues to Gulf WarGulf WarThe Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
up to conquering Iraq and toppling Saddam HusseinSaddam HusseinSaddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
. Popular elation at eliminating Saddam Hussein serves to mask economic failures from the electorate, letting Bush win a second term in 1992 - while the problems of holding on to Iraq become evident only later. During his second term Bush approves completion of the Superconducting Super ColliderSuperconducting Super ColliderThe Superconducting Super Collider was a particle accelerator complex under construction in the vicinity of Waxahachie, Texas that was set to be world's largest and most energetic, surpassing the current record held by the Large Hadron Collider. Its planned ring circumference was with an energy...
in his home state of Texas - with the disastrous result that a few years later the operational SSC provides a foothold to a vicious race of insectoid extraterrestrials, who proceed to completely exterminate humanity and colonize Earth. Two survivors travel back in time and in order to prevent the disaster, change the outcome of the war and get Bill ClintonBill ClintonWilliam Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
elected so as to ensure that the project would be canceled.
- Appeared as "Mr. President" in The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 is an American animated television series based on the video game Super Mario Bros. 3. It aired on NBC with Captain N: The Game Master in a programming block titled Captain N & The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 from September 8, 1990 through December 1,...
episode "Reptiles in the Rose Garden". Here, he didn't have any speaking lines, only talking in the telephone the whole time. Neither he, "Mrs. PresidentBarbara BushBarbara Pierce Bush is the wife of the 41st President of the United States George H. W. Bush, and served as First Lady of the United States from 1989 to 1993. She is the mother of the 43rd President George W. Bush and of the 43rd Governor of Florida Jeb Bush...
" or others working in the White House noticed that Bowser and the Koopalings lifted the White House into Dark Land in an attempt to take over America, but was stopped by MarioMariois a fictional character in his video game series, created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Serving as Nintendo's mascot and the main protagonist of the series, Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creation...
and LuigiLuigiis a fictional character, featured in video games and related media released by Nintendo. Created by prominent game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, Luigi is portrayed as the slightly younger fraternal twin brother of Nintendo's mascot Mario, and appears in many games throughout the Mario series,...
.
Jeb Bush
Jeb Bush
John Ellis "Jeb" Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd Governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. He is a prominent member of the Bush family: the second son of former President George H. W. Bush and former First Lady Barbara Bush; the younger brother of former President George W...
- Was president from 2001-2005 in From the Files of the Time RangersFrom the Files of the Time RangersFrom the Files of the Time Rangers is an alternate world / time travel novel, having also elements of contemporary fantasy, by Richard Bowes and published in 2005 by Golden Gryphon Press. The novel’s foreword, entitled "Rick Bowes: An Appreciation," is written by Kage Baker, author of The...
, a mosaic novel by Richard BowesRichard BowesRichard Bowes is an American author of science fiction and fantasy.Richard Bowes was born in Boston in 1944. He attended school both in Boston and on Long Island, New York. In his third year, he took writing courses with Mark Eisenstein at Hofstra University...
. Presumably this is a fictionalized version of the actual son and brother of the historical presidents George Bush. Briefly mentioned several times in the novel, Jeb Bush has gotten into office as a result of election fraud engineered by his family in Texas. He is defeated by the fictional "Once and Future President" Timothy Garde Macauley. - In the independent feature film, "Duck", he is said to be the president of the United States, but is never seen, only referenced by way of the policies that his administration and Republicans in tow have enacted.
C
Al CaponeAl Capone
Alphonse Gabriel "Al" Capone was an American gangster who led a Prohibition-era crime syndicate. The Chicago Outfit, which subsequently became known as the "Capones", was dedicated to smuggling and bootlegging liquor, and other illegal activities such as prostitution, in Chicago from the early...
is president of a Communist United States in Kim Newman
Kim Newman
Kim Newman is an English journalist, film critic, and fiction writer. Recurring interests visible in his work include film history and horror fiction—both of which he attributes to seeing Tod Browning's Dracula at the age of eleven—and alternate fictional versions of history...
and Eugene Byrne
Eugene Byrne
Eugene Byrne is an English freelance journalist and fiction writer.His novel ThigMOO, and the story it was based on, were nominated for the BSFA award. His story "HMS Habakkuk" was nominated for a Sidewise Award for Alternate History.He was born in Waterford in the Republic of Ireland, but was...
' Back in the USSA
Back in the USSA
Back in the USSA is a collection of 7 short stories by Eugene Byrne and Kim Newman, which was published in 1997 by Mark V. Ziesing Books. The stories are linked through their setting, an alternate history of the twentieth century in which the United States experienced a communist revolution in...
, succeeding Eugene V. Debs
Eugene V. Debs
Eugene Victor Debs was an American union leader, one of the founding members of the International Labor Union and the Industrial Workers of the World , and several times the candidate of the Socialist Party of America for President of the United States...
. Capone serves as a parallel to Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
. He is succeeded by Barry Goldwater
Barry Goldwater
Barry Morris Goldwater was a five-term United States Senator from Arizona and the Republican Party's nominee for President in the 1964 election. An articulate and charismatic figure during the first half of the 1960s, he was known as "Mr...
(a parallel to Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
).
Dave Chappelle
Dave Chappelle
David Khari Webber "Dave" Chappelle is an American comedian, screenwriter, television/film producer, actor, and artist. Chappelle began his film career in the film Robin Hood: Men in Tights in 1993 and continued to star in minor roles in the films The Nutty Professor, Con Air, and Blue Streak. His...
- President in: Chappelle's ShowChappelle's ShowChappelle's Show is an American sketch comedy television series created by comedian Dave Chappelle and Neal Brennan, with Chappelle hosting the show as well as starring in various skits. Chappelle, Brennan and Michele Armour were the show's executive producers. The series premiered on January 22,...
, episode #110 - In the "real" version of Deep ImpactDeep Impact (film)Deep Impact is a 1998 science-fiction disaster-drama film released by Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks in the United States on May 8, 1998. The film was directed by Mimi Leder and stars Robert Duvall, Elijah Wood, Téa Leoni, and Morgan Freeman...
, Chappelle reveals that America has the cure for AIDSAIDSAcquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
, has mastered cloningCloningCloning in biology is the process of producing similar populations of genetically identical individuals that occurs in nature when organisms such as bacteria, insects or plants reproduce asexually. Cloning in biotechnology refers to processes used to create copies of DNA fragments , cells , or...
, and has made contact with aliensExtraterrestrial lifeExtraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...
, who then take him to safety on their spaceship. - Unfortunately, President Chappelle went missing during his third term and was subsequently replaced by Vice President Charlie MurphyCharlie MurphyCharles Quinton "Charlie" Murphy is an American actor, comedian, and writer notable as being a cast member and writer on the Comedy Central sketch-comedy series Chappelle's Show...
.
Dick Cheney
Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....
- Becomes President after the assassination of George W. BushGeorge W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
in the 2007 BritishUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
film by Gabriel RangeGabriel RangeGabriel Range is a British filmmaker, who is probably best known for his fictional political-documentary about the assassination of George W. Bush in Death of a President...
Death of a President. As President, he uses the possible al-QaedaAl-QaedaAl-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
connection of the suspected assassin to push his own agenda, calling for "PATRIOT Act III", giving government agencies increased investigative powers on US citizens and others. - Becomes President after impeachment of George W. BushGeorge W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
in short-lived comedy series That's My Bush!That's My Bush!That's My Bush! is an American comedy television series that aired on Comedy Central from April 4 to May 23, 2001. Created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, best known for also creating South Park, the series centers on the fictitious personal life of President George W. Bush, as played by Timothy...
Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
- President in For the Sake of England by Richard K. Burns
- Was born in BrooklynBrooklynBrooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
after his pregnant mother Jennie Jerome quarreled with and separated from her English husband Lord Randolph ChurchillLord Randolph ChurchillLord Randolph Henry Spencer-Churchill MP was a British statesman. He was the third son of the 7th Duke of Marlborough and his wife Lady Frances Anne Emily Vane , daughter of the 3rd Marquess of Londonderry...
, shortly after their marriage in 1874. Was brought up by his mother and her second husband, an American millionaire, but spent some holidays with his father in England and took pride in being descended from an aristocratic family. Had a checkered journalistic, military and political career. As a Congressman shifted between the Democrats and Republicans. Was elected President in 1936 with Franklin Roosevelt as his running mate, defeating the incumbent Herbert HooverHerbert HooverHerbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
. In 1941 intervenes in the Second World War, after Nazi GermanyNazi GermanyNazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
treacherously attacks Britain despite a peace treaty signed by Lord Halifax after the Fall of France. President Churchill faces impeachment proceedings for having started a war without Congressional approval, but survives and carries the war through to victory. Having signed a non-aggression treaty with Japan in order to concentrate US forces on the European front, Churchill sees American forces enter Berlin in September 1944 and capture Hitler, and two months later wins a third term by a landslide.
Chelsea Clinton
Chelsea Clinton
Chelsea Victoria Clinton is a television journalist, currently serving as Special Correspondent for NBC News, and philanthropist, working through the Clinton Global Initiative. She is the only child of former U.S...
- Is the President of the United States by 2049 on Zenon: Girl of the 21st CenturyZenon: Girl of the 21st CenturyZenon: Girl of the 21st Century is a children's science fiction picture book written by Marilyn Sadler and illustrated by Roger Bollen...
. She is never actually seen on screen. Chelsea would be 69 years old by the year this movie takes place. - Is the President of the United States in 2021 in the comic book series Liberality For AllLiberality For AllLiberality for All was a political tract series in comic book form by Mike Mackey and Donny Lin, edited by ACC Studios. It is written from a right-wing perspective with a science-fiction setting based on real-life geopolitics. It got cancelled after three issues.-Plot:"It is 2021, tomorrow is the...
. - In an underground chain of comic emails called "2043 - Headlines of the Future", Chelsea Clinton is president and bans all smokingSmokingSmoking is a practice in which a substance, most commonly tobacco or cannabis, is burned and the smoke is tasted or inhaled. This is primarily practised as a route of administration for recreational drug use, as combustion releases the active substances in drugs such as nicotine and makes them...
, at the same time Fidel CastroFidel CastroFidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
dies at age 112, meaning Americans would otherwise have been able to legally buy Cuban cigars. Also in the list of jokes, "George Z. Bush" (intended to be a futuristic descendant of George W. BushGeorge W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
and George H.W. Bush) says he will run in the 2044 election.
Hillary Clinton
- Shown as the incumbent president in the SlidersSlidersSliders is an American science fiction television series. It was broadcast for five seasons, beginning in 1995 and ending in 2000. The series follows a group of travelers as they use a wormhole to "slide" between different parallel universes. The show was created by Robert K. Weiss and Tracy Tormé...
episode The Weaker Sex (played by Teresa Barnwell). - Described in John BirminghamJohn BirminghamJohn Birmingham is an Australian author. Birmingham was born in Liverpool, England and migrated to Australia with his parents in 1970.-Early life and career:...
's Axis of TimeAxis of TimeThe Axis of Time trilogy is an alternate history series of novels written by Australian journalist and author John Birmingham, from Macmillan Publishing.-Plot:...
novels as being an "uncompromising" president; served two terms and was martyred by a suicide bomber. A George W. BushGeorge W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
-class aircraft carrier, the U.S.S. Hillary Clinton (aka "The Big Hill"), was named for her. - Portrayed as 46th president in the British comic 2000 AD2000 AD (comic)2000 AD is a weekly British science fiction-oriented comic. As a comics anthology it serialises a number of separate stories each issue and was first published by IPC Magazines in 1977, the first issue dated 26 February. IPC then shifted the title to its Fleetway comics subsidiary which was sold...
(in the 1995 story Maniac 6). Ross PerotRoss PerotHenry Ross Perot is a U.S. businessman best known for running for President of the United States in 1992 and 1996. Perot founded Electronic Data Systems in 1962, sold the company to General Motors in 1984, and founded Perot Systems in 1988...
is her Secretary of StateSecretary of StateSecretary of State or State Secretary is a commonly used title for a senior or mid-level post in governments around the world. The role varies between countries, and in some cases there are multiple Secretaries of State in the Government....
and Colin PowellColin PowellColin Luther Powell is an American statesman and a retired four-star general in the United States Army. He was the 65th United States Secretary of State, serving under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African American to serve in that position. During his military...
her Chief of Staff. - Elected President in 2008 after George W. BushGeorge W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
in The Trial of Tony BlairThe Trial of Tony BlairThe Trial of Tony Blair is a satirical drama, based around the notion that the former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair is to face charges of war crimes by an international tribunal, following his departure from 10 Downing Street... - Succeeds Al GoreAl GoreAlbert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
, who was elected in 2000 in "The Execution ChannelThe Execution ChannelThe Execution Channel, a science fiction novel by Ken MacLeod, focuses on the early decades of the 21st century. The military of the United States of America and some of its allies have conducted a war on terror for some time and terrorist atrocities have continued, including an unspecified one at...
" by Ken MacLeodKen MacLeodKen MacLeod , is a Scottish science fiction writer.MacLeod was born in Stornoway. He graduated from Glasgow University with a degree in zoology and has worked as a computer programmer and written a masters thesis on biomechanics....
. The point explicitly made by the writer is that - with the September 11 attacks still happening also with a Democrat in the White House - Gore and his successor Clinton would have undertaken an aggressive "War on TerrorismWar on TerrorismThe War on Terror is a term commonly applied to an international military campaign led by the United States and the United Kingdom with the support of other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as well as non-NATO countries...
" similar to that undertaken by George W. BushGeorge W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
in actual history, leading to an unstable, oppressive situation in the later part of the 21st Century when the plot is set.
George Clooney
George Clooney
George Timothy Clooney is an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. For his work as an actor, he has received two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award...
is a former president in the episode "The Suite Smell of Excess" of The Suite Life of Zack & Cody. Zack and Cody Martin traveled to an alternate universe where everything had changed from their original world and where President Clooney was depicted on the quarter
Quarter (United States coin)
A quarter dollar, commonly shortened to quarter, is a coin worth ¼ of a United States dollar, or 25 cents. The quarter has been produced since 1796. The choice of 25¢ as a denomination, as opposed to 20¢ which is more common in other parts of the world, originated with the practice of dividing...
.
James M. Cox
James M. Cox
James Middleton Cox was the 46th and 48th Governor of Ohio, U.S. Representative from Ohio and Democratic candidate for President of the United States in the election of 1920....
is elected President in 1920 after Warren G. Harding
Warren G. Harding
Warren Gamaliel Harding was the 29th President of the United States . A Republican from Ohio, Harding was an influential self-made newspaper publisher. He served in the Ohio Senate , as the 28th Lieutenant Governor of Ohio and as a U.S. Senator...
dies of a stroke in the story "A Fireside Chat" by Jack Nimersheim in the Anthology Alternate Presidents. In 1921, Cox is assassinated by an anti-League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
activist, leaving his Vice President, Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
the new President.
Davy Crockett
Davy Crockett
David "Davy" Crockett was a celebrated 19th century American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier and politician. He is commonly referred to in popular culture by the epithet "King of the Wild Frontier". He represented Tennessee in the U.S...
is elected in 1828 over Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...
in the story "Chickasaw Slave" by Judith Moffett
Judith Moffett
Judith Moffett is an American author and academic. She has published poetry, nonfiction, science fiction, and translations of Swedish literature...
in the Anthology Alternate Presidents.
Mario Cuomo
Mario Cuomo
Mario Matthew Cuomo served as the 52nd Governor of New York from 1983 to 1994, and is the father of Andrew Cuomo, the current governor of New York.-Early life:...
is portrayed in the British comic 2000 AD
2000 AD (comic)
2000 AD is a weekly British science fiction-oriented comic. As a comics anthology it serialises a number of separate stories each issue and was first published by IPC Magazines in 1977, the first issue dated 26 February. IPC then shifted the title to its Fleetway comics subsidiary which was sold...
(in the 1993 story Maniac 5) as vice president to President Al Gore, and succeeds to the presidency when Gore is killed by aliens during the Fourth World War. Cuomo is pressured by his advisers into taking drastic measures to win the war, against his better judgment, and shoots himself in remorse. His successor is seen but not named. He is also President in the Stoney Compton novel Russian Amerika
Russian Amerika
Russian Amerika is an alternate history novel written by Stoney Compton. It is set in a world where Alaska is still owned by Russia.- Background :The story is an alternate history, set in North America, which is made up of several nations:...
, although the US in that book is limited to New England and the Upper Midwest and the capital is Columbus, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
.
George Armstrong Custer
George Armstrong Custer
George Armstrong Custer was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the Indian Wars. Raised in Michigan and Ohio, Custer was admitted to West Point in 1858, where he graduated last in his class...
is mentioned as a President in the story "How the South Preserved the Union" by Ralph Roberts in the Anthology Alternate Presidents. He is named as the victor at the Battle of Little Big Horn.
D
Eugene V. DebsEugene V. Debs
Eugene Victor Debs was an American union leader, one of the founding members of the International Labor Union and the Industrial Workers of the World , and several times the candidate of the Socialist Party of America for President of the United States...
is president of a Communist United States in Kim Newman
Kim Newman
Kim Newman is an English journalist, film critic, and fiction writer. Recurring interests visible in his work include film history and horror fiction—both of which he attributes to seeing Tod Browning's Dracula at the age of eleven—and alternate fictional versions of history...
and Eugene Byrne
Eugene Byrne
Eugene Byrne is an English freelance journalist and fiction writer.His novel ThigMOO, and the story it was based on, were nominated for the BSFA award. His story "HMS Habakkuk" was nominated for a Sidewise Award for Alternate History.He was born in Waterford in the Republic of Ireland, but was...
' Back in the USSA
Back in the USSA
Back in the USSA is a collection of 7 short stories by Eugene Byrne and Kim Newman, which was published in 1997 by Mark V. Ziesing Books. The stories are linked through their setting, an alternate history of the twentieth century in which the United States experienced a communist revolution in...
, overthrowing the presidency of Charles Foster Kane
Charles Foster Kane
Charles Foster Kane is a fictional character and the subject of Orson Welles' 1941 film Citizen Kane. Welles played Kane , with Buddy Swan playing Kane as a child...
in 1917 as a parallel of Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...
. He is succeeded by Al Capone
Al Capone
Alphonse Gabriel "Al" Capone was an American gangster who led a Prohibition-era crime syndicate. The Chicago Outfit, which subsequently became known as the "Capones", was dedicated to smuggling and bootlegging liquor, and other illegal activities such as prostitution, in Chicago from the early...
(a parallel to Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
).
Thomas E. Dewey is the subject of two stories in the Anthology Alternate Presidents
Alternate Presidents
Alternate Presidents is a 1992 Tor science fiction anthology, edited by Mike Resnick. Each story is by a different author, and presents a scenario where an individual becomes President of the United States in a way that did not occur in real life.-Stories:...
.
- "The More Things Change..." by Glen E. Cox tells the story of the 1948 election in reverse, with underdog Dewey eventually defeating the early overwhelming favorite, incumbent Harry S. TrumanHarry S. TrumanHarry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
. - In "No Other Choice" by Barbara DelaplaceBarbara DelaplaceBarbara Delaplace is a Canadian science fiction writer.Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, she immigrated to Florida, U.S., when she married Jack C. Haldeman II. Delaplace won the Homer Award for best short story of 1992 for her "Black Ice", originally published in the theme anthology Aladdin:...
, Dewey defeats a seriously ill Franklin Roosevelt in 1944, and eventually decides to drop the Atomic Bomb on TokyoTokyo, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
rather than HiroshimaHiroshimais the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M...
. - In "The Trinity ParadoxThe Trinity ParadoxThe Trinity Paradox is a time travel novel by Kevin J. Anderson and Doug Beason, exploring the premise of an anti-nuclear activist from 1990s being transported back in time to the Manhattan Project, giving her the potential to sabotage the project in an attempt to altogether prevent the development...
" by Kevin J. AndersonKevin J. AndersonKevin J. Anderson is an American science fiction author with over forty bestsellers. He has written spin-off novels for Star Wars, StarCraft, Titan A.E., and The X-Files, and with Brian Herbert is the co-author of the Dune prequels...
and Doug BeasonDoug BeasonDoug Beason is an American scientist and science fiction author.He graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in 1977 with a dual major in physics and math. He started his first novel while at the Academy after returning there as an officer in the 1980s to teach physics. He is a retired...
, the well-intentioned interference of a time travelTime travelTime travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
er caused the boosting of Nazi GermanyNazi GermanyNazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
's nuclear program, and New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
was devastated in June 1944 by a radioactive dust missile fired from a German u-boat - with the result that voters lost confidence in Roosevelt and Dewey won the 1944 elections. In his term, President Dewey instituted the policy of regularly using nuclear arms in whatever war the US was involved in, first against Germany and later against The Soviet Union and North Korea. - In Harry TurtledoveHarry TurtledoveHarry Norman Turtledove is an American novelist, who has produced works in several genres including alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction.- Life :...
's Southern Victory Series Alternate History series, he is elected President in 1944 with Truman as his Vice President.
Bob Dole
Bob Dole
Robert Joseph "Bob" Dole is an American attorney and politician. Dole represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996, was Gerald Ford's Vice Presidential running mate in the 1976 presidential election, and was Senate Majority Leader from 1985 to 1987 and in 1995 and 1996...
is President in several stories.
- He was elected President in 1984 and 1988 in the 1999 short story, "Hillary Orbits Venus" by Pamela SargentPamela SargentPamela Sargent is an American, feminist, science fiction author, and editor. She has an MA in classical philosophy and has won a Nebula Award. She wrote a series concerning the terraforming of Venus that is sometimes compared to Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy, but predates it...
. - He was President in 1982, at the time of the first American settlement on VenusVenusVenus is the second planet from the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. After the Moon, it is the brightest natural object in the night sky, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6, bright enough to cast shadows...
, in S. M. StirlingS. M. StirlingStephen Michael Stirling is a French-born Canadian-American science fiction and fantasy author. Stirling is probably best known for his Draka series of alternate history novels and the more recent time travel/alternate history Nantucket series and Emberverse series.-Personal:Stirling was born on...
's novel The Sky PeopleThe Sky PeopleThe Sky People is a 2006 science fiction novel by American writer S. M. Stirling. It takes place on the planet Venus in an alternate solar system where probes from the United States of America and the Soviet Union, find intelligent life and civilizations on both Venus and Mars. The book is heavily...
.
Stephen A. Douglas
Stephen A. Douglas
Stephen Arnold Douglas was an American politician from the western state of Illinois, and was the Northern Democratic Party nominee for President in 1860. He lost to the Republican Party's candidate, Abraham Lincoln, whom he had defeated two years earlier in a Senate contest following a famed...
is elected in 1860 in the story "Lincoln's Charge" by Bill Fawcett in the anthology Alternate Presidents
Alternate Presidents
Alternate Presidents is a 1992 Tor science fiction anthology, edited by Mike Resnick. Each story is by a different author, and presents a scenario where an individual becomes President of the United States in a way that did not occur in real life.-Stories:...
. The Civil War occurs as in our time, and failed candidate Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
accepts a commission as a Union General.
Michael Dukakis
Michael Dukakis
Michael Stanley Dukakis served as the 65th and 67th Governor of Massachusetts from 1975–1979 and from 1983–1991, and was the Democratic presidential nominee in 1988. He was born to Greek immigrants in Brookline, Massachusetts, also the birthplace of John F. Kennedy, and was the longest serving...
wins in 1988 in the story "Dukakis and the Aliens" by Robert Sheckley
Robert Sheckley
Robert Sheckley was a Hugo- and Nebula-nominated American author. First published in the science fiction magazines of the 1950s, his numerous quick-witted stories and novels were famously unpredictable, absurdist and broadly comical.Sheckley was named Author Emeritus by the Science Fiction and...
in the anthology Alternate Presidents
Alternate Presidents
Alternate Presidents is a 1992 Tor science fiction anthology, edited by Mike Resnick. Each story is by a different author, and presents a scenario where an individual becomes President of the United States in a way that did not occur in real life.-Stories:...
. Dukakis is eventually revealed as an enemy alien, and "friendly" aliens have to adjust the timeline to ensure that George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
is elected instead.
E
Thomas EdisonThomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. In addition, he created the world’s first industrial...
is elected President in 1908 in the novel And Having Writ by Donald R. Bensen
Donald R. Bensen
Donald Roynald Bensen , also known as Don Bensen and sometimes listed as D.R. Bensen, was an American editor and science fiction writer. Editorally he is best known for editing works of P. G. Wodehouse and his involvement in their re-issue in paperback in the United States...
. In this book, the aliens whose ship crashed in the Tunguska event
Tunguska event
The Tunguska event, or Tunguska blast or Tunguska explosion, was an enormously powerful explosion that occurred near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in what is now Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, at about 7:14 a.m...
instead land safely. They create an effective hearing aid for Edison and cure the infirmities of Kaiser Wilhelm II and Czarevitch Alexei, the son of Czar Nicholas II. Edison is nominated by the Republicans
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
over William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...
and elected by a technology-enthused public. After pursuing the aliens and their companion, H. G. Wells
H. G. Wells
Herbert George Wells was an English author, now best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, even writing text books and rules for war games...
, across Europe, he briefly tries to imprison them in order to obtain more of their secrets, but later relents. President Edison chooses not to run in 1912.
David Eisenhower
David Eisenhower
Dwight David Eisenhower II is an American author, public policy fellow, and eponym of the U.S. Presidential retreat, Camp David. He is the grandson of the 34th President of the United States, Dwight D...
(grandson of real-life president Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
) was President of the United States in 1985 in the 1975 movie Tunnelvision, and a former President in 1997 in Americathon
Americathon
Americathon is a 1979 American comedy film starring John Ritter, Fred Willard, Peter Riegert, Harvey Korman, and Nancy Morgan, with narration by George Carlin, based on a play by Firesign Theatre alumni Phil Proctor and Peter Bergman...
. Both were Neil Israel directed motion pictures.
F
Harrison FordHarrison Ford
Harrison Ford is an American film actor and producer. He is famous for his performances as Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy and as the title character of the Indiana Jones film series. Ford is also known for his roles as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, John Book in Witness and Jack Ryan in...
- portrayed as the president in an episode in VIPV.I.P. (TV series)V.I.P. is an American action/comedy-drama series starring Pamela Anderson. Created by J. F...
- referred to as a former president in the film Scary Movie 3Scary Movie 3Scary Movie 3 is a 2003 American science fiction comedy film, which parodies the horror, sci-fi, and mystery genres, directed by David Zucker. It is the third film of the Scary Movie franchise, as well as the first to have no involvement from the Wayans family...
when current president Baxter Harris "[wonders] what President Ford would have done". The audience is led to believe he's referring to actual president Gerald FordGerald FordGerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
, but the portrait shows Harrison Ford's image, possibly a reference to the 1997 film Air Force OneAir Force One (film)Air Force One is a 1997 American action-thriller film written by Andrew W. Marlowe and directed by Wolfgang Petersen. It stars Harrison Ford, Gary Oldman, and Glenn Close, and also features Xander Berkeley, William H. Macy, Dean Stockwell and Paul Guilfoyle...
.
Michael J. Fox
Michael J. Fox
Michael J. Fox, OC is a Canadian American actor, author, producer, activist and voice-over artist. With a film and television career spanning from the late 1970s, Fox's roles have included Marty McFly from the Back to the Future trilogy ; Alex P...
is mentioned as a former president in the 1989 video game Mean Streets
Mean Streets (computer game)
Mean Streets is a dystopian cyberpunk noir adventure game that was released in 1989 for MS-DOS, Amiga, Atari ST, and Commodore 64. It was developed and published by Access Software...
. (In real life, Fox is ineligible for the presidency, as he was born in Canada.)
Al Franken
Al Franken
Alan Stuart "Al" Franken is the junior United States Senator from Minnesota. He is a member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, which affiliates with the national Democratic Party....
was president in Why Not Me?, a satirical novel by Franken. He was elected in 2000, running on eliminating ATM fees. He was the first Jewish President and won in a landslide. Franken's running mate was Senator Joe Lieberman
Joe Lieberman
Joseph Isadore "Joe" Lieberman is the senior United States Senator from Connecticut. A former member of the Democratic Party, he was the party's nominee for Vice President in the 2000 election. Currently an independent, he remains closely affiliated with the party.Born in Stamford, Connecticut,...
of Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
, making the Franken-Lieberman ticket the first all-Jewish ticket since Reconstruction. As president, Franken suffered from severe depression and mood swings; he attacked Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
and appointed Sandy Koufax
Sandy Koufax
Sanford "Sandy" Koufax is a former left-handed baseball pitcher who played his entire 12-year Major League Baseball career for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers...
as Secretary of Veterans Affairs. President Franken resigned after 144 days in office on June 10, 2001. In his resignation speech, he said: "It is my fondest wish that, in the fullness of time, the American people will look back on the Franken presidency as something of a mixed bag and not as a complete disaster."
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...
- Listed as a former President in the Doctor WhoDoctor WhoDoctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
audio play Seasons of FearSeasons of FearSeasons of Fear is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.-Plot:...
. It is unclear whether this refers to him being President in the original Doctor Who time line or one of the fictional ones implied by the time corruption depicted in this story. - Selected as the first president over George Washington in the story "The Father of His Country" by Jody Lynn NyeJody Lynn NyeJody Lynn Nye is an American science fiction writer. She has frequently collaborated as a co-author or the author of a sequel....
in the Anthology Alternate Presidents.
G
Albert GallatinAlbert Gallatin
Abraham Alfonse Albert Gallatin was a Swiss-American ethnologist, linguist, politician, diplomat, congressman, and the longest-serving United States Secretary of the Treasury. In 1831, he founded the University of the City of New York...
assumed office after the successful 1794 Whiskey Rebellion
Whiskey Rebellion
The Whiskey Rebellion, or Whiskey Insurrection, was a tax protest in the United States in the 1790s, during the presidency of George Washington. Farmers who sold their corn in the form of whiskey had to pay a new tax which they strongly resented...
led to the overthrow and execution of George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
in the book The Probability Broach
The Probability Broach
The Probability Broach is the first novel by science fiction writer L. Neil Smith. It is set in an alternate history, the so-called Gallatin Universe, where a libertarian society has formed on the North American continent, styled the North American Confederacy.-Plot summary:Edward William "Win"...
. Gallatin reformed the system of government, severely limiting its powers, and his legacy eventually led to the formation of the North American Confederacy
North American Confederacy
North American Confederacy is an alternate history series of novels created by L. Neil Smith. The series includes the novel The Probability Broach and its sequels, and takes place in a country of the same name.-By Publication:...
John Nance Garner
John Nance Garner
John Nance Garner, IV , was the 32nd Vice President of the United States and the 44th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives .- Early life and family :...
- Is President in The Man in the High CastleThe Man in the High CastleThe Man in the High Castle is a science fiction alternate history novel by American writer Philip K. Dick. It won a Hugo Award in 1963 and has since been translated into many languages....
, by Philip K. DickPhilip K. DickPhilip Kindred Dick was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist whose published work is almost entirely in the science fiction genre. Dick explored sociological, political and metaphysical themes in novels dominated by monopolistic corporations, authoritarian governments and altered...
. He becomes President in 1933 after Franklin Roosevelt's assassination. He is re-elected in 1936, but fails to combat the Great DepressionGreat DepressionThe Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
and remains strongly isolationist. He is succeeded in the 1940 election by John W. BrickerJohn W. BrickerJohn William Bricker was a United States Senator and the 54th Governor of Ohio. A member of the Republican Party, he was the Republican nominee for Vice President in 1944.-Early life:...
, who also fails to confront the economic and foreign policy issues. As a result of their combined presidencies, the Axis PowersAxis PowersThe Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...
win World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and invade and conquer the United States in 1948. - Is elected President in 1938 in the aftermath of the MartianMartian (War of the Worlds)The Martians, also known as the Invaders, are the fictional race of extraterrestrials from the H.G. Wells novel The War of the Worlds. They are the antagonists of the novel, and their efforts to exterminate the populace of Earth and claim the planet for themselves drive the plot and present...
invasion at the end of the comic Superman: War of the WorldsSuperman: War of the WorldsSuperman: War of the Worlds is a DC Comics Elseworlds published in 1999. Written by Roy Thomas with Michael Lark as the artist, Willie Schubert as the letterer and Noelle Giddings as the colorist....
. Lex LuthorLex LuthorLex Luthor is a fictional character, a supervillain who appears in comic books published by DC Comics, and the archenemy of Superman, although given his high status as a supervillain, he has also come into conflict with Batman and other superheroes in the DC Universe. Created by Jerry Siegel and...
is his Vice President. - Is elected Vice President in the Harry TurtledoveHarry TurtledoveHarry Norman Turtledove is an American novelist, who has produced works in several genres including alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction.- Life :...
story "Joe Steele", serving under President Joe SteeleJoseph StalinJoseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
from 1933 until Steele's death in 1953. He ascends to the presidency, but is immediately overthrown by J. Edgar HooverJ. Edgar HooverJohn Edgar Hoover was the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States. Appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation—predecessor to the FBI—in 1924, he was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1935, where he remained director until his death in 1972...
.
John Glenn
John Glenn
John Herschel Glenn, Jr. is a former United States Marine Corps pilot, astronaut, and United States senator who was the first American to orbit the Earth and the third American in space. Glenn was a Marine Corps fighter pilot before joining NASA's Mercury program as a member of NASA's original...
was elected President in 1976 and 1980 in the 1999 short story, "Hillary Orbits Venus" by Pamela Sargent
Pamela Sargent
Pamela Sargent is an American, feminist, science fiction author, and editor. She has an MA in classical philosophy and has won a Nebula Award. She wrote a series concerning the terraforming of Venus that is sometimes compared to Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy, but predates it...
.
Barry Goldwater
Barry Goldwater
Barry Morris Goldwater was a five-term United States Senator from Arizona and the Republican Party's nominee for President in the 1964 election. An articulate and charismatic figure during the first half of the 1960s, he was known as "Mr...
:
- Won the 1964 election in the story "Fellow Americans" by Eileen GunnEileen GunnEileen Gunn is a science fiction author and editor based in Seattle, Washington, who began publishing in 1978....
in the Anthology Alternate Presidents. The story also features Richard NixonRichard NixonRichard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
as a TV host and Robert Kennedy as the Governor of New York City. The only event during his Presidency that the story mentions is his dropping of nukes in VietnamVietnamVietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
. - In Kim NewmanKim NewmanKim Newman is an English journalist, film critic, and fiction writer. Recurring interests visible in his work include film history and horror fiction—both of which he attributes to seeing Tod Browning's Dracula at the age of eleven—and alternate fictional versions of history...
and Eugene ByrneEugene ByrneEugene Byrne is an English freelance journalist and fiction writer.His novel ThigMOO, and the story it was based on, were nominated for the BSFA award. His story "HMS Habakkuk" was nominated for a Sidewise Award for Alternate History.He was born in Waterford in the Republic of Ireland, but was...
's alternate history Back in the USSABack in the USSABack in the USSA is a collection of 7 short stories by Eugene Byrne and Kim Newman, which was published in 1997 by Mark V. Ziesing Books. The stories are linked through their setting, an alternate history of the twentieth century in which the United States experienced a communist revolution in...
, Goldwater is president of a Communist United States, succeeding Al CaponeAl CaponeAlphonse Gabriel "Al" Capone was an American gangster who led a Prohibition-era crime syndicate. The Chicago Outfit, which subsequently became known as the "Capones", was dedicated to smuggling and bootlegging liquor, and other illegal activities such as prostitution, in Chicago from the early...
. Goldwater serves as a parallel to Nikita KhrushchevNikita KhrushchevNikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
, and is succeeded by Richard NixonRichard NixonRichard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
(Leonid BrezhnevLeonid BrezhnevLeonid Ilyich Brezhnev – 10 November 1982) was the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , presiding over the country from 1964 until his death in 1982. His eighteen-year term as General Secretary was second only to that of Joseph Stalin in...
).
Al Gore
Al Gore
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
- Shown as the current president in an alternate reality in The One (2001) and in the comic book Hero SquaredHero SquaredHero Squared is an American comic book series published by Boom! Studios. Originally a limited series, it is written by Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis and illustrated by Joe Abraham...
X-Tra Sized Special. - In The One, he is seen briefly in a news broadcast in an alternate universeParallel universe (fiction)A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...
. - The One was produced before the outcome of the 2000 Presidential ElectionUnited States presidential election, 2000The United States presidential election of 2000 was a contest between Republican candidate George W. Bush, then-governor of Texas and son of former president George H. W. Bush , and Democratic candidate Al Gore, then-Vice President....
was known. In keeping with the film's alternate-universe concept, the filmmakers used stock footageStock footageStock footage, and similarly, archive footage, library pictures and file footage are film or video footage that may or may not be custom shot for use in a specific film or television program. Stock footage is of beneficial use to filmmakers as it is sometimes less expensive than shooting new...
of Al Gore and George W. BushGeorge W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
to create a pair of similar mockup news broadcasts of each candidate as President. The eventual winner's version would be inserted into a scene in "our" universe, while the other would be shown in an alternate universe. - Was allowed to sit at the desk of the Oval OfficeOval OfficeThe Oval Office, located in the West Wing of the White House, is the official office of the President of the United States.The room features three large south-facing windows behind the president's desk, and a fireplace at the north end...
on the set of The West Wing in a skit from Saturday Night LiveSaturday Night LiveSaturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
making fun of the television show and depicting Gore, who had just lost the U.S. presidential election 2000, as overly eager to act the role of president on his visit to the television set. - The opening sketch of a 2006 episode of Saturday Night LiveSaturday Night LiveSaturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
showed him addressing the nation, describing how his reversal of global warmingGlobal warmingGlobal warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
led to encroaching glaciers, offering to bail out the oil companies because oil prices had dropped dramatically due to the popularity of alternative fuels, CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
had left the Union to become the nation of "Mexifornia", Major League BaseballMajor League BaseballMajor League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
Commissioner George W. BushGeorge W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
was doing his best to crack down on the use of steroids, AfghanistanAfghanistanAfghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
was an extremely popular Spring Break destination, and a Six FlagsSix FlagsSix Flags Entertainment Corp. is the world's largest amusement park corporation based on quantity of properties and the fifth most popular in terms of attendance. The company maintains 14 properties located throughout North America, including theme parks, thrill parks, water parks and family...
theme park had been opened in TehranTehranTehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to... - The television series SeaQuest DSVSeaQuest DSVseaQuest DSV is an American science fiction television series created by Rockne S. O'Bannon. It originally aired on NBC between 1993 and 1996. In its final season, it was renamed seaQuest 2032. Set in "the near future", seaQuest mixes high drama with realistic scientific fiction...
implies that Gore had become President sometime before 2032, as the show's namesake vessel was stationed at the nonexistent Fort Gore. - Is mentioned as the president in the webcomic The Spiders, focusing on an alternative American invasion of Afghanistan.
- Mentioned as President in the episode "Meet the QuagmiresMeet the Quagmires"Meet the Quagmires" is the eighteenth episode of the fifth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox on May 20, 2007. The episode features Peter after he goes back in time, in order to live the single life a little longer, before he met his wife, Lois...
" of Family GuyFamily GuyFamily Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...
when Peter GriffinPeter GriffinPeter Griffin is a fictional character and the protagonist of the animated comedy series Family Guy and the patriarch of the Griffin family. He is voiced by cartoonist Seth MacFarlane and first appeared on television, along with the rest of the family in the 15-minute short on December 20, 1998....
is allowed by Death to go back in time and ends up marrying Molly RingwaldMolly RingwaldMolly Kathleen Ringwald is an American actress, singer and dancer. Having appeared in the John Hughes movies Sixteen Candles , The Breakfast Club , and Pretty in Pink , Ringwald has been frequently named the greatest teen star of all time...
instead of Lois Pewterschmidt thus allowing Glen Quagmire to marry her instead. Al Gore is President and enacts liberal policies beneficial to the country and has found and strangled Osama bin LadenOsama bin LadenOsama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
on the set of MADtvMADtvMADtv is an American sketch comedy television series. It licensed the name and logo of Mad, but otherwise had no connection with the humor magazine outside the animated Spy vs. Spy and Don Martin cartoon shorts and images of Alfred E. Neuman that the show featured during the late 1990s. Its first...
. Brian GriffinBrian GriffinBrian Griffin is a character from the animated television series Family Guy. He is voiced by Seth MacFarlane and first appeared on television, along with the rest of the family, in a 15-minute short on December 20, 1998. Brian was created and designed by MacFarlane himself...
uses this as an argument to prevent Peter from returning to the past to set things the way they were, but Peter insists on correcting the past. - Gets elected in 2000 in "The Execution ChannelThe Execution ChannelThe Execution Channel, a science fiction novel by Ken MacLeod, focuses on the early decades of the 21st century. The military of the United States of America and some of its allies have conducted a war on terror for some time and terrorist atrocities have continued, including an unspecified one at...
" by Ken MacLeodKen MacLeodKen MacLeod , is a Scottish science fiction writer.MacLeod was born in Stornoway. He graduated from Glasgow University with a degree in zoology and has worked as a computer programmer and written a masters thesis on biomechanics....
. The point explicitly made by the writer is that - with the September 11 attacks still happening also with a Democrat in the White House - Gore and Hillary Clinton who succeeds him as President would have undertaken an aggressive "War on TerrorismWar on TerrorismThe War on Terror is a term commonly applied to an international military campaign led by the United States and the United Kingdom with the support of other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as well as non-NATO countries...
" similar to that undertaken by George W. BushGeorge W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
in actual history, leading to an unstable, oppressive situation in the later part of the 21st Century when the plot is set.
H
Hannibal HamlinHannibal Hamlin
Hannibal Hamlin was the 15th Vice President of the United States , serving under President Abraham Lincoln during the American Civil War...
ascends to the presidency after Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
is killed by a sniper at the Battle of Fort Stevens
Battle of Fort Stevens
The Battle of Fort Stevens was an American Civil War battle fought July 11–12, 1864, in Northwest Washington, D.C., as part of the Valley Campaigns of 1864 between forces under Confederate Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early and Union Maj. Gen. Alexander McD. McCook. Although Early caused consternation...
in 1864 in Harry Turtledove
Harry Turtledove
Harry Norman Turtledove is an American novelist, who has produced works in several genres including alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction.- Life :...
's "Must and Shall". Hamlin oversees a Reconstruction of the South that is far more vindictive and brutal than in real history, resulting in a South that continues to chafe under military occupation into the 1940s.
President Harriman, mentioned in The Number of the Beast
The Number of the Beast (novel)
The Number of the Beast is a science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein published in 1980. The first edition featured a cover and interior illustrations by Richard M. Powers...
by Robert A. Heinlein
Robert A. Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of...
, is presumably W. Averell Harriman
W. Averell Harriman
William Averell Harriman was an American Democratic Party politician, businessman, and diplomat. He was the son of railroad baron E. H. Harriman. He served as Secretary of Commerce under President Harry S. Truman and later as the 48th Governor of New York...
. In reading an almanac from our universe, it's noted that Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
served one of his terms in office (meaning he either served from 1949-1957 or 1957–1965).
William Henry Harrison
William Henry Harrison
William Henry Harrison was the ninth President of the United States , an American military officer and politician, and the first president to die in office. He was 68 years, 23 days old when elected, the oldest president elected until Ronald Reagan in 1980, and last President to be born before the...
, the actual 9th President of the US, had an alternate presidency in Tom Wicker's "His Accidency". The Point of Departure
Point of divergence
In discussion of counterfactual history, a divergence point , also referred to as a departure point or point of divergence , is a historical event with two possible postulated outcomes...
is Harrison's apparently trivial decision to wear a hat and a coat to his inauguration in March 1841 and cut in half the inauguration speech he prepared, delivered in the open on a cold and rainy day. Thereby, Harrison avoided the pneumonia which in actual history killed him a month later, and served out his full term. Thus, Vice President John Tyler
John Tyler
John Tyler was the tenth President of the United States . A native of Virginia, Tyler served as a state legislator, governor, U.S. representative, and U.S. senator before being elected Vice President . He was the first to succeed to the office of President following the death of a predecessor...
never ascended to the presidency. In actual history Tyler - a Virginian - had actively promoted Texas, a slave state
Slave state
In the United States of America prior to the American Civil War, a slave state was a U.S. state in which slavery was legal, whereas a free state was one in which slavery was either prohibited from its entry into the Union or eliminated over time...
, joining the Union; conversely, in Wicker's alternate history the surviving Harrison, a Northerner, was lukewarm to the idea. As a result, the Texans accepted the offer of Mexico to recognise Texas provided that it remained independent and did not join the US. Texas indeed remained the Lone Star Republic and did not join the US. The Mexican War did not break out and thus California, Arizona and New Mexico remained part of Mexico. Harrison's care for his personal health turned out to have seriously derailed Manifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny was the 19th century American belief that the United States was destined to expand across the continent. It was used by Democrat-Republicans in the 1840s to justify the war with Mexico; the concept was denounced by Whigs, and fell into disuse after the mid-19th century.Advocates of...
.
Gary Hart
Gary Hart
Gary Hart is an American politician, lawyer, author, professor and commentator. He served as a Democratic Senator representing Colorado , and ran in the U.S...
is president from 1980-88 in an alternate world inhabited by Susannah Dean
Susannah Dean
Susannah Odetta Holmes Dean is a fictional character from Stephen King's The Dark Tower series...
, Eddie Dean, and Jake Chambers
Jake Chambers
John "Jake" Chambers is a fictional character in Stephen King's The Dark Tower series of novels. He first appeared in the short story "The Way Station" in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in April 1980, which was later compiled as one of the chapters of the first Dark Tower book, The...
at the end of Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
's novel The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower. Eddie mentions that Hart was elected in a landslide in the 1980 election after almost dropping out due to the "Monkey Business business." In real life, Hart ran for president in 1984 and 1988 (not 1980 and 1984), and the Monkey Business scandal happened in 1987 (not 1980). In this alternate timeline, Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
never entered politics.
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...
was president between 1956 and 1964 in Harry G. Kaufman's story "Boozing in the Oval Room". He entered the 1956 elections as an independent, after the death of both Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
and Adlai Stevenson II (from sickness and a road accident respectively). President Hemingway invited Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
to the White House in 1959 and forged a close alliance with Castro's Cuba. In 1962 Hemingway engaged in a scandalous fist fight inside the White House with the much younger John Kennedy, here Mayor of Boston, over the favours of Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
.
Paris Hilton
Paris Hilton
Paris Whitney Hilton is an American businesswoman, heiress, and socialite. She is a great-granddaughter of Conrad Hilton . Hilton is known for her controversial participation in a sex tape in 2003, and appearance on the television series The Simple Life alongside fellow socialite and childhood...
was portrayed as president in an alternate universe on The Suite Life of Zack and Cody
The Suite Life of Zack and Cody
The Suite Life of Zack & Cody is an American sitcom created by Danny Kallis and Jim Geoghan. The series premiered on Disney Channel on March 18, 2005 with 4 million viewers, making it the most successful premiere for Disney Channel in 2005. It was one of their first five shows available on the...
episode The Suite Smell of Excess. She makes it illegal to weigh more than 108 pounds. Hilton herself once joked in a famous YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
video that she would run in the 2008 United States presidential election, after John McCain
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
used footage of her to negatively portray Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
as a mere celebrity.
Ernest Hollings
Ernest Hollings
Ernest Frederick "Fritz" Hollings served as a Democratic United States Senator from South Carolina from 1966 to 2005, as well as the 106th Governor of South Carolina and Lt. Governor . He served 38 years and 55 days in the Senate, which makes him the 8th-longest-serving Senator in history...
is president in an alternate reality briefly visited by Father Callahan
Father Callahan
Father Donald Frank Callahan is a fictional character created by Stephen King. He originally appeared in Salem's Lot and later the Dark Tower, appearing in The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla, The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah and finally The Dark Tower...
in Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
's novel The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla. Although the real Hollings sought the candidacy in the 1984 election, in Wolves of the Calla he was elected in 1980.
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
, the actual thirty-first President of the United States, gets a very different presidency in Harry Turtledove
Harry Turtledove
Harry Norman Turtledove is an American novelist, who has produced works in several genres including alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction.- Life :...
's Southern Victory Series (American Empire: The Center Cannot Hold
American Empire: The Center Cannot Hold
American Empire: The Center Cannot Hold is the second book in the American Empire series by Harry Turtledove. It takes place during the period of the Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression...
& American Empire: The Victorious Opposition
American Empire: The Victorious Opposition
American Empire: The Victorious Opposition is the third and final book in the American Empire alternate history series by Harry Turtledove, and the seventh in the Southern Victory Series of books.-Plot summary:...
). He is initially elected Vice President in 1932 on the Democratic ticket with Calvin Coolidge
Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state...
. However, Coolidge dies a month before he is sworn-in, and so Vice President-elect Hoover becomes president. Hoover is also the 31st president in this timeline. Despite a tremendous victory, Hoover squanders it by allowing the Confederate States to re-arm under Jake Featherston
Jake Featherston
Jacob "Jake" Featherston is a fictional character inthe Southern Victory Series novel series by Harry Turtledove. He is the fictional timeline's equivalent of Adolf Hitler.-Character introduction:...
, and is unable to turn around the economic depression facing the country. He is defeated in 1936 by Socialist Al Smith
Al Smith
Alfred Emanuel Smith. , known in private and public life as Al Smith, was an American statesman who was elected the 42nd Governor of New York three times, and was the Democratic U.S. presidential candidate in 1928...
.
J. Edgar Hoover
J. Edgar Hoover
John Edgar Hoover was the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States. Appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation—predecessor to the FBI—in 1924, he was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1935, where he remained director until his death in 1972...
- Portrayed as President in the Red DwarfRed DwarfRed Dwarf is a British comedy franchise which primarily comprises eight series of a television science fiction sitcom that aired on BBC Two between 1988 and 1999 and Dave from 2009–present. It gained cult following. It was created by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, who also wrote the first six series...
episode "Tikka to Ride". When the Red Dwarf crew inadvertently prevented the assassination of John F. KennedyJohn F. KennedyJohn Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
, he was impeached in a sex scandal (with a mistress shared with MafiaMafiaThe Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
boss Sam GiancanaSam GiancanaSalvatore Giancana , better known as Sam Giancana, was a Sicilian-American mobster and boss of the Chicago Outfit from 1957-1966...
) in 1964. Hoover was forced to run for President by the MafiaMafiaThe Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
, who blackmailed him with evidence that he was a cross-dresser. In return for unrestricted Mafia cocaineCocaineCocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
trafficking, Hoover allowed the Soviet Union to set up a nuclear base in CubaCubaThe Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, resulting in widespread panic, the abandonment of major American cities, the increasing likelihood of nuclear conflict and, in all likelihood, a Soviet victory in the Space RaceSpace RaceThe Space Race was a mid-to-late 20th century competition between the Soviet Union and the United States for supremacy in space exploration. Between 1957 and 1975, Cold War rivalry between the two nations focused on attaining firsts in space exploration, which were seen as necessary for national...
due to a demoralized America. Hoover's presidency was erased when Kennedy assassinates himself in Dallas, 1963, restoring the timeline. - In the SlidersSlidersSliders is an American science fiction television series. It was broadcast for five seasons, beginning in 1995 and ending in 2000. The series follows a group of travelers as they use a wormhole to "slide" between different parallel universes. The show was created by Robert K. Weiss and Tracy Tormé...
episode "Time Again and World", the group lands on a parallel Earth where America exists in a state of martial lawMartial lawMartial law is the imposition of military rule by military authorities over designated regions on an emergency basis— only temporary—when the civilian government or civilian authorities fail to function effectively , when there are extensive riots and protests, or when the disobedience of the law...
. After the assassination of JFK, Hoover became president for more than 20 years (a lifelong term), implemented martial law and amended the Constitution, excising most of the Bill of Rights. In tribute to Hoover, all police officers wear skirts instead of pants. In that alternate dimension, the prison on Alcatraz IslandAlcatraz IslandAlcatraz Island is an island located in the San Francisco Bay, offshore from San Francisco, California, United States. Often referred to as "The Rock" or simply "Traz", the small island was developed with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification, a military prison, and a Federal...
is a fully functioning penitentiary where the most dangerous political prisoners are kept, including civil-rights activists Martin Luther King, Jr.Martin Luther King, Jr.Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the...
and Robert F. KennedyRobert F. KennedyRobert Francis "Bobby" Kennedy , also referred to by his initials RFK, was an American politician, a Democratic senator from New York, and a noted civil rights activist. An icon of modern American liberalism and member of the Kennedy family, he was a younger brother of President John F...
as well as loud, out-spoken comedian Sam KinisonSam KinisonSamuel Burl "Sam" Kinison was an American stand-up comedian and actor. Kinison was known for his intense, harsh and politically incorrect genre humor...
. - Another dictatorial Hoover, in Harry TurtledoveHarry TurtledoveHarry Norman Turtledove is an American novelist, who has produced works in several genres including alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction.- Life :...
's alternate history "Joe Steele", got to power earlier, in 1953 - having won a bloody power struggle following the death of his predecessor, President Joe Steele - an avatar of none other than Joseph StalinJoseph StalinJoseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
, whose parents in this timeline emigrated to the US making him an American citizen (and eventually an American dictator). Hoover was the head of Steele's secret police, putting him in good position to become the next dictator-president, and proving even more brutal than Steele-Stalin - He also was President in one of many alternate realities mentioned in Richard BowesRichard BowesRichard Bowes is an American author of science fiction and fantasy.Richard Bowes was born in Boston in 1944. He attended school both in Boston and on Long Island, New York. In his third year, he took writing courses with Mark Eisenstein at Hofstra University...
' From the Files of the Time RangersFrom the Files of the Time RangersFrom the Files of the Time Rangers is an alternate world / time travel novel, having also elements of contemporary fantasy, by Richard Bowes and published in 2005 by Golden Gryphon Press. The novel’s foreword, entitled "Rick Bowes: An Appreciation," is written by Kage Baker, author of The...
. He is briefly mentioned as being President in the 1940s; how he became president or what happens to him is not revealed in the novel.
Cordell Hull
Cordell Hull
Cordell Hull was an American politician from the U.S. state of Tennessee. He is best known as the longest-serving Secretary of State, holding the position for 11 years in the administration of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt during much of World War II...
became President upon the death of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the Harry Turtledove
Harry Turtledove
Harry Norman Turtledove is an American novelist, who has produced works in several genres including alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction.- Life :...
alternate history novel Worldwar: Striking the Balance
Worldwar: Striking the Balance
Worldwar: Striking the Balance is an alternate history and science fiction novel by Harry Turtledove. It is the fourth and final novel of the Worldwar tetraology, as well as the fourth installment in the extended Worldwar series that includes the Colonization trilogy and the novel Homeward...
. Henry Wallace
Henry A. Wallace
Henry Agard Wallace was the 33rd Vice President of the United States , the Secretary of Agriculture , and the Secretary of Commerce . In the 1948 presidential election, Wallace was the nominee of the Progressive Party.-Early life:Henry A...
had been killed in a nuclear strike prior to Roosevelt's death.
I
Lee IacoccaLee Iacocca
Lido Anthony "Lee" Iacocca is an American businessman known for engineering the Mustang, the unsuccessful Ford Pinto, being fired from Ford Motor Company, and his revival of the Chrysler Corporation in the 1980s...
- The movie World Gone Wild (1988) is set in 2087 where civilization collapsed after a nuclear war. In one scene of the movie, a character is looking at pre-war relics and finds a copy of Iacocca's autobiography
Iacocca: An Autobiography
Iacocca: An Autobiography is Lee Iacocca's best selling autobiography, co-authored with William Novak and originally published in 1984. Most of the book is taken up with reminiscences of Iacocca's career in the car industry, first with the Ford Motor Company, then the Chrysler Corporation...
. He mentions that Iacocca had been a great President.
J
Henry M. "Scoop" Jackson is the President in the "main" US timeline in the book The Probability BroachThe Probability Broach
The Probability Broach is the first novel by science fiction writer L. Neil Smith. It is set in an alternate history, the so-called Gallatin Universe, where a libertarian society has formed on the North American continent, styled the North American Confederacy.-Plot summary:Edward William "Win"...
by L. Neil Smith
L. Neil Smith
L. Neil Smith , also known to readers and fans as El Neil, is a libertarian science fiction author and political activist. He was born on May 12, 1946 in Denver...
. In the book itself, he's only referred to as "President Jackson"; his identity is confirmed in the later sequel The Gallatin Divergence.
Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
was president in the short story, "SEAQ and Destroy" by Charles Stross
Charles Stross
Charles David George "Charlie" Stross is a British writer of science fiction, Lovecraftian horror and fantasy. He was born in Leeds.Stross specialises in hard science fiction and space opera...
.
Duane Johnson
Duane Johnson
Duane Johnson has lived in Kansas, Missouri, Louisiana, and Texas. He currently lives outside of Austin, Texas.-Biography:Johnson, the son of Cecil John Johnson Jr. and Nina Ruth Kimerer Johnson...
, who in reality is a staff member of the anime convention Otakon
Otakon
Otakon is a fan convention in the United States focusing on East Asian popular culture and its fandom. The name is a portmanteau derived from convention and the Japanese word otaku...
, appears in various fandub
Fandub
A fandub is a fan-made dub or redub of a production, typically completely altering dialogues, story plots and personalities of protagonists in a funny way...
parodies as President.
Rev. Jesse Jackson
Jesse Jackson
Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr. is an African-American civil rights activist and Baptist minister. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as shadow senator for the District of Columbia from 1991 to 1997. He was the founder of both entities that merged to...
was president in Greg Costikyan
Greg Costikyan
Greg Costikyan, sometimes known under the pseudonym "Designer X" , is an American game designer and science fiction writer.Costikyan's career spans nearly all extant genres of gaming, including hex-based wargames, role-playing games, boardgames, card games, computer games, online games and mobile...
's 1994 story "The West is Red", in which the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
won the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
. Jackson tried to walk a tightrope, instituting moderate social democratic reforms and partial nationalisations without altogether dismantling Capitalism
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
. But an attempted coup d'état in 1989 tipped the balance and in the aftermath of its failure the United States fully adopted Communism.
Lyndon Johnson is still alive in 1991 and still President (at least nominally), in David Drake
David Drake
David Drake is an American author of science fiction and fantasy literature. A Vietnam War veteran who has worked as a lawyer, he is now one of the premier authors of the military science fiction subgenre.-Biography:...
's "Arc Riders" (http://www.amazon.com/dp/0446601527). Johnson was used as a figurehead by a ruthless cabal which - instigated by a fanatic American nationalist time traveler from the future - overthrew constitutional government in 1968 and seized power with the intention of winning the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
at all costs. By 1991 the whole of North Vietnam
North Vietnam
The Democratic Republic of Vietnam , was a communist state that ruled the northern half of Vietnam from 1954 until 1976 following the Geneva Conference and laid claim to all of Vietnam from 1945 to 1954 during the First Indochina War, during which they controlled pockets of territory throughout...
is occupied by American troops but the war continues unabated in central China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, and the US is on the verge of collapse and a nuclear civil war. President Johnson, kept alive by constant medical attention, has no real power and little knowledge of the acts perpetrated by generals and secret policemen in his name.
K
Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr.Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr.
Joseph Patrick "Joe" Kennedy, Sr. was a prominent American businessman, investor, and government official....
- Was president in FatherlandFatherland (novel)Fatherland is a bestselling 1992 thriller by the English writer and journalist Robert Harris. It takes the form of a high concept alternative history set in a world in which Nazi Germany won World War II.The novel was an immediate bestseller in Britain...
, a novel by Robert HarrisRobert Harris (novelist)Robert Dennis Harris is an English novelist. He is a former journalist and BBC television reporter.-Early life:Born in Nottingham, Harris spent his childhood in a small rented house on a Nottingham council estate. His ambition to become a writer arose at an early age, from visits to the local...
later made into a HBO movie. In the novel, Nazi GermanyNazi GermanyNazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
won World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
resulting in a far different world by April 1964. With tensions easing between the world's two major superpowers, a 75-year-old Adolf HitlerAdolf HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
welcomes President Kennedy (elected in 1960) to a Berlin summit in the interest of fostering détente. Kennedy was believed by one of the main characters to be a shoo-in for re-election until the truth of the death camps is uncovered on the day of the summit. President Kennedy was played by Jan KohoutJan KohoutJan Kohout is a Czech diplomat and politician. He was the Minister of Foreign Affairs in caretaker government of Prime Minister Jan Fischer. Kohout had been a member of the Social Democratic Party before accepting the office of Foreign Minister.After the Velvet revolution, he entered the...
in the movie. - In the novel K is for Killing by Daniel Easterman, he becomes president in 1940 following the assassination of President D. C. StephensonD. C. StephensonDavid Curtiss "Steve" Stephenson was an American Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan in the U.S. state of Indiana and 22 other Northern states. He is considered to have been one of the most successful Klan leaders up until his downfall after his conviction for murder...
. Stephenson was elected Vice President under Charles LindberghCharles LindberghCharles Augustus Lindbergh was an American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist.Lindbergh, a 25-year-old U.S...
in 1932, and became President upon arranging for Lindbergh's assassination to prevent him from discovering a secret nuclear weapon collaboration plan with Nazi GermanyNazi GermanyNazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
. In the novel, Kennedy is Speaker of the HouseSpeaker of the United States House of RepresentativesThe Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, or Speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives...
and becomes President when Stephenson is killed by his own wife, but blames it on German agents and uses it as a pretext to sever all ties with Germany.
Patrick Bouvier Kennedy was elected in 2000 in the story "Prince Pat" by George Alec Effinger
George Alec Effinger
George Alec Effinger was an American science fiction author, born in 1947 in Cleveland, Ohio.-Writing career:...
in the anthology Alternate Kennedys, defeating the incumbent Republican, former Secretary of State James A. Baker. In real life Patrick Kennedy, son of President John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
, was born August 7, 1963, and died two days later of Infant respiratory distress syndrome
Infant respiratory distress syndrome
Infant respiratory distress syndrome , also called neonatal respiratory distress syndrome or respiratory distress syndrome of newborn, previously called hyaline membrane disease, is a syndrome in premature infants caused by developmental insufficiency of surfactant production and structural...
. This would have made him, at 37, the youngest President in History. In style and plot, the story parallels the Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
play Henry V
Henry V (play)
Henry V is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to be written in approximately 1599. Its full titles are The Cronicle History of Henry the Fifth and The Life of Henry the Fifth...
.
John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
- Still alive in the 1990s in Brad FergusonBrad FergusonBrad Ferguson , is an American science fiction writer. Before becoming a freelance writer he worked as a writer, editor and producer for CBS Radio News in New York...
's "The World Next DoorThe World Next DoorThe World Next Door is a 1990 novel by Brad Ferguson, combining in a novel way the sub-genres of Alternate history and of predicting the Third World War....
" and still legally the President, since the US and the whole world were completely devastated in 1962 when the Cuban Missile CrisisCuban Missile CrisisThe Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation among the Soviet Union, Cuba and the United States in October 1962, during the Cold War...
turned into all-out nuclear war and no further elections were ever held. Kennedy is hated and detested by the remnants of the American population, starting to revive by their own efforts in small pockets here and there. Generally considered "The man who destroyed the country", Kennedy's exact whereabouts are unknown, and he is rumored to be "hiding out in a bunker somewhere".
- In James P. HoganJames P. Hogan (writer)James Patrick Hogan was a British science fiction author.-Biography:Hogan was born in London, England. He was raised in the Portobello Road area on the west side of London...
's "The Proteus OperationThe Proteus OperationThe Proteus Operation is a science fiction novel which was written by James P. Hogan and published in 1985. Alternate history, time travel, and parallel universes form the basis of its plot, in which a group of military commandos, diplomats, and scientists travel back to 1939...
", Kennedy is elected President at 1972, in an alternate history where Nazi GermanyNazi GermanyNazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
won World War II and the German-Japanese Axis rules all the world except for North America and Australia. President Kennedy vows "not to give up a single inch of free soil" and engages in an increasingly tense Cold WarCold WarThe Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
with the Nazis and Imperial Japanese, facing the bleak possibility of either defeat in the coming hot war or the destruction of the world in a nuclear holocaustNuclear holocaustNuclear holocaust refers to the possibility of the near complete annihilation of human civilization by nuclear warfare. Under such a scenario, all or most of the Earth is made uninhabitable by nuclear weapons in future world wars....
. In 1974 Kennedy sponsors a secret time-travel project to send a special commando unit back to 1939, whose intervention eventually creates our own history.
- Herbert B. Douglas' story "The Mother of all Murder Trials" is an alternate history in which Jacqueline Bouvier married John Husted rather than John Kennedy. Kennedy then married Marilyn MonroeMarilyn MonroeMarilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
and was elected President in 1960 with her at his side. In their first year Monroe was a highly successful and glamorous First Lady, but afterwards their marriage went under increasing strain, bitter quarrels and mutual (justified) accusations of infidelity. Late on the night of September 30, 1962, President Kennedy discovered his wife in bed with his brother Robert Kennedy, pulled a gun and killed both of them - being found by White House aides bitterly crying with the smoking gun still in his hand. A week later Congress unanimously voted to impeach Kennedy and remove him from office, whereupon he was charged with murder. After dismissing a lawyer who tried to plead "temporary insanity", Kennedy pleaded guilty and specifically asked the court to sentence him to death as "the least which I deserve", refused to appeal the sentence and went to the electric chair after the Pope came to America to personally give him absolution. His last words were "God bless America - I am ready to do my last duty for my country". While initially considered a monster, Kennedy's sincere and obvious penitence won him considerable public sympathy and he was widely regarded as "a tragic hero". The enormous attention to this sensational murder case relegated to the back pages the news of Soviet missiles being placed in Cuba. President Johnson, who took office on October 1962, contented himself with warning the Soviets that any use of these missiles would be "answered ten-fold" by American missiles placed in Turkey. In 1965 Johnson - concluding that there was no chance left to topple the Cuba regime - reached a secret deal with Fidel CastroFidel CastroFidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
, for removal of US sanctions in return for a Cuban promise not to "export the revolution". This caused an open breach between Castro and Che GuevaraChe GuevaraErnesto "Che" Guevara , commonly known as el Che or simply Che, was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, intellectual, guerrilla leader, diplomat and military theorist...
, who was arrested in Havana and executed on treason charges.
- In the comic bookComic bookA comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
miniseriesLimited seriesA limited series is a comic book series with a set number of installments. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is determined before production and it differs from a one shot in that it is composed of multiple issues....
Superman: Red SonSuperman: Red SonSuperman: Red Son is a three-issue prestige format comic book mini-series published by DC Comics that was released under their Elseworlds imprint in April 2003...
, Kennedy lost the 1960 electionUnited States presidential election, 1960The United States presidential election of 1960 was the 44th American presidential election, held on November 8, 1960, for the term beginning January 20, 1961, and ending January 20, 1965. The incumbent president, Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower, was not eligible to run again. The Republican Party...
to Richard NixonRichard NixonRichard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
, who was later assassinated in Dallas, TexasJohn F. Kennedy assassinationJohn Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas...
on November 22, 1963. However, he was President by 1978. During his presidency, he had divorced his first wife Jacqueline KennedyJacqueline Kennedy OnassisJacqueline Lee Bouvier "Jackie" Kennedy Onassis was the wife of the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, and served as First Lady of the United States during his presidency from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. Five years later she married Greek shipping magnate Aristotle...
and married Norma Jeane BakerMarilyn MonroeMarilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
, becoming the first U.S. President to divorce and remarry while in office.
Robert Kennedy
- The novel A Disturbance of Fate by Mitchell J. Freedman is premised on Robert Kennedy surviving Sirhan SirhanSirhan SirhanSirhan Bishara Sirhan is a Jordanian citizen who was convicted for the assassination of United States Senator Robert F. Kennedy. He is serving a life sentence at Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga, California.Sirhan was a Christian Arab born in Jerusalem who strongly opposed Israel...
's assassination attempt and going on to serve two successful terms as president with Ralph YarboroughRalph YarboroughRalph Webster Yarborough was a Texas Democratic politician who served in the United States Senate and was a leader of the progressive or liberal wing of his party in his many races for statewide office...
as his vice president and eventual successor. - In one of the episodes of What If? on the Discovery ChannelDiscovery ChannelDiscovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
, he won the Democratic nomination in 1968 with Revd Dr Martin Luther King, Jr.Martin Luther King, Jr.Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the...
as his running mate. Kennedy defeated Richard NixonRichard NixonRichard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
and George WallaceGeorge WallaceGeorge Corley Wallace, Jr. was the 45th Governor of Alabama, serving four terms: 1963–1967, 1971–1979 and 1983–1987. "The most influential loser" in 20th-century U.S. politics, according to biographers Dan T. Carter and Stephan Lesher, he ran for U.S...
in the general election, but was shot to death in September 1969. - In the story "President-Elect" by Mark Aronson in the anthology Alternate Kennedys, RFK survives his encounter with Sirhan Sirhan and adds a strong law & order theme to his campaign. Pressured by incumbent Lyndon Johnson to more closely toe the party line (or more precisely, the LBJ line) or else risk having his election sabotaged, Kennedy bolts and becomes the Republican nominee with Richard NixonRichard NixonRichard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
as his running mate. The Democrats nominate his brother Ted KennedyTed KennedyEdward Moore "Ted" Kennedy was a United States Senator from Massachusetts and a member of the Democratic Party. Serving almost 47 years, he was the second most senior member of the Senate when he died and is the fourth-longest-serving senator in United States history...
to run with the incumbent veep Hubert HumphreyHubert HumphreyHubert Horatio Humphrey, Jr. , served under President Lyndon B. Johnson as the 38th Vice President of the United States. Humphrey twice served as a United States Senator from Minnesota, and served as Democratic Majority Whip. He was a founder of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and...
. Kennedy/Nixon barely edges Kennedy/Humphrey, but before he can be inaugurated, Robert is killed when he accidentally drives off a bridge at Chappaquiddick, leaving Nixon to become President. - In the 1969 alternate history If Israel Lost the WarIf Israel Lost the WarIf Israel Lost the War is a 1969 alternate history/political controversy book written jointly by Robert Littell, Richard Z. Chesnoff and Edward Klein.- Synopsis :...
by Richard Z. Chesnoff, Edward KleinEdward KleinEdward Klein is a bestselling nonfiction author who has written about the Kennedys and Hillary Clinton.Klein is the former foreign editor of Newsweek and former editor in chief of The New York Times Magazine. He frequently contributes to Vanity Fair and Parade; he has a weekly column in Parade...
and Robert LittellRobert Littell (author)Robert Littell is an American novelist and journalist residing part of the time in France. He specializes in spy novels that often concern the CIA and the Soviet Union....
, Israel was defeated in the Six Day War, Sirhan Sirhan went home to share in his people's victory celebrations, and Robert Kennedy passed unscathed through the kitchen of The Ambassador Hotel and went on to be elected President.
Ted Kennedy
Ted Kennedy
Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy was a United States Senator from Massachusetts and a member of the Democratic Party. Serving almost 47 years, he was the second most senior member of the Senate when he died and is the fourth-longest-serving senator in United States history...
- Mentioned in The SimpsonsThe SimpsonsThe Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
episode "Bart to the FutureBart to the Future"Bart to the Future" is the seventeenth episode of the eleventh season of the American animated sitcom The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 19, 2000. In the episode, after their vacation in the woods is cut short due to a mosquito infestation, the...
" and was president sometime before Lisa SimpsonLisa SimpsonLisa Marie Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She is the middle child of the Simpson family. Voiced by Yeardley Smith, Lisa first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Cartoonist Matt Groening...
. - A list of US Presidents since the 1950s in Robert A. HeinleinRobert A. HeinleinRobert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of...
's book Job: A Comedy of JusticeJob: A Comedy of JusticeJob: A Comedy of Justice is a novel by Robert A. Heinlein published in 1984. The title is a reference to the biblical Book of Job and James Branch Cabell's book Jurgen, A Comedy of Justice...
(1984) concludes with "Eisenhower, Kennedy, Kennedy, Kennedy", presumably referring to both Robert Kennedy and Ted Kennedy. This joke was used earlier in A Boy and His DogA Boy and His DogA Boy and His Dog is a cycle of narratives and films including or stemming from works of science fiction author Harlan Ellison.Ellison began the cycle with the 1969 short story of the same title, and a revised and expanded novella-length version was published in Ellison's story collection The Beast...
(1976) when the main character lists the presidents in order: "Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Kennedy, Kennedy, Kennedy...". This list was also mentioned as the USA presidents in The Number of the BeastThe Number of the Beast (novel)The Number of the Beast is a science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein published in 1980. The first edition featured a cover and interior illustrations by Richard M. Powers...
for Timeline 2 (the Future HistoryFuture HistoryThe Future History, by Robert A. Heinlein, describes a projected future of the human race from the middle of the 20th century through the early 23rd century. The term Future History was coined by John W. Campbell, Jr. in the February 1941 issue of Astounding Science Fiction...
timeline) as Woodrow Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, Hoover, Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Kennedy, Kennedy, Kennedy, Kennedy, Kennedy, ..., Neemiah Scudder Interregnum. - Elected President in 1980 in the first edition of Jeffrey Archer's novel "Shall We Tell the President?Shall We Tell the President?Shall We Tell The President? is a 1977 book by English author Jeffrey Archer.In its original version, a plot to kill the president of the United States, Edward Kennedy, is foiled by an FBI agent working with the head of the FBI. A love story complicates the plot. The book includes descriptive...
". He had narrowly managed to defeat Jimmy CarterJimmy CarterJames Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
on the fifth ballot at the Democratic National Convention. He picked ArkansasArkansasArkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
Senator Dale BumpersDale BumpersDale Leon Bumpers is an American politician who served as the 38th Governor of Arkansas from 1971 to 1975; and then in the United States Senate from 1975 until his retirement in January 1999. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Senator Bumpers is currently counsel at the Washington, D.C...
as his running mate and they defeated IllinoisIllinoisIllinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
GovernorGovernorA governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
James R. ThompsonJames R. ThompsonJames Robert Thompson, Jr. , also known as Big Jim Thompson, was the 37th and longest serving Governor of the US state of Illinois...
by a 147,000 votes in the popular vote and became the 40th President. (In the revised edition, Florentyna Kane, from Archer's "Kane and AbelKane and Abel (novel)Kane and Abel is a 1979 novel by British author Jeffrey Archer. The title and story is a play on the Biblical brothers, Cain and Abel.Released in the United Kingdom in 1979 and in the United States in February 1980, the book was an international success. It reached No...
" and "The Prodigal DaughterThe Prodigal DaughterThe Prodigal Daughter is a novel by Jeffrey Archer. It is the story of Florentyna Kane, the daughter of Abel Rosnovski of Archer's Kane and Abel. The novel, one of Archer's best sellers, portrays Florentyna's life from early childhood to her final ascension to the position of President of United...
" was the president.)
Revd Dr Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the...
(in one of the episodes What If?, program of Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
) was Vice President
Vice president
A vice president is an officer in government or business who is below a president in rank. The name comes from the Latin vice meaning 'in place of'. In some countries, the vice president is called the deputy president...
under Robert Kennedy and succeeded him in September 1969. Major of his initiatives are détente and continue program of Great Society
Great Society
The Great Society was a set of domestic programs in the United States promoted by President Lyndon B. Johnson and fellow Democrats in Congress in the 1960s. Two main goals of the Great Society social reforms were the elimination of poverty and racial injustice...
(but under a new name). He was assassinated in 1971. He was succeeded by Vice President McGovern.
Wynton Kelly
Wynton Kelly
Wynton Kelly was a Jamaican-born jazz pianist, who spent his career in the United States. He is perhaps best known for working with trumpeter Miles Davis from 1959-1962.-Biography:...
(in the German Tageschau for the Wende Gruppe Wiedervereinigungsfest) was President of the United States in the 1970s, during a crisis between the US and the USSR around the "Herald des Freien Westens", a communication satellite. The secret services of both sides of the Iron Curtain claimed that the other side had stolen crucial parts of the satellite for military purposes. Kelly gave a broadcast speech in which he warned the Soviet leaders to immediately deliver to stolen parts back to the US under threat of a nuclear attack. In return General Bravonov, the Soviet leader, warned the US to return their parts of the satellite. The broadcast speech can be viewed on YouTube under the tag "Wiedervereinigungsfest".
L
Robert M. La Follette, Sr.Robert M. La Follette, Sr.
Robert Marion "Fighting Bob" La Follette, Sr. , was an American Republican politician. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, was the Governor of Wisconsin, and was also a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin...
won the 1924 election, but died the following year (as he did in real life) in the story "Fighting Bob" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Kristine Kathryn Rusch is an American writer. She writes under various pseudonyms in multiple genres, including science fiction, fantasy, mystery, romance, and mainstream....
in the Anthology Alternate Presidents.
Fiorello H. La Guardia was elected president in 1951 in the 1939 Robert A. Heinlein
Robert A. Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of...
novel For Us, The Living: A Comedy of Customs
For Us, The Living: A Comedy of Customs
For Us, The Living: A Comedy of Customs is a science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein, written in 1938 but published for the first time in 2003...
, after democracy was restored from an extreme-right dictatorship in the late 1940s. La Guardia served two terms, mainly concerned in a titanic struggle with the banks, ending with the American banks effectively nationalised and a system of social credit
Social Credit
Social Credit is an economic philosophy developed by C. H. Douglas , a British engineer, who wrote a book by that name in 1924. Social Credit is described by Douglas as "the policy of a philosophy"; he called his philosophy "practical Christianity"...
established. Posterity remembers him as one of the United States' greatest presidents.
Le Duc Tho
Le Duc Tho
Lê Đức Thọ , born Phan Đình Khải in Ha Nam province, was a Vietnamese revolutionary, general, diplomat, and politician, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize jointly with United States Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in 1973, although he declined it....
was President in a story in The Onion
The Onion
The Onion is an American news satire organization. It is an entertainment newspaper and a website featuring satirical articles reporting on international, national, and local news, in addition to a non-satirical entertainment section known as The A.V. Club...
publication Our Dumb Century
Our Dumb Century
Our Dumb Century: The Onion Presents 100 Years of Headlines from America's Finest News Source is a satirical humor book written by the staff of The Onion and published by Three Rivers Press in 1999. The chief editor of the book was Scott Dikkers, with specific sections edited by Robert D. Siegel,...
, where Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
surrenders the United States to the Viet Cong after the end of the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. Le's policies include renaming Washington, DC to New Hanoi, DC; arrested Ford and his cabinet; and converting the US to a collectivized-agrarian economy.
Rush Limbaugh
Rush Limbaugh
Rush Hudson Limbaugh III is an American radio talk show host, conservative political commentator, and an opinion leader in American conservatism. He hosts The Rush Limbaugh Show which is aired throughout the U.S. on Premiere Radio Networks and is the highest-rated talk-radio program in the United...
portrays himself as President in The 1/2 Hour News Hour
The 1/2 Hour News Hour
The 1/2 Hour News Hour is an American television news satire show that aired on the Fox News Channel. The program presented news stories from a conservative perspective, using a satirical format pioneered by Saturday Night Lives Weekend Update, This Hour Has 22 Minutes, and The Daily Show.The...
. Ann Coulter
Ann Coulter
Ann Hart Coulter is an American lawyer, conservative social and political commentator, author, and syndicated columnist. She frequently appears on television, radio, and as a speaker at public events and private events...
serves as his vice president.
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Augustus Lindbergh was an American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist.Lindbergh, a 25-year-old U.S...
- appeared in The Plot Against AmericaThe Plot Against AmericaThe Plot Against America is a novel by Philip Roth published in 2004. It is an alternate history in which Franklin Delano Roosevelt is defeated in the presidential election of 1940 by Charles Lindbergh.-Plot introduction:...
, an alternate historyAlternate history (fiction)Alternate history or alternative history is a genre of fiction consisting of stories that are set in worlds in which history has diverged from the actual history of the world. It can be variously seen as a sub-genre of literary fiction, science fiction, and historical fiction; different alternate...
novel by Philip RothPhilip RothPhilip Milton Roth is an American novelist. He gained fame with the 1959 novella Goodbye, Columbus, an irreverent and humorous portrait of Jewish-American life that earned him a National Book Award...
.- Defeats President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the 1940 election by playing upon the public's fears of going to war. Once in office, cancels defense-related agreements with the AlliesAllies of World War IIThe Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
, and signs non-aggression treaties with Adolf HitlerAdolf HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
and with Imperial Japan, which he justifies on the grounds that they will keep America out of war, and that the Axis are doing the world a favor by fighting and destroying communism in the Soviet Union and China. At home, he implements several programs designed to marginalize the Jewish community in the U.S. Henry FordHenry FordHenry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry...
serves as his Secretary of InteriorUnited States Secretary of the InteriorThe United States Secretary of the Interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior.The US Department of the Interior should not be confused with the concept of Ministries of the Interior as used in other countries...
. - He serves until 1942 when Vice President Burton K. WheelerBurton K. WheelerBurton Kendall Wheeler was an American politician of the Democratic Party and a United States Senator from 1923 until 1947.-Early life:...
succeeds him. - At the end of the novel, it is revealed that Lindbergh was in the employ of the Nazis the entire time; years earlier, German agents had kidnapped Lindbergh's only son (see Lindbergh kidnappingLindbergh kidnappingThe kidnapping of Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr., was the abduction of the son of aviator Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh. The toddler, 18 months old at the time, was abducted from his family home in East Amwell, New Jersey, near the town of Hopewell, New Jersey, on the evening of...
) and used him as a hostage ever since to force Lindbergh to obey them. The treachery is discovered, Roosevelt is re-elected to the White House, and the U.S. enters the war on the Allied side.
- Defeats President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the 1940 election by playing upon the public's fears of going to war. Once in office, cancels defense-related agreements with the Allies
- is President also in the 1973 alternate historyAlternate history (fiction)Alternate history or alternative history is a genre of fiction consisting of stories that are set in worlds in which history has diverged from the actual history of the world. It can be variously seen as a sub-genre of literary fiction, science fiction, and historical fiction; different alternate...
The Ultimate SolutionThe Ultimate SolutionThe Ultimate Solution is an 1973 alternate history by journalist and former Playboy interviewer Eric Norden, set in a world where the Axis forces won World War II and partitioned the world between them, and is noted for its particularly grim tone....
(1973) by Eric Norden. Unlike in Roth's book, he is not elected but made a puppet president by the Nazis after they conquer the US in the 1950s, on a par with the Norwegian QuislingQuislingQuisling is a term used in reference to fascist and collaborationist political parties and military and paramilitary forces in occupied Allied countries which collaborated with Axis occupiers in World War II, as well as for their members and other collaborators.- Etymology :The term was coined by...
, and remains at this job until 1973 when he - together with most of the world's population - is killed in a nuclear war between Nazi GermanyNazi GermanyNazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
and Imperial Japan.
- is President in the novel K is for Killing by Daniel Easterman. He is elected President in 1932 with D. C. StephensonD. C. StephensonDavid Curtiss "Steve" Stephenson was an American Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan in the U.S. state of Indiana and 22 other Northern states. He is considered to have been one of the most successful Klan leaders up until his downfall after his conviction for murder...
as his Vice President. Stephenson arranges the assassination of Lindbergh and his wife in 1940 to prevent him from learning about a secret plan to collaborate with Nazi Germany on atomic weapons.
- is President in the novel FarthingFarthing (novel)Farthing is an alternate history novel written by Jo Walton and published by Tor Books in August, 2006. A sequel, Ha'penny, was released in October 2007 by Tor Books. A third novel in the series, Half a Crown, was released in September 2008, also from Tor.-Background:The novel is set in the 1949...
(2006) by Jo WaltonJo WaltonJo Walton is a Welsh-Canadian fantasy and science fiction writer and poet. She won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 2002 and the World Fantasy award for her novel Tooth and Claw in 2004. Her novel Ha'penny was a co-winner of the 2008 Prometheus Award...
. In a world where Britain and Nazi Germany reached a peace arrangement in 1941, Lindberg is president in 1949. He is preparing to meet with the Emperor of Japan to strengthen ties between the two countries.
Belva Ann Lockwood
Belva Ann Lockwood
Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood was an American attorney, politician, educator, and author. She was active in working for women's rights, although the term feminist was not in use. The press of her day referred to her as a "suffragist," someone who believed in women's suffrage or voting rights...
defeated Benjamin Harrison
Benjamin Harrison
Benjamin Harrison was the 23rd President of the United States . Harrison, a grandson of President William Henry Harrison, was born in North Bend, Ohio, and moved to Indianapolis, Indiana at age 21, eventually becoming a prominent politician there...
in 1888 in the story "Love Our Lockwood" by Janet Kagan
Janet Kagan
Janet Kagan was an author of two science fiction novels and one science fiction collection, plus numerous science fiction and fantasy short stories that appeared in publications such as Analog Science Fiction and Fact and Asimov's Science Fiction...
in the Anthology Alternate Presidents. She inspired both male and female suffragettes, and was the one to serve between the split terms of Grover Cleveland
Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...
.
Huey Long
Huey Long
Huey Pierce Long, Jr. , nicknamed The Kingfish, served as the 40th Governor of Louisiana from 1928–1932 and as a U.S. Senator from 1932 to 1935. A Democrat, he was noted for his radical populist policies. Though a backer of Franklin D...
defeats Franklin Roosevelt in 1936 in the story "Kingfish" by Barry N. Malzberg
Barry N. Malzberg
Barry Nathaniel Malzberg is an American writer and editor, most often of science fiction and fantasy.-Overview:Initially in his post-graduate work Malzberg sought to establish himself as a playwright as well as a prose-fiction writer. His first two published novels were issed by Olympia Press...
in the Anthology Alternate Presidents. He invites Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
to visit America, and allows him to be assassinated via a bomb.
M
Alfred Mahan- Mentioned as being President in Harry TurtledoveHarry TurtledoveHarry Norman Turtledove is an American novelist, who has produced works in several genres including alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction.- Life :...
's alternate history novel The Great War: Walk in HellThe Great War: Walk in HellThe Great war: Walk in Hell is the second book in the Great War series of alternate history books by Harry Turtledove. It is also part of the Southern Victory Series series... - Threatened war with the Confederate States of AmericaConfederate States of AmericaThe Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
if they went ahead and tried to build the Panama CanalPanama CanalThe Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
George Marshall
George Marshall
George Catlett Marshall was an American military leader, Chief of Staff of the Army, Secretary of State, and the third Secretary of Defense...
- President in "Thor Meets Captain AmericaThor Meets Captain AmericaThor Meets Captain America is a science fiction novelette by David Brin. It was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novelette in 1987. The graphic novel The Life Eaters is based on the story.-Summary:...
", 1987 novelette by David BrinDavid BrinGlen David Brin, Ph.D. is an American scientist and award-winning author of science fiction. He has received the Hugo, Locus, Campbell and Nebula Awards.-Biography:... - Mentioned as President in 1962
Thomas R. Marshall
Thomas R. Marshall
Thomas Riley Marshall was an American Democratic politician who served as the 28th Vice President of the United States under Woodrow Wilson...
- President in Ward MooreWard MooreWard Moore was the working name of American author Joseph Ward Moore. Moore grew up in New York City, and later moved to Chicago, and then to California....
's 1953 novel Bring the JubileeBring the JubileeBring the Jubilee by Ward Moore is a 1953 novel of alternate history. The point of divergence occurs when the Confederate States of America wins the Battle of Gettysburg and subsequently declares victory in the "War of Southron Independence" on July 4, 1864 after the surrender of the United States...
. - Elected in 1916 as candidate for the Populist Party.
- Defeated for reelection in 1920 by William Hale ThompsonWilliam Hale ThompsonWilliam Hale Thompson was Mayor of Chicago from 1915 to 1923 and again from 1927 to 1931. Known as "Big Bill", Thompson was the last Republican to serve as Mayor of Chicago, and ranks among the most unethical mayors in American history.Thompson was born in Boston, Massachusetts to William Hale...
.
Eugene McCarthy
Eugene McCarthy
Eugene Joseph "Gene" McCarthy was an American politician, poet, and a long-time member of the United States Congress from Minnesota. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1949 to 1959 and the U.S. Senate from 1959 to 1971.In the 1968 presidential election, McCarthy was the first...
- President in Robert O'Connel's "Cuban Crisis: Second Holocaust"
- Elected in 1968, in the long aftermath of the 1962 Cuban Missile CrisisCuban Missile CrisisThe Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation among the Soviet Union, Cuba and the United States in October 1962, during the Cold War...
having escalated into Nuclear War, in which the US reacted drastically to the destruction of Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
by totally destroying the Soviet Union and Cuba and killing some 90% of their populations, being afterwards accused of having perpetrated genocideGenocideGenocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
. - Richard NixonRichard NixonRichard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
, President between 1964 and 1968, had driven the US into complete international isolation and made it a pariah nationPariah stateA pariah state is one whose conduct is considered to be out of line with international norms of behavior. This term is closely related to the term rogue state.-Definitions:...
. McCarthy soundly defeated the incumbent Nixon in 1968, promising "global reconciliation and healing" and winning no less than 76% of the popular vote. McCarthy's success as President was only partial. He did reduce the American nuclear arsenal but refused to completely dispose of it, which the rest of the world found inadequate. He did manage to re-establish diplomatic relations with 21 countries and got the US an observer status in the UN, stating that it would become a full member again only should the UN drop the demand for the US to pay war reparations. McCarthy did provide generous US help in trying to rehabilitate the starving and radiation-ridden remnants of the populations of "The Victim Nations" (the Soviet Union, Cuba, and former Warsaw PactWarsaw PactThe Warsaw Treaty Organization of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance , or more commonly referred to as the Warsaw Pact, was a mutual defense treaty subscribed to by eight communist states in Eastern Europe...
countries). However, shortly before the 1972 elections a commission headed by Newt GingrichNewt GingrichNewton Leroy "Newt" Gingrich is a U.S. Republican Party politician who served as the House Minority Whip from 1989 to 1995 and as the 58th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999....
presented to President McCarthy its recommendations - with the conclusion that the US would only be fully readmitted to the Family of Nations by adhering to the "Geneva Convention of the Total Abolition of Nuclear Weapons", already accepted by all other countries in the world.
Joseph McCarthy
Joseph McCarthy
Joseph Raymond "Joe" McCarthy was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957...
- President in Gregory BenfordGregory BenfordGregory Benford is an American science fiction author and astrophysicist who is on the faculty of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Irvine...
's story "We Could Do Worse" (1989) - Was chosen in 1952 as the Republican VP candidate by nominee Robert TaftRobert TaftRobert Alphonso Taft , of the Taft political family of Cincinnati, was a Republican United States Senator and a prominent conservative statesman...
, a choice made with the tacit support of California Senator Richard NixonRichard NixonRichard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
. When Taft died in 1953 (as in real life), McCarthy became President. By the 1956 elections, when the story takes place, he was well on his way to establishing a brutal dictatorship. The story indicates McCarthy would be reelected with Nixon as his running mate, using considerable voter intimidation, and by 1960 would "diddle" the Constitution to make his power permanent.
George B. McClellan
George B. McClellan
George Brinton McClellan was a major general during the American Civil War. He organized the famous Army of the Potomac and served briefly as the general-in-chief of the Union Army. Early in the war, McClellan played an important role in raising a well-trained and organized army for the Union...
- President in Gray VictoryGray VictoryGray Victory is a 1988 alternate history novel by Robert Skimin, taking place in an alternate 1866 where the Confederacy won its independence.-Plot introduction:...
by Robert SkiminRobert SkiminRobert Skirmin is a retired U.S. Army officer, artist, and Pulitzer Prize-nominated and award-winning author of both fiction and historical books. Died May 9, 2011 in El Paso, Texas.-Military career:... - Elected in 1864 after General ShermanWilliam Tecumseh ShermanWilliam Tecumseh Sherman was an American soldier, businessman, educator and author. He served as a General in the Union Army during the American Civil War , for which he received recognition for his outstanding command of military strategy as well as criticism for the harshness of the "scorched...
failed to take AtlantaAtlanta CampaignThe Atlanta Campaign was a series of battles fought in the Western Theater of the American Civil War throughout northwest Georgia and the area around Atlanta during the summer of 1864. Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman invaded Georgia from the vicinity of Chattanooga, Tennessee, beginning in May...
, leading to Northern voters feeling fatigue with the never-ending American Civil WarAmerican Civil WarThe American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. Upon learning the result of the election, Lincoln orders an immediate cease-fire, which McClellan follows with peace negotiations and recognition of the Confederate States of AmericaConfederate States of AmericaThe Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
which accounted themselves as victors of the war. McClellan was sharply criticized by Abolitionists for having perpetuated slavery, and two years after his election a growing number of Americans are having second thoughts about having ended the war.
John William McCormack
John William McCormack
John William McCormack was an American politician from Boston, Massachusetts.McCormack served as a member of United States House of Representatives from 1928 until he retired from political life in 1971...
- Thirty-sixth President of the United States in "The Cuban Missile Crisis: Second Holocaust" (an essay in What Ifs? of American HistoryWhat Ifs? of American HistoryWhat Ifs? of American History, subtitled Eminent Historians Imagine What Might Have Been, is a collection of seventeen essays dealing with counterfactual history regarding the United States of America. It was published by G.P...
) by Robert L. O'Connell. - As Speaker of the United States House of RepresentativesSpeaker of the United States House of RepresentativesThe Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, or Speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives...
, McCormack succeeded John F. KennedyJohn F. KennedyJohn Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
following a nuclear strike on Washington DC on Saturday, October 27, 1962 as the Cuban Missile CrisisCuban Missile CrisisThe Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation among the Soviet Union, Cuba and the United States in October 1962, during the Cold War...
escalated into the Two Days' War. - A Russian SS-4 (R-12 Dvina) IRBM (launched from Cuba) detonated above the Lincoln Memorial, leveling much of the surrounding area, including the White House, taking with it Kennedy, Vice President Lyndon B. JohnsonLyndon B. JohnsonLyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
, and the rest of the National Command AuthorityNational Command AuthorityNational Command Authority is a term used by the Department of Defense of the United States of America to refer to the ultimate lawful source of military orders. The NCA comprises the President of the United States and the Secretary of Defense jointly, or their duly deputized successors, i.e...
. - At nearly 71 upon assuming office, McCormack became the oldest serving president.
- Falling into ill health following his admirable handling of the crises that followed the war, he did not contest the 1964 Presidential elections, and was succeeded by the Republican victor, Richard NixonRichard NixonRichard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
.
George McGovern
George McGovern
George Stanley McGovern is an historian, author, and former U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, and the Democratic Party nominee in the 1972 presidential election....
- (in one of the episodes What If?, program of Discovery ChannelDiscovery ChannelDiscovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
) was appointed Vice President after Martin Luther King, Jr.Martin Luther King, Jr.Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the...
took office from his assassinated predecessor Robert Kennedy. After King was shot too, McGovern became president in 1971. - He was also the subject of the novel President McGovern's First Term by Nicholas Max (1973).
- In the anthology Alternate Presidents, two stories deal with McGovern winning the 1972 election. In "Suppose They Gave a Peace..." by Susan ShwartzSusan ShwartzSusan Shwartz is an American author.She received her B.A. in English from Mount Holyoke College in 1972 and a Ph.D. in English from Harvard University.-Novels:* The Woman of Flowers * Byzantium's Crown...
, McGovern wins when the youth vote turns out for him in droves, and is then blamed for the debacle that occurs when he swiftly withdraws US troops from South VietnamSouth VietnamSouth Vietnam was a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the "State of Vietnam" and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" . Its capital was Saigon...
. In "Paper Trail" by Brian ThomsenBrian ThomsenBrian Thomsen was a science fiction editor, author, and anthologist.-Career:He was a founding editor of the Questar Science Fiction line of books, and served as managing fiction editor at TSR, Inc.; he also wrote over 30 short stories, and collaborated with Julius Schwartz on Schwartz's...
, the tide turns for McGovern after reporter Carl BernsteinCarl BernsteinCarl Bernstein is an American investigative journalist who, at The Washington Post, teamed up with Bob Woodward; the two did the majority of the most important news reporting on the Watergate scandal. These scandals led to numerous government investigations, the indictment of a vast number of...
, investigating a break-in at the Watergate complexWatergate complexThe Watergate complex is a group of five buildings next to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, D.C. in the United States. The site contains an office building, three apartment buildings, and a hotel-office building...
, is killed in a hit-and-run accident which is very quickly linked to G. Gordon LiddyG. Gordon LiddyGeorge Gordon Liddy was the chief operative for the White House Plumbers unit that existed from July–September 1971, during Richard Nixon's presidency. Separately, along with E. Howard Hunt, Liddy organized and directed the Watergate burglaries of the Democratic National Committee headquarters in...
. - Also elected in 1972 in one of the alternate timelines featured in Paul Di FilippoPaul Di FilippoPaul Di Filippo is an American science fiction writer. He has been published in Postscripts...
's Fuzzy DiceFuzzy diceFuzzy dice, known in the British Isles as furry dice or fluffy dice, are an automotive decoration consisting of two over-sized plush dice which hang from the rear-view mirror.-Origin and history:...
. In this case he is narrowly elected after Richard NixonRichard NixonRichard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
had undergone an assassination attempt and become completely paranoid, waging a crackdown on real and imagined domestic foes as well as a huge escalation of the Vietnam War, and setting off a huge explosion of countrywide riots. Unfortunately, the riots continue and even increase after McGovern's election and a call by the new President for a return to calm proves completely ineffective. McGovern rejects a call in Congress to use the Army to quell the riots, leading to an attempted impeachment. Some military commanders try repression on their own, killing civilians and only adding to the ferocity of the riots. Eventually, the country is plunged into chaos, all-out civil war, and eventually the total collapse of the Old Order. When the book's protagonist arrives some decades later, he find a "HippieHippieThe hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...
-style" dictatorship presided over by the monstrous Lady Sunshine and with Hells AngelsHells AngelsThe Hells Angels Motorcycle Club is a worldwide one-percenter motorcycle gang and organized crime syndicate whose members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles. In the United States and Canada, the Hells Angels are incorporated as the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corporation. Their primary motto...
acting as the police, and the final fate of McGovern is unknown. - Though not actually specified, in the show Fairly Odd Parents, many refer to him as President McGovern who was elected in 1972. (when McGovern originally ran for president)
- In the short story, "Hillary Orbits Venus" by Pamela SargentPamela SargentPamela Sargent is an American, feminist, science fiction author, and editor. She has an MA in classical philosophy and has won a Nebula Award. She wrote a series concerning the terraforming of Venus that is sometimes compared to Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy, but predates it...
, McGovern was elected in 1968 and 1972. During his term he withdrew US troops from Vietnam and expanded funding to NASA.
President McNamara -- presumably Robert S. McNamara
Robert McNamara
Robert Strange McNamara was an American business executive and the eighth Secretary of Defense, serving under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson from 1961 to 1968, during which time he played a large role in escalating the United States involvement in the Vietnam War...
- President in Thomas M. DischThomas M. DischThomas Michael Disch was an American science fiction author and poet. He won the Hugo Award for Best Related Book – previously called "Best Non-Fiction Book" – in 1999, and he had two other Hugo nominations and nine Nebula Award nominations to his credit, plus one win of the John W...
's 1968 science fiction novel, Camp ConcentrationCamp ConcentrationCamp Concentration is a 1968 science fiction novel by American author Thomas M. Disch.-Plot introduction:The book is set during a war, projected from the Vietnam War, in which the United States is apparently criminally involved...
.
Walter Mondale
Walter Mondale
Walter Frederick "Fritz" Mondale is an American Democratic Party politician, who served as the 42nd Vice President of the United States , under President Jimmy Carter, and as a United States Senator for Minnesota...
- President in "Huddled Masses" by Lawrence Person, a story in the anthology Alternate Presidents.
- Manages to defeat Ronald ReaganRonald ReaganRonald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
in 1984
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
- President in "A Dream Can Make A Difference" by Beth MeachamBeth MeachamBeth Meacham is an American writer and editor, best known as a longtime top editor with Tor Books.-Life, education and family:Meacham was born November 14, 1951 in Newark, Licking County, Ohio. She studied Communications in Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, where she met her husband, Tappan...
, a story in the anthology By Any Other Fame. - After surviving her overdose in 1962, Monroe enters politics. She first becomes governor of California in 1972, defeating Ronald Reagan, and is elected President in 1980; Jimmy Carter is her running mate.
- Is assassinated in 1981 by John Hinckley.
Thomas More
Thomas More
Sir Thomas More , also known by Catholics as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, social philosopher, author, statesman and noted Renaissance humanist. He was an important councillor to Henry VIII of England and, for three years toward the end of his life, Lord Chancellor...
- President in the story "The New Utopia" by Bernard C. Cowper
- In 2096 brought out of the past - taken out of the very moment of his beheading by order of Henry the EighthHenry VIII of EnglandHenry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
and a perfect simulacrum placed in his place, the substitution being invisible to 16th Century people. Given a crash course in the history of the past five hundred years and offered the Presidency of the United States, as a desperate last measure to stop the complete demoralising and breakdown of society - which he accepts after prolonged pondering. Voted unanimously into office by all voters who bother to show up at the polls - which is less than four percent of the American citizen body. The ambiguous ending leaves unclear whether or not he succeeded in his efforts to reverse the degeneration of American society and create the New Utopia of the title.
Charlie Murphy
Charlie Murphy
Charles Quinton "Charlie" Murphy is an American actor, comedian, and writer notable as being a cast member and writer on the Comedy Central sketch-comedy series Chappelle's Show...
- President in: Chappelle's ShowChappelle's ShowChappelle's Show is an American sketch comedy television series created by comedian Dave Chappelle and Neal Brennan, with Chappelle hosting the show as well as starring in various skits. Chappelle, Brennan and Michele Armour were the show's executive producers. The series premiered on January 22,...
, episode #110 - Vice President under Dave ChappelleDave ChappelleDavid Khari Webber "Dave" Chappelle is an American comedian, screenwriter, television/film producer, actor, and artist. Chappelle began his film career in the film Robin Hood: Men in Tights in 1993 and continued to star in minor roles in the films The Nutty Professor, Con Air, and Blue Streak. His...
; becomes President when President Chapelle goes missing during his third term.
N
Ralph NaderRalph Nader
Ralph Nader is an American political activist, as well as an author, lecturer, and attorney. Areas of particular concern to Nader include consumer protection, humanitarianism, environmentalism, and democratic government....
- President in the Saturday Night LiveSaturday Night LiveSaturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
skit A Glimpse of Our Possible Future III (2000), played by Jimmy FallonJimmy FallonJames Thomas "Jimmy" Fallon, Jr. is an American actor, comedian, singer, musician and television host. He currently hosts Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, a late-night talk show that airs Monday through Friday on NBC... - Flying pigs and shivering devils featured.
Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
:
- In Poul AndersonPoul AndersonPoul William Anderson was an American science fiction author who began his career during one of the Golden Ages of the genre and continued to write and remain popular into the 21st century. Anderson also authored several works of fantasy, historical novels, and a prodigious number of short stories...
's Psychotechnic League series, Vice President Nixon succeeded to the Presidency in June 1956, following the death of President Dwight D. EisenhowerDwight D. EisenhowerDwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
from surgical complication. Becoming President as a relatively young man, only a few years removed from his active participation in the House Un-American Activities CommitteeHouse Un-American Activities CommitteeThe House Committee on Un-American Activities or House Un-American Activities Committee was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives. In 1969, the House changed the committee's name to "House Committee on Internal Security"...
and with his anti-Communist zeal untampered by the pragmatism he might have gained in later life, President Nixon embarked on a wild provocative and confrontational policy. This resulted by 1958 in a worldwide nuclear warNuclear warfareNuclear warfare, or atomic warfare, is a military conflict or political strategy in which nuclear weaponry is detonated on an opponent. Compared to conventional warfare, nuclear warfare can be vastly more destructive in range and extent of damage...
, in which Nixon himself was killed along with hundreds of millions of other people. - in Robert O'Connel's "Cuban Crisis: Second Holocaust", Nixon is elected in 1964, succeeding John William McCormackJohn William McCormackJohn William McCormack was an American politician from Boston, Massachusetts.McCormack served as a member of United States House of Representatives from 1928 until he retired from political life in 1971...
, two years after the Cuban Missile CrisisCuban Missile CrisisThe Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation among the Soviet Union, Cuba and the United States in October 1962, during the Cold War...
escalated into Nuclear War, in which Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
was destroyed and the US retaliated drastically by totally destroying the Soviet Union and Cuba and killing some 90% of their populations. Elected in a situation of the US being internationally accused of having perpetrated genocideGenocideGenocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
, the "Second HolocaustThe HolocaustThe Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
" of the title, Nixon was elected after a famous "nothing to be ashamed of" speech, and completely refused any suggestion at nuclear disarmament of the US even though its Soviet foe no longer existed. He presided over the disintegration of NATO, from which all members but the US withdrew, and expelled the United NationsUnited NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
from New York after all other members of the Assembly General unanimously condemned the US. Declared the 1968 elections "a referendum on national security" but was defeated with a huge margin by Eugene McCarthyEugene McCarthyEugene Joseph "Gene" McCarthy was an American politician, poet, and a long-time member of the United States Congress from Minnesota. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1949 to 1959 and the U.S. Senate from 1959 to 1971.In the 1968 presidential election, McCarthy was the first...
, who promised "global reconciliation and healing". - In Kim NewmanKim NewmanKim Newman is an English journalist, film critic, and fiction writer. Recurring interests visible in his work include film history and horror fiction—both of which he attributes to seeing Tod Browning's Dracula at the age of eleven—and alternate fictional versions of history...
and Eugene ByrneEugene ByrneEugene Byrne is an English freelance journalist and fiction writer.His novel ThigMOO, and the story it was based on, were nominated for the BSFA award. His story "HMS Habakkuk" was nominated for a Sidewise Award for Alternate History.He was born in Waterford in the Republic of Ireland, but was...
's alternate history Back in the USSABack in the USSABack in the USSA is a collection of 7 short stories by Eugene Byrne and Kim Newman, which was published in 1997 by Mark V. Ziesing Books. The stories are linked through their setting, an alternate history of the twentieth century in which the United States experienced a communist revolution in...
, Nixon is president of a Communist United States, succeeding Barry GoldwaterBarry GoldwaterBarry Morris Goldwater was a five-term United States Senator from Arizona and the Republican Party's nominee for President in the 1964 election. An articulate and charismatic figure during the first half of the 1960s, he was known as "Mr...
. Nixon served as a parallel to Leonid BrezhnevLeonid BrezhnevLeonid Ilyich Brezhnev – 10 November 1982) was the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , presiding over the country from 1964 until his death in 1982. His eighteen-year term as General Secretary was second only to that of Joseph Stalin in...
, just as Goldwater was this version of Nikita KhrushchevNikita KhrushchevNikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
. - In WatchmenWatchmenWatchmen is a twelve-issue comic book limited series created by writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, and colourist John Higgins. The series was published by DC Comics during 1986 and 1987, and has been subsequently reprinted in collected form...
he's on his fifth term as President after winning the Vietnam WarVietnam WarThe Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
and making VietnamVietnamVietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
the 51st state. He's challenged for reelection by Robert RedfordRobert RedfordCharles Robert Redford, Jr. , better known as Robert Redford, is an American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing Ordinary People, and one for Lifetime...
in 1988. - In the television series FuturamaFuturamaFuturama is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of a late 20th-century New York City pizza delivery boy, Philip J...
, Nixon's head (like the heads of other public figures from the viewers' past and present) has been preserved in a jar of some unknown liquid. In the episode "A Head in the PollsA Head in the Polls"A Head in the Polls" is the third episode in the second production season of Futurama. It originally aired in North America on December 12, 1999 as episode seven in the second broadcast season. The episode was written by J. Stewart Burns and directed by Bret Haaland. Claudia Schiffer makes a guest...
", Nixon wins election to the Presidency in the year 3000. Nixon appears as President in several later episodes, such as Time Keeps On Slippin'Time Keeps on Slippin'"Time Keeps On Slippin" is the 14th episode in season 3 of Futurama. It originally aired May 6, 2001. The title is from a lyric in Fly Like an Eagle by Steve Miller Band which was featured in the basketball film Space Jam...
and A Taste of FreedomA Taste of Freedom"A Taste of Freedom" is the fifth episode of the fourth production season of Futurama.-Plot summary:The crew celebrates Freedom Day, a day where you can do anything you want, regardless of the consequences. Dr. Zoidberg seems passionate about the holiday, as he loves the idea of freedom, something...
. - In the comic bookComic bookA comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
miniseriesLimited seriesA limited series is a comic book series with a set number of installments. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is determined before production and it differs from a one shot in that it is composed of multiple issues....
Superman: Red SonSuperman: Red SonSuperman: Red Son is a three-issue prestige format comic book mini-series published by DC Comics that was released under their Elseworlds imprint in April 2003...
, Nixon won the 1960 electionUnited States presidential election, 1960The United States presidential election of 1960 was the 44th American presidential election, held on November 8, 1960, for the term beginning January 20, 1961, and ending January 20, 1965. The incumbent president, Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower, was not eligible to run again. The Republican Party...
but was assassinated in Dallas, TexasJohn F. Kennedy assassinationJohn Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas...
on November 22, 1963. - In one of the alternate timelines featured in Paul Di FilippoPaul Di FilippoPaul Di Filippo is an American science fiction writer. He has been published in Postscripts...
's Fuzzy DiceFuzzy diceFuzzy dice, known in the British Isles as furry dice or fluffy dice, are an automotive decoration consisting of two over-sized plush dice which hang from the rear-view mirror.-Origin and history:...
, during the 1972 elections campaign Arthur BremerArthur BremerArthur Herman Bremer is an American convicted for an assassination attempt on U.S. Democratic presidential candidate George Wallace on May 15, 1972 in Laurel, Maryland, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down for the rest of his life...
attempted to kill President Nixon rather than George WallaceGeorge WallaceGeorge Corley Wallace, Jr. was the 45th Governor of Alabama, serving four terms: 1963–1967, 1971–1979 and 1983–1987. "The most influential loser" in 20th-century U.S. politics, according to biographers Dan T. Carter and Stephan Lesher, he ran for U.S...
. The assassination attempt drove Nixon into an increasingly paranoid crackdown on real and imagined domestic foes as well as a huge escalation of the Vietnam War, setting off a huge explosion of countrywide riots. A few weeks before the elections Nixon proclaimed martial law - which only escalated the riots and caused the narrow victory of George McGovernGeorge McGovernGeorge Stanley McGovern is an historian, author, and former U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, and the Democratic Party nominee in the 1972 presidential election....
. Nixon died of a stroke at the conclusion of a hate-filled farewell speech. In later times he was remembered as a satanic figure, "The Weasel". (See also entry for George McGovern). - In another timeline mentioned in Di Filippo's same book, Nixon singlehandedly saves the Earth from alien invasion by letting himself be abducted and experimented upon by extraterrestrials, and is for many centuries thereafter venerated worldwide as "The Savior".
Chuck Norris
Chuck Norris
Carlos Ray "Chuck" Norris is an American martial artist and actor. After serving in the United States Air Force, he began his rise to fame as a martial artist and has since founded his own school, Chun Kuk Do...
- President in Andrew CartmelAndrew CartmelAndrew Cartmel is a British science fiction writer and journalist, and former script editor of Doctor Who. He has also worked as a script editor on other television series, as a magazine editor, a film studies lecturer and as a novelist.-Biography:...
novel: "Doctor WhoDoctor WhoDoctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
: The New AdventuresVirgin New AdventuresThe Virgin New Adventures were a series of novels from Virgin Publishing based on the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who...
: Warhead" - Ended immigration to the United States, and presided over the establishment of Local Development laws which prevented the unemployed from leaving their local area to find work.
- Chuck Norris actually supported Mike HuckabeeMike HuckabeeMichael "Mike" Dale Huckabee is an American politician who served as the 44th Governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. He was a candidate in the 2008 United States Republican presidential primaries, finishing second in delegate count and third in both popular vote and number of states won . He won...
in the 2008 US Presidential Election, but said he would not run for president himself because he would probably attack his opponent in a debate.
George W. Norris
- In Ward MooreWard MooreWard Moore was the working name of American author Joseph Ward Moore. Moore grew up in New York City, and later moved to Chicago, and then to California....
's 1953 novel Bring the JubileeBring the JubileeBring the Jubilee by Ward Moore is a 1953 novel of alternate history. The point of divergence occurs when the Confederate States of America wins the Battle of Gettysburg and subsequently declares victory in the "War of Southron Independence" on July 4, 1864 after the surrender of the United States...
, George Norris is mentioned as the sitting president in 1940. A member of the Populist Party, he was elected in 1936 but did not run for a second term.
Oliver North
Oliver North
Oliver Laurence North is a retired U.S. Marine Corps officer, political commentator, host of War Stories with Oliver North on Fox News Channel, a military historian, and a New York Times best-selling author....
- mentioned in an episode of SlidersSlidersSliders is an American science fiction television series. It was broadcast for five seasons, beginning in 1995 and ending in 2000. The series follows a group of travelers as they use a wormhole to "slide" between different parallel universes. The show was created by Robert K. Weiss and Tracy Tormé...
. - won a landslide victory over an unnamed President (Alan AldaAlan AldaAlphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo , better known as Alan Alda, is an American actor, director, screenwriter, and author. A six-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award winner, he is best known for his role as Hawkeye Pierce in the TV series M*A*S*H...
) in Canadian BaconCanadian Bacon (film)Canadian Bacon is a 1995 comedy film which satirizes Canada – United States relations along the Canada – United States border written, directed and produced by Michael Moore, his only non-documentary feature...
. - succeeded George H.W. Bush after the latter died of pneumonia in an alternate timeline during Walt SimonsonWalt SimonsonWalter "Walt" Simonson is an American comic book writer and artist. After studying geology at Amherst College, he transferred to the Rhode Island School of Design, graduating in 1972. His thesis project there was The Star Slammers, which was published as a black and white promotional comic book...
's run on Fantastic FourFantastic FourThe Fantastic Four is a fictional superhero team appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The group debuted in The Fantastic Four #1 , which helped to usher in a new level of realism in the medium...
. - Is president in the Dark FutureDark FutureDark Future is a 1988 miniature wargame by Games Workshop. It is set in an alternate reality where the United States—and indeed the rest of the world—is falling apart. Society is going to ruins, and the natural laws of physics are breaking down...
novels by Kim NewmanKim NewmanKim Newman is an English journalist, film critic, and fiction writer. Recurring interests visible in his work include film history and horror fiction—both of which he attributes to seeing Tod Browning's Dracula at the age of eleven—and alternate fictional versions of history...
O
Malia Obama is President in 2035 in the series finale of Life On MarsLife on Mars (U.S. TV series)
Life on Mars was a science fiction crime drama television series which originally aired on ABC from October 9, 2008 to April 1, 2009. It is an adaptation of the BAFTA-winning original UK series of the same name produced by the BBC...
. Frank Morgan at Mission Control stated that she had gone with her sister to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
to be with their ailing father Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
rather than witness humans landing on Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
at Mission Control. Although not specifically identified, Malia would meet the minimum age requirement of 35 by 2033, assuming no changes to the Constitution of the United States and some trickery with the United States presidential line of succession
United States presidential line of succession
The United States presidential line of succession defines who may become or act as President of the United States upon the incapacity, death, resignation, or removal from office of a sitting president or a president-elect.- Current order :This is a list of the current presidential line of...
after July 5, 2033 by being at most Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, or Speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives...
.
Twin Presidents Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen
- Presidents in A Dennis the Menace ChristmasA Dennis the Menace ChristmasA Dennis the Menace Christmas is a 2007 direct-to-video movie starring Maxwell Perry Cotton and Robert Wagner, based on the comic strip by Hank Ketcham. It is a sequel to Dennis the Menace and Dennis the Menace Strikes Again. The plot is based on Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol...
. - Never seen, but mentioned by the Christmas Ghost in the future.
P
William Dudley PelleyWilliam Dudley Pelley
William Dudley Pelley was an American extremist and spiritualist who founded the Silver Legion in 1933, and ran for President in 1936 for the Christian Party.-Family:...
was the first American President-For-Life and leader of the Union Party
Union Party (United States)
The Union Party was a short-lived political party in the United States, formed in 1936 by a coalition of radio priest Father Charles Coughlin, old-age pension advocate Francis Townsend, and Gerald L. K. Smith, who had taken control of Huey Long's Share Our Wealth movement after Long's assassination...
in the alternate timeline "Reich 5" in the GURPS
GURPS
The Generic Universal RolePlaying System, or GURPS, is a tabletop role-playing game system designed to allow for play in any game setting...
sourcebook Infinite Worlds
GURPS Infinite Worlds
GURPS Infinite Worlds is a supplement for the Fourth Edition of the GURPS role-playing game, published by Steve Jackson Games in 2005 and written by Kenneth Hite, Steve Jackson, and John M. Ford...
. In this timeline, America becomes a fascist
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
state with the aid of a victorious Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
.
Ross Perot
Ross Perot
Henry Ross Perot is a U.S. businessman best known for running for President of the United States in 1992 and 1996. Perot founded Electronic Data Systems in 1962, sold the company to General Motors in 1984, and founded Perot Systems in 1988...
is president in the cartoon Eek! The Cat
Eek! The Cat
Eek! The Cat is an American and Canadian animated series, created by Savage Steve Holland and Bill Kopp and produced by Fox Kids and Savage Studios with animation by Nelvana, that ran from September 11, 1992, to August 1, 1997.-Premise:Eek! the Cat is about a purple cat named Eek whose motto is...
and voiced by Charlie Adler.
President Patton, mentioned in The Number of the Beast
The Number of the Beast (novel)
The Number of the Beast is a science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein published in 1980. The first edition featured a cover and interior illustrations by Richard M. Powers...
by Robert A. Heinlein
Robert A. Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of...
, is presumably General George S. Patton
George S. Patton
George Smith Patton, Jr. was a United States Army officer best known for his leadership while commanding corps and armies as a general during World War II. He was also well known for his eccentricity and controversial outspokenness.Patton was commissioned in the U.S. Army after his graduation from...
. In reading an almanac from our universe, it's noted that Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
served one of his terms in office (meaning he either served from 1949-1957 or 1957–1965).
Colin Powell
Colin Powell
Colin Luther Powell is an American statesman and a retired four-star general in the United States Army. He was the 65th United States Secretary of State, serving under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African American to serve in that position. During his military...
is President of a post-Communist United States in Kim Newman
Kim Newman
Kim Newman is an English journalist, film critic, and fiction writer. Recurring interests visible in his work include film history and horror fiction—both of which he attributes to seeing Tod Browning's Dracula at the age of eleven—and alternate fictional versions of history...
and Eugene Byrne
Eugene Byrne
Eugene Byrne is an English freelance journalist and fiction writer.His novel ThigMOO, and the story it was based on, were nominated for the BSFA award. His story "HMS Habakkuk" was nominated for a Sidewise Award for Alternate History.He was born in Waterford in the Republic of Ireland, but was...
's Back in the USSA
Back in the USSA
Back in the USSA is a collection of 7 short stories by Eugene Byrne and Kim Newman, which was published in 1997 by Mark V. Ziesing Books. The stories are linked through their setting, an alternate history of the twentieth century in which the United States experienced a communist revolution in...
, serving as a parallel to Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
. He is also mentioned to have been President in an episode of SeaQuest 2032. Powell was also mentioned as having been President in the 2000 movie Deterrence
Deterrence (film)
Deterrence is a 1999 French/American dramatic film written and directed by Rod Lurie, depicting fictional events about nuclear brinksmanship. It marks the feature directorial debut of Lurie, who was previously a film critic for the New York Daily News, Premiere Magazine, Entertainment Weekly and...
set in the then future year 2008. An aircraft carrier had been named after him, and he was mentioned to taken heroic action in a crisis involving Venezula.
Q
Dan QuayleDan Quayle
James Danforth "Dan" Quayle served as the 44th Vice President of the United States, serving with President George H. W. Bush . He served as a U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from the state of Indiana....
is President in the year 2000 on Knight Rider 2000
Knight Rider 2000
Knight Rider 2000 is a 1991 sequel movie to the television series Knight Rider. It is included in the Region 1, Region 2 and Region 4 versions of the Knight Rider Season One box set/...
and portrayed as having become president in a October 1988 Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
sketch "Dan Quayle: President".
R
Nancy ReaganNancy Reagan
Nancy Davis Reagan is the widow of former United States President Ronald Reagan and was First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989....
is President of the United States in one of alternate realities depicted in The Coming of the Quantum Cats
The Coming of the Quantum Cats
The Coming of the Quantum Cats is a 1986 science fiction novel by American writer Frederik Pohl. It was originally serialized in Analog science-fiction magazine, January–April 1986.- Plot introduction :...
by Frederik Pohl
Frederik Pohl
Frederik George Pohl, Jr. is an American science fiction writer, editor and fan, with a career spanning over seventy years — from his first published work, "Elegy to a Dead Planet: Luna" , to his most recent novel, All the Lives He Led .He won the National Book Award in 1980 for his novel Jem...
. She is considered a strong and assertive President, who successfully guides her version of the US through the major crisis of an invasion from a different timeline. Her husband Ronald
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
, known as "The First Gentleman", is mostly disregarded.
Robert Redford
Robert Redford
Charles Robert Redford, Jr. , better known as Robert Redford, is an American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing Ordinary People, and one for Lifetime...
is rumored to be considering running in the 1988 Presidential election at the end of the comic Watchmen
Watchmen
Watchmen is a twelve-issue comic book limited series created by writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, and colourist John Higgins. The series was published by DC Comics during 1986 and 1987, and has been subsequently reprinted in collected form...
.
Thomas Brackett Reed
Thomas Brackett Reed
Thomas Brackett Reed, , occasionally ridiculed as Czar Reed, was a U.S. Representative from Maine, and Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1889–1891 and from 1895–1899...
is mentioned as being president in Harry Turtledove's Southern Victory Series.
Nelson Rockefeller
Nelson Rockefeller
Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller was the 41st Vice President of the United States , serving under President Gerald Ford, and the 49th Governor of New York , as well as serving the Roosevelt, Truman and Eisenhower administrations in a variety of positions...
is mentioned as the sitting president's immediate predecessor in Michael P. Kube-McDowell
Michael P. Kube-McDowell
Michael Paul Kube-McDowell is a science fiction novelist. He has also dabbled in music, written for television, been a stringer for a daily newspaper, and published short fiction, reviews, assorted nonfiction and erotica. He was honored for teaching excellence by the 1985 White House Commission on...
's novel Alternities. He is described as having had a difficult term in office.
Keanu Reeves
Keanu Reeves
Keanu Charles Reeves is a Canadian actor. Reeves is perhaps best known for his roles in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Speed, Point Break and the science fiction-action trilogy The Matrix...
is mentioned as president in the Only Fools and Horses
Only Fools and Horses
Only Fools and Horses is a British sitcom, created and written by John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom between 1981 and 1991, with sporadic Christmas specials until 2003...
episode Heroes and Villains, although it turns out only to be a part of Rodney's
Rodney Trotter
Rodney Charlton Trotter is a fictional character in the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses, played by Nicholas Lyndhurst.-Personality:Rodney's personality was based on the experiences of series creator John Sullivan, who also had an older sibling and, like Rodney, claimed to have been a dreamer and...
nightmare. In real life, Reeves is ineligible to run for the Presidency as he was born in the Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
- Divergent presidency in H.G.Wells' "The Shape of Things to ComeThe Shape of Things to ComeThe Shape of Things to Come is a work of science fiction by H. G. Wells, published in 1933, which speculates on future events from 1933 until the year 2106. The book is dominated by Wells's belief in a world state as the solution to mankind's problems....
" (published 1934) - Elected in 1932, valiantly but hopelessly tried to end the economic Crisis of 1929. Roosevelt's New DealNew DealThe New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
proved a total failure and the country's depression steadily increased. In foreign policy, Rossevelt granted independnece to the PhilippinesPhilippinesThe Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, accompanied by guarantees against aggression by other countries. This led the US to a short and inconconclusive naval war with Japan; the US Navy broke through a Japanese blockade and got to ManilaManilaManila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
. Later on, both the US and Japan broke off fighting due to their increasing economic disintegration, no longer able to wage external war and hardly able to keep control over their own national territories. Roosevelt, in charge of a country disintegrating into chaos, was in no condition to involve the US in the European War between Germany and Poland which broke in January 1940. He was the last US President to hold any real power over the entire territory between the Atlantic and the Pacific, with later Presidents having real authority only in the environs of Washington D.C. (See President Benito Caruso.) - is elected Vice President on a ticket with James M. CoxJames M. CoxJames Middleton Cox was the 46th and 48th Governor of Ohio, U.S. Representative from Ohio and Democratic candidate for President of the United States in the election of 1920....
in 1920 after Warren G. HardingWarren G. HardingWarren Gamaliel Harding was the 29th President of the United States . A Republican from Ohio, Harding was an influential self-made newspaper publisher. He served in the Ohio Senate , as the 28th Lieutenant Governor of Ohio and as a U.S. Senator...
dies of a stroke in the story "A Fireside Chat" by Jack Nimersheim in the anthology Alternate Presidents In 1921, Cox is assassinated by an anti-League of NationsLeague of NationsThe League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
activist, leaving Roosevelt as the new President. - Given the high number of World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
-centered alternate history fiction, Roosevelt appears in countless stories as president, and his presidency is usually altered accordingly.
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
- Roosevelt becomes the twenty-eighth president in 1912 in Harry TurtledoveHarry TurtledoveHarry Norman Turtledove is an American novelist, who has produced works in several genres including alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction.- Life :...
's Great WarGreat War (Harry Turtledove)Great War is an alternate history trilogy by Harry Turtledove, which follows How Few Remain. It is part of Turtledove's Southern Victory Series series of novels...
series. One of the country's view military heroes, Roosevelt leads the country to victory in a World War IWorld War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
analog, overseeing the defeat of the Confederate States after three bloody years, and regaining the USA its honor. He is re-elected in 1916 during the war, but is defeated in his bid for an unprecedented third term in 1920. - Roosevelt becomes president in Robert ConroyRobert Conroy-Writing career:*His first novel, 1901, deals with a German invasion of Long Island.*His second novel, 1862, is based on what might have happened had the United Kingdom entered into the American Civil War on the side of the Confederacy....
's novel, 1901 after William McKinleyWilliam McKinleyWilliam McKinley, Jr. was the 25th President of the United States . He is best known for winning fiercely fought elections, while supporting the gold standard and high tariffs; he succeeded in forging a Republican coalition that for the most part dominated national politics until the 1930s...
dies of a sudden heart attack after the German EmpireGerman EmpireThe German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
suddenly invades New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in 1901. Roosevelt helps lead the country to victory.
Richard Russell, Jr.
Richard Russell, Jr.
Richard Brevard Russell, Jr. was a Democratic Party politician from the southeastern state of Georgia. He served as state governor from 1931 to 1933 and United States senator from 1933 to 1971....
is mentioned as being President in Warlords of Utopia
Warlords of Utopia
Warlords of Utopia is an original novel by Lance Parkin set in the Faction Paradox universe. It has been described as 'possibly [Parkin's] finest accomplishment to date'....
by Lance Parkin
Lance Parkin
Lance Parkin is a British author, best known for writing fiction and reference books for television series, in particular Doctor Who and Emmerdale...
. The Dixiecrat
Dixiecrat
The States' Rights Democratic Party was a short-lived segregationist political party in the United States in 1948...
President is shown as having kept the United States out of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
S
Barry SadlerBarry Sadler
Barry Sadler was an American soldier, author and musician. Sadler served as a Green Beret medic with the rank of Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War...
is elected president in 1984 in Mitchell J. Freedman's novel A Disturbance of Fate. A Republican, Sadler's pursuit of conservative policies triggers a second civil war that, after much destruction, results in his arrest and the drafting of a new Constitution in which the office of the presidency is abolished.
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
- mentioned as a prior commander in chief in Demolition ManDemolition Man (film)Demolition Man is a 1993 American, science fiction action film directed by Marco Brambilla, and starring Sylvester Stallone and Wesley Snipes. Sandra Bullock, Nigel Hawthorne, and Denis Leary co-star....
with his own presidential library in San Angeles, California. - "President Schwarzenegger" was also mentioned in the Doctor WhoDoctor WhoDoctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
episode "Bad WolfBad Wolf"Bad Wolf" is an episode in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast on June 11, 2005. The TARDIS crew find themselves trapped in the Gamestation, also known as Satellite 5, where they must battle to survive the cruel games...
". - Depicted as president in the Simpsons Movie
Horatio Seymour
Horatio Seymour
Horatio Seymour was an American politician. He was the 18th Governor of New York from 1853 to 1854 and from 1863 to 1864. He was the Democratic Party nominee for president of the United States in the presidential election of 1868, but lost the election to Republican and former Union General of...
- In Harry TurtledoveHarry TurtledoveHarry Norman Turtledove is an American novelist, who has produced works in several genres including alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction.- Life :...
's The Guns of the SouthThe Guns of the SouthThe Guns of the South is an alternate history novel set during the American Civil War by Harry Turtledove.The story deals with a group of time-travelling Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging members who supply Robert E...
, Seymour succeeds Abraham LincolnAbraham LincolnAbraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
as president after the United States of America loses the Civil WarAmerican Civil WarThe American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. - In The Confederate States of America: What Might Have Been by Roger L. Ransom, Seymour wins the presidential election of 1864United States presidential election, 1864In the United States Presidential election of 1864, Abraham Lincoln was re-elected as president. The election was held during the Civil War. Lincoln ran under the National Union ticket against Democratic candidate George B. McClellan, his former top general. McClellan ran as the "peace candidate",...
and becomes the 17th president of the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. He recognizes the ConfederacyConfederate States of AmericaThe Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
as an independent nation after the South's victory in the American Civil WarAmerican Civil WarThe American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
.
Upton Sinclair
Upton Sinclair
Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. , was an American author who wrote close to one hundred books in many genres. He achieved popularity in the first half of the twentieth century, acquiring particular fame for his classic muckraking novel, The Jungle . It exposed conditions in the U.S...
was elected in 1920 as the first Socialist president after defeating President Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
in Harry Turtledove's Southern Victory Series. After two terms he was succeeded by his vice president Hosea Blackford, who was subsequently defeated for reelection by Calvin Coolidge
Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state...
.
Al Smith
Al Smith
Alfred Emanuel Smith. , known in private and public life as Al Smith, was an American statesman who was elected the 42nd Governor of New York three times, and was the Democratic U.S. presidential candidate in 1928...
- Smith is mentioned in Ward Moore's 1953 novel Bring the JubileeBring the JubileeBring the Jubilee by Ward Moore is a 1953 novel of alternate history. The point of divergence occurs when the Confederate States of America wins the Battle of Gettysburg and subsequently declares victory in the "War of Southron Independence" on July 4, 1864 after the surrender of the United States...
as having been defeated in a bid for the White House in 1924 before winning the office as a Populist candidate in 1928. - In Harry Turtledove's alternate history novel American Empire: The Victorious OppositionAmerican Empire: The Victorious OppositionAmerican Empire: The Victorious Opposition is the third and final book in the American Empire alternate history series by Harry Turtledove, and the seventh in the Southern Victory Series of books.-Plot summary:...
Smith is elected in 1936 after defeating Herbert HooverHerbert HooverHerbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
. He is the nation's third Socialist President and was later killed in an air raid on Philadelphia, the capital of the United States; Vice President Charles W. La Follette is sworn in as president.
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
appears in Jim Mortimore's Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
novel Eternity Weeps
Eternity Weeps
Eternity Weeps is an original novel written by Jim Mortimore and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It features the Seventh Doctor, Chris, Bernice, Jason and Liz....
. President Springsteen orders a nuclear attack on Turkey and the Moon in an attempt to stop the spread of an alien terraforming virus known as "Agent Yellow".
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
was president in Harry Turtledove
Harry Turtledove
Harry Norman Turtledove is an American novelist, who has produced works in several genres including alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction.- Life :...
's alternate history short story "Joe Steele". In it, Stalin's parents emigrated to the United States, where he took the name Joe Steele (as Stalin means 'Man of Steel' in Russians). Stalin takes the place of Franklin Roosevelt as 32nd President, and is as authoritarian in his fictional American incarnation as he was in our timeline's Soviet one. The story is inspired by the Janis Ian
Janis Ian
Janis Ian is an American songwriter, singer, musician, columnist, and science fiction author. Ian first entered the folk music scene while still a teenager in the mid-sixties; most active musically in that decade and the 1970s, she has continued recording into the 21st century...
song "god & the fbi", where one of the lyrics is "Stalin was a Democrat".
Harold Stassen
Harold Stassen
Harold Edward Stassen was the 25th Governor of Minnesota from 1939 to 1943. After service in World War II, from 1948 to 1953 he was president of the University of Pennsylvania...
was president in Colonization: Aftershocks
Colonization: Aftershocks
Colonization: Aftershocks is an alternate history and science fiction novel by Harry Turtledove. It is the third and final novel of the Colonization series, as well as the seventh installment in the extended Worldwar series.-Plot:...
by Harry Turtledove
Harry Turtledove
Harry Norman Turtledove is an American novelist, who has produced works in several genres including alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction.- Life :...
. After serving being twice elected to the vice presidency, Stassen ascends after President Earl Warren
Earl Warren
Earl Warren was the 14th Chief Justice of the United States.He is known for the sweeping decisions of the Warren Court, which ended school segregation and transformed many areas of American law, especially regarding the rights of the accused, ending public-school-sponsored prayer, and requiring...
commits suicide.
D. C. Stephenson
D. C. Stephenson
David Curtiss "Steve" Stephenson was an American Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan in the U.S. state of Indiana and 22 other Northern states. He is considered to have been one of the most successful Klan leaders up until his downfall after his conviction for murder...
is President in the novel K is for Killing by Daniel Easterman. He is elected as Vice President to Charles Lindbergh
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Augustus Lindbergh was an American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist.Lindbergh, a 25-year-old U.S...
in the 1932 election, and becomes President in 1940 after planning an assassination of Lindbergh and his wife to prevent him from discovering a secret nuclear weapon collaboration plan with Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
. Shortly after becoming President, Stephenson is murdered by his own wife, and is succeeded by Speaker of the House
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, or Speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives...
Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr.
Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr.
Joseph Patrick "Joe" Kennedy, Sr. was a prominent American businessman, investor, and government official....
Kennedy blames Stephenson's murder on German agents and uses it as a pretext to sever all ties with Germany.
Howard Stern
Howard Stern
Howard Allan Stern is an American radio personality, television host, author, and actor best known for his radio show, which was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2005. He gained wide recognition in the 1990s where he was labeled a "shock jock" for his outspoken and sometimes controversial style...
is shown as the current president in Sliders
Sliders
Sliders is an American science fiction television series. It was broadcast for five seasons, beginning in 1995 and ending in 2000. The series follows a group of travelers as they use a wormhole to "slide" between different parallel universes. The show was created by Robert K. Weiss and Tracy Tormé...
episode 21, "The Young and the Relentless."
Adlai Stevenson II
- Stevenson is elected in 1952 after Dwight D. EisenhowerDwight D. EisenhowerDwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
makes the mistake of accepting Joseph McCarthyJoseph McCarthyJoseph Raymond "Joe" McCarthy was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957...
as his running mate in the story "The Impeachment of Adlai Stevenson" by David GerroldDavid GerroldJerrold David Friedman , better known by his pen name David Gerrold, is an American science fiction author who started his career in 1966 while a college student by submitting an unsolicited story outline for the television series Star Trek. He was invited to submit several premises, and the one...
in the Anthology Alternate Presidents. As the title implies, Stevenson is impeached (during his second term), and happily resigns, leaving his untested young VP, John F. KennedyJohn F. KennedyJohn Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
(who is considered something of a laughing stock after having just married Marilyn MonroeMarilyn MonroeMarilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
), as his successor. - In Michael P. Kube-McDowellMichael P. Kube-McDowellMichael Paul Kube-McDowell is a science fiction novelist. He has also dabbled in music, written for television, been a stringer for a daily newspaper, and published short fiction, reviews, assorted nonfiction and erotica. He was honored for teaching excellence by the 1985 White House Commission on...
's novel Alternities, Stevenson is mentioned as having been elected president in 1956 and serving for two terms, though he is quoted as describing his second term as a curse.
T
Robert TaftRobert Taft
Robert Alphonso Taft , of the Taft political family of Cincinnati, was a Republican United States Senator and a prominent conservative statesman...
- In Gregory BenfordGregory BenfordGregory Benford is an American science fiction author and astrophysicist who is on the faculty of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Irvine...
's "We Could Do Worse" (1989), Taft is chosen as Republican candidate in 1952, winning over President Dwight D. EisenhowerDwight D. EisenhowerDwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
with the support of Richard NixonRichard NixonRichard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
, and takes Joseph McCarthyJoseph McCarthyJoseph Raymond "Joe" McCarthy was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957...
as his running mate. He is elected, dies in 1953 as in real life, and McCarthy becomes President and goes on to make himself a brutal dictator. (See entry for McCarthy above.) - In one of the timelines in Michael P. Kube-McDowellMichael P. Kube-McDowellMichael Paul Kube-McDowell is a science fiction novelist. He has also dabbled in music, written for television, been a stringer for a daily newspaper, and published short fiction, reviews, assorted nonfiction and erotica. He was honored for teaching excellence by the 1985 White House Commission on...
novel Alternities, Taft wins the presidency in 1952 after Dwight Eisenhower dies in a plane crash the year before. As president, Taft pursues a policy of isolationismIsolationismIsolationism is the policy or doctrine of isolating one's country from the affairs of other nations by declining to enter into alliances, foreign economic commitments, international agreements, etc., seeking to devote the entire efforts of one's country to its own advancement and remain at peace by...
that subsequently allows the Soviet UnionSoviet UnionThe Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
to emerge as the dominant superpower, and later dies in office. - He is also the successor of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in Robert A. HeinleinRobert A. HeinleinRobert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of...
's Timeline 1 (codename: John Carter) in The Number of the BeastThe Number of the Beast (novel)The Number of the Beast is a science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein published in 1980. The first edition featured a cover and interior illustrations by Richard M. Powers...
.
Norman Thomas
Norman Thomas
Norman Mattoon Thomas was a leading American socialist, pacifist, and six-time presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America.-Early years:...
is referred to as a former two-term President for the Populist Party in Ward Moore's 1953 novel Bring the Jubilee
Bring the Jubilee
Bring the Jubilee by Ward Moore is a 1953 novel of alternate history. The point of divergence occurs when the Confederate States of America wins the Battle of Gettysburg and subsequently declares victory in the "War of Southron Independence" on July 4, 1864 after the surrender of the United States...
.
William Hale Thompson
William Hale Thompson
William Hale Thompson was Mayor of Chicago from 1915 to 1923 and again from 1927 to 1931. Known as "Big Bill", Thompson was the last Republican to serve as Mayor of Chicago, and ranks among the most unethical mayors in American history.Thompson was born in Boston, Massachusetts to William Hale...
, who as the Whig party candidate defeated populist President Thomas R. Marshall in 1920, and won a second term against Al Smith in 1924 in Ward Moore's novel Bring the Jubilee
Bring the Jubilee
Bring the Jubilee by Ward Moore is a 1953 novel of alternate history. The point of divergence occurs when the Confederate States of America wins the Battle of Gettysburg and subsequently declares victory in the "War of Southron Independence" on July 4, 1864 after the surrender of the United States...
.
Samuel J. Tilden
Samuel J. Tilden
Samuel Jones Tilden was the Democratic candidate for the U.S. presidency in the disputed election of 1876, one of the most controversial American elections of the 19th century. He was the 25th Governor of New York...
- Tilden is featured in two stories in the anthology Alternate Presidents. In "Patriot's Dream" by Tappan KingTappan Wright KingTappan Wright King is an American editor and author in the field of fantasy fiction, best known for editing The Twilight Zone Magazine and its...
, Tilden wins after a series of nightmares help convert him from a low-key corporate lawyer to a crusading reformer. In "I Shall Have a Flight to Glory" by Michael P. Kube-McDowellMichael P. Kube-McDowellMichael Paul Kube-McDowell is a science fiction novelist. He has also dabbled in music, written for television, been a stringer for a daily newspaper, and published short fiction, reviews, assorted nonfiction and erotica. He was honored for teaching excellence by the 1985 White House Commission on...
, Tilden, still bruised by his loss to Rutherford B. HayesRutherford B. HayesRutherford Birchard Hayes was the 19th President of the United States . As president, he oversaw the end of Reconstruction and the United States' entry into the Second Industrial Revolution...
in 1876, adopts similar tactics against James GarfieldJames GarfieldJames Abram Garfield served as the 20th President of the United States, after completing nine consecutive terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. Garfield's accomplishments as President included a controversial resurgence of Presidential authority above Senatorial courtesy in executive...
in 1880. - In How Few RemainHow Few RemainHow Few Remain is a 1997 alternate history novel by Harry Turtledove. It is the first part of the Southern Victory Series saga, which depicts a world in which the Confederacy won the American Civil War. The book received the Sidewise Award for Alternate History in 1997, and was also nominated for...
by Harry TurtledoveHarry TurtledoveHarry Norman Turtledove is an American novelist, who has produced works in several genres including alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction.- Life :...
, Tilden is referred to as having served one term from 1877 to 1881, having seemingly defeated Rutherford B. HayesRutherford B. HayesRutherford Birchard Hayes was the 19th President of the United States . As president, he oversaw the end of Reconstruction and the United States' entry into the Second Industrial Revolution...
in the 1876 electionUnited States presidential election, 1876The United States presidential election of 1876 was one of the most disputed and controversial presidential elections in American history. Samuel J. Tilden of New York outpolled Ohio's Rutherford B. Hayes in the popular vote, and had 184 electoral votes to Hayes's 165, with 20 votes uncounted...
. He was himself defeated in his bid for re-election in 1880United States presidential election, 1880The United States presidential election of 1880 was largely seen as a referendum on the end of Reconstruction in Southern states carried out by the Republicans. There were no pressing issues of the day save tariffs, with the Republicans supporting higher tariffs and the Democrats supporting lower...
by his Republican challenger James G. BlaineJames G. BlaineJames Gillespie Blaine was a U.S. Representative, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, U.S. Senator from Maine, two-time Secretary of State...
. C.S. PresidentPresident of the Confederate States of AmericaThe President of the Confederate States of America was the Head of State and Head of Government of the Confederate States of America, which was formed from the states which declared their secession from the United States, thus precipitating the American Civil War. The only person to hold the...
James LongstreetJames LongstreetJames Longstreet was one of the foremost Confederate generals of the American Civil War and the principal subordinate to General Robert E. Lee, who called him his "Old War Horse." He served under Lee as a corps commander for many of the famous battles fought by the Army of Northern Virginia in the...
expressed disappointment at the more hardline Blaine's election as Tilden had given the Confederate States of AmericaConfederate States of AmericaThe Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
a free hand throughout his presidency, as had all of his Democratic predecessors since the War of SecessionAmerican Civil WarThe American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
(1861–1862).
Donald Trump
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump, Sr. is an American business magnate, television personality and author. He is the chairman and president of The Trump Organization and the founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts. Trump's extravagant lifestyle, outspoken manner and role on the NBC reality show The Apprentice have...
was mentioned as being president before Lisa Simpson
Lisa Simpson
Lisa Marie Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She is the middle child of the Simpson family. Voiced by Yeardley Smith, Lisa first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Cartoonist Matt Groening...
in the year 2030. Trump was a very bad president and bankrupted the American economy, causing a crisis for Lisa when she took over. He was mentioned in the "Bart to the Future
Bart to the Future
"Bart to the Future" is the seventeenth episode of the eleventh season of the American animated sitcom The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 19, 2000. In the episode, after their vacation in the woods is cut short due to a mosquito infestation, the...
" episode of The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
Rexford Tugwell
Rexford Tugwell
Rexford Guy Tugwell was an agricultural economist who became part of Franklin D. Roosevelt's first "Brain Trust," a group of Columbia academics who helped develop policy recommendations leading up to Roosevelt's 1932 election as President...
is President in The Grasshopper Lies Heavy, a novel-within-a-novel of The Man in the High Castle
The Man in the High Castle
The Man in the High Castle is a science fiction alternate history novel by American writer Philip K. Dick. It won a Hugo Award in 1963 and has since been translated into many languages....
by Philip K. Dick
Philip K. Dick
Philip Kindred Dick was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist whose published work is almost entirely in the science fiction genre. Dick explored sociological, political and metaphysical themes in novels dominated by monopolistic corporations, authoritarian governments and altered...
. In it, he is elected President in 1940 after Franklin Roosevelt chooses to run for only two terms; he ensures the US has a large enough naval strength to enter World War II in a dominant position, ensuring Allied victory.
V
Arthur H. VandenbergArthur H. Vandenberg
Arthur Hendrick Vandenberg was a Republican Senator from the U.S. state of Michigan who participated in the creation of the United Nations.-Early life and family:...
was president from 1941 to 1945 in the 1939 Robert A. Heinlein
Robert A. Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of...
novel For Us, The Living: A Comedy of Customs
For Us, The Living: A Comedy of Customs
For Us, The Living: A Comedy of Customs is a science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein, written in 1938 but published for the first time in 2003...
.
Jesse Ventura
Jesse Ventura
James George Janos , better known as Jesse Ventura, is an American politician, the 38th Governor of Minnesota from 1999 to 2003, Navy UDT veteran, former SEAL reservist, actor, and former radio and television talk show host...
- shown fighting for re-election against Henry KissingerHenry KissingerHeinz Alfred "Henry" Kissinger is a German-born American academic, political scientist, diplomat, and businessman. He is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He served as National Security Advisor and later concurrently as Secretary of State in the administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon and...
in Killroy and Tina. - glimpsed in the FuturamaFuturamaFuturama is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of a late 20th-century New York City pizza delivery boy, Philip J...
episode "A Head in the PollsA Head in the Polls"A Head in the Polls" is the third episode in the second production season of Futurama. It originally aired in North America on December 12, 1999 as episode seven in the second broadcast season. The episode was written by J. Stewart Burns and directed by Bret Haaland. Claudia Schiffer makes a guest...
" in the Hall of Presidents in the New New York Head Museum.
Kurt Vonnegut
Kurt Vonnegut
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. was a 20th century American writer. His works such as Cat's Cradle , Slaughterhouse-Five and Breakfast of Champions blend satire, gallows humor and science fiction. He was known for his humanist beliefs and was honorary president of the American Humanist Association.-Early...
is president of a Communist United States in Kim Newman
Kim Newman
Kim Newman is an English journalist, film critic, and fiction writer. Recurring interests visible in his work include film history and horror fiction—both of which he attributes to seeing Tod Browning's Dracula at the age of eleven—and alternate fictional versions of history...
and Eugene Byrne
Eugene Byrne
Eugene Byrne is an English freelance journalist and fiction writer.His novel ThigMOO, and the story it was based on, were nominated for the BSFA award. His story "HMS Habakkuk" was nominated for a Sidewise Award for Alternate History.He was born in Waterford in the Republic of Ireland, but was...
's Back in the USSA
Back in the USSA
Back in the USSA is a collection of 7 short stories by Eugene Byrne and Kim Newman, which was published in 1997 by Mark V. Ziesing Books. The stories are linked through their setting, an alternate history of the twentieth century in which the United States experienced a communist revolution in...
, serving as a parallel to Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
.
W
George WallaceGeorge Wallace
George Corley Wallace, Jr. was the 45th Governor of Alabama, serving four terms: 1963–1967, 1971–1979 and 1983–1987. "The most influential loser" in 20th-century U.S. politics, according to biographers Dan T. Carter and Stephan Lesher, he ran for U.S...
- President in Mona Clee's Branch Point (1996).
- Runs for president (with Curtis LeMayCurtis LeMayCurtis Emerson LeMay was a general in the United States Air Force and the vice presidential running mate of American Independent Party candidate George Wallace in 1968....
as his vice president) in 1968 after the assassinations of Robert F. KennedyRobert F. KennedyRobert Francis "Bobby" Kennedy , also referred to by his initials RFK, was an American politician, a Democratic senator from New York, and a noted civil rights activist. An icon of modern American liberalism and member of the Kennedy family, he was a younger brother of President John F...
, Richard M. Nixon, Hubert H. Humphrey and Eugene McCarthyEugene McCarthyEugene Joseph "Gene" McCarthy was an American politician, poet, and a long-time member of the United States Congress from Minnesota. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1949 to 1959 and the U.S. Senate from 1959 to 1971.In the 1968 presidential election, McCarthy was the first...
. - In another alternate timeline in the novel, Bill ClintonBill ClintonWilliam Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
is president for only one term (the publication date of the novel was January 1996 and perhaps the author didn't expect Clinton to be reelected). - Served one term (1977–1981) in the 1975 movie Tunnelvision, and was followed by an African-American woman President named Washington.
Earl Warren
Earl Warren
Earl Warren was the 14th Chief Justice of the United States.He is known for the sweeping decisions of the Warren Court, which ended school segregation and transformed many areas of American law, especially regarding the rights of the accused, ending public-school-sponsored prayer, and requiring...
is president in the Colonization series
Colonization (series)
Colonization is a trilogy of books written by Harry Turtledove. It is a continuation of the situation set up in the Worldwar four-book series, projecting the situation between humanity and the Race nearly twenty years forward into the mid-1960s.The Race has settled and plans to colonize nearly...
by Harry Turtledove
Harry Turtledove
Harry Norman Turtledove is an American novelist, who has produced works in several genres including alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction.- Life :...
. Initially elected in 1960, he is very popular and easily wins re-election 1964. However, after ordering the nuclear destruction of Indianapolis
Indianapolis
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
to appease the Lizards after they learned the US had attacked their colony fleet in Earth orbit, Warren commits suicide and is succeeded by Vice President Harold Stassen
Harold Stassen
Harold Edward Stassen was the 25th Governor of Minnesota from 1939 to 1943. After service in World War II, from 1948 to 1953 he was president of the University of Pennsylvania...
.
Adam Weishaupt
Adam Weishaupt
Johann Adam Weishaupt was a German philosopher and founder of the Order of Illuminati, a secret society with origins in Bavaria.-Early life:...
is the first President in The Illuminatus! Trilogy
The Illuminatus! Trilogy
The Illuminatus! Trilogy is a series of three novels written by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson first published in 1975. The trilogy is a satirical, postmodern, science fiction-influenced adventure story; a drug-, sex-, and magick-laden trek through a number of conspiracy theories, both...
by Robert Shea
Robert Shea
Robert Joseph Shea was an American novelist and former journalist best known as co-author with Robert Anton Wilson of the science fantasy trilogy Illuminatus!. It became a cult success and was later turned into a marathon-length stage show put on at the British National Theatre and elsewhere. In...
and Robert Anton Wilson
Robert Anton Wilson
Robert Anton Wilson , known to friends as "Bob", was an American author and polymath who became at various times a novelist, philosopher, psychologist, essayist, editor, playwright, poet, futurist, civil libertarian and self-described agnostic mystic...
, after murdering and taking the identity of George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
.
Burton K. Wheeler
Burton K. Wheeler
Burton Kendall Wheeler was an American politician of the Democratic Party and a United States Senator from 1923 until 1947.-Early life:...
:
- In The Plot Against AmericaThe Plot Against AmericaThe Plot Against America is a novel by Philip Roth published in 2004. It is an alternate history in which Franklin Delano Roosevelt is defeated in the presidential election of 1940 by Charles Lindbergh.-Plot introduction:...
, an alternate historyAlternate history (fiction)Alternate history or alternative history is a genre of fiction consisting of stories that are set in worlds in which history has diverged from the actual history of the world. It can be variously seen as a sub-genre of literary fiction, science fiction, and historical fiction; different alternate...
novel by Philip RothPhilip RothPhilip Milton Roth is an American novelist. He gained fame with the 1959 novella Goodbye, Columbus, an irreverent and humorous portrait of Jewish-American life that earned him a National Book Award...
:- Wheeler succeeds Charles LindberghCharles LindberghCharles Augustus Lindbergh was an American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist.Lindbergh, a 25-year-old U.S...
as president in 1942; Wheeler was Lindbergh's Vice President in the 1940 election.
- Wheeler succeeds Charles Lindbergh
- In The DivideThe Divide (novel)The Divide is a 1980 alternate history novel by William Overgard.-Background - historical divergence from our history:After the Nazis force the surrender of Britain and France in 1940, Burton K. Wheeler, running as the Isolationist Party candidate, defeats President Franklin Roosevelt on a pledge...
, a 1980 alternate history novel by William OvergardWilliam OvergardWilliam Overgard , was an American cartoonist and writer with a diverse opus, including novels, screenplays, animation, and the comic strips Steve Roper and Mike Nomad and Rudy. For a picture, see his biography card at ....
:- After the Nazis force the surrender of Britain and France in 1940, Wheeler, running as the Isolationist Party candidate, defeats President Franklin Roosevelt on a pledge to keep America out of war. After Germany has overrun all of Russia, both Germany and Japan attack and invade the United States in 1941. President Wheeler surrenders the United States to the Axis after a devastating bombardment of missiles from occupied Canada. The Surrender takes place on April 20, 1948, Adolf Hitler's fifty ninth birthday. President Wheeler, Army Chief of Staff General George MarshallGeorge MarshallGeorge Catlett Marshall was an American military leader, Chief of Staff of the Army, Secretary of State, and the third Secretary of Defense...
, and other U.S. Government officials are executed by garrote in a meat packing plant outside of Washington D.C. after being found guilty of war crimes. Wheeler does leave behind a secret installation where work of producing an atomic bomb continues, in the hope that it would eventually help in liberating the country.
- After the Nazis force the surrender of Britain and France in 1940, Wheeler, running as the Isolationist Party candidate, defeats President Franklin Roosevelt on a pledge to keep America out of war. After Germany has overrun all of Russia, both Germany and Japan attack and invade the United States in 1941. President Wheeler surrenders the United States to the Axis after a devastating bombardment of missiles from occupied Canada. The Surrender takes place on April 20, 1948, Adolf Hitler's fifty ninth birthday. President Wheeler, Army Chief of Staff General George Marshall
Harrison A. Williams
Harrison A. Williams
Harrison Arlington "Pete" Williams, Jr. was a Democrat who represented New Jersey in both the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate . Williams was convicted on May 1, 1981 for taking bribes in the Abscam sting operation, and resigned from the U.S. Senate in 1982...
was a President in the 1960s in the timeline of Robert A. Heinlein
Robert A. Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of...
's "Double Star
Double Star
Double Star is a science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein, first serialized in Astounding Science Fiction and published in hardcover the same year...
". Not much information is given, as this is an event of the distant past for the book's protagonists.
Wendell Willkie
Wendell Willkie
Wendell Lewis Willkie was a corporate lawyer in the United States and a dark horse who became the Republican Party nominee for the president in 1940. A member of the liberal wing of the GOP, he crusaded against those domestic policies of the New Deal that he thought were inefficient and...
was elected President in 1940 (when Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
decided to not seek a third term) in the S. M. Stirling
S. M. Stirling
Stephen Michael Stirling is a French-born Canadian-American science fiction and fantasy author. Stirling is probably best known for his Draka series of alternate history novels and the more recent time travel/alternate history Nantucket series and Emberverse series.-Personal:Stirling was born on...
novel Marching Through Georgia
Marching Through Georgia (novel)
Marching Through Georgia is the first of four books of S.M. Stirling's alternate history series, The Domination.The novel also attempts to educate the reader on the background of the Domination. Government, military, social structures, and the historical development of the Draka are all outlined...
. He led the United States into involvement in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer and philanthropist. Winfrey is best known for her self-titled, multi-award-winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011...
- referenced as being President in 2030 in an episode of the short-lived science-fiction lawyer show Century City.
- elected President in 2020 in an alternate history episodeReturn of The King (Boondocks episode)"Return of the King" is the ninth episode of the animated television series The Boondocks, airing on Cartoon Network as part of its Adult Swim programming. It was originally broadcast on January 15, 2006, which would have been Martin Luther King, Jr.'s 77th birthday. The episode's name was taken...
of The BoondocksThe Boondocks (TV series)The Boondocks is an American animated series created by Aaron McGruder on Cartoon Network's late night programing block, Adult Swim, based on McGruder's comic strip of the same name...
. - While appearing on a television show during his 2008 campaign, Barack ObamaBarack ObamaBarack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
jokingly said he would make Oprah Winfrey his vice presidentVice presidentA vice president is an officer in government or business who is below a president in rank. The name comes from the Latin vice meaning 'in place of'. In some countries, the vice president is called the deputy president...
Victoria Woodhull
Victoria Woodhull
Victoria Claflin Woodhull was an American leader of the woman's suffrage movement, an advocate of free love; together with her sister, the first women to operate a brokerage in Wall Street; the first women to start a weekly newspaper; an activist for women's rights and labor reforms and, in 1872,...
is elected President after an amendment restricts Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...
to one term in the story "We are Not Amused" by Laura Resnick
Laura Resnick
Laura Resnick , is an award-winning fantasy writer. She was the winner of the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in Science Fiction for 1993...
in the anthology Alternate Presidents. In the story, Queen Victoria corresponds with the new female president, approvingly at first, but less so as her "libertine" ideas on social mores and customs take hold in the Empire.
Y
Ralph YarboroughRalph Yarborough
Ralph Webster Yarborough was a Texas Democratic politician who served in the United States Senate and was a leader of the progressive or liberal wing of his party in his many races for statewide office...
was Robert F. Kennedy
Robert F. Kennedy
Robert Francis "Bobby" Kennedy , also referred to by his initials RFK, was an American politician, a Democratic senator from New York, and a noted civil rights activist. An icon of modern American liberalism and member of the Kennedy family, he was a younger brother of President John F...
's successor as president in Mitchell J. Freedman's novel A Disturbance of Fate. He serves two terms and subsequently is killed during the events of the "Second Civil War".