1969-1974: Richard M.Nixon (Republican)† [1]
1968 (With Spiro Agnew) def. Hubert Humphrey (Democratic), George Wallace (American Independent)
1972 (With Sprio Agnew) def. Hubert Humphrey (Democratic), George Wallace (American Independent) [2]
1974-1977: John Connally (Republican) [3]
1977-1981: Birch Bayh (Democratic) [4]
1976 (With Reubin Askew) def. John Connally (Republican), Tom McCall (Independent) [5]
1981-1989: Donald Rumsfeld (Republican) [6]
1980 (With Paul Laxalt) def. Birch Bayh (Democratic), Henry Howell (Citizens), David Koch (Libertarian) [7]
1984 (With Paul Laxalt) def. John Glenn (Democratic)
1989-: Geraldine Ferraro (Democratic) [8]
1988 (With Sam Nunn) def. William L.Armstrong (Republican), Lowell Weicker (Solidarity)
1). Nixon, Oliver Stone (1995)
“Having gained tons of cache with his trilogy of films on Vietnam, Academy award winning Damascus (1990) and Wall Street (1987), Oliver Stone decided to waste a bunch of that with Nixon, a three hour sprawling mess of a film, about the man that Stone ‘despises more than any other’ who most people are fairly ambivalent about. Nixon follows the titular character (John Lithgow) as he plows through his Presidency slowly creating a Conspiracy around him which begins to unravel in the last two years of his Presidency as Nixon finds himself having to rely on Bob Haldeman (Ed Harris) more than before.
The film would become infamous for its fabrications as Stone alleges that Nixon had G.Gordon Liddy (John Diehl) personally kill journalists, Nixon was connected to the Kennedy assassination and that Nixon was assassinated as a result of being a liability for a cabal of Conservative’s, with Samuel Byck (Benicio del Toro) being the patsy. Stone also has Lithgow scowl and monologue to the audience about his beliefs, plans and paranoia which whilst well done, doesn’t make up for the film’s sagging and unwieldy pace.
Thankfully the film would bomb and Stone would be sent off to write screenplays till ‘Lyndon’ (2001) some years later (which is good but annoyingly meant Stone was allowed to keep making films).”
2). Gumbo, Robert Altman (1973)
“As the Democratic Primaries began to become even more heated and chaotic leading to a turbulent convention, Robert Altman decided that it could work well as the setting for a black comedy. Following a Tom (Keith Carradine) as a supporter of Shirley Chisholm on the Democratic Campaign trail, whilst proclaiming he’s a staunch Liberal (sometimes even claiming to be a Socialist), Tom is a sly schemer who’s drawing up plans to cash in on his credibility amongst activists for any future political runs. Whilst this is happening, his girlfriend Ruth (Shelly Duvall) ponders the future of her relationship with Tom, finding herself becoming increasingly attached to a older Congressman from California called Joe (Warren Beatty). A free wheeling romp through the seedy underbelly of American politics starring a cavalcade of Altman regulars, cameos from eccentric celebrities (Dennis Hopper, Hunter S.Thompson and Jon Voight) and political cameos with folks like a young Gary Hart, Fred Harris, Rev. Jesse Jackson and even a baffled Ed Muskie appearing for brief unscripted segments.
Shot almost like a fly on a wall documentary, the film is an amusing if bleak look at the machinations of both the Democratic Party but also the New Left. The ending sequence in which Hubert Humphrey speech for unity is intercut by Boos and George Wallace’s rallying against the system with his arm in a cast for many signifies the frustrations with the American Democrats in 1972, better than any actual documentary could.”
3). The Lone Star, Joel & Ethan Coen (1999)
“So after a decade starting by helping your goofy director friend make a Superhero blockbuster that you hate, go back to making a series of crime thrillers and independent art house films and then find yourself winning several Academy Awards for a lackadaisical dramedy about a stoned hippie caught up in a Noir story. If it’s making a surprisingly refreshing dramatic comedic biopic of one of the most controversial men in American history, warts and all, then your name is Joel and Ethan Coen.
Whilst shooting Contemplations (1997), Joel Coen would be reading ‘Lone Star: The Connally Story’ by Molly Ivins, a witty cutting biography about the machinations of John Connally. Finding a lot similarities between some of there own stories, the Coen’s would adapt the book and make an award winning film about it.
Starting from the inauguration of President Bayh in 77, the film follows John Connally (Tommy Lee Jones) during his time in the Kennedy administration and beyond, depicting his relationships with President John F. Kennedy (Tim Robbins), Lyndon B. Johnson (John Mahoney, the Coens original pick for Connally), Richard Nixon (Tony Shalhoub) and his relationship with his wife Nellie Connally (Holland Taylor), Hubert Humphrey (John Carroll Lynch) and his arch Republican rival Ronald Reagan (Richard Crenna) over his turbulent political tenure.
Unlike most biopics, the film is more of a dream like exploration of the Connally Presidency, moments of his life clash, dead characters reappear as ghosts haunting the trouble soul. At several moments Connally finds himself arguing with himself done through camera trickery as it establishes that everything is crumbling around Connally. It’s incredibly darkly comedic as the Coen Brothers dry style combines well with Molly Ivins comedic angry message. The Coens would end being nominated for Best Director (which they lost to Sam Mendes) and would win Best Adapted Screenplay, Tommy Lee Jones would be nominated for Best Actor at the 2000 Academy Awards and John Mahoney’s humorous and often times tragic portrayal of Lyndon B.Johnson would net him a Best Supporting Actor award at the same ceremony.
4). He’s Our Guy, Steven Spielberg (1996)
“It’s easy to see why Steven Spielberg why would make the Birch Bayh biopic, with the presidential election coming up and a wave of Seventies nostalgia it was understandable why Spielberg would adapt the story of Birch Bayh to the big screen. Starting in 1962 with his Senate win, the film follows Birch Bayh (Albert Brooks) as he goes from being a Liberal Senator to becoming President of the United States whilst detailing his relationship with his wife Marvella Bayh (Susan Sarandon) problems with cancer. Along the way, Birch finds himself becoming a champion of Liberal causes like ERA but this gains him enemies like George Wallace (Greg Sinise), Donald Rumsfeld (Bill Paxton) and Phylis Schflay (Sissy Spacek) causing Birch to have to seek support from friend Ted Kennedy (Kevin Conroy), Vice President Reubin Askew (Scott Glenn), Congresswoman Bella Abzug (Lainie Kazan) and firebrand Populist and former rival Fred R. Harris (Bruce Campbell).
The biopic is Spielberg firing on all cylinders, Brooks casting at the time seemed unusual but Brooks ability to combine charming, goofy with earnest sincerity would net him an academy award for his troubles. The film that focuses more on Bayh trying to become President whilst dealing with his wife’s illness over political matters though getting the ERA amendment passed and becoming law, which leads to his battles against Schflay that consume a substantial portion of the film. Despite nearly clocking in at three hours, this film is overwhelming a breezy and heartwarming watch with an ending that’ll bring at least a few tears to your eyes”.
5). It Felt Like A Kiss, Adam Curtis (2004)
“Adam Curtis’s documentary series ‘It Felt Like A Kiss’ details the changing Conservative landscape of the Cold War and after. A particular subject is Tom McCall who for Curtis ‘embodies the contradictions and possibilities of the Progressive Conservative movement in the 70s’. Indeed much of the discussion is around McCall’s incorporation of Environmentalist and moderates messaging which made him popular in Oregon but consistently angered the national Republican Party.
Of particular note is analysis of McCall’s attempt to create a Third Force in reaction Connally but finding his message being outshined by Bayh. Indeed through dreamlike editing, McCall’s 76’ campaign is conveyed like the dying dream of the Liberal Republican Wing of the Party, with the last montage sequence of the episode consisting of audio of McCall conceding whilst footage of 70s promises and dreams with the Jesus Mary Chain’s Cut Dead drifting in throughout gave the McCall movement an appropriately bleak send off”
6). Don., Martin Scorsese (2010)
“A film about Donald Rumsfeld had been on the cards for awhile before Martin Scorsese took hold of it and made it the beast of political biopic cinema that we all know. Whilst previous films had shown us the moral corruption, chaos and bleakness of the Rumsfeld Presidency (watch Damascus by Oliver Stone or Heatland by Kathryn Bigelow for good examples of the effect Rumsfeld had on America and the world) Scorsese was more interested in Rumsfeld the man; a contradictory mix of charming, sinister, amusing, bleak and morally corrupt who managed to find himself reelected and consistently liked by enough of the population despite it all.
Don follows the titular Donald Rumsfeld (Kyle MacLachlan in his return to the big screen in about decade) from his days as a Congressman to his last few days as President in which Donald’s uses his affable charm and good old boy nature to slowly manipulate and gain the highest office in the land, with help from his wife’s Joyce (Julianne Moore) and support from figures like Gerald Ford (John Lithgow), Dick Cheney (Vincent D'Onofrio) and Irving Kristol (Alan Alda). Becoming President the film showcases how he used the office to pursue a war with Syria, cut apart the New Deal welfare state with support from folks like Paul Laxalt (John Cusack) and worked with General Alexander Haig (Powers Boothe) to crackdown on ‘worldwide communism’.
Often joked as ‘Scorsese does a crime film but in the White House’ the film with it’s bleak stylish look at the fairly malicious former President would garner Scorsese his Second Best Director and Best Picture Academy Awards whilst Kyle MacLachlan’s portrayal would net him a Golden Globe and signify his big return to big screen acting after a decade of television.”
7). Keep the Big Boys Honest, Spike Lee (2015)
“The adaptation of the Robert Schenkkan play about the two competing Third Party Campaigns of 1980 and there impact is a fascinating watch even if a little too stylistic at times for the source material. Following a Southern Left Wing Populist Henry Howell (Stephen Root) and Libertarian businessman David Koch (Benedict Cumberbatch) as they try and take on bigger political parties.
Showing the grim battles just to get airspace on television, lack of funds and even threats from the other political parties, amusingly the film shows Howell and Koch gaining a common understanding between the two even as there running mates LaDonna Harris (Kimberly Norris Guerrero) and Dick Randolph (Tim Blake Nelson) deeply oppose this and try to avoid any form of understanding. Whilst a fun and quick paced looking at a fascinating election with much praise being given for Kimberly Norris Guerrero and Tim Blake Nelson for there nuanced and well rounded portrayals, Lee’s sometimes overly stylistic flair causes the film to be overwhelming though a unique look at an election then many would rather forget.”
8). She’s The One, Greta Gerwig (2022)
“Geraldine Ferraro existed for a long time in pop culture as a bit of an awkward void. Whilst the popular if controversial two term President was referenced commonly, no one had seriously bothered trying to create a biopic about her. This changes this year with the biopic, She’s The One written and directed by Greta Gerwig about the titular first female President. Starring Frances McDormand as Ferraro, Steve Carrell as Sam Nunn, Steven Van Zandt as John Zaccaro, Timothee Chalament as John Zaccaro Jr., Jordon Peele as Jesse Jackson, Topher Grace as Donald Rumsfeld and John Turturro as Al D’Amato this film looks set to redress the balance on then Ferraro legacy...”