The Presidential Movies Quiz

Estimated Completion Time
3 min
The Presidential Movies Quiz
Image: New Line/Beacon Pictures/Archive Photos/Moviepix/Getty Images

About This Quiz

Presidential movies range from historically accurate biopics to downright ridiculous disaster flicks. Can you separate fact from fiction (and actor from president) in these presidential films?
Match the actor to the real-life president he has portrayed: Josh Brolin
George W. Bush
George H.W. Bush
Bill Clinton
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Brolin played George W. Bush in Oliver Stone's "W."

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Match the actor to the real-life president he has portrayed: Jeff Daniels
George Washington
John Adams
Thomas Jefferson
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Jeff Daniels played the first president in "The Crossing."

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Match the actor to the real-life president he has portrayed: Daniel Day-Lewis
Abraham Lincoln
Richard Nixon
James Madison
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Day-Lewis won the best actor Oscar in 2012 for playing Lincoln in "Lincoln."

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Match the actor to the real-life president he has portrayed: Nick Nolte
Woodrow Wilson
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Thomas Jefferson
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Nolte played the third president in "Jefferson in Paris."

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Match the actor to the real-life president he has portrayed: Gary Sinise
Andrew Johnson
Harry Truman
Jimmy Carter
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Sinise was the star of "Truman" in 1995.

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This president has been portrayed by Randy Quaid, Liev Schreiber, Tom Wilkinson and Bryan Cranston.
Lyndon B. Johnson
William McKinley
John F. Kennedy
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

All these actors have played LBJ.

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This president has been portrayed by Anthony Hopkins, Dan Hedaya, Frank Langella, John Cusack and Kevin Spacey.
Gerald Ford
George H.W. Bush
Richard Nixon
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

All of them have been Richard Nixon at some point in time.

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This president has been portrayed by Brendan Fraser, Kevin Sorbo, Will Forte and Gilbert Gottfried.
Grover Cleveland
Teddy Roosevelt
Abraham Lincoln
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Beyond Daniel Day-Lewis, you get a rather motley collection of actors playing Abraham Lincoln.

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Robin Williams has played these two presidents on the big screen.
Teddy Roosevelt and Dwight D. Eisenhower
James Garfield and Herbert Hoover
Bill Clinton and Lyndon B. Johnson
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Williams was T.R. in the three "Night at the Museum" movies and Eisenhower in 2013's "The Butler."

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The titular president of this movie is not a character in the film.
"Nixon"
"W."
"JFK"
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"JFK" is about the aftermath of the assassination, so JFK doesn't appear in the film.

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Henry Fonda starred in two presidential movies in 1964. In "Fail Safe" he plays the president. What's his role in "The Best Man"?
an assassin
the president's speechwriter
a presidential candidate
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Fonda plays presidential hopeful William Russell in "The Best Man."

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Fonda also portrayed this real-life president in 1939.
Abraham Lincoln
James Monroe
William Henry Harrison
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Fonda played Abe in "Young Mr. Lincoln."

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President Jack Stanton in "Primary Colors" is based on this real-life president.
Jimmy Carter
Bill Clinton
George W. Bush
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Stanton is a very thinly disguised Bill Clinton.

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Who plays Jack Stanton in "Primary Colors"?
John Travolta
Bill Pullman
Bill Paxton
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Travolta put on his best Arkansas accent for the 1996 film.

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This president has been portrayed by only one actor, in two films 15 years apart.
Benjamin Harrison
Jimmy Carter
James Buchanan
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Jimmy Carter has somehow missed big-screen treatment. An actor named Ed Beheler played him in 1978's "Sextette" and also in "Hot Shots! Part Deux" (1993).

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Which president did Charlton Heston play twice?
James Polk
Andrew Jackson
Ulysses S. Grant
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Heston portrayed Andrew Jackson in 1953's "The President's Lady" and again in 1958's "Buccaneer."

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Anthony Hopkins played Nixon in 1995. What other real-life president has he portrayed?
John Quincy Adams
George Washington
Ulysses S. Grant
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Hopkins was John Quincy Adams in "Amistad."

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There were two Abraham Lincoln movies in 2012. "Lincoln" racked up Oscar nominations, and the other depicted our 16th president as a …
racist
mad scientist
vampire hunter
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" stars Benjamin Walker.

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Kevin Kline played fictional president "Dave" in 1993. Which real president did he portray in 1999's "Wild Wild West"?
Ulysses S. Grant
Bill Clinton
Rutherford B. Hayes
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Kline had two roles in the 1999 Will Smith vehicle: protagonist Artemus Gordon and Ulysses S. Grant.

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Presidential movie "Thirteen Days" (2000) is about what real-life event?
Pearl Harbor
the Cuban missile crisis
Lincoln's assassination
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"Thirteen Days" follows JFK and his cabinet as they deal with the Cuban missile crisis in 1962.

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In "The Contender" (2000), who plays the potential first female president?
Meryl Streep
Sigourney Weaver
Joan Allen
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Joan Allen plays Laine Hanson, a senator who is tapped for vice president.

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Name the enemy/disaster in the presidential movie: "2012"
a supertornado
a deep freeze
Earth's core melts
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

It's possible that a supertornado and a deep freeze could've happened in "2012," but the precipitating event is the melting of Earth's core.

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Who plays the president in "2012"?
Martin Sheen
Michael Douglas
Danny Glover
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Danny Glover is President Thomas Wilson, who's desperately trying to hold it all together.

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Name the enemy/disaster in the presidential movie: "Deep Impact"
a comet
aliens
tsunami
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

A massive comet is hurtling toward Earth in 1998's "Deep Impact."

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Who plays the president in "Deep Impact"?
Harrison Ford
Morgan Freeman
Jack Nicholson
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Morgan Freeman's President Beck must declare martial law in the face of the impending comet.

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Name the enemy/disaster in the presidential movie: "Independence Day"
hackers
terrorists
aliens
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Evil aliens arrive in a gigantic mothership in "Independence Day."

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Who plays the president in "Independence Day"?
Bill Paxton
Bill Pullman
Bill Murray
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Bill Pullman saves the day as President Thomas Whitmore.

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Who plays the president in 2016's "Independence Day: Resurgence"?
Sela Ward
Rita Wilson
Helen Hunt
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Sela Ward is Elizabeth Lanford, the first female president.

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Name the enemy/disaster in the presidential movie: "Air Force One"
Russian terrorists
Islamic terrorists
Chinese terrorists
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The nuke-wielding Russians are determined to start a war, but President James Marshall is determined to stop them.

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Who plays the president in "Air Force One"?
Tommy Lee Jones
Harrison Ford
Gary Oldman
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Ford's President Marshall actually engages in hand-to-hand combat with the bad guys.

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New Line/Beacon Pictures/Archive Photos/Moviepix/Getty Images