Talk:President of the United States

Presidents Named in Trek
So some of these guys, like Washington, clearly have references within Trek. But I don't know about others. For instance, where is George W. Bush referenced? Without some citations, we may have to pull a few of these people from the article. I'll note the article as needing cites to help pull a few in. Aholland 02:52, 21 April 2006 (UTC)
 * I know that Bush is in one of the "Storm Front II" episodes from ENT (uncredited mind you, along with Tony Blair). According to the Bush entry, his state of the union speech was also referenced in .  Sulfur 03:05, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

I missed the Storm Front scene, evidently. Thank you for pointing me in the right place! Aholland 03:12, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

End of the Presidency...or is it?!
("Captain Proton like dramatic-cliffhanger music plays") Um, one thing I haven't understood about the logic here on MA is that the United States (and all countries for that matter) stopped existing after United Earth was formed. Maybe I just missed a huge citation of it, but if this was specifically said- point me to it. I've always felt that after the UE was formed (and even the Federation) the countries continued to exist, still electing their own leaders (Presidents, in this case) etc. But all I see is "former nation-state" all over the place.

Anyway- the reason I'm bringing this up (no, unlike a n00b just ranting about Trek that Gv' would yell at, I have a point) in (which I watched today) Trip mentions that if Mestral lived out his life, he'd have witnessed over 30 US Presidents. Now if my math is right, that's (presuming mass assassinations don't occur) about 120 years, minimum. 1957 + 120 = 2077. So the presidency lasts at least until well after WWIII, and First Contact. Any comments or corrections, you may now proceed. - AJ Halliwell 07:45, 29 June 2006 (UTC)


 * Off the top of my head, I can think of one episode that "might" give people that idea. In, Picard and Dr. Crusher are talking about planets joining the Federation were not everyone on the planet is in agreement. She says something like "Think about Earth -- what if one of the old nation-states, say Australia, had decided not to join the World Government in twenty-one fifty? Would that have disqualified us from being a Federation member?"


 * I can see how some people might interperet that to mean that the nation-states no longer exist. I would argue, though, that simply calling them old does not mean they no longer exist, only that they are old! It also does not imply that they still exist, unfortunetly.


 * The fact that they joined they joined a world government might imply an end to nation-states, or it might imply something like the United States today, where each individual state still has its own government, operating under the federal government.


 * That help at all? --OuroborosCobra 07:58, 29 June 2006 (UTC)


 * We don't know what will happen to all the former countries during the next 2 centuries. Maybe some of them will collapse or still exist. Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia are actual examples that the world changes, so we can't base the Trek future on the actual one. This dialogue "An alien is left on Earth in the 1950s lives through... what, 30 Presidents?" only confirms according to your calculations that USA still exist in the 2070s. We previously knew that the 52 stars flag existed from 2033 to 2079. What happened after is unknown. See United States of America
 * To my mind, even if the government is unified, states will still keep some powers. Earth government deals with galactic and international issues, whereas former countries could debate local issues. But we don't know which countries will survive (UK at least until the 2150s, maybe USA), which powers they will have,... The only canonical information we have is that all the former countries joined the United government. - Philoust123 13:45, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the little jab there AJ... --Alan

Ryan/Obama
Jeri Ryan unwittingly played a role in the rise of the current President, - her ex-husband, Jack, was originally Obama's Republican opponent in the 2004 campaign for a U.S. Senate seat in Illinois, but the release of previously sealed records of the couple's divorce proceedings would prove so embarrassing that he was forced to withdraw from the race, and after no significant Republican expressed any willingness to take his place, the party effectively gave up, eventually settling on someone who used the race as an opportunity to express his frequently less-than-mainstream political views. While Obama would have almost certainly defeated Ryan, he would've given him enough of a race that Obama would have been forced to concentrate his energies at home, and it is highly unlikely that he could have built up the national following that would allow him to ascend to the presidency just four years later.

I moved the above passage to here. I don't think this is enough of a connection to be included in this article. President Obama has not been involved with or seen in Star Trek, and Jeri Ryan's involvement(if you want to call it that) was not deliberate. Even if Ryan did something to promote or encourage Obama's election, this is not the forum to post her political actions or views.--31dot 18:55, October 16, 2009 (UTC)

President Obama has not been involved with or seen in Star Trek"

Much to his dismay ;-)--Ten-pint 21:04, December 30, 2009 (UTC)

Acting Presidential
In one of the DVD featurettes, Roberto Orci pretty much flat-out says that the decision to cast Bruce Greenwood as Pike was largely based on his performance as JFK - could that warrant a side mention?--Ten-pint 21:04, December 30, 2009 (UTC)
 * On his own page, or that of captain pike's. &mdash; Morder (talk)
 * Yeah, since it doesn't have to do with Presidents in general, only a specific one.--31dot 23:07, December 30, 2009 (UTC)

Former/Future
In the "Trek actors playing Presidents" section, should portraying one of them, but not when they're President (I was specifically thinking of Kelsey Grammer as George Washington in a TV movie about Benedict Arnold) be included?--Ten-pint 02:45, January 8, 2010 (UTC)
 * Is there any reason for us to actually have that section, since it is inherently not about Star Trek? --OuroborosCobra talk 03:08, January 8, 2010 (UTC)
 * I would say no to the first question as that expands the scope too far. I would say no to the second question as well, as the section in general steps outside of Star Trek too much.  That opens a big can of worms; should the food taster article list actors who have played food tasters, should the assassination article list actors who have played assassins, and so on.--31dot 08:28, January 8, 2010 (UTC)

I don't disagree (Hell, I could make a similar list on Jason Alexander's page of all the various embarrassing George Costanza moments with Trek actors - Melanie Smith seeing his "shrunken" self, Lanei Chapman rubbing oil all over his bald head, et al), but as long as it is there, might as well be as accurate as possible.--Ten-pint 00:42, April 2, 2010 (UTC)

Actors who have played presidents
I was just reading this article and noticed the big section about actors who have played presidents and I was trying to see what relevance it has to Star Trek, other than that these actors have also appeared in Trek. Suffice it to say, I don't think it does have any. After reading the above comments, I notice this has been brought up before but never fully discussed, so I would like to propose we remove the information as irrelevant. Like 31dot said, we could do this for every article. Where would the line be drawn? I would perhaps agree that a list on Trek actors who have portrayed Trek presidents could be included but I don't think there are any of those (yet) anyway. --| TrekFan Open a channel 01:02, June 9, 2011 (UTC)
 * As I implied already, I support removing that section.--31dot 01:59, June 9, 2011 (UTC)
 * I also agree.–Cleanse ( talk 05:57, June 9, 2011 (UTC)

Is three votes for removal enough, or should we wait for more input on the decision? --| TrekFan Open a channel 20:26, June 9, 2011 (UTC)
 * Move it here, since it's still a nice thing to have, even if it shouldn't be in the article. - 20:45, June 9, 2011 (UTC)
 * Removed and archived below.–Cleanse ( talk 23:26, June 9, 2011 (UTC)

A number of Star Trek actors have played presidents, real or fictional, in various TV and film projects. Real presidents are noted in bold.
 * John Anderson played Abraham Lincoln in The Fortune Cookie (1966)and The Lincoln Conspiracy  (1977), Franklin Delano Roosevelt in Backstairs at the White House (1979), and Andrew Jackson in Bridger (1976)
 * Ronny Cox played Presidents Tom Kimball in Captain America (1991), Robert Kinsey (in several alternate timelines) in Stargate SG-1 (1997), and Jack Neil in Murder at 1600 (1997)
 * James Cromwell played Lyndon B. Johnson in RFK (2002), President Robert Fowler in The Sum of All Fears (2002), former President D. Wire Newman in an episode of The West Wing (2004), and President George H.W. Bush in W (2008).
 * Alan Dale played Acting President Jim Prescott on 24 (2003)
 * Michael Dorn played a unnamed President in the 2008 Heroes episode Dual.
 * Bruce Greenwood played John F. Kennedy (with Steven Culp co-starring as Robert F. Kennedy) in Thirteen Days (2000) and the president in National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007).
 * Gregory Itzin played President Charles Logan on 24 (2005-)
 * Brian Keith played Theodore Roosevelt in The Wind and the Lion (1975) and William McKinley in Rough Riders (1997)
 * Frank Langella played Richard Nixon in Frost/Nixon (2008), as well as the 2007 Broadway production from which the film is adapted
 * Tommy "Tiny" Lister, Jr. played President Lindberg in The Fifth Element (1997)
 * Andrew Robinson played John F. Kennedy on a 1986 episode of the revived The Twilight Zone titled, "Profile in Silver".
 * Paul Sorvino played President Eugene Lorio in Jack & Bobby (2004)
 * Ray Wise played President Dugan in Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 (2000), and Vice President Hal Gardner on 24 (2006)