Movies about the lives of American Presidents

Presidents Nixon, Kennedy and Lincoln have all been a source of inspiration for filmmakers on screen.

JFK (1991)

Three-time Oscar-winning director Oliver Stone has three films about US Presidents, with the first and most famous being JFK. The film's title is based on the initials of the ill-fated President John F. Kennedy. He is one of the most famous presidents in US history. His assassination in 1963 is a frequent topic on screen. JFK revolves around the investigation into the truth of Kennedy's assassination through the eyes of former prosecutor Jim Garrison (played by Kevin Costner).

JFK was one of the most controversial films of 1991, with many previously unseen details and a bold theory about Kennedy’s death. With a budget of $40 million, JFK had a slow start at the box office before gradually increasing its box office revenue to $205 million. Not only that, the film also received 8 Oscar nominations in 1992, including the category “Best Picture”.

Nixon (1995)

Four years after JFK, Oliver Stone continued to make a film about another US President. The character chosen this time was Richard Nixon - whose term ended in bitterness with the Watergate wiretapping scandal. The film spans from Nixon's childhood to his political career and his fall from grace. The heavy role of Nixon was given to veteran actor Anthony Hopkins - who had just won an Oscar for The Silence of the Lambs a few years earlier.

Nixon was a commercial failure but a critical success. Hopkins's portrayal of Nixon was praised for "portraying Nixon as a complex, admirable man with an overall flaw that is hard to defend." Nixon received four nominations at the 1996 Academy Awards, including Best Actor for Anthony Hopkins.

Truman (1995)

Another famous film about a US President released in 1995 was Truman. The HBO film was based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book Truman about the life of President Harry S. Truman. The film's tagline reads: "It took a farmer's hand to build a country," referring to the late President Truman's humble origins. Director Frank Pierson's film follows Truman (Gary Sinise) from his time on the family farm to his inauguration as President in the final days of World War II.

One of the most memorable moments in the film is when President Truman struggles with the use of the first nuclear bomb in history. After airing as a one-shot, Truman received many compliments and was nominated for 8 Emmy Awards.

W.(2008)

W. is the third work by director Oliver Stone about American presidents. Unlike JFK and Nixon, which were released after the main characters in the films had passed away, W. focuses on the life of the current US president at that time, George W. Bush. Even before its release, W. was highly anticipated because the film was shown during the last days of President Bush's second term.

Watching the film, the audience gets to see the ups and downs in the life of President Bush Jr. (Josh Brolin). Born into a prestigious family and with a father who would later become the President of the United States, Bush Jr. dreamed of becoming a baseball player. However, after many arguments with his father, he decided to pursue a career in politics and faced many failures before being elected to the White House. However, from here, he faced many problems such as the 9/11 disaster and the decision to attack Iraq...

Director Oliver Stone happened to meet former President Bill Clinton a while after W. was released. Mr. Clinton shared with the filmmaker that he introduced W. to President Bush. According to Mr. Clinton, "Mr. Bush himself really liked W. and thought that there were many moments in the film that made him feel sad."

Lincoln (2012)

Abraham Lincoln is the most famous and respected president in American history. Director Steven Spielberg was determined to make a well-crafted product to honor this leader. Lincoln takes viewers to January 1865, when the 16th President of the United States tried to get Congress to pass the 13th Amendment, which, if approved, would have freed slaves across the United States.

Lincoln (Daniel Day-Lewis) faced skepticism from within the Republican Party and fierce opposition from the Democratic Party, but he was determined to abolish slavery, with the victims being mostly black people. Lincoln believed that "all men are created equal". The film tells the story of the fierce American Civil War and Lincoln's great political strategy.

This work was widely considered one of the best films of 2012 and received 12 Oscar nominations. At that year's awards season, Daniel Day-Lewis's performance left him with no worthy opponents in the category of "Best Actor" and absolute victory at the Oscars, Golden Globes and SAG.

According to VNE