7 Movies About American Presidents To Watch For President’s Day

Throughout the years, Hollywood has turned our presidents into movie stars, bringing their stories to life on the big screen.

Whether they’re about smoky backroom deals or world-changing decisions, films about U.S. presidents give us a front-row seat to history’s biggest moments and offer a peek behind the White House curtain. They unveil the closed-door meetings and late-night calls that changed the course of history and show us the weight of impossible choices sitting on one person’s shoulders. From Lincoln to Trump, here are seven films that’ll make you feel like a White House insider.

Lincoln (2012)

Daniel Day-Lewis becomes Lincoln in Spielberg’s masterpiece about the president’s fight to pass the 13th Amendment. The movie zooms in on early 1865 when Lincoln was juggling both ending slavery and wrapping up the Civil War. Instead of giving us Lincoln’s whole life story, we get to see him working his political magic behind the scenes during this crucial moment. Day-Lewis nails everything – the folksy stories, the deep sadness, and the iron will to get things done. Sally Field and Tommy Lee Jones round out an incredible cast that brings 1860s Washington to life, while the film digs into big questions about what it means to lead during impossible times.

JFK (1991)

Oliver Stone threw a grenade into American history with this wild ride of a movie that’s less about Kennedy himself and more about the aftermath of his death. Kevin Costner plays Jim Garrison, a DA who goes down the rabbit hole trying to prove there was more to JFK’s assassination than we were told. Stone broke new ground with his rapid-fire editing and mix of real footage with dramatic scenes, basically inventing a new way to tell historical stories on film. Sure, historians have picked fights over what’s fact and what’s fiction, but you can’t deny how the movie changed how people talk about Kennedy’s death. Between the technical wizardry and Stone’s take-no-prisoners approach, it’s a landmark piece of political filmmaking that’ll keep you glued to your seat.

Frost/Nixon (2008)

Ron Howard hits it out of the park with this adaptation of the famous TV showdown between British journalist David Frost and Richard Nixon after Watergate. Frank Langella shines as Nixon, showing us both the scary powerhouse and the man nursing old wounds. The film plays out like a championship fight as Michael Sheen’s Frost tries to get Nixon to come clean about Watergate. It highlights how TV changed the political game forever and how these interviews became a turning point in how America deals with its leaders. Howard cranks up the tension like a pro, even though we all know how it ends.

All the President’s Men (1976)

All the President’s Men follows Washington Post reporters Woodward and Bernstein as they piece together the Watergate scandal piece by piece. Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman nail the determined energy of two young journalists who just wouldn’t let go. Director Alan J. Pakula turns everyday reporting – phone calls, meet-ups in parking garages, checking facts –into edge-of-your-seat drama.

Thirteen Days (2000)

Bruce Greenwood steps into JFK’s shoes for this white-knuckle look at the Cuban Missile Crisis, when we came far too close to nuclear war. Kevin Costner plays Kenny O’Donnell, and gives us an insider’s view of how Kennedy and his team handled the scariest thirteen days in human history. The attention to detail makes it feel like you’re right there in the room where it happened.

Vice (2018)

Adam McKay tears up the biopic rulebook with this dark take on Dick Cheney’s rise to power, featuring Christian Bale disappearing into the role of the shadowy VP. McKay uses several techniques – fourth-wall breaks, weird narrative tricks, you name it – to show how Cheney quietly became one of the most powerful people in history. The movie has teeth, but it uses humor to make the heavy political stuff go down easier. Bale’s transformation is mind-blowing, and Amy Adams and Steve Carell bring their A-game as Lynne Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld.

The Apprentice (2024)

Ali Abbasi’s buzzy drama drops us into 1970s New York, with Sebastian Stan transforming into a young Donald Trump hustling his way through the real estate world. The movie zeroes in on Trump’s relationship with Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong). And it dives into the infamous attorney’s brass-knuckles approach to business and media shaped his protégé’s future. The film nails the gritty feel of old-school Manhattan, with Maria Bakalova and Martin Donovan rounding out a stellar cast as Ivana Trump and Fred Trump. Though it stirred up controversy and faced some distribution drama before hitting theaters, the performances earned critical praise along with award-season love. It’s less a political statement than a fascinating look at how ambition and power shaped two men who’d leave their mark on American history.