This election year has been one for the books. On the one hand, we have a candidate who is currently under scrutiny from the Federal Bureau of Investigation for potentially mismanaging federal documents pertaining to the national security interests of the United States. This has contributed to American's lack of trust in her to govern honestly. On the other hand we have a candidate who is currently on a tirade about how the system is "rigged" against him , casting a very ominous cloud of suspicion around early voting and registration efforts. This has spurred public accusations of fraud in our electoral system. Both are extremely unpopular in national public opinion polls, but one has to win. But no matter one who ends up winning the keys to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue on November 6, 2016, there is one positive that we can look forward too: the Saturday Night Live impersonators.
As many previous Commanders in Chief will attest, being impersonated on SNL has become part of the job. And there are some comedic performances will forever be engraved into our national consciousness. This Listcle aims to bring you some of the best actors and comedians who humorously portrayed the men who have occupied the oval office. For all intents and purposes, this list only includes comedians who portrayed sitting US presidents and not presidential candidates. Unfortunately this means that we cannot include the likes of Larry David, Alec Baldwin, and Kate McKinnon - who all gave fantastic performances as well.
Before we begin, a special thank you definitely needs to go out to HLN Showbiz Tonight for providing the inspiration and material for this piece. Without further or due, and in no particular order, here is our top five presidential impersonators:
1.) Chevy Chase (Gerald Ford)
The first on our list, is the legendary actor and comedian Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase. Not only was Chevy's performance as President Ford the first humors take on a sitting US President, it was down right hilarious. Thought he did not try to look or even sound like the nations 38th President, he did try something else: falling down numerous times. Within the last century, Gerald Ford is probably the most athletic man to ever occupy the White House - this can be attributed to his days as a linebacker for the University of Michigan's football team. However, Chevy decided to play Ford as this clumsy and ungainly figure of a man. Ever since falling down a flight of stairs after disembarking Air Force One, Fords reputation as "clumsy" individual lingered over him like a ghost and Chevy used this public perception the president to great effect in his skits.
2.) Vaughn Meader ( John F. Kennedy)
Though technically not a member of the SNL line of presidential impersonators, in the 1960's the American comedian Vaughn Meader caricatured JFK on popular broadcasts like The Ed Sullivan Show. In 1962, he partnered up with writers Bob Booker and Earle Doud in order to record an album titled The First Family. The album poked fun at JFK from all angels imaginable. This included Kennedy's PT-109 history, the rocking chairs he used for his back pain, and his well known athleticism, as well as other areas. It was one of the best all time selling albums totaling 7.5 million copies sold to date - of that, 1.2 million were sold in the first two weeks of its release. Making Vaughn Meader one of the most commercially successful men to every humorously portray a US president.
3.) Will Ferrell (George W. Bush)
The icon actors portrayal of Bush 43 on SNL can be arguably be summed up in one word: "strategery." It is well documented that Bush did have several onscreen gaffes and vocabulary shortcomings during his speeches - the term Nucular comes to mind. However, not once did he ever utter the word "strategery" on screen. This was the work of Will Ferrell. Much like Chevy Chase, Will utilized well know shortcomings of the president, in this case his auditory skills, in order to craft a hysterical persona of George W. Bush. And I would say masterfully so. In fact, a majority of Americans at the time believed that Bush actually, at one point in his numerous speeches over the course of his public life, actually mangled the word strategy and uttered "strategery" in its place. All because of Will Ferrell's humorous impersonation.
4.) Darrell Hammond (Bill Clinton)
What makes Darrell Hammond's impersonations of Bill Clinton so memorable is because he was able to masterfully mimic the southern draw, swagger, and accent of the 42nd president. And he only seemed to be getting better and more hilarious with each performance. He has often been described as being a master of the "Slick Willie persona." As Bill Clinton, he did have very memorable lines. One that sticks out in my mind, that I will close out this section with follows like this: "Our nations laws are like pinatas, the more you beat them the more candy you get." I highly encourage you too look up the original impersonation. Words alone cannot begin to describe the uproarious performances that Darrell has given as Bill Clinton.
5.) Dana Carvey (George H.W. Bush)
Arguably the greatest of them all, Dana Carvey has done what no other presidential impersonator has every done before him: to get the seal of approval from president himself. There is actually a few occasions where Bush would, during speeches, do impressions of Dana Carvey doing impressions of him. He would mimic the squeaky voice and sporadic hand gestures that have become hallmarks of Dana Carvey's impersonations of the 41st president. During the 1992 presidential election, he expanded his presidential impersonation tent to include the likes of Ross Perot - to which he gave more spectacular performances as the Reform Party nominee. These are just a few cases among many that, I believe, cements Dana as the greatest of presidential impersonators.
