The contention of Film and the American Presidency is that over the twentieth century the cinema has been a silent partner in setting the parameters of what we might call the presidential imaginary. This volume surveys the partnership in its longevity, placing stress on especially iconic presidents such as Lincoln and FDR. The contributions to this collection probe the rich interactions between these high institutions of culture and politics¿Hollywood and the presidency¿and argue that not only did Hollywood acting become an idiom for presidential style, but that Hollywood early on understood its own identity through the presidency¿s peculiar mix of national epic and unified protagonist.

1. The Fictional Lives of American Presidents Jeff Menne and Christian B. Long Part I: Early Cinema and the Classicalizing of the Presidential Image 2. The Media Reconfigured: The US Presidential Elections of 1892 and 1896 Charles Musser 3. "So typically Southern": Abraham Lincoln, the New South, and the Romance of Reunion David Hoogland Noon 4. Mr. Lincoln by Mr. Ford and Mr. Griffith: Image and History in American Cinema Tom Gunning 5. Wilson and the War Effort: Film, Pedagogy, and the Presidency Josh Glick Part II: FDR and the Mediated President 6. The Talented Mr. Roosevelt Jennifer Fay and Scott J. Juengel 7. The Vanishing President Jonathan Auerbach Part III: Post-Classical Presidents 8. Clean Cuts: Kennedy Modernism on Screen J.D. Connor 9. LBJ and the Astronauts Jeff Menne 10. Richard Nixon and the Arts of Power Deak Nabers Part IV: Beyond the Reaganite Presidential Imaginary 11. Angry Presidents: Hollywood Film and the Post-9/11 American Presidency Susan Jeffords 12. Obama and the (Raced) Presidential Imaginary Diane Rubenstein Part V: The Mise-en-Scene of the Presidency 13. Anna Deavere Smith and Her West Wing Residencies Jacqueline O¿Connor 14. The Mysteries of Washington DC: Hollywood¿s White House Tunnels Christian B. Long Afterword Dana D. Nelson