Swiss graphic designer Lea Michel
has chosen for her book the single most often impersonated figure in
Western movie history: The President of the United States. Taking 164
fictitious presidents, male and female (for the first time in Curtis
Bernhard's comedy Kisses for my President of 1964), it charts
the range of actions of the world's formerly most powerful person -
making statements or giving speeches, standing in front of or sitting
behind the desk at the Oval Office, climbing out of or into limousines,
wearing dressing gowns.


Six presidential typologies - Father and
Husband, Villain, Alien, Clown, Hero, Lover - sorted by 241
sub-categories, such as Shaking Hands, Looking Shocked at a Screen, or
In a Video Conference with a Terrorist. Taken from films and TV and
online series, such as Dr. Strangelove, Independence Day, or House of Cards,
as well as from many lesser known productions, they also highlight the
intense relationship between fiction and reality in a time where the
incumbent president exploits all media to an unprecedented extent to
market himself and to increase his popularity.

Contributions by: Teresa Rudolf