Hollywood Goes to the White House

A threesome:

• V for Vendetta
• C for Cookie
• Ron Paul video

Actors have endorsed presidential candidates. Harry Belafonte backed JFK. Ronald Reagan made a famous speech on behalf of Barry Goldwater.

Actors have run for president. Ronald Reagan usually played good guys, but in his last role, he played a villain. And here are Fred Thompson's greatest hits.

Movies and TV shows portray real and fictional presidents:

• Gore Vidal's Lincoln (1988)
• Primary Colors (1998)
• The West Wing

Movies supply insights into attitudes of their time. Did Americans think about nuclear war in the years after the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis? See scenes from two 1964 movies: Fail-Safe and Dr. Strangelove. Did a conspiracy kill JFK? Most Americans think so. And so Oliver Stone's JFK (1991) found an audience. Though a few years later, Seinfeld had a different take.