Worst TV Presidents, Ranked

As the United States of America celebrates its 250th anniversary, TVLine is taking a moment to single out several presidents who have led the nation on TV — none of whom we would want anywhere near the actual White House.

A good president is a strong leader with a clear vision and fair sense of justice, one who treats their peers and constituents with respect. Some of the presidents on this list come close to meeting that criteria, but even their admirable qualities are outweighed by their shadowy deeds. Instead, the presidents on this list are egotistical, narcissistic, and unpredictable — all phenomenal qualities for the person in a position to authorize nuclear attacks.

It should also be noted that only a handful of these presidents were actually elected to the position. Several of them resorted to nefarious means — election rigging, a concentrated effort to force out their predecessor, or even the convenient death of a sitting president — to obtain their power.

Read on for our breakdown of TV's worst presidents, ranked in order of most to least fit for office, then drop a comment with your own picks: which small screen POTUS would be the last one to get your vote? (And this list does include spoilers, so proceed at your own risk!)

First of all, forgive us for kicking off this list with a show you probably don't remember, if you ever knew it existed at all. "Tyler Perry's Too Close to Home" only aired for two seasons, from August 2016 to February 2017, but it consumed our every nightmare during that time. In fact, our official stance on the TLC soap was that it was so bad, we couldn't stop watching. President Thomas Christian (played by football player-turned-actor Matt Battaglia) isn't necessarily the worst human to assume the position of POTUS, but his indiscretions with a White House employee (played by future "Station 19" star Danielle Savre) serve as the show's main catalyst for drama. Seriously, though, what did he think was going to happen when he cheated on the First Lady, especially when she's played by Heather Locklear? Has this man never seen a single episode of "Melrose Place"?

Freeform's criminally underrated supernatural drama "Motherland: Fort Salem" is as much about witches as it is about politics — specifically how the two overlap as the government oversees a witch-centric branch of the U.S. military. This is all important information if you want to appreciate how truly despicable Victor Websters Blanton Silver really is. Originally serving as VP under President Kelly Wade (Sheryl Lee Ralph), Blanton has a daughter named Penelope who is taken to the titular military academy when she's discovered to be a witch. But when Penelope is infected by an unstoppable "witchplague," those sworn to protect her are forced to take her out for everyone's safety. Blanton, who takes over as POTUS when Kelly Wade goes into hiding, uses his daughter's death to turn the American people against witches. The messed up part? It turns out Blanton has been conspiring with the enemy all along, and he knowingly had them infect Penelope with the plague for political gain. It's only fitting that Blanton meets his untimely end at the hands of his own daughter, who has been resurrected by dark magic. Like we said, it's a show about politics!

We may swoon over Fitzgerald Grant's relationship with Olivia Pope — seriously, we can't even think about the state of Vermont without hearing their iconic theme song — but we can't exactly say we're a fan of his presidential tactics. Putting his adultery aside (small potatoes!), Tony Goldwyn's character commits a laundry list of far greater sins over seven season of "Scandal," including using B613 agents to carry out his dirty work, and starting a war with West Angola just to rescue Olivia. To be fair, the guy never deserved to be POTUS in the first place; if Olivia and the gang hadn't conspired to rig his election via the infamous Defiance operation, he never would have won. And what does he do when Supreme Court Justice Verna Thornton decides to publicly confess her role in the rigging? He suffocates her to death in her own hospital bed, a crime made even more heinous when you remember that Verna is played by beloved character actress Debra Mooney.

We understand that "Tyler Perry's The Oval" is a soap opera, but we're pretty sure that it took at least four seasons for President Hunter Franklin to actually do anything presidential. Then again, this guy is such a train wreck of a human being, it's probably best that he doesn't make too many important decisions on behalf of the country. Hunter is a classic slime ball (played to campy perfection by Ed Quinn) who revels in drugs and sex workers. Come on, within five minutes of the first episode, he's having a knock-down, drag-out brawl with the First Lady on the night of his inauguration. What else? Let's see, there's what feels like an entire season dedicated to discreetly removing a bloody mattress from his bedroom after he beheads a woman on it. And don't even get us started on his psychopathic offspring Jason. Sure, Hunter's wife Victoria contributed plenty of trauma herself, but he's definitely his father's son.

We'll never forgive Charles Logan for causing the assassination of true "24" patriot David Palmer, a heinous crime he then uses his power to cover up. But that's only one reason Gregory Itzin's character is on our list of TV's worst presidents. Negotiating with terrorists, sabotaging peace treaties — no act is unthinkable for this monster. And like so many other presidents on this list, he's also a terrible husband, regularly mistreating First Lady Martha Logan (played by Jean Smart, of all people to mistreat).

You know a president is bad news when your first thought is, "Hey, isn't he the guy who pushed that journalist in front of a moving train and killed her?" Enter Frank Underwood, a thoroughly reprehensible human being — and not just because he loves to break the fourth wall. (Who does he think he is, Zack Morris?) A role that earned Kevin Spacey five consecutive Primetime Emmy nominations from 2013 to 2017, Frank is a master manipulator who spends his entire presidency attempting to cover up his various crimes, of which there are many. Frank is only named president after the previous POTUS resigns from office, and not unlike another entry on this list, Frank rigs the next election in order to maintain his position. No act is too nefarious for Frank, from faking a terrorist threat in order to declare a phony "war on terror," to abusing his power by authorizing the assassinations of troublesome reporters and even fellow politicians.

Homelander is never officially sworn in as the leader of the free world, but Antony Starr's character has essentially usurped the position by the time "The Boys" reaches its final hour. The power-hungry superhuman already has President Steven Calhoun under his control, but when Calhoun begins to push back against some of Homelander's more outlandish demands — including, among other wild notions, abolishing Congress and instituting a breastfeeding mandate on all new mothers — Homelander decides to kill him on the spot, eliminating any future roadblocks to "progress." Homelander's stint in the Oval Office only lasts for a few episodes before he's ultimately overthrown in the series finale, but he does some serious damage while he's there. It's a good thing red is a patriotic color, because the White House cleaning staff will never be able to get all that blood out of the carpet.

Only in the world of "South Park" could an unstable fourth-grade teacher from a small town in Colorado win a presidential election by running under the slogan "f**k 'em all to death," so that's exactly what happens to Mr. Garrison during the Comedy Central cartoon's 20th season. The entire story arc, which originally began airing in November 2016, is clearly a satirical response to Donald Trump's first presidency, down to Mr. Garrison's orange-faced makeover. Besides being erratic and unpredictable, not to mention racist, President Garrison is also a (Mr.) slave to his emotional impulses. During his time in office, he authorizes a nuclear strike against Canada that claims the lives of more than 1 million people, he purposely promotes the spread of COVID-19, and nearly goes to war with Denmark over complaints of cyberbullying. He's even more of a monster as president than he is as a civilian, and while we don't think he belongs back in the classroom molding young minds, it's better than him being anywhere near the Oval Office.