Parks & Recreation had a number of guest stars, including real-life politicians that stopped by Pawnee or elsewhere and crossed paths with Leslie and the rest. Created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur, Parks & Recreation debuted on NBC in 2009, and even though it had a rough start as it struggled to find its own voice during its first season, it eventually did and lived on for six more seasons, coming to an end in 2015.

Parks & Recreation followed the ups and downs of perky bureaucrat Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) and her friends and coworkers from the Parks Department in Pawnee, Indiana. Viewers witnessed Leslie’s journey from Deputy Director of the Pawnee City Department of Parks and Recreation to quite possibly President of the United States, and along the way she met a lot of interesting people, both unique to the world of Parks & Recreation and real-life politicians, including some of her personal heroes.

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Many politicians played themselves briefly in Parks & Recreation, and some didn’t even say a word, but their presence definitely left a mark in Leslie’s life. In season 5’s episode “Ms. Knope Goes to Washington”, Leslie and Ben went to a “swanky” cocktail party where they were surrounded by various political figures, among those John McCain, Barbara Boxer, and Olympia Snowe. The first two made another appearance in season 7’s episode “Ms. Ludgate-Dwyer Goes To Washington”, where along with Kristen Gillibrand, Orrin Hatch, and Cory Booker listened to Leslie promote the National Parks. In that same episode, Madeleine Albright also appeared, casually having breakfast with Leslie and giving her advice on how to deal with April.

Newt Gingrich also showed up in season 5, in the episode “Two Parties”, where Jerry accidentally confused their table with his during the guys’ last stop in their bachelor parties. However, the biggest cameo by a politician in season 5 happened in the episode “Leslie vs. April”, where Leslie finally met Joe Biden as an engagement present from Ben. Biden returned in the series finale with his wife, Jill Biden, just to give good closure to that part of Leslie’s life. Last but definitely not least is Michelle Obama, who appeared in season 6’s finale “Moving Up”, where she tried to convince a starstruck Leslie to take the job with the National Park Service.

Given the success of Parks & Recreation, it’s not surprising that these political figures agreed to appear even if briefly and with no dialogue, and while they were all fun, the two that had the biggest impact were definitely Michelle Obama and Joe Biden, as they were two of the people Leslie admired the most.

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Adrienne Tyler
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Adrienne Tyler is a features writer for Screen Rant. She is an Audiovisual Communication graduate who wanted to be a filmmaker, but life had other plans (and it turned out great). Prior to Screen Rant, she wrote for Pop Wrapped, 4 Your Excitement (4YE), and D20Crit, where she was also a regular guest at Netfreaks podcast. She was also a contributor for FanSided’s BamSmackPow and 1428 Elm. Adrienne is very into films and she enjoys a bit of everything: from superhero films to heartbreaking dramas, to low-budget horror films. Every time she manages to commit to a TV show without getting bored, an angel gets its wings.

When she’s not writing, you can find her trying to learn a new language, watching hockey (go Avs!), or wondering what life would have been like had Pushing Daisies, Firefly, and Limitless not been cancelled. Breakfast food is life and coffee is what makes the world go round.

Guillermo del Toro said “hi” to her once. It was great.

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