There have been many great movie presidents, but Independence Day‘s Thomas Whitmore is most certainly the greatest. With Independence Day hitting the quarter century mark, annual rewatches of the biggest blockbuster of 1996 (and still one of the biggest hits of Will Smith’s career) are inevitable to continue around the country, and indeed the world, over the Fourth of July holiday weekend. With Whitmore being the most iconic performance of Bill Pullman’s career, the fictional president is still as strong a character today as he was when Independence Day was first released.

When Independence Day opens, the relatively young Whitmore is presented as in over his head, having difficulty passing legislation and being compared in his Congressional addresses to Oliver Twist asking “Please sir, I’d like some more” by the media. Whitmore seems perhaps better suited to his military background than a political career, but he’s thrown into unchartered waters alongside the rest of the world when the aliens arrive, one ship hovering right over the White House when it comes to a stop. Whitmore does everything he can at this point to provide calm leadership to the nation, but it’s officially war once the aliens the beginning destroying city after city.

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Other movie presidents might’ve been compelled to go right to the nuclear option at that point, but Whitmore, weighing protecting human lives above all else, is the voice of reason against the more aggressive retaliation favored by his Secretary of Defense Albert Nimzicki, played by James Rebhorn. Only after the force fields around the alien ships prevent an effective counterattack, and after seeing a telepathic vision of the alien’s plot to consume Earth’s natural resources, does Whitmore finally decide it’s time to “Nuke ’em.” Unfortunately, even a nuclear warhead is no match for the alien’s shields, while Whitmore also grieves the loss of his wife with his daughter Patricia, played by Mae Whitman (who’d later voice Aang’s friend and future wife Katara on Avatar: The Last Airbender).

When Jeff Goldblum’s David Levison devises a plan to use a computer virus to disable the alien ship’s shields, Whitmore truly becomes a decisive and committed leader. As a masive worldwide counterstrike is planned, Whitmore rallies the troops in Area 51 with his timeless “We will not go quietly into the night” speech, declaring that the Fourth of July will now be a day of worldwide unity. Right after the speech, Whitmore wastes no time in boarding an F-15 to help defeat the aliens in the movie’s final dogfight.

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Independence Day does its job in making Whitmore the kind of fictional president audiences wish they could actually vote for, and Bill Pullman’s performance makes Whitmore the humanized but unwavering leader the world needs in an unprecedented crisis. Of course, Harrison Ford’s James Marshall in Air Force One runs him a close second, and true to Ford’s well-known gritty resolve, decisively takes the title of Toughest Movie President, as well. Still, 25 years after Independence Day‘s debut, Thomas Whitmore is the best movie president of all time.

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Brad Curran
(714 Articles Published)

Growing up, Brad developed an innate love of movies and storytelling, and was instantly enamored with the world of adventure while following the exploits of Indiana Jones, Japanese kaiju, and superheroes. Today, Brad channels his thoughts on all manner of movies, from comic book films, sci-fi thrillers, comedies, and everything in between through his writings on Screen Rant. Brad also offers philosophical musings on martial arts and the filmographies of everyone from Jackie Chan to Donnie Yen on Kung Fu Kingdom, where he’s also had the privilege of interviewing many of the world’s great stunt professionals, and hearing plenty of gripping stories on injuries incurred in their line of work and the intricacies of designing the acts of death defiance he first thrilled to as a youngster. When he’s not writing, Brad enjoys going on a ride with the latest action hit or Netflix original, though he’s also known to just pop in “The Room” from time to time. Follow Brad on Twitter @BradCurran.

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