Many movies about U.S. presidents are based on books. These books provide more in-depth information about the real-life…


Lincoln. Poster of the 2012 movie and cover of the 2005 book, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
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Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
Doris Kearns Goodwin, 2005
movie vs book
Steven Spielberg, 2012

In January 1865, United States President Abraham Lincoln expects the Civil War to end soon, with the defeat of the Confederate States. He is concerned that his 1863 Emancipation Proclamation may be discarded by the courts after the war and that the proposed Thirteenth Amendment will be defeated by the returning slave states.


JFK. Poster of the 1991 movie and cover of the 1989 book, Crossfire: The Plot That Killed Kennedy
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Crossfire: The Plot That Killed Kennedy
Jim Marrs, 1989
movie vs book
JFK
Oliver Stone, 1991

On November 22, 1963, president John F. Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas. An investigation concludes that Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby acted alone in their respective crimes, but Louisiana district attorney Jim Garrison is skeptical. He discovers there’s more to the Kennedy assassination than the official story.


JFK. Poster of the 1991 movie and cover of the 1988 book, On the Trail of the Assassins
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On the Trail of the Assassins
Jim Garrison, 1988
movie vs book
JFK
Oliver Stone, 1991

On November 22, 1963, president John F. Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas. An investigation concludes that Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby acted alone in their respective crimes, but Louisiana district attorney Jim Garrison is skeptical. He discovers there’s more to the Kennedy assassination than the official story.


Lee Daniels' The Butler. Poster of the 2013 movie and cover of the 2013 book, The Butler: A Witness to History
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The Butler: A Witness to History
Wil Haygood, 2013
movie vs book
Lee Daniels, 2013

In 2009, an elderly Cecil Gaines recounts his life story while waiting at the White House to meet the newly inaugurated president. Cecil was a sharecropper’s son who grew up in the 1920s as a domestic servant for the white family. Cecil becomes a hotel valet of such efficiency and discreteness in the 1950s that he becomes a butler in the White House itself. There, Cecil would serve numerous US Presidents over the decades as a passive witness of history.


Frost/Nixon. Poster of the 2008 movie and cover of the 2006 book
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Frost/Nixon
Peter Morgan, 2006
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Ron Howard, 2008

After the Watergate scandal of 1972 and his subsequent resignation in 1974, 400 million people worldwide tune-in to watch Nixon leave the White House. Nixon’s literary agent, Irving Lazar, believes the interviews would be an opportunity for Nixon to salvage his reputation and profit financially.


Thirteen Days. Poster of the 2000 movie and cover of the 1997 book, The Kennedy Tapes
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The Kennedy Tapes
Ernest R. May, Philip D. Zelikow, 1997
movie vs book
Roger Donaldson, 2000

In October 1962, U-2 aerial surveillance photos reveal that the Soviet Union is in the process of placing intermediate-range ballistic missiles carrying nuclear weapons in Cuba. Kennedy is reluctant to attack and invade because it would very likely cause the Soviets to invade Berlin, which could lead to an all-out war.


Primary Colors. Poster of the 1998 movie and cover of the 1996 book, Primary Colors: A Novel of Politics
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Primary Colors: A Novel of Politics
Joe Klein, 1996
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Mike Nichols, 1998

Young political idealist, and grandson of civil rights leader, Henry Burton, is recruited to join the campaign of Jack Stanton, a charismatic Southern governor who is trying to win the Democratic Party nomination for President of the United States. The campaign is then rocked by a fresh allegation when Jack’s old friend, Fat Willie McCollister approaches Henry to tell him that his 17-year-old daughter Loretta, who worked for the Stantons as a babysitter, is pregnant and that Jack is the father.


All the Way. Poster of the 2016 movie and cover of the 2012 book
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All the Way
Robert Schenkkan, 2012
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Jay Roach, 2016

Lyndon B. Johnson’s amazing 11-month journey from taking office after JFK’s assassination, through the fight to pass the 1964 Civil Rights Act and his own presidential campaign, culminating on the night LBJ is actually elected to the office – no longer the ‘accidental President.’


2016: Obama's America. Poster of the 2012 movie and cover of the 2009 book, The Roots of Obama's Rage
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The Roots of Obama's Rage
Dinesh D'Souza, 2009
movie vs book
Dinesh D'Souza, John Sullivan, 2012

The movie takes audiences on a gripping visual journey into the heart of the worlds most powerful office to reveal the struggle of whether one man’s past will redefine America over the next four years. The film examines the question, “If Obama wins a second term, where will we be in 2016?” Across the globe and in America, people in 2008 hungered for a leader who would unite and lift us from economic turmoil and war.


Death of a Nation. Poster of the 2018 movie and cover of the 2018 book
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Death of a Nation
Dinesh D'Souza, 2018
movie vs book
Dinesh D'Souza, 2018

The documentary compares Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States, with Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president, and looks at how the Democratic Party opposed both leaders.


Death of a Nation. Poster of the 2018 movie and cover of the 2017 book, The Big Lie
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The Big Lie
Dinesh D'Souza, 2017
movie vs book
Dinesh D'Souza, 2018

The documentary compares Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States, with Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president, and looks at how the Democratic Party opposed both leaders.


Donald Trump's The Art of the Deal: The Movie. Poster of the 2016 movie and cover of the 1987 book, Trump: The Art of the Deal
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Trump: The Art of the Deal
Donald J. Trump, 1987
movie vs book
Jeremy Konner, 2016

Donald Trump has it all. Money, power, respect, and an Eastern European bride. But all his success didn’t come for nothing. First, he inherited millions of dollars from his rich father, then he grabbed New York City by the balls. Now you can learn the art of negotiation, real estate, and high-quality brass.

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“The graphic novel is a great form that can be used to marry the book format with the movie.”

MELVIN VAN PEEBLES (Actor)