President of the United States

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The seal of the President of the United States. (DW: The Impossible Astronaut)

The President of the United States of America was the political leader of that North American nation. The president's traditional residence was the White House in Washington, DC. Arguably the most famous room within the White House was the Oval Office, the president's symbolic seat of power. By at least 1969, the president was regarded as one of the most powerful people on Earth. (DW: Day of the Moon) Indeed, the long-lasting impact of the office can be inferred from the fact that the President of Earth also resided in the White House in 4041, long after the United States had formally succeeded to a world government. (DWAM: Return of the Klytode)

List of presidents

Several American presidents were known to people like the Doctor and his friends. However, information on most of these figures — even basic details such as their terms of office — was sketchy, as direct contact with American presidents was unusual. Because of the paucity of data, it was possible to list the presidents accurately only in simple alphabetic order.

During at least two major alien invasions, it was unclear which president was involved. While the world was being invaded by the Sycorax, British Prime Minister Harriet Jones communicated with an unnamed president. While this incident took place only 18 months before DW: The Sound of Drums, it is uncertain if the president involved was Arthur Coleman Winters or his predecessor (DW: The Christmas Invasion). Likewise, when Martin Trueman was said to have hypnotised "the president", no precise name was given by news outlets. (SJA: Secrets of the Stars)

Timing

Of course, the Doctor did have some idea as to the rough dates certain presidents served. Certainly, he could place Abraham Lincoln in the early-to-mid 1860s, as the Fifth Doctor prevented his premature assassination just days before he was shot by John Wilkes Booth in 1865. He likely would have been able to place James Buchanan as Lincoln's predecessor, since Buchanan was widely seen as a contrast to Lincoln, and was a topic of conversation by people whom the Fifth Doctor knew. (TN: Blood and Hope) The Sixth Doctor, logically, showed detailed historical knowledge of that assassination when he and Evelyn Smythe traveled to Washington, DC just before Lincoln lost his life. (BFA: Assassin in the Limelight)

The Eighth Doctor once gave a time-ordered list of presidents, saying that if one started in the 1970s with Jimmy Carter, the list would then continue: Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Tom Dering, Springsteen and Norris. (EDA: Interference - Book One) Certainly, the Eighth Doctor would've been able to place Tom Dering at the end of the 1990s, since he and Samantha Jones spent a lot of time with that president investigating the Station Nine incident and other related events. (EDA: Option Lock)

The Tenth Doctor spouted textbook knowledge of Herbert Hoover, accurately giving Hoover's number in the order of presidents, as well as his inaugural year. (DW: Daleks in Manhattan) He also witnessed Arthur Coleman Winters' death onboard the Valiant, as well as Barack Obama's transformation into The Master. (DW: The Sound of Drums, The End of Time. However, he never revealed — if he ever knew — what the chain of succession was between Winters and Obama.

By contrast, the Eleventh Doctor seemed fuzzier than River Song on who might've been president in 1969 — though this could have been because 1969 was an inaugural year, implying that it was a year with two presidents. (DW: The Impossible Astronaut / Day of the Moon)

Altnerate histories

There were a few people who were presidents in alternate timelines, such as:


President of the United States
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