The actress and series creator Rod Lurie talk about their groundbreaking ABC show ‘Commander in Chief’ and its impact on American politics: “We’re going to get the whole world comfortable with the term Madam President”
An aging Commander in Chief faces health struggles, and as a result, his younger, female vice-president ascends. That is, of course, the story of the 2024 presidential election in which Vice President Kamala Harris became the Democratic nominee, replacing an ailing Joe Biden. But it also happens to be a TV show plot – nearly 20 years ago.
The series, Commander in Chief, which premiered in 2005, starred Geena Davis as the first female vice president in American history, selected to help an older, white male political candidate appeal to other constituencies. Sound familiar? There are notable differences between the political fiction of the show and the political realities of the 2024 race, however. For one, fictional President Teddy Bridges is a Republican, while Mackenzie, portrayed by Davis, is an Independent. Oh, and in the show (spoiler alert!) the president dies, leading to the first female Commander in Chief.
The show was initially a hit with audiences, beating House in the ratings. But it lost its momentum and was canceled after just one season, raising the question of whether America was ready for a female president, even a fictional one. The Hollywood Reporter caught up with some of the key players who helped make Commander in Chief to talk about the legacy of the show and how, if anything, it says about the 2024 election.
When asked if he believes that Commander in Chief helped prepare America for the reality of its first female president, series creator Rod Lurie says, “Without a fucking doubt.” He recalls saying to the executive in charge of the show, “If we all do our jobs… We’re going to change the world. Because what we’re going to do is get the whole world to become comfortable with the term Madam President.”
Davis offers a similar sentiment, hoping “that seeing a woman president onscreen would normalize the idea for people.” Lurie says the idea of a series about the first female president was a “duh” idea (as in, so good it was a no-brainer), and ABC bought it off the pitch, pending the attachment of a major star. There had been almost no depictions of women presidents in Hollywood before that. The rare exception was Polly Bergen in the 1964 comedy, Kisses For My President. Bergen would later be cast as the mother of President MacKenzie Allen on Commander in Chief. (Glenn Close depicted a female vice president in 1997’s Air Force One.)
There has since been a great deal written about the role of pop culture in, as David puts it, “normalizing” the position of certain underrepresented groups in society. Will & Grace and comedienne Ellen DeGeneres are credited with playing significant roles in transforming the image of gay Americans and, as such, the modern LGBTQ equity movement. A poll by Kaplan Thaler, taken the year after Commander in Chief premiered, found that of “76 percent of Americans familiar with Commander in Chief, 58 percent are now more likely to take seriously the idea of a female presidential candidate.”
