“I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
(“Also – there is a good chance I’ll be visiting Disneyland or Walt Disney World during my Presidency.”)
American presidents have a long-standing history with The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney himself enjoyed professional relationships with many American presidents, and he proudly celebrated Abraham Lincoln as one of his all-time heroes.
Every president in U.S. history appears in the Hall of Presidents in Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. But beyond this venerable attraction, past and present American presidents have woven themselves into Disney history since the early days of the company.
To celebrate the highest office in America, let’s look at some of the most memorable presidential connections to Disney.
Abraham Lincoln – Walt’s Favorite President
There is only one way to begin this list of presidential connections, and that is to celebrate Walt’s favorite president and childhood hero – Abraham Lincoln. Walt admired Honest Abe while growing up in Missouri, and he honored the sixteenth president by dressing as him for a school project. Wearing a homemade stovepipe hat fashioned out of his father Elias’ derby cap and some cardboard, Walt recited the Gettysburg Address – completely from memory – in front of his class. The school principal was so impressed, he asked Walt to give encore performances to other classes in the school.
Walt’s respect for Lincoln remained with him all his life, and eventually manifested in a groundbreaking attraction – Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. Originally created for the State of Illinois as a contribution to the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln celebrates the origins of the United States and Lincoln’s connection to the country’s legacy. Following a brief film introduction, an audio-animatronic figure of Lincoln stands to address the audience with several excerpts from speeches he gave before and during his presidency. Walt’s favorite president touched upon the nature of liberty, how it sustains the country, and Americans’ collective duty to preserve the spirit of liberty for themselves and subsequent generations.
The Lincoln animatronic was groundbreaking at the time it was introduced at the World’s Fair, wowing all 2.5 million visitors who watched the show in the Fair’s first season alone. After the Fair ended its run in New York, Lincoln found a permanent home in Disneyland’s Main Street Opera House, where he has been greeting visitors since 1965 (more recently alternating performances with Walt Disney, who now appears in a show of his own, Walt Disney – A Magical Life).
In addition to his home in Disneyland, Lincoln has been speaking to guests in Walt Disney World since 1971, as the headliner of The Hall of Presidents, located in Magic Kingdom’s Liberty Square.
Ronald Reagan
Long before Ronald Reagan was ever president, he was an actor who knew his way around Hollywood. As a film producer, Walt danced in the same circles as Reagan, and the two became friends decades before Reagan ever stepped foot in the White House.
When Disneyland officially opened to the public on July 17, 1955, Walt arranged for a massive televised event. Ronald Reagan was there front-and-center, reporting for ABC on many of the events of that chaotic day.
Decades later, when Reagan was elected president for a second term, the weather in Washington, D.C. refused to cooperate enough to allow for a traditional inauguration celebration. With temperatures too cold for an outdoor inauguration, a limited indoor ceremony was performed instead, causing dozens of high school bands to miss out on the opportunity to perform at the event. But Disney CEO Michael Eisner stepped up to the plate and offered to host an inaugural celebration at EPCOT. So in May 1985, the President’s Inaugural Bands Parade came to Florida! This unique event marks one of the very few times an inaugural celebration was held outside of the nation’s capital.
After leaving the Oval Office, one of Reagan’s first public events was a return to Disneyland to officiate its 35th anniversary celebration. During the event, Reagan proclaimed the park “one of America’s national treasures.”
Fun Fact: In 1984, President Reagan honored Disney Legend Clarence “Ducky” Nash, the voice of Donald Duck, at a White House ceremony for senior citizen volunteers. Reagan presented Nash with a plaque recognizing his 50 years of entertainment and volunteer service, specifically for entertaining in hospitals and orphanages.
Richard Nixon
Few American presidents in history have exhibited as colorful a history as Richard Nixon. The tumultuous end to his presidency looms like a shadow over the rest of his career and life. But tucked in around all the “Nixonisms” we all know (and even right on top of one of his most famous moments) are some tasty tidbits of Disney trivia.
As vice president, Nixon visited Disneyland for the first time in 1955, posing for a photo about the Mark Twain Riverboat. But just a few years later, in 1959, Nixon took a more active role in celebrating Disneyland history. Walt invited Vice President Nixon and his family to celebrate the opening of three brand new attractions in Tomorrowland – Matterhorn Bobsleds, Submarine Voyage, and the Disneyland Monorail. Prior to the ceremony, Walt took Nixon and his family (along with the Mr. Nixon’s Secret Service entourage) to the Monorail for an in-place inspection tour of the train at the Tomorrowland station – an outing which led to one of Walt’s most hilarious Disneyland moments.
The Nixons were having a great time checking out the inside of the train, and Walt was so excited he told his engineer (and Disney Legend) Bob Gurr “Let’s go” to give them a test ride. Gurr closed the doors and stepped on the pedal. As they pulled out of the station, Nixon swore, realizing (with delight) that his Secret Service detail had been left on the loading platform. Walt and Bob had literally kidnapped the vice president! At the request of the Nixon girls, the train took a second lap around the park, again leaving the Secret Service in its dust. Nixon howled with laughter. By this time, Bob Gurr was sweating bullets, carrying unauthorized cargo in Walt’s Monorail. The party returned back to Tomorrowland station and the Secret Service – looking more like the Keystone Cops – finally caught up with the vice president. Nixon laughed at his top-notch detail, quipping “You should have seen the looks on your faces!”
Having spent a bit of time with Walt over the years, Nixon took the opportunity as president in 1969 to honor Walt in his own way. At a special White House ceremony, he presented the Walt Disney Commemorative Medal to Walt’s widow, Lillian, saying “[Walt] was a great artist. He was a perfectionist. He was a great human being.”
On the other end of the spectrum came one of Nixon’s darkest moments. On November 17, 1973, President Nixon spoke what may be his most famous quote. In his final days as president – amidst the Watergate scandal, Nixon defended his integrity by stating he had never profited from public service and never obstructed justice. It was then, in the Ballroom of the Americas at Disney’s Contemporary Resort, that Nixon declared “I’m not a crook.”
Other Presidents with Moments in Disney History
Many other presidents had moments with Walt, or with the Walt Disney company.
We’ll Take Ike!
Walt enjoyed a nice political relationship with Dwight Eisenhower. During Ike’s 1952 presidential campaign, renowned female aviator Jacqueline Cochran asked Walt to lend a hand. Walt allowed several studio volunteers – including Disney Legends Eric Larson and John Lounsbery – to create an animated short in support of Ike. The “We’ll Take Ike” political cartoon premiered in the fall of 1952, and helped push Eisenhower over the top in the presidential election.
The First Disney Parks President
Did you know who is the first U.S. president to appear in a Disney Parks attraction? No, it’s not Abraham Lincoln, it’s Andrew Jackson. In the days before animatronics, a stationary figure in the likeness of Major General Andrew Jackson (before he was president) took up residence inside Regimental Headquarters at the Frontierland outpost.
No Dumbo
Former President Harry Truman was the first U.S. president to visit a Disney park (not counting Ronald Reagan, who visited Disneyland several decades before he was president). When touring Disneyland with his wife Bess in November 1957, Truman enjoyed a trip on the Mark Twain Riverboat. But he famously declined an invitation to ride Dumbo the Flying Elephant. As a noted Democrat, Truman did not want to be photographed riding an elephant – the symbol of the Republican party!
JFK
Prior to being president, U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy first visited Disneyland in November 1959. Just a few short years later, the nation’s youngest elected president was assassinated at the age of 46. Walt learned of JFK’s assassination while on a trip to Florida scouting out his Disney World project. In honor of the president, Walt closed Disneyland on November 23, 1969 – the day after he was assassinated. Kennedy was also honored with a moment of silence during Disneyland’s December 1963 Candlelight Processional.
The “Golden Dream” film montage near the finale of The American Adventure at EPCOT features one of Kennedy’s most famous lines “Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.”
High Honors at the White House
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian honor in the United States, awarded by the president to individuals who have made exceptional contributions to U.S. national interests, world peace, or cultural endeavors. In 1964, Walt was awarded this high honor by President Lyndon B. Johnson, who described Walt as an “Artist and impresario, in the course of entertaining an age, he has created an American folklore.”
Walt’s impact on culture and society has endured long after he passed away. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter issued a presidential proclamation—requested by a joint resolution of the House of Representatives—honoring the memory of Walt Disney, and his creations that brought “laughter and love, joy and gladness” to the world.
The Hall of Presidents
Have you ever heard of Liberty Street in Disneyland? It only ever existed in Walt’s imagination (and on the pages of Disneyland designs. This never-built area was conceived by Walt in the late 1950s as an offshoot of Main Street, representing Colonial Boston on the eve of the American Revolution (which coincided with Disney’s 1957 film adaptation of Johnny Tremain).
The area would have hosted two attractions. The first was “The Hall of the Declaration of Independence” – a stage show featuring a re-creation of the signing of the Declaration of Independence with lifelike figures from American history. The second attraction was another stage show – “The Hall of the Presidents of the United States” – featuring a short film and figures of every American president.
The Liberty Street concept was eventually abandoned, but Walt continued work on a Hall of Presidents attraction, hoping it may gain traction to exhibit at the 1964 World’s Fair in New York. The original concept called for wax figures, but Walt got more ambitious and wanted the presidents to be able to move and talk. As was often the case in Walt’s day, technology was not as advanced as his imagination. Disney’s designers (now famously known as Imagineers) could not create a host of moving, speaking presidents without a huge amount of research and development (and money).
So Walt’s team focused on his favorite president – Abraham Lincoln. After an extensive amount of engineering design (and good amount of trial-and-error), Disney created a fully animated representation of President Lincoln, which caught the eye of Robert Moses – president of the upcoming New York World’s Fair. Moses wanted the whole host of presidents for an attraction, but due to limitations of time and money, he happily settled for a single, remarkable president. The attraction opened as Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, sponsored by Lincoln’s home state of Illinois.
Walt’s vision for a Hall of Presidents came to life in 1971, with the opening of Walt Disney World. Headlined by Lincoln, the Hall features a short film presenting key moments in American history, followed by an introduction of moving animatronics representing every American president to date. In true Disney form, where no idea ever truly dies, The Hall of Presidents is located in Magic Kingdom’s Liberty Square – directly descended from Walt’s original idea for Liberty Street in Disneyland.
For over two decades, Lincoln was the only president with a speaking role. But after a refurbishment in 1993, an animatronic of recently elected President Bill Clinton addressed the audience using dialogue recorded by Clinton himself. This was the first time any American president, other than Lincoln, spoke in a Disney attraction. Clinton was also the first of the recent line of U.S. presidents to record dialogue for Disney, which has been added to the attraction along with their figure. Presidents Bush, Obama, Trump, and Biden have all followed suit.
Prior to seeing the show, guests can relax (and enjoy glorious air conditioning) in an indoor lobby themed to feel like an 18th-century space. The lobby features various exhibits and artifacts focusing on American presidential history, and it also includes a bronze bust of Walt Disney himself, celebrating his love for America and the American President.
Fun Fact: A common myth states that Disney received special permission from the U.S. Congress to feature the official seal of the President of the United States in the lobby of the Hall of Presidents. However, the Hall actually displays the Great Seal of the United States, which is different from the official seal of the President of the United States (and more readily usable outside the presence of the president).
American Presidents in Disney Films
Throughout the long and storied history of the Walt Disney Company, only one American president has physically appeared in a Disney feature film. President Donald Trump made a short appearance (before he was president) in the 1992 Fox film Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. He appears in the lobby of the Plaza Hotel (which Trump owned at the time), where Kevin McAllister is staying during his eventful trip to the Big Apple.
Surprisingly, while Ronald Reagan appeared in over 50 films throughout his acting career, none of them were Disney films.
Another Fox film franchise – Night at the Museum – features two American presidents – the nation’s first president George Washington, and the ever-popular Teddy Roosevelt (played by Disney Legend Robin Williams).
Beginning in 2010, Disney Educational Productions released a series of educational films titled Disney’s The American Presidents. The four-part series provides historical overviews of U.S. presidents, often featuring insights from political experts and commentators.
Presidential Fiction
Several Disney films over the years have featured completely fictional U.S. presidents. Here are a few of the most noteworthy.
Air Force One (1997)
This action/thriller film stars Disney Legend Harrison Ford as President James Marshall – a war veteran who is pressed into action when hijackers take over the famous presidential plane. Ford’s “take no prisoners” performance led the film to blockbuster success at the box office.
Captain America: Brave New World (2025)
In this Marvel Studios film, Harrison Ford again plays a U.S. president – this time Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross – who is affected by genetic mutations similar to those of the Incredible Hulk. The role of Ross was previously played by William Hurt, when Ross was a military officer.
Diary of a Future President (2020-2021)
This two-season Disney+ television series tells the story of Elena Cañero-Reed, a 13-year-old Cuban American girl who aspires to become president of the United States. The cleverly choreographed series alternates between Elena’s middle school days, while also flashing forward to her time as president.
As you can see, American presidents are woven deep into Disney’s history. Parks, films, and television all connect to the highest office in the United States. What is your favorite presidential connection to Disney? Did I capture it here? Let me know with a comment or message on social media.
Sources:
- Disney D23. (February 16, 2017). “Disney’s Presidential Past: Connections to Commanders-in-Chief”.
- Moffit, Jeffrey (March 1, 2013). “Look Closer: Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln”. The Walt Disney Family Museum.
- Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum (October 23, 2020). “Attention Mouseketeers!”.
- Korkis, Jim (February 23, 2022). “U.S. Presidents at Walt Disney World”. MousePlanet.
- Smith, James (December 9, 2021). “Walt Disney and the Kidnapping of an American Official”. Facts and Figment.
