The 10 Funniest Presidential Impressions (VIDEO)

In honor of Presidents' Day, here are some of the best impressions of the 44 men who have led this country over the last two hundred and twenty two years. Yes, many of these hail from Saturday Night Live and can be found in Ron Howard's epic Funny or Die Presidential Reunion. But impressions of Presidents also pop up in some more unexpected places. Happy Presidents Day! More comedy videos at: GotchaMediaBlog.com

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Jay Pharoah as Barack Obama

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When Jay Pharoah joined the cast of SNL last year, there was a lot of speculation as to whether Fred Armisen was about to be replaced as President Obama. Even though, they've let Pharoah do impressions of just about every other prominent black man on the planet, he still hasn't gotten a chance to show the world his solid Obama.

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When Jay Pharoah joined the cast of SNL last year, there was a lot of speculation as to whether Fred Armisen was about to be replaced as President Obama. Even though, they've let Pharoah do impressions of just about every other prominent black man on the planet, he still hasn't gotten a chance to show the world his solid Obama.

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Comments

[mpt1964]

08:04 PM on 02/23/2011

That's Darrell Hammond. The best inpersonation of Bill Clinton.

[mpt1964]

08:03 PM on 02/23/2011

Who was the guy that did Bill Clinton on SNL? He was hilarious during the impeachment scandal.

[Marturia]

05:41 PM on 02/22/2011

Why does Will Ferrell look like Tom Brokaw?

[aquarius2001]

07:16 AM on 02/22/2011

Hilarious!!! Loved the story about Abe Lincoln and Frederick Douglass!

[Hamlet100]

04:58 AM on 02/22/2011

Some funny ones - especially Dan Akroyd doing a "familiar w/orange sunshine" Jimmy Carter, Dana Carvey doing Bush, Sr. impression about "thousand points of light." But otherwise, I think I remember seeing what I felt -- at least at the time -- were funnier/better ones on SNL & other shows. Well, to each his/her own.

B-T-W: Does anyone recall an old SNL (or possibly Mad TV) skit where 1 of cast played Abe Lincoln & another cast member played Mary Todd Lincoln, where the Lincolns were both in manic phases of their bi-polarism & were having this god-awful but hilarious fight w/each other?

[Ken Freedom]

12:46 AM on 02/22/2011

Wait, what? How can this list possibly be complete without Daryl Hammond's Bill Clinton? I think Hammond's portrayal of Clinton was so endearing that it helped shaped our entire concept of who Bill Clinton is.

I love Phil Hartman -- his Bill O'Neil on Newsradio was one of the best character in TV history -- but this is a list of the greatest presidential impression, and Hammond's Clinton made Hartman's a footnote in the history books.

[Angelia Levy]

10:01 PM on 02/21/2011

I can't believe that this list left off former SNL castmember Darrell Hammond's Bill Clinton impression! It is better than Phil Hartman's - it's the best one hands down.

[yetti23]

11:46 AM on 02/22/2011

That's what I was thinkin'!

[grapebrother]

09:33 PM on 02/21/2011

Huffington Post is very SNL-centric. Keegan Michael Key, from MAD TV, played the best Barack Obama of all. Not only is he spot-on with imitating Obama's physical appearance, but he mimics his speech patterns and mannerisms flawlessly. Check out this 2008, pre-election bit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUkPwtt9Nn4

[TheNewsFix]

07:36 PM on 02/21/2011

Not a single reference to Rich Little as Richard Nixon? Really?

And if there was just someone old enough on the HuffPo staff to recall it, you surely would have included the incomparable Vaughn Meder, who was THE impersonator of JFK until his presidency was cut short (and Meder's career was ended at the same time).

Apparently, like so many in the modern media, HuffPo shows yet again that if it didn't happen within the past ten years, it must have never happened at all. Or so you'd think.

[Hamlet100]

05:09 AM on 02/22/2011

Yes, I know just what you mean. I'm sure lots of HP subscribers/commenters are younger people than me. But just b/c you're young doesn't mean you cannot be congnizant of events, art, celebrities, etc. that were before your time. I mean, I wasn't born yet when I Love Lucy was a current early TV comedy. But I've watched hundreds of re-runs of that show during my life, so I do know & am familiar w/it. How do people function when they only remember or relate to events & people whom they've encountered only over past 10 or less years. What's wrong w/knowing about & enjoying or critiquing current culture as well as past, "before one's time" culture? Is it not cool to reflect on older things, or what?

[MFS001]

06:31 PM on 02/21/2011

You gotta see Steve Bridges -- it's pretty amazing. He can do Clinton, GWB, and Obama -- and it's hard to tell it's the same guy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xD7UWSQIJw0

[MichaelMC]

03:34 PM on 02/21/2011

I'm a big Will Ferrell fan, but his Bush impression is very poor. Frank Caliendo's is much better.
Also, Jay Pharoh is growing on me, but his Obama is no where near Fred Armisen's (great Denzel, though!)

[Joanne Serin]

02:40 PM on 02/21/2011

You left out the greatest - Vaughn Meader as JFK.

[MFS001]

06:32 PM on 02/21/2011

Good one!

[TheNewsFix]

07:38 PM on 02/21/2011

Absolutely the greatest presidential impersonator in show business history.

Makes Will Ferrell, Dana Carvey and the rest seem like rank amateurs.

And oh by the way, Rich Little did the best Dick Nixon. How did this get overlooked?

[HeadAches]

12:46 PM on 02/21/2011

While impersonation with humans can be great if you find someone who looks and talks similar to the subject but personally, I much rather prefer Spitting Image type parodies.

Here are a couple of great examples of how Spitting Image dealt with Ronald Reagan:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yovzZkf6OFQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPiN7ZfhJVc

[Sunflo]

04:42 PM on 02/21/2011

Spitting Image was always hilarious!

[Lola Jordan]

12:12 PM on 02/21/2011

I miss Phil Hartman and Bill Clinton, in that order.

[aceshigh11]

02:11 PM on 02/21/2011

INDEED! F&F!

[RRRead]

12:04 PM on 02/21/2011

Why did Phil Hartman have to die!!!!! I miss him so much....The Simpsons will never be the same without Troy McClure