I love me some fictional politicians. Right, left, good, evil, it doesn’t matter, as long as they’re interesting and prepared to present me with a new look at legislation. Here’s my top ten, at least for right now.

10. Katherine Vaughn Powers, President of the United States of America, The President’s Daughter, Ellen Emerson White.

The President’s Daughter series of young adult novels—starting with The President’s Daughter and concluding with Long May She Reign, which is arguably an adult novel—mostly focuses on the trials of being the old daughter of the first female President of the United States, but we see President Powers’s term through her daughters eyes. President Powers is firm in her convictions, dedicated to her family and to her country, and does not negotiate with terrorists. President Powers is really pretty damn bad-ass, when you get right down to it. The whole series was reissued in 2008 with new covers and with the pop culture and technology references updated for the time. I do think it’s kind of sad that when the first book came out, in 1984, everyone just sort of assumed we’d have a woman in the White House by now. Maybe soon.

9. Greg Stillson, New Hampshire Congressman, The Dead Zone, Stephen King.

Oh, Congressman Stillson, what can I say about you, apart from “stay the hell away from me”? Congressman Stillson may have been the first fictional politician I ever encountered, during my marathon reading of the works of Stephen King. I was too young to appreciate his vile “viper* in human form” qualities, and was surprised all over again when I finally picked up the book as an adult. (*I actually like vipers, a lot more than I like Greg Stillson. It’s just a good shorthand for his spiteful awfulness.) This is the kind of man who makes our real-world politicians look good. The version of Stillson presented by the television version of The Dead Zone is a different kind of monster, but is no less interesting, and no less terrible for being somewhat humanized by the ongoing demands of the serial drama format. Both of them will give you nightmares, and quite rightly. (more…)