This week’s History Thread prompt: favorite portrayals of a historical figure in film or television? (Or heck, throw in theater if you?) You can also add worst portrayals for fun.

Richard Nixon of course has been portrayed on film about six thousand times, and yet it’s hard to find a portrayal that’s not either completely off-base or an outright caricature. Perhaps it’s because the real man is so weird that it’s hard to replicate his personality and appearance without coming off as a joke. Or perhaps because the most memorable portrayals of Nixon are comedic, leaving their dramatic competitors in the dust. After all, is Futurama‘s deranged head-in-a-jar any less realistic than the stooped, gnomish Anthony Hopkins or inappropriately aristocratic Frank Langella? Could Dan Hedaya’s pot brownie-scarfing POTUS from Dick be more compelling than Philip Baker Hall’s angry, unhinged Nixon in Secret Honor? Realism, and compelling characterizations are in the eye of the beholder.