By Will Bohlen
Cogent Strategies Managing Director
As a longtime fan of Saturday Night Live, starting as a kid when I would tape the show on VHS to watch the next day, I challenged myself to celebrate the show’s 50th anniversary by ranking my favorite political impressions throughout the years. Arguing over SNL sketches, seasons and cast members is a national pastime, and I would expect not everyone to agree with me here. Want to tell me where I’m wrong? Email me at wbohlen@cogent-strategies.com.
Honorable mention:
Maya Rudolph’s Kamala Harris; Norm MacDonald’s Bob Dole; Dan Akroyd’s Jimmy Carter; Dana Carvey’s Ross Perot and Joe Biden; Darrell Hammond’s Bill Clinton and Al Gore; Amy Poehler’s Hillary Clinton.
10. Alec Baldwin’s Donald Trump
Hulking and intimidating, Baldwin embodied the Trump 45 vintage, but you never quite forgot that it was Baldwin doing a little bit of his 30 Rock character, Jack Donaghy.
9. Jay Pharoah’s Barack Obama
It took SNL a little while to find its Obama, but Pharoah finally cracked the voice and mannerisms.
8. Melissa McCarthy’s Sean Spicer
The only non-candidate on my list, McCarthy’s surprise appearance as an aggressive Spicer set the tone for several other male politicians played by female actors, including Kate McKinnon’s Rudy Giuliani and, more recently, Sarah Sherman’s Matt Gaetz.
7. Kate McKinnon’s Hillary Clinton
A gifted mimic, McKinnon was the strongest Hillary over the course of 20-plus years of the show spoofing Hillary as First Lady, Senator, Secretary of State and presidential candidate.
6. Will Ferrell’s George W. Bush
One word: “Strategery.”
5. Phil Hartman’s Ronald Reagan
As depicted in one of my all-time favorite political sketches.
4. Tina Fey’s Sarah Palin
Once Palin came to national prominence, there was only one person who could do the job, and it led to the famous phrase “I can see Russia from my house!”
3. James Austin Johnson’s Donald Trump
The Trump 47-era actor has gotten the stream-of-consciousness patter down pat.
2. Phil Hartman’s Bill Clinton
The famous New Hampshire McDonald’s sketch accurately captured Clinton as a man of both intellect and appetite.
1. Dana Carvey’s George H.W. Bush
Perhaps the one impression that surpassed the politician himself, I would wager that people remember Carvey’s mannerisms and speech more than the former president himself.