Precedent for presidency is old hat on-screen

A possible black president? A possible female vice president? Eh, showbiz has been putting them into office for years. The two notions have been played as stunts, for humor, with twists and as simple inevitabilities. With the real election drawing just over two weeks away, let’s run down the pop culture precursors. • Poll: Vote for your favorite fictional candidates

BLACK PRESIDENTS

The best

• David Palmer on “24.” Dennis Haysbert started the series in 2001 as a charismatic senator running for office, was elected, then later assassinated. Palmer was tough, thoughtful, formidable and likable.

The rest

• Tom Beck (Morgan Freeman) in “Deep Impact.” Not really a character; more like President Morgan Freeman.

• Douglas Dilman in Irving Wallace’s 1964 novel “The Man” and the 1972 film version starring James Earl Jones. The first serious treatment of the topic.

• May Gilliam in “Head of State.” Not Chris Rock’s finest hour.

• Wayne Palmer (D.B. Woodside) on “24.” David’s brother was also president. But he was no David Palmer.

FEMALE VICE PRESIDENTS

The best

• Kathryn Bennett (Glenn Close) in “Air Force One.” The president and his family are being held hostage by a ruthless Russian terrorist and the Cabinet is turning into pudding. Who can hold it together? VP Close can, with more cojones than the rest of the room put together.

The rest

• Mackenzie Allen (Geena Davis) in “Commander in Chief.” She’s put on the ticket as a stunt, then the president dies in office, and she grows up fast. The ABC TV series lasted one season.

• Laine Hanson. In 2000’s “The Contender,” Joan Allen has to run a brutal political gantlet when she’s appointed vice president.

• Caroline Reynolds (Patricia Wettig) on “Prison Break.” So evil, even her own president tells her: “You’re everything that’s wrong with politics.”

• Cissy Vandercleve in “The Body Politic” by Victor Gold and Lynne Cheney. Originally published in 1988, this novel tells of a Republican vice president who dies of a heart attack and is succeeded by his hot, ambitious, conservative wife. Seriously.