History Main / ArtisticLicensePolitics

* ''{{ComicBook/Watchmen}}'': With his increased popularity after victory in Vietnam, President UsefulNotes/RichardNixon makes a successful push to overturn the 22nd Amendment and win a 3rd term. Amendments are notoriously difficult to pass and even harder to repeal, the latter compared to the likelihood to [[https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/what-does-it-take-to-repeal-a-constitutional-amendment living to 80 and being struck by lightning.]] Ronald Reagan, who was much more popular than Nixon ever was, even threw around the idea of doing this near the end of his second term--and the administration quickly stopped pushing it because, even ignoring how much of a power grab it could easily look, doing so would take more political capital than one man could ever have. This is on top of the United States having a strong tradition of only two presidential terms ever since 1789, before the 22nd Amendment made it official in 1951.

** After winning the war, the US ratifies Vietnam into the 51st American state. It's more likely that, had the US annexed Vietnam, that it would have become a territory like Guam or Puerto Rico, rather than a state. In the real world there has been significant opposition to making US territories into states, most notably by conservatives who argue that the regions' more liberal bents would give more Congressional votes to the left, something Nixon, a right-wing Republican President, would not want. All the more so because Vietnam would become the most populous state by a huge margin, with more than double the population of California, causing a massive upset to the US's political balance.
*** If the population of Vietnam was vigorously anti-Communist (with Red China next door, the odds of this seem decent), there's every chance of it turning into a pro-Nixon territory. Alternatively, the general state of Vietnam (e.g. room for electoral corruption given its economic state) would potentially allow Nixon to simply stuff ballot boxes there to no end. Nixon looking at the prospect of having around 86-106 [=EVs=] in his pocket circa 1980 (depending on the resulting House reapportionment), not to mention the probable flood of hawkish Congressmen, and ''not'' trying for it would be out-of-character for him.

*** If the population of Vietnam was vigorously anti-Communist (with Red China next door, the odds of this seem decent), there's every chance of it turning into a pro-Nixon territory. Alternatively, the general state of Vietnam (e.g. room for electoral corruption given its economic state) would potentially allow Nixon to simply stuff ballot boxes there to no end. Nixon looking at the prospect of having around 86-106 EVs in his pocket circa 1980 (depending on the resulting House reapportionment), not to mention the probable flood of hawkish Congressmen, and ''not'' trying for it would be out-of-character for him.

Regardless of the stereotypes attached to it, at the end of the day, politics is a job. And a boring one at that (how many of you watch the local legislative channel?). Some legislations might have the [[BloodOnTheDebateFloor occasional fight]] from time to time, but for the most part it's just a bunch of people talking about boring things following rules that may take years to fully understand.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' episode "OPERATION: W.H.I.T.E.H.O.U.S.E.", Numbuh 1 wakes up in an alternate universe where he is the President of the United States of America, and the government wants him to sign the "Bill of No Rights For Kids" to finally get rid of the KND. Not only would the bill be a massive violation of the Constituion, Numbuh 1 could never be President of the USA because he was born in England. [[spoiler:Either way, it works in the show's favor because it turns out was all a nightmare he was having.]]

* In the ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' episode "OPERATION: W.H.I.T.E.H.O.U.S.E.", Numbuh 1 wakes up in an alternate universe where he is the President of the United States of America, and the government wants him to sign the "Bill of No Rights For Kids" to finally get rid of the KND. Not only would the bill be a massive violation of the Constituion, Numbuh 1 could never be President of the USA because he was born in England. [[spoiler:Either way, it works in the show's favor because it was all a nightmare/SecretTestOfCharacter he was having.]]

* DiplomaticImpunity: Can happen from time to time, but diplomatic immunity exists to protect diplomats from police and law prosecution for political purposes. If that privilege is abused in RealLife. it tends to really anger not only the host country, but also the sending one who, if the crime is that despicable, will be happy to retire the immunity of their own diplomat (especially to keep their good relations).

* DiplomaticImpunity: Can happen from time to time, but in real life it tends to really anger not only the host country, but also the sending one who, if the crime is that despicable, will be happy to retire the immunity of their own diplomat (especially to keep their good relations).

** The whole premise starts with the governor unsure of who to appoint, and when using a coin flip to choose between his two top choices, the coin rolls under a piece of furniture, so he forgets the whole thing and decides to choose Smith, an extremely inexperienced but reputable person who is (presumably) malleable to his corrupt needs. However, given the ambition for lower politicians to take opportunities to move up in the political world, the governor picking someone out of the blue with absolutely no political experience or ambition would be met with extreme uproar among the state's politicians, especially those who wanted the spot. While ambitious politicians can tolerate losing a spot to another politician, losing it to someone like Smith would not be tolerated, even among many voters.

** Smith is able to sustain his filibuster by reading the entire United States Constitution. In reality, the Constitution is only 18 pages long, not long enough to sustain 24 hours worth of reading, particularly in 1939.

* The ''WesternAnimation/XMenTheAnimatedSeries'' two-parter "Proteus" is set during Joe [=MacTaggart=]'s election campaign, as he urges the people of Scotland to vote him in as Secretary of State. Unfortunately, the Secretary of State for Scotland is a position in the UK cabinet, appointed by the British Prime Minister. The leader of Scotland's devolved government is called the First Minister, and is indirectly elected by the members of Scotland's devolved Parliament. (In the comics, he was just an MP, although tipped to rise in government.)

* Played for laughs in ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls''. Quentin Trembly, the 8th-and-a-half President of the United States, is said to have declared war on pancakes and appointed 4 babies to the Supreme Court[[note]]ironically, there aren't any official [[https://www.supremecourt.gov/about/faq_general.aspx#:~:text=The%20Constitution%20does%20not%20specify,been%20trained%20in%20the%20law requirements]] to be a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States so appointing a baby is theoretically perfectly legal, though they still need to be confirmed by the Senate, unless they were recess appointments, but even then the appointments would expire at the end of the next session of congress if not confirmed[[/note]]. Although it's stated that he was taken out of office due to this (among other things), the fact that he was actually able to implement them in the first place would be impossible. [[spoiler:When "awakened" in the present day, he uses the fact he never technically resigned / got formally removed to force the police to stand down by drawing on his authority; in practice and theory, he would have stopped being president anyway when his term reached its limit and the next election rolled around. This second one is a lot easier to swallow, because the police in the town are rather stupid and forgot that.]]

* InUniverse in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', Zoidberg's washed up actor uncle Howard Zoid tries to make a comeback as a writer and director with a political drama set in the White House. The main characters are the President and Vice-President, who are also father and son. That's technically legal, a presidential candidate can choose whoever they want as a running mate; contrary to popular belief there's no law banning spouses or family members or requiring the VP candidate to be from another state, that's just long-standing convention. However, it's hard to imagine any party allowing that, particularly as the VP's main role is to "balance the ticket" and appeal to a wing of the party or constituency that the President doesn't.

* Played for laughs in ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls''. Quentin Trembly, the 8th-and-a-half President of the United States, is said to have declared war on pancakes and appointed 4 babies to the Supreme Court[[note]]ironically, there aren't any official [[https://www.supremecourt.gov/about/faq_general.aspx#:~:text=The%20Constitution%20does%20not%20specify,been%20trained%20in%20the%20law requirements]] to be a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States so appointing a baby is theoretically perfectly legal[[/note]]. Although it's stated that he was taken out of office due to this (among other things), the fact that he was actually able to implement them in the first place would be impossible. [[spoiler:When "awakened" in the present day, he uses the fact he never technically resigned / got formally removed to force the police to stand down by drawing on his authority; in practice and theory, he would have stopped being president anyway when his term reached its limit and the next election rolled around. This second one is a lot easier to swallow, because the police in the town are rather stupid and forgot that.]]

* EasilyElected: A character manages to get into a leadership position without fulfilling the basic qualifications and/or the due process typically required to take the office.

* OurPresidentsAreDifferent: TruthInTelevision. The power of the president can vary a lot from country to country, from almost dictatorial powers to just a ceremonial post. Though rarely will the president be fighting directly in the front lines.

* Played for laughs in ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls''. Quentin Trembly, the 8th-and-a-half President of the United States, is said to have declared war on pancakes and appointed 4 babies to the Supreme Court. Although it's stated that he was taken out of office due to this (among other things), the fact that he was actually able to implement them in the first place would be impossible.
** Ironically there aren't any official [[https://www.supremecourt.gov/about/faq_general.aspx#:~:text=The%20Constitution%20does%20not%20specify,been%20trained%20in%20the%20law requirements]] to be a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States so appointing a baby is theoretically perfectly legal.

* The ''WesternAnimation/XMenTheAnimatedSeries'' two-parter "Proteus" is set during Joe [=MacTaggart=]'s election campaign, as he urges the people of Scotland to vote him in as Secretary of State. Unfortunately, the Secretary of State for Scotland is a position in the UK cabinet, appointed by the British Prime Minister. (In the comics, he was just an MP, although tipped to rise in government.)

*** The Slitheens' plan involves an obscure backbench MP who chairs a minor parliamentary commission (actually their leader, who has [[KillAndReplace Killed and Replaced]] the real MP) becoming acting Prime Minister because the entire Cabinet is stranded outside London. There is no official line of succession to the post of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and there is no such post as acting Prime Minister; in a situation where the entire cabinet was unable to be contacted, it is more likely the civil service would temporarily take control.

** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E4AliensOfLondon Aliens of London]]", the Slitheens' plan involves an obscure backbench MP who chairs a minor parliamentary commission (actually their leader, who has [[KillAndReplace Killed and Replaced]] the real MP) becoming acting Prime Minister because the entire Cabinet is stranded outside London. There is no official line of succession to the post of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and there is no such post as acting Prime Minister; in a situation where the entire cabinet was unable to be contacted, it is more likely the civil service would temporarily take control.

* The entire premise of ''ComicBook/CivilWar'' hinges on the notion that the United States Congress managed to pass a SuperRegistrationAct with bipartisan support within weeks of the Stamford Incident. Even under normal circumstances, the idea of passing such large-scale legislation in a matter of weeks is unthinkable. What's more, this was back during the 109th United States Congress (2005-2006), one of the most notoriously dysfunctional sessions in recent American history.

Regardless of the [[AcceptablePoliticalTargets stereotypes attached to it]], at the end of the day, politics is a job. And a boring one at that (how many of you watch the local legislative channel?). Some legislations might have the [[BloodOnTheDebateFloor occasional fight]] from time to time, but for the most part it's just a bunch of people talking about boring things following rules that may take years to fully understand.

** The Underwoods' proposed gun bill would be considered quite redundant. All of the provisions of the bill already exist. There are no internet sales or vendor sales at gun shows without a background check. And some states allow individuals to sell to individuals without a background check and these can take place at a gun show or a parking lot.

** Smith is able to sustain his filibuster by reading the entire United States Constitution. In reality, the Constitution (particularly around 1939) is not long enough to sustain 24 hours worth of reading.

** After winning the war, the US ratifies Vietnam into the 51st American state. It's more likely that, had the US annexed Vietnam, that it would have become a territory like Guam or Puerto Rico, rather than a state. In the real world there has been significant opposition to making US territories into states, most notably by conservatives who argue that the regions' more liberal bents would give more Congressional votes to the left, something Nixon, a right-wing Republican President, would not want.