American Political films

WASHINGTON – Election Day is just four days away. And while “The West Wing” (1999- 2006) is the undisputed champ of political television, the silver screen is a much harder call.

What is the greatest American political movie of all time?

I suppose you could argue that all films are political in that they each project a certain world view, whether it’s “Ben-Hur” (1959), “To Kill a Mockingbird” (1962) or “Philadelphia” (1993).

Our mission is to count down the best movies about the American political system itself. Thus films must meet several criteria:

1. This list only includes fiction films, not documentaries. No Ken Burns, Michael Moore or John Sullivan.
2. This list only includes American movies, as this list is gearing up for the U.S. presidential elections. No masterpieces about foreign politics, from “Z” (1969)” to “Downfall” (2004).
3. This list doesn’t include CIA films of the Tom Clancy ilk, meaning no “Patriot Games, ” “The Bourne Identity” or “Argo.”
4. These are only films where the main focus is politics. No masterpieces where politics appears in just several scenes, like “The Godfather” (1972), which delivers cinema’s best quote on politics as Diane Keaton says, “Do you know how naive you sound, Michael? Presidents and senators don’t have men killed, ” to which Al Pacino responds, “Oh? Who’s being naive, Kay?”