Live From the Oval Office: Presidents on "SNL" Quiz

Answer: Chevy Chase

Chevy Chase debuted his Gerald Ford impression on November 8, 1975. Chase portrayed the 38th President as accident prone, frequently performing a prat fall before declaring "Live from New York, it's Saturday night!"

Chase played Ford in four cold opens during season 1, and twice in season 2 in debate sketches with Dan Aykroyd as Jimmy Carter. Chevy also played future president Ronald Reagan in a cold open (May 8, 1976).

Answer: Dan Aykroyd

Aykroyd played the 39th President 27 times between 1977 and 1979. Aykroyd had a mustache at the time and refused to shave it off. Two of the more memorable sketches with Akroyd as Carter were "Ask President Carter" (1977) which parodied Carter's fireside chat television broadcasts and "The Amazing Colossal President" (also known as "The Pepsi Syndrome") (1979) in which Carter become 100 feet tall after exposure to radiation at Three Mile Island.

Aykroyd also portrayed former president Richard Nixon ten times between 1976 and 1979. In one of his more memorable sketches, Aykroyd depicted a mentally unstable Nixon during the final days of his collapsing presidency. (May 8, 1976)

Other SNL actors to play President Carter include Joe Piscopo (1980-82), Dana Carvey (1988 and 1989), Michael McKean (1994) and Darrell Hammond (2002-2006).

Answer: Phil Hartman

Phil Hartman portrayed Ronald Reagan nine times during his time on "Saturday Night Live". In one of "SNL's" most memorable political sketches, "Ronald Reagan, mastermind" (1986), Phil played Reagan as a genius organizer behind the scenes, organizing a global criminal enterprise, while in front of the press, he is a doddering fool. Hartman is fantastic as Reagan, barking out orders at a lightning pace while threatening to kill Jimmy Stewart (Dana Carvey).

In November 1986, Robin Williams performed a hilarious Reagan who was wired with an earpiece during a press conference, only to have things go haywire. (November 22, 1986)

Other actors to portray Reagan include Charles Rocket (1981), Joe Piscopo (1981-84), Randy Quaid (1985-86) and Harry Shearer (1984).

Answer: Dana Carvey

Dana Carvey mastered George H.W. Bush, ultimately performing the president 39 times. Carvey frequently did the cold open of "SNL" during 41's time in the White House, using catchphrases such as "wouldn't be prudent at this juncture."

One of Carvey's first great Bush impressions was during the "Bush-Dukakis Debate" (1988). Jon Lovitz played Dukakis, while Carvey played a rambling Bush. "I can't believe I'm losing to this guy," says Dukakis at one point.

Other actors to play GHW Bush include Jim Downey (1980) and Fred Armisen (2005).

Answer: Darrell Hammond

Darrell Hammond was the second "SNL" cast member to do Clinton, and performed him 84 times between 1995 and 2009. Phil Hartman did the 42nd President 18 times between 1992 and 1994. One of Phil's more memorable takes on Clinton had him visiting a McDonalds, where he stole food from patrons while discussing policy. (December 5, 1992)

Hammond's most memorable takes on Clinton were during the 1998 impeachment trial, including the immortal line, "I am bulletproof.... next time, you'd better bring kryptonite" after Clinton's Senate acquittal.

Chris Elliott (1994) and Dana Carvey (1996) also performed Clinton in the 1990s, and Beck Bennett played him in 2013.

Answer: Will Ferrell

Will Ferrell mastered the down home goofiness of the 43rd President. One of the first great sketches was the 2000 Gore-Bush debate, in which a robotic Darrell Hammond sparred with Ferrell's Bush. Asked to summarize his campaign in one word, Ferrell's Bush said "Strategery." In 2009, Ferrell performed a one man show on Broadway as Bush called "You're Welcome America."

Ferrell even returned to "SNL" in 2018, stating that Donald Trump had made Bush's time in office look good in comparison, and offering to replace Trump. (January 26, 2018)

Other SNL cast members to play Bush 43 include Chris Parnell (2002-2003), Darrell Hammond (2003), Will Forte (2004-2006) and Jason Sudeikis (2006-2007).

Answer: Jay Pharoah

Jay Pharoah played the 44th President during Obama's second term. Fred Armisen had played Obama during his first term. While Armisen did a good impression of Obama, there was a certain amount of embarrassment for the show in having a white actor play the first African-American president. Pharoah debuted his Obama impression in September 2012.

In an interview, Pharoah said he performed his impression in front of Obama at the White House, and the president approved. Obama appeared as himself during a Halloween party sketch on the November 3, 2007 episode, when the Illinois Senator was still something of a long shot in the presidential race. In 2013 and 2014, host Dwayne Johson played "The Rock" Obama, an Incredible Hulk-like version of the president.

Answer: Alec Baldwin

Alec Baldwin actually won an Emmy Award for his portrayal of Trump during the 2016-17 season of "Saturday Night Live." Baldwin holds the record for most times hosting "SNL". Hilarious moments include Trump's debates with Hillary Clinton (Kate McKinnon) in 2016 and some off the wall cold openings, especially during the Mueller investigation.

Several actors portrayed Trump in the years before Baldwin: Phil Hartman (1988-1994), Darrell Hammond (1998-2016). Taran Killam (2015) and even host John Cena (2016).

Trump actually hosted the show twice, on April 3, 2004 and November 7, 2015 (while he was running for President).

Answer: Jim Carrey

Between October 3 and December 19, 2020, future president Joe Biden was played by Canadian comedian Jim Carrey. Cast member Alex Moffat began playing Biden in December 2020.

The first portrayal of then-Senator Biden on the show was during the 1991 Clarence Thomas Hearings. Kevin Nealon played Biden, who was chair of the Judiciary Committee at the time. Actor Jason Sudekis was Biden on multiple occasions between 2007 and 2020. John Mulaney (2020) and Woody Harrelson (2019) also did turns as Biden.

Answer: Maya Rudolph

Maya Rudolph, who was in the cast of "SNL" from 2000 to 2007, returned to the show to play then presidential candidate Senator Kamala Harris. She appeared as Harris three times in 2019 and came back in 2020 after Joe Biden named Harris as his running mate.

Rudolph appeared five times during the election, including a Vice Presidential debate with Beck Bennett as Mike Pence.