The X-Presidents The X-Presidents The X-Presidents is an NBC/"Saturday Night Live" "Saturday TV Funhouse" cartoon created by Robert Smigel and animated by J. J. Sedelmaier Productions. This cartoon features the living former American Presidents at the time: Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and George H.W. Bush (all voiced by Jim Morris) as a superhero team. This recurring sketch debuted on January 11, 1997. The four former leaders were endowed with superpowers when struck by lightning at a celebrity golf tournament. The title is a play on words, both referencing that the members are "ex-"Presidents, and alluding to the Marvel Comics franchise,
Historical rankings of presidents of the United States former director of the University of Maryland's African American Leadership Institute, stated that Presidents ranked by how each one balanced the interests of majority interests and the interests of excluded groups was practical in respect to American debate on racial politics. Presidents have traditionally been ranked on personal qualities and their leadership ability to solve problems that move the nation in a positive direction. Walters stated there was a qualitative difference between white and African American intellectuals in evaluating presidents. In the 1996 "New York Times" poll by Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., 31 white historians and one black historian ranked