The American President is a 1995 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Rob Reiner and written by Aaron Sorkin. The film stars Michael Douglas, Annette Bening, Martin Sheen, Michael J. Fox, and Richard Dreyfuss. In the film, President Andrew Shepherd Douglas is a widower who pursues a relationship with environmental lobbyist Sydney Ellen Wade Bening – who has just moved to Washington D.C.