Dennis Haysbert

(Newser) - America may be on the verge of electing its first black president, but pop culture is way ahead of reality. James Earl Jones portrayed the first in The Man (1972), and several have followed. As an entertainment-obsessed nation, asks Slate, might these fictional forebears affect our perception of the real...

(Newser) - Dennis Haysbert likes to believe his portrayal as the first African-American US president on Fox's 24 may have helped pave the way for Barack Obama. "If anything, my portrayal of David Palmer, I think, may have helped open the eyes of the American people," said the 54-year-old actor,...

(Newser) - The United States will have a female president next year—and on Fox, no less. The political thriller "24" will feature Tony Award-winning actress Cherry Jones as President Allison Taylor when the seventh season of Jack Bauer's technological derring-do kicks off in January.