Kisses for My President

The United States elects its first female president, Leslie Harrison McCloud, and she and her husband Thad move into the White House with their daughter Gloria and son Peter. The new presidency marks a historic moment, but Leslie immediately faces a demanding schedule and formidable opposition. The family begins the strange new life of the executive mansion.

Leslie is too busy with national affairs to spend time with Thad and the children. Senator Walsh and a Central American dictator, Valdez, emerge as powerful antagonists who threaten her ability to govern. The presidency quickly becomes a pressure cooker that tests the family’s unity.

Thad struggles to find meaning as the president's husband, growing frustrated with his own role and his feminine-style spaces inside the White House. He searches for tasks and respect beyond ceremonial duties. This personal dissatisfaction fuels subplots about loyalty and envy within the administration.

Doris Reid Weaver, Thad's former flame and Leslie's Radcliffe classmate, makes a seductive visit and offers him a powerful post as vice president of her cosmetics company. The offer hints at backroom deals and potential corruption. Leslie's instincts tingle as she suspects there is more to the encounter than a mere business tie.

Leslie discovers the perfume on Thad after the Doris encounter and confronts him about infidelity and loyalty. The confrontation strains their relationship and public perception of the first couple. The incident foreshadows the political risk of personal indiscretion within the presidency.

Leslie asks Thad to escort visiting dictator Valdez around Washington, but the engagement erupts into a diplomatic fiasco. Thad ends up brawling with a male diner at a burlesque show and accidentally hits Valdez, creating an international incident. The incident underscores the volatile mix of personal missteps and foreign policy pressure.

Gloria, the president's daughter, roams the capital with an unsuitable boyfriend and uses her position to evade law enforcement. Her antics threaten to embarrass the administration and complicate the president's public image. The family dynamic becomes a media spectacle amid political turmoil.

Peter employs his Secret Service protection to bully students and even the principal, revealing a troubling power dynamic in the White House orbit. The behavior creates tension within the school and draws attention to the dangers of unchecked authority. The administration is forced to confront how to discipline the president's family without appearing weak.

Thad uncovers that Senator Walsh supports the dictator Valdez for reasons not rooted in patriotism, linking Walsh to Valdez's legal troubles funded by his old law firm. The Soviets are revealed to be co-funding Valdez to influence policy. When Leslie withdraws support from Valdez, the Soviet backing dries up, altering the political landscape.

Leslie discovers she is pregnant and makes the decision to resign the presidency to devote herself to her family. The move redefines the trajectory of the administration and validates the personal over political priorities. Thad privately frames the change with a biting remark about gender and power.

Thad jokes that 40 million women voters brought Leslie into office, but only a single man could remove her. The remark crystallizes the gendered dynamics of their relationship and the politics they navigated. The line serves as a darkly comic coda to the presidency's collapse due to personal and political conflicts.

Leslie steps away from the presidency to focus on her family, leaving Thad to navigate the new balance of power. The administration's legacy is reframed as a story about personal sacrifice, ambition, and the limits of female leadership in a male-dominated political arena. The film closes with the family adjusting to a quieter life away from the glare of national politics.