Mr. President (board game)

Mr. President is a 3M Bookshelf game that can be played by 2-4 players. It is designed to represent an actual Presidential campaign using data from the 1960s.

Each player chooses a candidate for President. In a four-player game, two people will represent the Republican Party and two people will represent the Democratic Party. Players choose fictional contestants (from the cards provided) and then choose the qualities that they want their player to possess. Votes are earned and banked during game play. At the conclusion of the game, the total number of votes in each state is determined, to see which party obtains the winning number of Electoral College votes.

Mr. President is a highly realistic re-enactment of the campaign events which lead to the election of the President and Vice-President of the United States. The two major political parties choose their candidates from a slate of possible nominees, each of whom possesses varying strengths and weaknesses, as displayed on the cards. In their quest for victory, players feel the same frustrations and make the same decisions that confront actual candidates. Strategies which were intended to sweep a party into office may suddenly require a drastic change of tactics.

Much of the game play includes making decisions about which states to campaign in, how much advertising money to spend in each market area, and how best to invest time and energy.