Bryan Cranston isn't sure if serving one's country is still the top priority for people seeking the country's most esteemed office. Vanity Fair asked the Emmy-winner for his thoughts on the presidency for a piece celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence's signing.
He was among seven actors who offered their insight, having played real-life or fictional chief executives onscreen. Cranston took on President Lyndon B. Johnson in 2012's Broadway play All the Way and in its 2016 film adaptation.
Cranston on Changing Priorities
Finding parallels between LBJ's era and today, the Breaking Bad star said that politicians have always been interested in 'jockeying for power,' but 'being of service to your country was still the leading principle' in the past. 'That now seems to be a relic from a bygone era,' Cranston, an open critic of President Donald Trump, added.
Claiming that leaders now use the Oval Office as a way to enrich themselves, he wrote, 'The presidency has become a position akin to a CEO of a major, for-profit corporation, a privileged opportunity for a clever person to reap a windfall of financial reward—after they leave the presidency.'
Financial Disclosures and Conflicts
While Cranston said politicians used to wait until they were out of the White House to capitalize on their power and fame, he went on to say that 'today it's done more blatantly, while the commander in chief is still situated behind the Resolute Desk.' Financial disclosures made public late last month revealed Trump raked in a staggering $2.2 billion in 2025, with a full $1.2 billion coming from his cryptocurrency ventures alone.
Defending his and his family's windfall during a softball interview on CNBC afterward, the president said the impact of his office is so broad that finding a way to avoid any potential conflicts of interest would be impractical if not downright impossible.
Call for Decency and Unity
In Cranston's Vanity Fair piece, he also suggested that today's deeply divided America was due to the disappearance of a 'sense of decency and respect toward others you may disagree with.' Calling Congress 'gridlocked by its own stubborn sense of devotion to its particular party,' Cranston said he hoped all of Washington, D.C., would 'return to the Founding Fathers' original intention' and remember their jobs are to 'be in the service of our country.'
