Ron Headrest


Ron Headrest is a fictional character in the comic strip Doonesbury.
During the 1980s, Garry Trudeau thought it would be fun to do a political parody of the television program Max Headroom. He combined the concept with then-president Ronald Reagan, to produce Ron Headrest, the world's first electronically simulated politician.
The idea was that Ron had been created to serve as a backup president during the long periods Reagan spent on vacation. He appeared as a stylized version of Reagan’s head and shoulders on a television screen, complete with sunglasses. Because he was electronic, he would have no memory troubles, and his sense of humor and attitude were designed to appeal to young voters.
It ends up being a disaster: Headrest is stuttering and incompetent, and openly mocks the administration he is designed to serve, and causes nothing but trouble. During the first week of his appearance he flashes the White House's phone number on his screen and tells children to call if they wanted "rock-solid information on safe sex.". Headrest also seeks the 1988 Republican Party presidential nomination in his own right, but withdraws from the race, promising to go into reruns instead.
Ron appeared regularly throughout the Reagan and Bush presidencies and then began to show up less frequently. He only appeared a few times during the Clinton administration, and then disappeared entirely. The real Ronald Reagan had retired and left the public view, and Max Headroom's program was long gone, making the character far less topical than he had once been. Although Doonesbury characters rarely disappear, as of 2019, Ron Headrest hasn't been seen since November 6, 1994.