
- BGG rank
- BGG #2,011
- BGG rating
- 8.4
Mr. President: The American Presidency, 2001-2020
- 1 player
- 360–600 min
- Complexity 4.3/5
- 2023

2025
Rules assistance for Mr. President: The American Presidency, 2001-2020 – 2nd Edition
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
For 1 player

What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Mr. President: The American Presidency, 2001-2020 – 2nd Edition is a board game released in 2025 for 1 player and 360–600 minutes per game. It was designed by Gene Billingsley and its main mechanics are Dice Rolling, Area Majority / Influence, and Simulation.
What's New in Mr. President, 2nd Edition. First off, several have asked me "Why a 2nd EDITION? Why not just reprint the original game in a 2nd Printing to get it back in stock as quickly as possible?" Well, we considered that, but after looking at the FAQ document, and with tens of thousands of games being played over the past few months and so many players posting their experiences online (thank you, I love to read your Presidential stories!), we have seen some places we can tighten up to help players understand the game better. There are some "balance" issues that I want to address on the design side as well. We are also using this opportunity to address the first edition errata. So, yes, we could have just reprinted. But because we want to make the game the best it can be, we've decided to take the approach of "fix the bugs and also give the players game enhancements," which means we're going to do a full-blown 2nd Edition. This approach means that we are going to have updates to most of the game's manuals, half a dozen cards, and a few counters. Those will all be folded into the 2nd Edition. For you 1st Edition owners, we are also offering what is going to be one behemoth of an Update Kit. The new 2nd Edition will include changes/upgrades to the following items: 6 cards 16 counters (duplicates of those in the 2023 Replacement Countersheet—note that four of these are very minor errata; the other 12 are helpful reminder counters) 4 double-sided Action Cards (Domestic, Diplomatic, Military, Presidential) Booklets: Scenario Booklet ~36 pages World Peer China ~12 pages World Peer Russia ~12 pages Ally/Rogue State ~12 pages World Charts ~32 pages Governing Manual ~52 pages Domestic Charts ~20 pages Flipbook ~28 pages Briefing Booklet ~20-24 pages. That's most of the Booklets and PACs in the game! As I noted above, some of this is to accommodate errata and clearer wording from the FAQ, but it will also include numerous game enhancements to make the game more challenging (especially in years 3 and following) and to add features, importance, and more difficult choices to areas like: Ally Relationships/Actions Strategic Capabilities Combat (Counterattacks, Carrier Support and Combat DRMs based on Strategic Capabilities, Heavy units less useful in Guerrilla War) Iran at War (including a new Action Table) Cascading Events (January Surprise) Mr. President is a solitaire game about governing as the President of the United States in the early 21st century. It's not an election game. It begins after you've been elected. It's about sitting in The Chair and trying to advance your agenda while navigating ongoing crises, political enemies, public opinion, your relations with Congress and the press, and keeping your country secure in a world of rival nations and agendas that just seems to keep blowing up around you. Mr. President is a resource management game where you never have enough resources to achieve your entire agenda and the path you take through an always unpredictable storyline rests on the choices you make. Depending on the results of those choices, and on the unfolding of a "different every game" story, you'll either be thinking "POTUS? Piece of Cake!" or "Why was it that I WANTED this job?" many times in each game.
Mr. President: The American Presidency, 2001-2020 – 2nd Edition supports 1 player according to the catalogue. This is the publisher’s listed player count, so the game is designed for exactly that number of participants. Variants for other group sizes, if any, are described in the rulebook of your edition, so check it before setting up a different configuration.
The listed playing time for Mr. President: The American Presidency, 2001-2020 – 2nd Edition is 360–600 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
Mr. President: The American Presidency, 2001-2020 – 2nd Edition has a complexity rating of 4.0 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a heavy game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Mr. President: The American Presidency, 2001-2020 – 2nd Edition belongs to these categories: Wargame, Political, and Modern Warfare. Its main mechanics are Dice Rolling, Area Majority / Influence, and Simulation. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Mr. President: The American Presidency, 2001-2020 – 2nd Edition are: Gene Billingsley. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Mr. President: The American Presidency, 2001-2020 – 2nd Edition as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.