Impersonating the President

John Morgan leads a famous lifestyle, brushing shoulders with celebrities and performing for audiences of thousands impersonating President George W. Bush. Dressed as President Bush, John sat down to tell us how God led him and his wife Kathy from his parent’s appliance shop into a life of show-biz. In the words of John Morgan: “My wife and I were helping set up an appearance for George W in Orlando. And one of his full-time staffers was the very first one person to say, ‘Hey you look like W,’ and I’m like, ya know, W, yeah,” John said, in impersonation character, “W - by the way did you know ‘D’ is my favorite letter because it is the first letter in, ‘DW.’ “Once his face (meaning President George Bush) became more a household face, so to speak, I started to hear those comments all over the place: at drive in windows, bank tellers, and just in the grocery store, ya know. People would actually come and tap me on the shoulder, ya know, and say, ‘did anyone ever tell you that you looked’ - like they wanted to be the first one, ya know, to let me know.” According to his family, John was a born entertainer and had a knack for making people laugh, but doing impersonations seemed too far fetched. “I wanted to say forget it, don’t even think about it; but there was this little nagging thought that what if this is the train? What if this is God and you don’t get on it? I thought, wow; all right, I’ve got to look into it. And to my complete and total shock and surprise it was exactly what God had in store for me. I just jumped into it with both feet; I began to study, videotapes, anything I could get my hands on George Bush. I thought if I’m going to do this I’m going to do it all the way.” John even recruited his wife as a Laura Bush look-alike so the family, which now includes four children, could travel together. John says sometimes he gets confused about who he is at that moment. “Happens all the time, if I’m at an event where I need to be in character for the job, like a trade show or something, for several hours or even all day, I would have had to physically tell myself, 'ok, stop doing George Bush, yeah,” (he couldn’t resist ending with the impersonation one more time). John met the real President Bush just once. “I was just there at the event. At the end I got in the line to greet him and when I shook his hand I said, ‘Mr. President it’s an honor to be your look-a-like.’ And he just looked at me and said (impersonating Bush), ‘Well, I feel sorry for you.” But John’s life hasn’t always been so glamorous. “I was raised in a religious, as opposed to Christian upbringing, and I forsook that for drugs, sex and rock-n-roll back in the early 70’s, and that left me really empty.” “It got to the point where I would have called myself a sex addict, and I was doing all kinds of drugs, and partying; I was just running head long for a good time. But in the quiet moments I really hated myself; I loathed myself because I felt as though I was living a double life. Thirty-five years ago John’s friends drug him into church. “At the end of the sermon I was surprised to see that my heart had changed and I went forward and gave my life to Christ. And it was like someone had come and turned a light on that had never been on in my life. I was suddenly aware of God’s presence; He became real to me.” With every performance, John takes advantage of the opportunity to share Christ’s love. “The impersonation is so fascinating to people that they want to hear what I have to say - tremendous door opener. I’ve got volunteer secret service and right before I go on I’ll say, ‘you guys mind if we just say a little prayer?’ Usually, we’ve been joking around, but they’re total strangers and that’s a way to let them see, oh here is a man that’s faith is a part of his everyday life.” “Ya know, what I am trying to learn to do is live authentically, which is a little weird for an impersonator. But I want to live my faith 24/7, all day long and not segregate it to only the four walls of the church. Ya know, and how that affects people, I guess that’s what the Bible calls being salt.” John likens his study and impersonation of President Bush to how Christians should study and imitate the actions of Christ in our daily lives. “I certainly have as an imitator. I study a person and then try to incorporate their mannerisms into my outward appearance. As believers, we study a man, our God, our Savior, and we try to incorporate his behaviors into our own. Each one of us, we are called to be, ah imitators, it’s a command, be imitators of God as beloved children, Ephesians 5:1. How? Live a life of love, just as Christ loved us, there’s your model.”