Parks & Recreation debuted on NBC in 2009, and even though it had a rough start as it struggled to find its own voice during its first season, it eventually did and lived on for six more seasons, coming to an end in 2015.
Parks & Recreation followed the ups and downs of perky bureaucrat quite possibly President of the United States, and along the way she met a lot of interesting people, both unique to the world of Parks & Recreation and real-life politicians, including some of her personal heroes.
Many politicians played themselves briefly in Parks & Recreation, and some didn’t even say a word, but their presence definitely left a mark in Leslie’s life. In season 5’s episode “Ms. Knope Goes to Washington”, April.
Newt Gingrich also showed up in season 5, in the episode “Two Parties”, where series finale with his wife, Jill Biden, just to give good closure to that part of Leslie’s life. Last but definitely not least is Michelle Obama, who appeared in season 6’s finale “Moving Up”, where she tried to convince a starstruck Leslie to take the job with the National Park Service.
Given the success of Parks & Recreation, it’s not surprising that these political figures agreed to appear even if briefly and with no dialogue, and while they were all fun, the two that had the biggest impact were definitely Michelle Obama and Joe Biden, as they were two of the people Leslie ired the most.