Americans have a surprising take on who they believe best represents the US today as the country celebrates its 250th birthday. 

According to the latest exclusive Daily Mail/JL Partners survey, the majority of voters believe that the person who best embodies the core values and principles of America is not President Donald Trump, nor is it ex-President Barack Obama.

It is, in fact, movie star Tom Hanks who most Americans want to see as the face of the country, according to the poll.

Known for his various roles that range from prison guard to pull-string cowboy doll, the 69-year-old award-winning actor's versatility and charisma have made him one of the most popular and recognizable people in cinema.

With a range of comedic and dramatic roles that often embody the 'everyman', Hanks' success is built on a foundation of being able to connect and relate to diverse audiences.

According to the poll, conducted in June, his influence extends past the film world.

Generally, Hanks has publicly aligned with Democratic Party candidates and beliefs and has openly made comments against the Trump administration.

In 2016, on live television, Hanks referred to Trump as a 'simplistic, self-involved, gasbag of a candidate,' and has since continued to make public criticisms on his policies.

'With the administration, the way it's been, I'm not sure the man took his oath seriously to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States,' he said in a 2022 interview with Graham Bensinger.

However, Hanks is also known to poke fun at both Republicans and Democrats. 

Recently, during a live interview with MS NOW at the Obama Presidential Center’s dedication ceremony, Hanks teased the left-leaning network about their declining viewership, indicating they only had 800 viewers in a playful back-and-forth. 

Hanks has repeatedly advocated for ideals that many Americans can agree on, regardless of political standing.

'I think the United States of America is the promised land, the closest the world has ever gotten to a true promised land.'

He has often made generous gestures through America's second-most popular beverage, coffee, such as his 'Hanks for Our Troops' coffee brand, which donates all profits to organizations serving the military, as well as a tradition of sending the White House press corps expensive espresso machines.

In his 2017 donation, it came with a note saying, 'Keep up the good fight for Truth, Justice, and the American Way. Especially for the Truth part.'

In a press release from June 2025, West Point Association of Graduates board member Robert McDonald said, 'Tom Hanks has done more for the positive portrayal of the American service member, more for the caring of the American veteran, their caregivers and their family, and more for the American space program and all branches of government than many other Americans.'

Hanks has often gone on record questioning what it means to be an American and often boils it down to the Constitution's opening line: 'We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union.'

Throughout the country's various missteps and changes Hanks stated in a 2024 interview with CNN that over the long term 'we inevitably made progress towards, I think, that more perfect union.'

In June, Hanks indicated in a press conference with the Atlantic that he still holds this as his guide.

'We are still, individually, choosing to work on the forming of a more perfect union.'

Some other notable mentions in the poll about who voters want to be the face of America are Taylor Swift, Dolly Parton, Clint Eastwood, and Bruce Springsteen.

Obama and Trump were also mentioned frequently.