Forest Whitaker as Cecil Gaines

Oprah Winfrey as Gloria Gaines

David Oyelowo as Louis Gaines

John Cusack as Richard Nixon

Jane Fonda as Nancy Reagan

Cuba Gooding Jr. as Carter Wilson

Mariah Carey as Hattie Pearl

Terrence Howard as Howard

Lenny Kravitz as James Holloway

Aml Ameen as Cecil Gaines (15)

Michael Rainey Jr. as Cecil Gaines (8)

James Marsden as John F. Kennedy

Alex Pettyfer as Thomas Westfall

Vanessa Redgrave as Annabeth Westfall

Alan Rickman as Ronald Reagan

Liev Schreiber as Lyndon B. Johnson

Robin Williams as Dwight Eisenhower

Yaya DaCosta as Carol Hammie

David Banner as Earl Gaines

Colman Domingo as Freddie Fallows

Nelsan Ellis as Martin Luther King Jr.

Nealla Gordon as Senator Kassebaum

Elijah Kelley as Charlie Gaines (15-18)

Minka Kelly as Jackie Kennedy

Adriane Lenox as Gina

Mo McRae as Eldridge Huggins

Pernell Walker as Lorraine

Jesse Williams as Rev. James Lawson

Clarence Williams III as Maynard

LaJessie Smith as Abraham

John P. Fertitta as Mr. Jenkins

Jim Gleason as R.D. Warner

Isaac White as Charlie Gaines (10)

Joe Chrest as White Usher

Tyson Ford as Elroy

James DuMont as Sherman Adams

Robert Aberdeen as Herbert Brownell

Olivia Washington as Olivia

Margaret M. Owens as Woolworth Diner Patron #1

Eric Ducote as Woolworth Diner Patron #2

Chloe Barach as Caroline Kennedy

Danny Strong as Freedom Bus Journalist

Clara Hopkins Daniels as Freedom Bus Rider

Dana Gourrier as Helen Holloway

Shirley Pugh as Malcolm X Goer

Bill Newman as Pastor

Colin Walker as John Ehrlichman

Alex Manette as Bob Haldeman

Rusty Robertson as Senator Robertson

Stephen Rider as Admiral Rochon

Tarra Riggs as Sophie Wilson (uncredited)

Xosha Roquemore as Foxy (uncredited)