The Simpsons has always quietly been focused on American democracy, through the same satirical view that often defines the show. The series proved willing to tackle political corruption and ineptitude within the first few seasons, and it has frequently taken aim at both political parties -- particularly the Republican Party.

While the show has thrown plenty of jabs at various politicians at whoever is in the White House at any given time, Homer Simpson actually got into a physical fight with one of them in a memorable episode of the show's Golden Age. What makes this so unique is that it was the culmination of a real life animosity between The Simpsons and the Bush family.

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After three years as a series of shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show, The Simpsons was spun off into its own show in 1989. Quickly exploding in popularity, The Simpsons encountered the first (of many) controversies with its portrayal of Bart as a casually dismissive and disrespectful boy, angering some parenting groups who feared him becoming a role model to younger audiences. One of the most famous people who agreed with this sentiment was George Bush, then-President of the United States. His wife, Barbara, had initially called The show the "dumbest thing she had ever seen," according to the DVD commentary for The Simpsons Complete Fourth Season, prompting the creatives to send her a letter in-character as Marge.

Years later, during a televised speech in 1992, Bush spoke about family values and said that the American family needed to be more like the nine-season-long sitcom The Waltons instead of acting like The Simpsons. In response, The Simpsons added a new opening scene to a rerun of Season 3's "Stark Raving Dad," where they saw Bush's speech -- prompting Bart to say, "hey, we're just like the Waltons. We're praying for an end to The Depression too." Following that, Bill Oakley -- then a writer on The Simpsons -- conceived of an episode that could escalate the feud, and kept onto the idea until he and Josh Weinstein became show runners on the show with Season 7.

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Oakley gave the episode -- eventually titled "Two Bad Neighbors" -- to Ken Keeler, who wrote the script. The episode focused on George and Barbara Bush -- now out of the White House -- deciding to relocate to Springfield. Bart's pranks quickly begin to irk the former President, who ends up spanking the boy out of anger. Furious that Bush acted without his consent, Homer escalates the prank war, eventually leading to a physical confrontation in the sewers underneath Evergreen Terrace. Although the episode wasn't described by the creatives who worked on it as a "political episode" according to the DVD Commentary for the episode, it does follow the show's generally critical view on people of power in US politics.

Bill Clinton and George W. Bush were frequent targets of mockery from the show, with the former being memorably killed in Season 8's "Treehouse of Horror VII" and the latter being hinted to have also come to blows with Homer in Season 17's "Regarding Margie." The show was particularly critical of Donald Trump, with various episodes ripping into his appearance and the various accusations of criminality levied against him. The Simpsons has poked fun at everything in the world, but the fact that it was once used as a metaphor by the President of the United States highlights just how much cultural impact the show has had -- and continues to have to this very day.