THE MEANING OF ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER:
The platform for Schwarzenegger’s final act was set when he wed Maria Shriver, an accomplished journalist and a member of the formidable Kennedy clan. His acceptance by the Kennedy family gave him a leg up in terms of pursuing a political career, but he would need to pick his opportunities carefully. Recognizing the baggage he carried from a host of past sexual indiscretions, which he openly acknowledges in the documentary, Schwarzenegger, in his words, recognized the need for a European-style “short election” to secure a higher office.
When the opportunity arose in 2003 with the recall of unpopular California Gov. Gray Davis, a Democrat, the Republican-aligned Schwarzenegger seized it. The structure of the recall, comprising a yes-or-no question about the recall and another to choose a successor, was an ideal springboard for a renowned yet politically untried entity like Schwarzenegger. Despite a late-breaking scandal involving several women he had inappropriately touched, Schwarzenegger, who quickly if vaguely apologized for these misdeeds, managed to capture nearly half the vote against a multitude of opponents.
While the documentary sees Schwarzenegger attributing his Republican leanings to Ronald Reagan, in his autobiography, he references the 1968 presidential campaign that was unfolding when he arrived in the U.S. He felt Hubert Humphrey echoed the sentiments of big-government Austrian politicians, while Richard Nixon advocated free enterprise and tax cuts. Combined with a strong anti-communism sentiment, instilled in him by his proximity to communist Hungary during his formative years, these elements shaped Schwarzenegger’s minimalist political philosophy. The rest of it could be characterized as mere “will to power.” Schwarzenegger quotes Nietzsche approvingly in the documentary. In perhaps the most honest moment of the entire film, Schwarzenegger candidly explains how he exploited the artifice of politics: “Sometimes you make a deal behind the scenes, and then you go out and attack each other in front of the press. … It’s bulls***, right? But that’s politics.”
It certainly was “bulls***:”
Everything about America seemed so big to me, so open, so possible.
I finally arrived here in 1968. What a special day it was. I remember I arrived here with empty pockets but full of dreams, full of determination, full of desire.
The presidential campaign was in full swing. I remember watching the Nixon-Humphrey presidential race on TV. A friend of mine who spoke German and English translated for me. I heard Humphrey saying things that sounded like socialism, which I had just left.
But then I heard Nixon speak. Then I heard Nixon speak. He was talking about free enterprise, getting the government off your back, lowering the taxes and strengthening the military.
Listening to Nixon speak sounded more like a breath of fresh air.
I said to my friend, I said, “What party is he?”
My friend said, “He’s a Republican.”
I said, “Then I am a Republican.”
And I have been a Republican ever since. And trust me — and trust me — in my wife’s family, that’s no small achievement.
But I am proud to be with the party of Abraham Lincoln, the party of Teddy Roosevelt, the party of Ronald Reagan, and the party of George W. Bush.
—Excerpt from then Gov. Schwarzenegger’s speech at the 2004 Republican Convention.
I’m so old, I remember when Schwarzenegger’s critics accused him of not being a very good actor.
And from 2021: Schwarzenegger to anti-maskers: ‘Screw your freedom.’
To paraphrase Mark Steyn, you can take the man out of Austria, but you can’t take the Austria out of the man.