Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (30 July 1947-) was Governor of California (R) from 17 November 2003 to 3 January 2011, succeeding Gray Davis and preceding Jerry Brown. The Austrian-born Schwarzenegger was a famous professional bodybuilder, actor, producer, businessman, investor, author, and philanthropist before entering politics, and he was nicknamed "the Governator", a reference to his famous title role in The Terminator film franchise.
Biography[]
Arnold Schwarzenegger was born in Thal, Styria, Austria on 30 July 1947, and he began weight training at the age of 15. He won the Mr. Universe title at age 20 and went on to win the Mr. Olympia contest seven times, becoming one of the world's most famous professional bodybuilders, as well as the sport's most charismatic ambassador and a successful author. In 1968, he moved to the United States, and he trained at Gold's Gym in Venice, Los Angeles, California.
He became a Republican after hearing the 1968 presidential debates between Republican Richard Nixon and Democrat Hubert Humphrey; he supported Nixon's views on limited government, lower taxes, and a stronger military. Schwarzenegger gained worldwide fame as a Hollywood action movie icon, making his breakthrough when he starred in Conan the Barbarian in 1982. He also appeared in the Terminator series, Commando (1985), The Running Man (1987), Predator (1987), Twins (1988), Total Recall (1990), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Last Action Hero (1993), True Lies (1994), and Jingle All the Way (1996).
In 2003, Schwarzenegger decided to enter politics by running as the Republican gubernatorial candidate during the recall election against Governor Gray Davis. Schwarzenegger was already widely known, and he married the daughter of Sargent Shriver and Eunice Kennedy, becoming a member of the Kennedy family through marriage.
From 2003 to 2011, he served as Governor of California, and he built a reputation for himself as a political moderate. He also refused to accept a political salary, as he was already wealthy from his acting and business careers, and he signed the nation's first cap on greenhouse gas emissions.
He left office in 2011, and he returned to his acting career, while also being an activist and businessman. Schwarzenegger criticized Donald Trump both during and after the 2016 presidential election, especially his anti-immigrant rhetoric, which Schwarzenegger took personally as an immigrant himself. In October 2020, he offered to spend millions of his own dollars to keep polling places open amid the COVID-19 pandemic and ahead of the 2020 presidential election.