Arnold Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-born, now American citizen and an actor, businessman, former politician, and fitness professional. In the 1980s and 90s Arnold became the world’s number one box office draw by starring in action movies like The Terminator, Predator, Commando, Total Recall, Conan the Barbarian, Twins, Kindergarten Cop and True Lies.
In 2003 Schwarzenegger put on hold his Hollywood career to run for the office of Governor of California. He won in a special recall election that fall, and then successfully ran for a second term in 2006. Schwarzenegger chose to not run for a third term and resumed his acting career in 2011.
Born on July 30, 1947 in Thal, Austria, Arnold’s zodiac sign is Leo. His middle name is Alois.
Arnold Schwarzenegger is a Republican and has been since his early days of coming to America.
“I remember I arrived here with empty pockets but full of dreams, full of determination, full of desire,” Schwarzenegger told the crowd at the Republican National Convention in 2004. “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 [Richard] 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.” (1)
From 1990 to 1993, Arnold accepted an invitation from President George H.W. Bush to act as the chairman on the President’s Council for Fitness and Sports. He then went on to serve as the Chariman on California’s Governor Council for Physical Fitness and Sports.
When he ran for the office of Governor of California, Schwarzenegger chose to do so as a Republican.
Schwarzenegger did not vote for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in the 2016 election. “As proud as I am to label myself a Republican, there is one label that I hold above all else – American,” Schwarzenegger said in a statement made a few weeks before the election. “So I want to take a moment today to remind my fellow Republicans that it is not only acceptable to choose your country over your party – it is your duty.” (2)
He is a believer that humans are changing the planet’s temperature, and that more should be done by world governments, including America, to combat it. “We should be fighting climate change right now,” he said in 2015. “It is the issue of our time.” (3)
Arnold is a Roman-Catholic. When he married Maria Shriver, the couple confirmed their vows in a Catholic ceremony. He also attended a Catholic church while married to Shriver.
He rarely speaks about his faith, but has brought it up when the question is connected to public matters. For example, when Schwarzenegger was governor of California, he sided with allowing research into stem cells.
“I am a Catholic and a very dedicated Catholic, but that does not interfere with my decision-making because I know that stem-cell research, the way we are doing it in California … is the right way to go and will save, very quickly down the line, lives and cure a lot of these illnesses,” Arnold said of the controversial medical issue. (4)
Arnold married Maria Shriver, a television journalist and niece of former President John Kennedy, in 1986. They have four children together: Katherine (born 1989), Christina (born 1991), Patrick (born 1993), and Christopher (born 1997).
In May 2011 Schwarzenegger and Shriver separated, with Shriver moving out of the family home. Shortly afterward the press reported that Schwarzenegger had fathered a son with his family’s housekeeper. The child, a boy named Joseph, was born in 1997, five days after Shriver had given birth to the couple’s fourth child.
Shriver and Schwarzenegger’s divorce was made official in 2017.
In 2015 Arnold began dating Heather Milligan, a physical therapist who is 25 years younger than he is. As of 2018 the couple are still together.
Sources
1: CNN
2: People
3: MSNBC
Photo by Mario Pena. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.