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Actor and director Clint Eastwood has long shown an interest in politics. He was elected mayor in April 1986 of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California and in 2001, he was appointed to the California State Park and Recreation Commission by Governor Gray Davis.[1]
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Eastwood registered as a Republican in order to vote for Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952 and he supported Richard Nixon's 1968 and 1972 presidential campaigns. He later criticized Nixon's handling of the Vietnam War and his morality during Watergate.[2][3] He usually describes himself as a libertarian in interviews, fiscally conservative yet socially liberal.[4] He told USA Weekend in 2004, "I don't see myself as conservative, but I'm not ultra-leftist. ... I like the libertarian view, which is to leave everyone alone. Even as a kid, I was annoyed by people who wanted to tell everyone how to live."[5]
At times, he has supported Democrats in California, such as the liberal and environmentally concerned Representative Sam Farr in 2002. Eastwood contributed $1,000 to Farr's successful re-election campaign that year and on May 23, 2003, he hosted a $5,000-per-ticket fundraiser for California's Democratic governor, Gray Davis.[6] Later that year, Eastwood offered to film a commercial in support of the embattled governor,[7] and in 2001, the star visited Davis' office to support an alternative energy bill written by another Democrat, California State Assemblyman Fred Keeley.
In general, Eastwood has favored less governmental interference in both the private economy and the private lives of individuals. He has disapproved of a reliance on welfare, feeling that the government should help citizens make something of themselves via education and incentives. He has, however, approved of unemployment insurance, bail-outs for homeowners saddled with unaffordable mortgages, a continued American automobile industry, electric and hybrid cars, environmental conservation, land preservation, alternative energy, and gun control measures such as California's Brady Bill. A longtime liberal on civil rights, Eastwood has stated that he has always been pro-choice on abortion.[8] He has endorsed the notion of allowing gays to marry,[9]("From a libertarian point of view, you would say, 'Yeah? So what?' You have to believe in total equality. People should be able to be what they want to be and do what they want – as long as they're not harming people.")[5] and he contributed to groups supporting the Equal Rights Amendment for women.[10] In an interview with GQ magazine, Eastwood criticised the Republican Party for its stance on gay marriage, saying "These people who are making a big deal out of gay marriage? I don’t give a fuck about who wants to get married to anybody else! Why not?! We’re making a big deal out of things we shouldn’t be making a deal out of. They go on and on with all this bullshit about ‘sanctity’ — don’t give me that sanctity crap! Just give everybody the chance to have the life they want."[9]
Eastwood disapproved of America's wars in Korea (1950–1953), Vietnam (1964–1973), and Iraq (2003–present), believing that the United States should not be overly militaristic or play the role of global policeman. He considers himself too individualistic to be either right-wing or left-wing, and has described himself as a "political nothing" and a "moderate".[3]
During the 2008 United States Presidential Election, Eastwood endorsed John McCain for President; he has known McCain since 1973.[11] Upon the election of Barack Obama, Eastwood stated "Obama is my president now and I am going to be wishing him the very best because it is what is best for all of us."[12]
In August 2010, Eastwood wrote to the Chancellor of the Exchequer of the United Kingdom, George Osborne, to protest the decision to close the UK Film Council. Malpaso received from the Council when filming Hereafter in London. Eastwood warned that the closure could result in fewer foreign production companies choosing to work in the UK.[13][14]
Eastwood made a successful foray into elected politics. He was elected mayor in April 1986 of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California (population 4,000), a wealthy small town and artist community on the Monterey Peninsula. He served one term.[15] A focal point of Eastwood's campaign was to overturn a law that banned eating ice cream in public.[16][17] When Eastwood was elected, President Ronald Reagan phoned and asked, "What's an actor who once appeared with a monkey in a movie doing in politics?", referring to Eastwood's role in Every Which Way But Loose and Reagan's Bedtime for Bonzo.[15] During Eastwood's tenure, he completed Heartbreak Ridge and Bird.
In 2001, he was appointed to the California State Park and Recreation Commission by Governor Gray Davis.[1] He was reappointed in 2004 by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger,[18] whom he supported in the elections of 2003 and 2006 (although Eastwood disapproved of the recall of Davis in 2003).
Eastwood, the vice chairman of the commission, and commission chairman, Bobby Shriver, Schwarzenegger's brother-in-law, led a California State Park and Recreation Commission panel in its unanimous opposition in 2005 to a six-lane 16-mile (26 km) extension of California State Route 241, a toll road that would cut through San Onofre State Beach, one of Southern California's most cherished surfing beaches. Eastwood and Shriver supported a 2006 lawsuit to block the toll road and urged the California Coastal Commission to reject the project, which it did, in February 2008.[19]
When Eastwood and Shriver were not reappointed to the commission in March 2008 when their terms expired,[19] the Natural Resources Defense Council (NDRC) asked for a legislative investigation into the decision.[20] According to the NRDC and The New Republic, Eastwood and Shriver were not reappointed because they had opposed the extension of California State Route 241 that would cut through the San Onofre State Beach.[21][22] The extension was supported by Governor Schwarzenegger.[21][22] Schwarzenegger's press release appointing Alice Huffman and Lindy DeKoven to replace Eastwood and Shriver gave no reason for the change.[23][24]
Governor Schwarzenegger appointed Eastwood (along with actor and director Danny DeVito, actor and director Bill Duke, producer Tom Werner, and producer and director Lili Zanuck) to the California Film Commission in April 2004.[25]