Arnold Schwarzenegger has served as the governor of California for the 38th tenure. However, he wasn't always this politically active.

The Austrian athlete first came to the United States at just 21 years old to pursue his bodybuilding career. Not only did he champion 7 Mr. Olympia titles there, but it was also his first introduction to American politics, as he listened to speeches by Hubert Humphrey and Richard Nixon.

In fact, it was very much in conflict with the environment he grew up in. Speaking with the Nixon Foundation, Schwarzenegger exclaimed, "Socialism was the system that I grew up in. So when Nixon spoke, I felt like 'wow, the government has your back.'"

Having grown up in a country like Austria, with its strong welfare state and social programs, including universal healthcare and unemployment support, Nixon's ideology opened the doors to a world that Schwarzenegger didn't know was possible.

On the contrary, Hubert Humphrey, the then vice-president and Democratic nominee, had the opposite and almost off-putting effect on him. "When Humphrey spoke, it was like I was back in Austria. So this is why I became kind of like a Nixon Republican," he quipped.

The ideas that most resonated with the bodybuilding phenom were freedom and the ability to start businesses without excessive government control. Despite being born in Austria, it was the US that spoke to Schwarzenegger.

Arnold Schwarzenegger and the American Dream

If the American dream had an ambassador, there's no better candidate than Arnold Schwarzenegger. Not only did he clinch the highest honors in bodybuilding, but he has also worked with American politics from the grassroots level.

He was first elected as the 38th governor of California in a recall election in 2003. He then went on to serve another full term, ending in 2011.

Besides politics, he has also started and managed multiple successful ventures, including the Arnold Sports Festival, Oak Productions, and real estate worth upwards of $100 million.

But he didn't have the riches from day 1. He built it brick by brick from the day he first saw Nixon in 1968 and decided, "Yes, I want to become an American. This is the country where I want to stay."

At the heart of this massive empire he has built lies the philosophy of the former President Richard Nixon, and the world of possibilities he opened up for the ambitious Schwarzenegger.

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Written by

Proma Chatterjee

Edited by

Ashvinkumar Patil