American actor, filmmaker and musician Clint Eastwood has long shown an interest in politics. He won election as the nonpartisan mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California in April 1986 and in 2001, Governor Gray Davis appointed the Oscar-winner to the California State Park and Recreation Commission."Governor Schwarzenegger Appointments to the State Park and Recreation Commission" – California State Park and Recreation Commission. Retrieved: 2008-05-28. Eastwood endorsed Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election and delivered a prime time address at the 2012 Republican National Convention, where he delivered a speech addressed to an empty chair representing Barack Obama. In 2016, Eastwood did not endorse any candidate while expressing a GOP preference. He announced in February 2020 his endorsement of Democratic candidate Michael Bloomberg in the 2020 presidential election, before Bloomberg suspended his campaign.
Political views
During a screening of his 1992 film Unforgiven at the Cannes Film Festival on May 21, 2017, as part of the film's 25th anniversary, Eastwood decried what he saw as political correctness within society. Recalling the release of Dirty Harry, Eastwood commented, "A lot of people thought [Dirty Harry] was politically incorrect. That was at the beginning of the era that we're in now with political correctness. We are killing ourselves, we've lost our sense of humor. But I thought it was interesting and it was daring."
Eastwood registered as a Republican in order to vote for Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952 and he passively supported Richard Nixon's 1968 and 1972 presidential campaigns. He later condemned Nixon's secret Oval Office tape-recording scheme and also the president's handling of the Vietnam War, calling it "immoral".
Anti-war views Eastwood has expressed disapproval of America's wars in Korea (1950–1953), Vietnam (1964–1975), Afghanistan (2001–2021), and Iraq (2003–2011), believing that the United States should not be overly militaristic or play the role of global policeman.Munn, Clint Eastwood, p. 103.
Furthermore, Eastwood's 2014 movie American Sniper was met with strong criticism claiming that he was "celebrating war, killing and jingoism". David Edelstein of New York Magazine called the film "a Republican platform movie". Eastwood responded by saying such notions represented a "stupid analysis" and that the movie had nothing to do with political parties. He responded to critics of American Sniper by saying his film was "the biggest anti-war statement any film can make", and that the film depicts "the fact of what [war] does to the family and the people who have to go back into civilian life like Chris Kyle did" and "what it (war) does to the people left behind." Eastwood further explained his anti-war stance by saying "I was a child growing up during World War II. That was supposed to be the one to end all wars. And four years later, I was standing at the draft board being drafted during the Korean conflict, and then after that there was Vietnam, and it goes on and on forever . . . I just wonder . . . does this ever stop? And no, it doesn't. So each time we get in these conflicts, it deserves a lot of thought before we go wading in or wading out. Going in or coming out. It needs a better thought process, I think."
Registered Libertarian
He usually describes himself as a libertarian in interviews, and in the spring of 1999, he told Premiere magazine that "I guess I was a social liberal and a fiscal conservative before it became fashionable."Premiere, March 1999 In 2009, Eastwood said that he was now a registered Libertarian.
In 1985, he expressed that he does not align himself strictly with any political ideology, stating: “I guess that’s one thing I’ve always fought against, is being aligned. I think I have different feelings, liberal approaches as to certain things and conservative approaches to other things, and I think that people that are aligned aren’t really much fun. I guess I revere the individual, I guess that’s why I‘ve been attracted to playing individualistic kind of characters on screen.”
He has referred to himself as "...too individualistic to be either right-wing or left-wing," describing himself in 1974 as "a political nothing" and "a moderate" and in 1997 as a "libertarian." 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."Sciabarra, Chris Matthew (2004-01-26) Dirty Harry is a Libertarian , History News Network.
In 1992, Eastwood told writer David Breskin that his political views represented a fusion of Milton Friedman and Noam Chomsky and suggested that they would make for a worthwhile presidential ticket.Breskin, David (1997). Inner Views: Filmmakers in Conversation. New York: Da Capo Press;
At times, he has supported California Democrats, including Senator Dianne Feinstein in 1994, and 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. Later that year, Eastwood offered to film a commercial in support of the embattled governor, 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 expressed disapproval of a reliance on public assistance, feeling that the government should help citizens make something of themselves via education and incentives. He has, however, approved of unemployment insurance, subsidies for homeowners saddled with unaffordable mortgages, environmental conservation, land preservation, alternative energy incentives, and gun control measures such as California's Brady Bill. A longtime, self-described "liberal on civil rights", Eastwood has stated that he has always been pro-choice on abortion. He has endorsed the notion of allowing same-sex couples to marry, "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." He has also contributed to groups supporting the Equal Rights Amendment for women.Schickel, p. 380
Views on gun control Despite being both a gun enthusiast and heavily associated with firearms in his Westerns and police movies, Eastwood has publicly endorsed gun control since at least 1973. In the April 24, 1973, edition of The Washington Post, the star said, "I'm for gun legislation myself. I don't hunt."Tom Shales, "Eastwood's Star: Risen", The Washington Post, April 24, 1973. Two years later, in 1975, Eastwood told People magazine that he favors "gun control to some degree."Faber, Nancy, "Off the Screen: Clint Eastwood Outgrew Pasta Westerns, but is still in the Big Dough", People, June 2, 1975, p. 22. About a year later, Eastwood remarked that "All guns should be registered. I don't think legitimate gun owners would mind that kind of legislation. Right now the furor against a gun law is by gun owners who are overreacting. They're worried that all guns are going to be recalled. It's impossible to take guns out of circulation, and that's why firearms should be registered and mail-order delivery of guns halted."Boris Zmijewsky and Lee Pfeiffer, The Films of Clint Eastwood. New York: Citadel Press. (1993). p. 35.
In 1993, he noted that he "...was always a backer" of the Brady Bill, with its federally mandated waiting period. In 1995, Eastwood questioned the purpose of assault weapons. Larry King, the television host and newspaper columnist, wrote in the May 22, 1995, edition of USA Today that "my interview with Eastwood will air on 'Larry King Weekend' ... I asked him his thoughts on the NRA and gun control and he said that while people think of him as pro-gun, he has always been in favor of controls. 'Why would anyone need or want an assault weapon?' he said."King, Larry (May 22, 1995), "Clint not Exactly Making NRA's Day", USA Today, page 2D.
Views on same-sex relationships In 2013, Eastwood was a signatory to an amicus curiae brief submitted to the Supreme Court in support of same-sex marriage during the Hollingsworth v. Perry case. In an interview with GQ magazine in 2011, Eastwood had criticized 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."
Americans With Disabilities Act The Chicago Tribune reported on protests against the film Million Dollar Baby (whose lead female character becomes physically disabled) in Chicago, Berkeley, and other cities by activists due to Eastwood's having appeared before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee seeking reforms to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) which was described as seeking to "weaken" the ADA. The main changes Eastwood, who had been a defendant in an ADA lawsuit, in which he had largely prevailed, had sought was to give defendants in such cases notice and 90 days to comply. Eastwood expressed concern about legal fees by defendants' lawyers being levied on businesses, especially small businesses. In Eastwood's case, the defendant's counsel sought $577,000 in legal costs.The Good, the Bad and the ADA, cbsnews.com. Accessed June 2, 2024.
Political office and commissions Elected Mayor of Carmel Eastwood made a successful foray into elected politics. He won election as mayor, ousting incumbent mayor Charlotte Townsend in a landslide, in April 1986 of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California (population 4,000), a wealthy small town and artists' community on the Monterey Peninsula. During his single two-year term, Eastwood supported small business interests while advocating environmental protection and constructing a library annex, along with public restrooms, beach walkways, and a tourists' parking lot.Schickel, Clint Eastwood, 412–19 In addition to making overnight campfires illegal on Carmel Beach, he also sought to overturn the "ice cream cone law," an ordinance that restricted the sale of fast-food, including ice cream cones.
He was a spokesman for Take Pride in America, an agency of the United States Department of the Interior which advocates taking responsibility for natural, cultural, and historic resources.
California State Park and Recreation Commission In 2001, he was appointed to the California State Park and Recreation Commission by Governor Gray Davis. He was reappointed in 2004 by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger,Press Release: "Governor Schwarzenegger Announces Appointments to the State Park and Recreation Commission" – Office of the Governor – State of California, March 4, 2004. Retrieved: 2008-05-28. 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 extension of California State Route 241, a toll road that would cut through San Onofre State Beach. 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.