Can Arnold Schwarzenegger Be President?
In addition to being one of the biggest action stars of all time, Arnold Schwarzenegger had a pretty impressive political career. He was the Governor of California from 2003 to 2011, but could serving in the White House be in the cards for the Terminator star?
Arnold Schwarzenegger can’t be president of the United States. He’s not eligible to run for the highest position in the country, because he was born in Austria and isn’t a natural-born citizen of the US.
Stick around to learn more about Schwarzenegger’s lack of eligibility for this position, and if he would even consider running for president if it was possible.
Not Born to Run
According to the United States Constitution, only natural-born citizens are eligible to the office of the president.
This is one of the main requirements for running for this position, and its main purpose is to protect the nation from foreign influence.
It’s also the reason why you’ll never see Arnold Schwarzenegger sitting in the White House.
The Expendables star got his United States citizenship in 1983, but that doesn’t make him eligible to run for president because he wasn’t actually born in the US.
This didn’t stop Schwarzenegger from building a successful political career. He started his first term as the 38th Governor of California in 2003 and held this position until 2011.
The natural-born citizen clause of the United States Constitution has a rocky history and there have been attempts to overturn it.
Back in 2004, Senator Orrin Hatch tried to repeal it with the “equal opportunity to govern” amendment, proposing that anyone who has been a naturalized citizen of the US for at least 20 years should be able to run for president.
This plan never came to fruition, but it earned a nickname “Amend for Arnold” because many people saw it as an attempt to make Schwarzenegger eligible for the presidency.
Schwarzenegger’s Dream Job
Despite the fact he served as the Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger always insisted he’s not a huge fan of politics.
He told Graham Norton that he never considered himself a politician, but a public servant, whose main job is to create policies that will help people lead a better life, and hopefully bring both parties together to work towards that goal.
Being a president is somewhat of a dream job for the Terminator star, and he finally got a chance to play one on the big screen.
He was cast as the president in action film Kung Fury 2, and told Men’s Health “it’s fun to play something, at least, that you can’t be”. The actor also admitted he wouldn’t say “no” to running the country if the opportunity ever arose.
“It would’ve been fun to sit here and to have the power and to work with the world together and solve those problems and to take on those challenges. Yeah, of course I think about that,” explained Schwarzenegger.
The Land of Opportunity
Arnold Schwarzenegger expressed his grievance about being unable to run for president back in 2016, when Donald Trump won the election.
He openly expressed his disdain for the former reality star and publicly announced he won’t vote for the Republican candidate for the first time since 1983, since he doesn’t agree with Trump’s policies.
Despite his public feud with Trump, Schwarzenegger has always been firm in his belief that the United States is the land of opportunity and that his life wouldn’t be the same without it.
“People everywhere, no matter how much they dump on America, no matter how much people laugh at Trump right now all over the world – they want to come to America. Because they know that one president, one man, cannot change this country,” the Golden Globe-winning actor told Men’s Health.
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