Alternate celebrity politicians?

brunohusker

What celebrities do you think would run for office in alternate timelines? I thought of this after hearing on a podcast that Ronald Reagan had asked John Wayne to run on the Republican ticket for California governor after Reagan’s term ended, but Wayne said no and even if he had, the Duke was in poor health, dying in 1979. What if he ran though?

Also, what about other celebs who seriously considered running? I’m sure plenty hsve but I know of some, like Tim McGraw running for either governor of Tennessee or his native Louisiana, or Jeff Bridges running for Senate in Montana. Also, you do have in otl folks like Clint Eastwood or Martin Sheen who were small town mayors. So any other fun ideas for celeb office holders?
 
ennobee

ennobee

NOMISYRRUC said:
Double Academy Award winning actress Glenda Jackson was a British Member of Parliament from 1992 to 2015.
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Would Roald Dahl be interested? I mean next to his childrens books, he wrote some serious stuff, was a fighter pilot and war hero and was overall a charmer and influencer. However his biggest contribution to the war was his job as a cultural attaché to the US. Apparently he and a couple of equally dashing Englishmen we're instrumental in convincing the movers and shakers in Washington- and more importantly in Hollywood- that the UK was pretty good at holding it's own against the Nazis and definitely not a lost cause to sink your money in.

I think if there were a 1945 equivalent to Twitter, he'd be the most popular may-be-politician around.
 

gaitskellitebevanite

Gregory Peck and James Garner were both sought out as Dem nominees for the California Governorship, Robert Vaughn also thought about running for congress.

Apart from Glenda Jackson the only other actor to have been an MP was Andrew Faulds who served from 1966-97, like Glenda representing Labour. James Robertson Justice and Jimmy Edwards also stood for parliament for Labour and the Conservatives respectively, although both failed to be elected.
 

edgeworthy

Christopher Lee was once described as "the ideal leader for the Conservative Party".
Can you imagine a government led by him with an equally celebrity cabinet?
Including, depending on era, Michael Caine, John Mills, Christopher Biggins, Frederick Forsyth, Roger Moore, Paul Daniels, Vinnie Jones, Rose Leslie, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Kenny Everett (No, seriously he was a Conservative) and Julian Fellows, the writer of Downton Abbey (Who actually does sit as a Conservative Peer in the House of Lords)
 

NOMISYRRUC

edgeworthy said:
Kenny Everett (No, seriously he was a Conservative)
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He also said, "When England was a kingdom, we had a king. When we were an empire, we had an emperor. Now we're a country, and we have Margaret Thatcher." Which got him sacked from BBC Radio Two.

But it was all done in the best possible taste.
 

cardcarrier

Bruce Willis might be an interesting republican candidate at some point (he did an very large amount of charity work for the USO in his days which would play well beyond his celebrity appeal he grew up and maintains a home in New Jersey; run him for governor in 2010 (wave republican year) instead of Chris Christie, he should win pretty easily; if he was successful it would bring up some very interesting conversations if people wanted him t run for president since he was born in Kassel Germany to a German mother and US service member father

Magic Johnson also has struck me as someone who could have had political success
 

SomeGuyOnline

I believe Arnold Schwarzenegger had previously aspired about running for president of the U.S. Had he not been born in Austria, we could've had President Schwarzenegger in an alternate universe.
 
Chapman

Chapman

Donor
Oprah Winfrey and George Clooney are two commonly used ones, neither of which strike me as completely unrealistic. I could see Winfrey announcing a run for POTUS early in the 2008 cycle, with the right prodding, and pulling some support away from both Clinton and Obama (if they still run). It would be an uphill battle in some respects but with her star power she could have a very real chance at winning, and becoming both the first Black and the first female POTUS. Reelection obviously depends on how her first term goes, which is anyone's guess really.

Clooney I could also see getting whipped up into politics under the right conditions. He might run for Senate or Governor from New York or California, and from there I could easily see him running for POTUS too. It'd be something if we got Winfrey/Clooney or vice versa...
 

Juumanistra

Jimmy Stewart is always an interesting choice, if only for the fact that the name of the TL -- Mr. Stewart Goes to Washington -- writes itself.
 

New Cleo Genesis

Finnish disco musician Frederik ran as a Finns Party candidate in the parliamentary election of 2007, but was not elected. If he had waited until 2011 and the landslide the Finns Party achieved that time, then it's quite possible that he would have been elected.
 

Nick P

Donor
Montel Williams would seem to be a good pick for US Senator or President.
African-American, 22 years in the US Marines and Navy, TV show host, a little acting, advocate for veterans and in favour of low cost healthcare prescriptions. Just got to get him in before his MS really gets bad. Bonus points if he's still with Kamala Harris!
 
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