On November 17, 2003 (21 years ago), Arnold Schwarzenegger was sworn in as the 38th governor of the State of California. He served until January 3, 2011. How did the former body builder and actor (True Lies [1994] and Kindergarten Cop [1990]) turn into a politician?
Schwarzenegger was elected Governor when the previous governor was recalled and he placed first among replacement candidates. Schwarzenegger served the remainder of the prior governor's incomplete term between 2003 and 2007. Schwarzenegger was then reelected to a second term in 2006.
At the start of his first term as governor, Schwarzenegger proposed deep cuts in the state budget and was met with opposition in the California State Legislature. Because of their opposition to his budget cuts, Schwarzenegger controversially called his opponents in the legislature "girlie men".
In June of 2005, the governor called for a special election in an effort to pass several of his proposed reforms. However, the voters ultimately rejected all of Schwarzenegger's propositions.
Schwarzenegger opposed the federal government's effort to build fencing on the Mexico–United States border. He likened it to the Berlin Wall.
In 2006, Schwarzenegger made several efforts to address global warming by signing the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 and negotiating the creation of a carbon emissions trading market with British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
On November 7, 2006, Schwarzenegger defeated Democratic state treasurer Phil Angelides in the 2006 California gubernatorial election, winning a second term as governor. In his second term, Schwarzenegger pledged to be a centrist politician and cooperate with the Democrats to resolve statewide political issues. Only days into the term, the governor proposed universal health insurance in the state and called for new bonds for schools, prisons, and other infrastructure.
Also in his second term, Schwarzenegger proposed an austere fiscal policy in response to the Great Recession. Continuing his efforts to address environmental issues, the governor signed a memorandum of understanding with Mexican President Felipe Calderón and signed legislation pertaining to global warming.
However, by October, Schwarzenegger vetoed 35 percent of the bills that the California State Legislature passed, which was the highest rate since the statistic was first tracked when Ronald Reagan was governor of the state.
In the midst of the Great Recession in 2009, Schwarzenegger called upon the legislature to pass deep budget cuts and warned that the state was facing insolvency. In May, the governor voiced his openness to marijuana legalization.
After finishing his time as governor, Schwarzenegger returned to his acting career. He starred in The Expendables 2 (2012), The Last Stand (2013) and Escape Plan (2013).