ABSTRACT
Why do celebrities run for elective office? This chapter mines the political memoirs and autobiographies of stars who have had successful and unsuccessful political campaigns in order to identify distinctions and similarities among them. What emerges is a more complete picture of how celebrities conceive of the American political system, what motivates them to get involved in the political process, and perhaps most importantly, how they carefully craft public images and messages in order to appeal to voters. To understand how we arrived at a Trump presidency, we must not only understand the nature of the American electorate and the media environment that has propelled celebrities to political power, but the personal and professional qualities of celebrity candidate themselves. Celebrities discussed include Bill Bradley, Jesse Ventura, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ben Nighthorse Campbell, Jim Ryun, Bob Mathias, Jack Kemp, Upton Sinclair, P.T. Barnum, Shirley Temple Black, Sonny Bono, Al Franken, Norman Mailer, Ronald Reagan, and Gore Vidal.
