Despite Maria Shriver Being His Wife, Arnold Schwarzenegger Relied on a Kennedy With No Connection to His In-Laws to Run His Political Show

After landing in the US, Arnold Schwarzenegger had already seen monumental success in his bodybuilding career and movie career respectively. He then decided to look for a new challenge, and the role of California governorship stared him right in the eye. In 2003, his political career began, and by 2005, he hired a new chief of staff – a Kennedy. Schwarzenegger was married to Maria Shriver at the time, a Kennedy family member. But his chief of staff wasn’t anyone from her family.

In late 2005, Schwarzenegger hired Susan Kennedy and addressed her as his new chief of staff in front of the entire political forum. She had no connection to his wife’s side of the family, but more importantly, she was from an opposing political party. It wasn’t immediately met with resounding support from his Republican party.

How Arnold Schwarzenegger changed the face of politics in California

Nearly a month ago, Schwarzenegger dropped the teaser for his Netflix docuseries ‘Arnold’ on YouTube. Today, all 3 episodes are out on the platform. Episode 3 shows how he got into politics, the ins and outs of it, and the challenges he faced in his political career. Midway through the episode, Schwarzenegger talked about when he felt the need for a change in his political dealings.

He said, “I felt that I should bring new blood in”. Schwarzenegger decided to replace his old secretary Patricia Clarey and bring in Susan Kennedy from the democratic party. Senior Adviser Daniel Zingale said in the episode, “One of the first things I was called in to talk to him about was his choice of new staff. The most qualified candidate was a woman who had been the executive director of the Democratic Party”.

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The reason it was a big deal to bring Susan Kennedy into the Republican Party was because she was a wholehearted Democrat. But that’s not the only thing that didn’t sit well with fellow Republican members.

Despite opposition from all ends, Schwarzenegger and Kennedy thrived

Susan Kennedy was not only a Democrat, she stood for every single value that the Republicans opposed. Zingale also said, “She had been an abortion advocate, she was an out lesbian, and her last name was Kennedy”. But Schwarzenegger didn’t mind bringing her in. In fact, she was the exact candidate he required as his chief of staff. On introducing her to his team, Schwarzenegger said, “I’m here today to introduce you to my new chief of staff, Susan Kennedy”.

His humor wasn’t lost on him when he followed it up with, “Tone it down. Not so much applause, please”. Schwarzenegger was being ironic since Susan Kennedy got no applause from his team at her welcome. Susan Kennedy had previous issues with the Democratic party and the Republicans didn’t really support her. Despite that, Schwarzenegger and Kennedy took hold of the political reins and were soon branded as “governor and governess”. By the end of his term, she earned a high repute in the office.

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