[wind blowing]
[gentle music plays]
[Arnold] My visions
were so clear,
and they were so targeted.
It was like the rifle approach.
The target is in front, and I was aiming for the bull's-eye.
And you just have to really be careful of that,
because you can get so obsessed…
you start losing sight of everything else around it.
[reporter] More misery for Californians hit hard by the power crisis there.
[reporter 2] The stock market suffered a fall.
[reporter 3] Everything that could possibly go wrong
has come together here all at once.
[reporter 4] Scary economic times, indeed.
[Arnold] When I saw the mess in California,
more and more I saw myself
being in Sacramento
and being the governor,
with no idea how.
People said to me, "That's crazy."
"People usually run for city council,
then mayor."
"You work your way up."
I said, "Well, no. Ronald Reagan did it."
So I was not concerned about it at all.
In 2002,
I then went to Andy Vanja,
the owner of Carolco.
I said, "What do you think about me running for governor?"
"You're rich. You know rich people and studio executives."
"And I need you to help me with raising money."
And he said to me, "You're out of your fucking mind."
I said, "What kind of… What reaction is that?"
He says, "Remember we talked about doing Terminator 3?"
"Well, I sold the movie."
"We're gonna start shooting beginning of next year."
"I would have to sue you because they will sue me."
"So I wouldn't go there. Do it some other time."
So then I instead did Proposition 49,
which was continuing on my work with after-school programs.
The After School Education and Safety Act.
You always make it a spicy name so that everyone gets it.
I think the time for lip service is over. The time for action is here.
I am the action hero in the movies,
and I want to create action for the children.
That was a way to taste a little of what it's like
to campaign out there for your own project.
-[DJ] Arnold Schwarzenegger is here. -Tom, it's really great to be here.
Let's say "Hasta la vista, baby," to the problem.
-What are we voting on Proposition 49? -[crowd] Yes!
I'll be back.
I'll be back. I'll be back.
-Thank you very much. -[cheering]
Thank you.
[reporter] After Arnold Schwarzenegger worked his Hollywood magic
and came up big with Proposition 49…
[Arnold] So now, in 2003,
the timing was perfect
that we had a recall election in California,
and they were looking for another leader.
It would be hard for me to win a Republican primary,
but there is no primary.
There's not a lead-up time of two years
where people can investigate
and look at your background and dig everything up.
Two-months campaign. It's like in Europe.
Two months. Bang.
[adventurous music plays]
[man] The life you know,
all the stuff you take for granted,
it's not gonna last.
[Arnold] I was in the middle of promoting Terminator 3.
I was going all over the world.
So I went to Iraq.
I play the Terminator,
but you guys are the true terminators.
[cheering]
[Arnold] I went to Japan. I went to Asian countries.
Middle East, Europe.
When the recall was announced, I was in Mexico.
[suspenseful music plays]
[reporter] It's one of those only-in-California stories.
The state's unpopular governor, Gray Davis,
beset by an ailing economy and a $38 million budget deficit,
faces possible recall.
Have you signed to recall the governor yet?
[reporter 2] What started as a small movement to recall Governor Gray Davis
has mushroomed into a powerful, multi-million dollar campaign.
[reporter 3] On October 7th, voters will decide if Davis should go
and who should replace him.
[reporter 2] And the big question,
is the Terminator waiting in the wings?
[Arnold] Up to that point, Maria hated the idea of me running,
and that's why I didn't really know if I'm gonna run or not,
because I didn't want to run if she's not 100% behind it.
I was sitting with her in the Jacuzzi, and I said, "By the way,
what do you think about me running for governor?"
She just, you know, flipped out.
I mean, she was just…
I almost felt like she was hyperventilating,
because she's always felt kind of like,
"I've gone through this with my family."
[reporter] From Dallas, Texas, the flash. President Kennedy is dead.
[reporter 2] …assassination.
[reporter 3] Robert Kennedy was shot.
[reporter 4] A shooting by an unknown assailant at the Ambassador Hotel.
[Arnold] A very emotional reaction.
She was really going through some serious trauma.
He's gonna end this war. It's gonna end under McGovern and Shriver.
It's not ending under Nixon.
[reporter 5] Senator Edward M. Kennedy drove a car
off a narrow bridge and into a pond.
A young woman in the car with him was drowned.
[Arnold] And you know, "Being in power, it's horrible. You lose your privacy."
"This would drag us through the mud."
And so, therefore, I pulled back on the idea.
[reporter 6] Davis may have one less distraction
when Arnold Schwarzenegger appears on The Tonight Show next Wednesday,
the day he is expected to announce he will not enter the recall election.
That would clear the way for Schwarzenegger's friend,
former Los Angeles mayor, Richard Riordan.
[Arnold] Dick Riordan ran for governor in 2002.
If he wants to run again
in the recall,
I would support him.
So I went over there for dinner with him at his house.
Went out for a walk on the beach.
He says, "You know, Arnold, I have to be honest with you."
"I don't feel like running."
"I don't have the fire in the belly."
He says, "But you should run."
And I said to him, I said, "Wow. Pfft."
If there's any higher power,
it couldn't have been presented to me in a better way.
The morning of The Tonight Show,
Maria actually put a note under my bathroom door…
that said,
"In case you decide to run, here's what I would say."
"And here is if you decide not to run,
what I would say."
I felt like, okay,
now Maria, for the first time,
is open to the idea.
That feels
great,
that I can go to The Tonight Show
and then whatever comes out of my mouth, go with that.
Let me ask you about this now.
I know it's been weeks and people going back and forth.
[murmurs]
It's taken you awhile.
You said you'd come here tonight and tell us your decision.
[Leno] I thought he was not running.
I felt like a bit of a hypocrite, because when he said he was coming,
it was like… even in the dressing room.
"We'll talk and you'll see what you'll do?"
He goes, "Yeah." Okay.
All right. I said, "Well, all right," you know.
I figured we'd get it over quickly and I'd say, "Oh, too bad."
The man that is failing the people more than anyone
is Gray Davis.
[cheering and applause]
Okay.
He's failing them terribly,
and this is why he needs to be recalled.
[Leno] Mm-hmm.
And this is why I'm going to run for governor of the state of California.
[cheering and applause]
I was stunned, 'cause I thought,
"You're the biggest movie star. What are you doing?"
I was stunned and shocked,
and it just seemed like a madcap thing to do.
For me, that was absurd.
I think it was, like, ridiculous.
He wanted to become governor.
You know, what are you… Please.
Who knew he was spending that time preparing for his biggest part?
I remember thinking, like,
"Hmm. Yeah."
"He'll win."
"He'll win, for sure."
I knew if Arnold ran, that would be serious,
because he's not a normal politician.
He's part of the Kennedy family.
Having all that come as part of the package with Arnold,
that's a huge advantage.
The very agents and managers and studio executives
that said to me in the '70s,
"You will never make it, don't even get into acting,"
are the very same that said, "Are you crazy?"
"You're making $20-30,000,000 a movie now."
But the more someone says that you can't
or this is impossible, the more I get excited over it.
[woman] Within about three or four hours of Arnold announcing on Leno,
I'm sitting in, you know, Arnold and Maria's living room…
and it turned out
that he had no staff,
no real plan,
uh, no people.
You know, we didn't have a name. We didn't have a theme.
We didn't have anything.
Literally, we all called everybody we knew.
[Murphy] I was already in LA.
Dick Riordan had hired me, who was thinking of running
in the recall for governor.
I went to have breakfast with Riordan.
I had a new poll and getting ready to launch the campaign.
He said, "Now I'm gonna be for Arnold. Come with me."
Drive over to Oak Productions in Venice,
and I meet Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The Arnold thing was so big and so much press attention.
It was almost like a mini presidential campaign.
[overlapping chatter]
[man] Arnold got in, and the interest level went from here to…
[imitates explosion]
You know, it became interesting, kind of "California, there they go again" story
to all of a sudden, it blew up. It became a worldwide phenomenon.
Hollywood hard man Arnold Schwarzenegger is hoping for a new goal.
[speaking French]
[reporter speaking German]
[reporter in English] The election will be as action-packed
as one of his blockbuster movies.
[reporter 2] And he is married to JFK's niece.
[Barabak] He's married to a Kennedy.
He's not one of those crazy, nutty right-wingers.
-Get a good close-up, okay? -[chuckles]
Her writing, then you pull the camera lens up
and get a shot of Maria.
[Arnold] Maria had the idea
that I have to be connected with the people as much as possible.
She saw me over the years,
and how much I thrive when people are around.
Because you have to have fun.
This is the attitude. It's like, let's have fun.
This is all about fun and work and fun and work.
Most people don't know that.
They worry
and they work
and they worry
and they work.
Where's the fun?
This is fun.
This is a six-wheeler, so it goes through the snow
and it is really…
It's a safe vehicle to drive,
and it's a fun vehicle to drive. In essence, a toy.
Do I need it? No.
But, I mean, it's like a toy.
You know, boys and their toys. You know, we never grow up.
[Barabak] The recall might've been the best story in 40 years.
It was captivating. It was fascinating.
It was something that no one had ever seen before.
I call it political burlesque.
♪ One step beyond! ♪
[reporter] Californians are lining up to get on the ballot.
[reporter 2] It doesn't take much to qualify,
just 65 signatures and 3,500 bucks.
[reporter 3] The list includes one-time actor Gary Coleman
from the hit show Different Strokes.
[Barabak] You had Mary Carey, the adult film actress.
[reporter 4] And a retired policeman who wants ferrets legalized as household pets.
[reporter 5] Then there's the porn publisher, Larry Flynt.
Vote for a smut peddler who cares.
[reporter 3] And bit-part actress and billboard queen, Angelyne.
We've had enough Gray and Brown, and we need pink in California.
[reporter 4] The cult of celebrity gone mad.
[reporter 3] So why not a wealthy Austrian bodybuilder?
I loved those guys,
because I was already kind of an odd person.
Bodybuilder.
Actor.
From Austria.
So now, how do I make myself kind of, like, normal?
By having everyone else weirder, right?
[man] Two, one.
My candidacy is all about big change in Sacramento,
and the people have a right to know what that means for them.
I knew that that was my strength, to communicate and to penetrate,
not just the brain, but the heart.
If you want to change this state,
then join me.
Let's bring California back.
-[man] Very good. -Right?
[woman] Yeah.
[reporter] Arnold Schwarzenegger entered like a champion
and seemed not to notice when an egg landed squarely on his broad shoulder.
[Murphy] The media is a business.
And so if you've got something interesting for clicks and ratings,
they're gonna show up.
This guy owes me bacon now, 'cause you can't have eggs without bacon.
-Hey, guys. How are you doing? -[man] Hey, Arnold.
Punchy points. Funny line or two.
Gray Davis has terminated hope. Gray Davis has terminated opportunities.
And now it's time we terminate him!
Short stump.
Something has gone terribly wrong in this state.
[Murphy] Pump the crowd. Pandemonium. Throw some stuff.
[cheering]
-On to the next one. -[cameras clicking]
[reporter] Didn't Mr. Buffett talk to the Wall Street Journal
about the unfairness of Proposition 13?
First of all, I told Warren
if he mentions Prop 13 one more time, he has to do 500 sit-ups.
[laughing]
So he is not gonna talk about that ever again, I can guarantee you.
[Arnold] It was very clear that the people wanted to recall Gray Davis.
It was very clear that the people felt comfortable with the idea
of having him replaced with an outsider like me.
[reporter] The Super Bowl of debates is just an hour away.
[reporter 2] The top candidates vying to replace Governor Davis in what could be
the most watched debate in California political history,
perhaps because of one man.
[reporter 3] If he stumbles, he could be in real danger.
[Arnold] Okay, here's what we're gonna do.
We're gonna go and study the policy issues.
But… that should be half of the practice.
The other half of the time we should spend on the characters
that will be involved in the debate.
I did exactly what I did in bodybuilding.
I did my training, but I also was thinking
about how can I derail them psychologically.
In California, we have a three strikes system.
You guys put wool over the people's eyes twice.
The third time, now you are out.
On October 7th, you guys are out. It's that simple, okay?
I had my comedy writers write up some jokes.
So whenever I did not know the issues well, I would use the jokes.
One more thing, Arnold.
-You talk about the three-- -[Arnold] Arnold?
-Yes. You talk-- -Let me just say one thing.
Your personal income tax have the biggest loophole.
I could drive my Hummer through it, that's how big it is. Let me tell you.
-Let me finish. -We're talking about income tax.
-Not about education. -[Ariana] This is impolite.
This is the way you treat women, we know that, but not now.
I just realized I have the perfect part for you in Terminator 4.
That's it.
[woman] When Schwarzenegger announced he was running for governor,
the staff of the LA Times immediately went into high gear
to start looking into stories that we had heard
for years,
but no one had actually really investigated them fully.
We had barely six weeks to work on this,
and we started talking to women.
We found these women
by talking to people in Hollywood,
people who were sources,
and we just started reporting.
[Murphy] We'd get the call from the LA Times,
"Hey, we're going in a couple hours with this story."
"Well, what's the name of the accuser?" "Won't tell you."
"When did it happen?" "Uh, one year. Won't tell you."
The next morning, we are to kick off a bus tour
from San Diego all the way up, wind up in Sacramento
with 10,000 people at the Capitol.
[announcer] Arnold Schwarzenegger!
-[cheering and applause] -And then…
[reporter] A graphic article on the front page
of today's Los Angeles Times
detailing the allegations of a half-dozen women.
[reporter 2] Among the claims, that he groped their breasts,
made lewd sexual suggestions,
and tried to remove one woman's bathing suit in an elevator.
The paper quotes one woman as saying, "Did he rape me? No."
"Did he humiliate me? You bet he did."
We weren't going to write about just one woman.
We wanted to see a pattern of behavior,
which we found,
and it took place over a course of decades.
[cheering and applause]
[Hall] As soon as the first story ran,
people were really angry at us.
People immediately accused us of holding the story
until five days before the election.
It ran October 2nd because that's how long it took.
You know, when you get into politics, they try to tear down your character,
tear down everything you stand for.
And as you know, this morning they have begun
with the tearing down.
Yes, absolutely.
Let me tell you something.
A lot of those what you see in the stories is not true.
[cheering and applause]
But at the same time, I have to tell you that I always say
that wherever there is smoke, there's fire.
That is true.
And so, what I want to say to you is that yes,
that I have behaved badly sometimes.
Yes, it is true that I was on rowdy movie sets
and I've done things that were not right, which I thought was playful,
but now I recognize that I have offended people.
And to those people that I have offended,
I want to say to them,
I am deeply sorry about that
and I apologize,
because this is not what I'm trying to do.
[cheering and applause]
[horn honking]
This is crazy. You know they try to tear you down.
They try to tear your character down and everything you stand for.
You can listen to all the negativity,
and you can listen to people who have never met Arnold
or who met him for five seconds 30 years ago,
or you can listen to me.
-I advise you to listen to me. -[applause]
[Hall] The day that it ran,
all hell broke loose.
My email inbox was flooded. People were calling us with tips.
We had so many tips
that we had to put more reporters on the story.
[reporter] This morning's Los Angeles Times reporting
that more women have accused Schwarzenegger of groping them,
bringing the total to 15.
[Arnold] I am sorry,
and I apologize to anyone
that I have offended.
As the days went forward,
he kind of changed his tune.
He would talk to other interviewers
and pull it back.
[horn honks]
[Arnold] Well, first of all, a lot of it is made up.
I've never grabbed anyone
and then pulled up their shirt and rub their breasts and stuff.
This is not me.
-You deny all stories about grabbing? -No, not all.
My reaction in the beginning… I was kind of, like, defensive.
We cannot have a governor who gropes women
and tries to deny it.
[crowd clamoring]
[Arnold] Today, I can look at it and kind of say,
"It doesn't really matter
what time it is."
If it's the Muscle Beach days
or 40 years ago
or today.
This was wrong.
It was bullshit. Forget all the excuses. This was wrong.
Things happen. People are young and they do things.
We do not care. We need leadership.
-Are you gonna vote for him? -Yeah, absolutely.
[cheering]
Personally, I was surprised that it didn't have more of an effect
on the election.
I thought that more people would be
offended themselves.
[man] I don't think attacks on his character were ever going to work.
I mean, I'm convinced by seeing the polling
that our story, rather than sinking him,
made him surge at the end.
♪ We're not gonna take it ♪
♪ No, we ain't gonna take it ♪
♪ We're not gonna take it ♪
♪ Anymore ♪
♪ We're not gonna take it ♪
♪ No! ♪
♪ No, we ain't gonna take it ♪
♪ We're not gonna take it ♪
♪ Anymore ♪
[singer] Thank you, Sacramento!
There's a new governor in town!
His name's Arnold Schwarzenegger!
[cheering]
[reporter] When Schwarzenegger took the stage, someone handed him a broom.
We are here, ladies and gentlemen, to clean house!
We are here to clean house!
[cheering]
[reporter] Today, with polls still showing the recall passing
and Schwarzenegger winning the governorship,
his aides confidently predicted the stories about his past behavior
won't have much impact.
-[Arnold] Good morning. -[Maria] Good morning. Good morning.
-[woman] Just stick it in the box. -[Arnold] Okay, like this.
-It's in God's hands. -[man] God's hands.
It's up to God, therefore, the decision is…
We did all the work, and we worked hard and campaigned hard.
[reporter] The polls have just closed here,
and CBS News now estimates that when all the votes are in and counted,
Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger has won the race to succeed Davis.
[Arnold] In your mind, you have won,
but all of this is
out in the clouds.
But then, when the reality sets in,
it was, like, so powerful.
I mean, I had tears in my… in my eyes.
I will never forget this moment. It was just so unbelievable.
[cheering]
I remember the joy
when they announced me to be Mr. Universe.
A standing ovation in London.
When I got my citizenship.
When Katherine was born, the first baby coming out.
All of these moments I remember, but this
was just so profound, so big.
It was like… It was really overwhelming.
Yeah.
Thank you very much. Thank you.
And God bless all of you.
Thank you.
These people
trusted you
and said, "Yeah, we want you to lead us."
Wow.
[crowd chanting]
[cheering]
You know, photos say more than 1,000 words, right?
So I mean, it's like this is saying,
"Even though Arnold was the governor,
he never tried to sell out and do the kind of things
that politicians normally do."
No politician is gonna have alligator boots
and flaunt it like that.
And I didn't hide my Cuban cigars either.
I smoke because people should know that's who I am.
When I ran for governor, there was a lot of things I didn't know.
But one thing I knew,
that I'm going to serve the people of California
and I'm not gonna serve just my party.
I'm not gonna be a party hack.
I'm gonna be a public servant and serve the people.
That I knew.
[reporter] Former bodybuilder and actor Schwarzenegger
has started the third phase of his professional life.
[reporter 2] Schwarzenegger will be sworn in as California's 38th governor.
[reporter 3] …with 700 credentialed media, 7,500 invited guests,
a couple thousand more un-ticketed stargazers,
and Vanessa Williams as part of the program.
This is gonna take some getting used to.
[man] I will now ask you, please, to place your left hand
on this historic family bible.
Raise your right hand. Repeat the Oath of Office.
[Arnold] And from then on, now you have to shift gears.
Part of you has to go,
because you are not now representing anymore Arnold,
you're now representing 40 million people.
I am humbled.
I am moved,
and I am honored beyond words
to be your governor.
[cheering and applause]
You get sworn in
and you're kind of standing there like a puppy.
You know… [panting]
All excited.
When I think about any character
that I played in the movies,
Julius, actually,
was the character that I am really.
Julius is the character in Twins.
He's kind of the innocent guy that had a mind like a sponge.
But he still had to learn,
and he had this kind of, like,
open mind.
[woman] Governor!
[applause]
[Arnold] I went into the office,
and I was sitting there,
and I kind of felt lost.
-Makeup, please. No. -[laughing]
[Arnold] How does this work in here now?
How do we get going here?
What do I do in my office?
Sit there and wait for them to bring me an issue or a bill?
And so that's why I went around the Capitol,
and I visited the Speaker's office. I visited the President Pro Temp's office.
And we would sit down, and we would schmooze.
[man] Arnold was blessed
with the absence of knowledge
about how other people did it. [chuckles]
He did it the way
it needed to be done,
without the political baggage.
Hello, everybody.
[Arnold] During the campaign,
I would use everything that I could,
my movie career, that I'm married to a Democrat,
to show that I'm with them.
This is Twins 2. Look at this.
[laughing]
Twins 2.
That's why I then decided when I became governor
that I should actually have a smoking tent.
And it was not so much about smoking. It was just a social place.
We were very successful in bringing legislators down,
Democrats and Republicans, and I just sat outside in the tent and schmoozed.
These were total strangers.
-How are you? -[woman] Would you like a cigar?
-[man] Good to see you. -Senator, you gonna join us this time?
The smoking tent is not a tent. The smoking tent is a stage.
All the people in the offices up and in his office
could see who was in the smoking tent.
"Why am I not in the tent talking to him? I need an idea that goes there."
It's unsettling, because people that met with him
could see that they were being watched.
He's totally comfortable being watched.
[Wachter] That's strategic.
Part of that persona,
apart from the fact that he's just a likable guy,
is that he's Arnold Schwarzenegger.
He's the most famous guy in the world, and he knows that.
-[Wachter] Very nice. -[Arnold] Yeah.
[Wachter] Freakin' perfect.
[woman] Property tax for state-mandated programs that you could only…
[Arnold] It was staggering to sit there
from sometimes nine o'clock in the morning
and have one meeting after the next,
where you learn about things
that you have not even thought about.
I remember when the day was over, I went home and I said to my wife,
"The things that I learned today…"
"There is no university in the world
that can teach you those kind of issues."
Passing legislation…
[Arnold] But then how do you make this policy come alive
and then turn it into reality?
Wouldn't it be the best if we could get it to the people?
[suspenseful music plays]
[Arnold] Whenever you feel like you don't have success with the legislators
and you have a strong personality like myself,
you can use that as a weapon,
and you go and speak directly to the people.
We went out and collected signatures.
-Thank you. Exactly. -Bring it back to where it was.
Every time we had another 100,000 signatures,
I would put it on the desk
of the Democratic Senate Pro Temp.
This initiative strategy
is a very old strategy in California.
Politicians often use the process as leverage to get legislation.
He just did it on a scale that we had never seen before.
Traveling up and down the state
to just let the people know that now is the time for the people to get involved.
[Mathews] That created the conditions and urgency to get a deal.
[Arnold] The legislators started doing polls,
and sure enough they saw
that it would actually win,
and therefore they stayed at the negotiating table
and we negotiated a great deal.
[cheering and applause]
[reporter] Many thought the Republican would fall on his face,
that the political neophyte
simply would not be able to tackle the massive problems of California.
Voters follow his lead simply because of who he is.
[Arnold] I mean, I am a Republican and I want to work with Democrats.
I want to let them know first,
"I don't want to screw you,
except what we agreed upon to screw each other."
The only thing worse than a poor loser is a poor winner.
-Exactly. -[Burton] I'm a poor loser.
-No. -You fucked me on my bill.
[Arnold] Sometimes you go and you make a deal behind the scene,
and then you go out and attack each other in front of the press
in order to satisfy your constituents.
That's saying enough for McClintock,
the man who says what he means when he loses.
Bad winner, good loser.
It's bullshit, right?
A little Schmäh here, a little bullshit there. This and that.
But that's politics.
[cheering]
[Clarey] We thought, "Well, we've got the formula."
He was right more than he was wrong, but we're all wrong sometimes.
Give me the tools so we can reform the broken system.
Thank you very much, and I'll be back.
[Mathews] His impatience started to work against him,
and also he was always on, and people got a little tired of it.
No one wanted to give him a deal, and they decided to beat him.
[Arnold] I'm not about to change anything of my reforms
because I have a few nurses protesting
or a few teachers protesting.
Schwarzenegger has got to go!
[Arnold] My mouth has been one of my biggest assets.
I hope that those that want to sell out to the special interests,
those girlie men up there in Sacramento…
But at the same time, it is one of my biggest liabilities also.
Why would I possibly call him?
I mean, are you people nuts?
"Hi, this is the scumbag girlie-boy. How you doing?"
Voters rejected every initiative he proposed.
[cameras clicking]
Good afternoon, everybody.
I was with him just before he had to go face the Capitol Press Corps
and the people of California in the face of that defeat.
And I ask him, "What are you feeling?"
He said, "I should have listened to Maria."
You know, I think that I operate with a different mentality
than most people do,
uh, which is that I am, uh, very forceful
and, uh, impatient.
As governor,
or I think any politician,
I think you have to be more patient.
And I think that, uh, I recognize that now,
more so than I did before.
[Zingale] I think that was the beginning of him growing into the job
and recognizing that, um,
he didn't want to be some tool of conventional Republicans
just based on his celebrity.
He wanted to govern by who he was
and who he was with.
I have always two sides fighting.
There's the left side and the right Arnold, right?
They're always arguing about everything, about politics,
about how to deal with various different issues,
and everything like that.
It's just the way it is with me.
How do you convince people you're a Centrist
and not a dyed-in-the-wool Republican?
A lot of work.
A lot of work, and I'm willing to work hard to do that.
Now I knew exactly which direction I wanted to go
with my, uh, administration,
and I felt that maybe I should bring new blood in.
[Zingale] The first thing I was called in to talk about
was his choice of a new chief of staff.
The most qualified candidate
was a woman who had been the executive director of the Democratic Party.
She had been an abortion advocate.
She was an out lesbian and her last name was Kennedy.
Your Republican colleagues are going to be outraged by everything about this woman.
And he got this gleam in his eye
that I would later come to recognize as delight in being disruptive.
Exactly.
Do it.
Do it now.
[adventurous music plays]
[woman] I was waiting for a flight,
and the call comes in from Zingale,
and, uh, I literally just, you know, started banging my head on the table,
thinking, "Fuck, why did you wait a year to call me?"
I'm here today to introduce you to my new chief of staff,
Susan Kennedy.
Tone it down. Not so much applause, please.
And when I started picking Democrats for my team,
they felt this… is the influence of the Kennedys.
In the meantime, Susan Kennedy had no connections with the Kennedys.
It was all bogus.
I was fed up with Republicans, she was fed up with Democrats,
so we were kind of both in the middle.
[Kennedy] I asked him, "What do you wanna do?"
"What do you want to be remembered for as Governor?"
He hesitated, then he just said, "I want to build."
Today, I propose
a strategic growth plan for California's future.
[Kennedy] Arnold had this passion for thinking ahead,
for putting something in place
that maybe doesn't happen while you're still in office,
but you're building something that takes multiple administrations.
So I say build it.
[applause]
[Arnold] Even though I'm known as a person that has very little patience,
but for projects I have a lot of patience.
And so for building my body
into a perfect body took years and years and years,
and the same is with infrastructure.
Democrats and Republicans voted
to approve a $37 billion transportation infrastructure package.
[Matthews] That was one of the fastest 180s you'll ever see.
This is the guy who turns his boat towards the torpedo.
And he flipped it really, really quickly.
[Arnold ] There was Republicans and Democrats together.
Oh, the people love that.
It really helped me beat my reelection campaign,
because I really didn't have to go out and campaign.
This was the campaign.
[reporter] With just a month to go before Election Day,
California's Republican governor is pumped up
about his prospects of winning.
[Arnold] And I won the governorship again.
And the people were happy. And everything was dandy and fine again.
But that's politics.
What a fantastic evening. You know, I love doing sequels.
I love… I love doing sequels.
[cheering and applause]
[Arnold] I maybe say, "I'm a Republican,
and here is the way I'd solve the problems."
But then at the same time, I have to say,
"What is it that the Democrat says
about solving the problems, and why do they think that?"
I remember that Bobby Kennedy, Jr., when I ran for governor,
he's a Democrat, and he calls me and says, "I want to help you."
I say, "How?"
He says, "I'm gonna give you someone that is the number one environmental expert."
"Terry Tamminen."
"Bring him onto your team and talk about the environment."
As a Democrat and flame-throwing environmentalist,
many friends said, "How could you possibly help Arnold Schwarzenegger?"
"He's a Republican." I said, "Yeah, but look."
"We want a Republican to be saying the things we're saying,
and I think Arnold is that Republican."
These are the kind of things we can accomplish
if both parties work together.
[Arnold] I set out to go and do whatever I could
to pass the strictest environmental laws in California.
I said, "Why would we reduce greenhouse gases by 5%?"
"That's bullshit."
"That's fucking little thinking. What's the matter with you guys?"
"Let's reduce greenhouse gases by 25%."
"And California has so much sun. We're not using it."
[reporter] Schwarzenegger in San Francisco,
announcing with great fanfare
a California law to curb emissions of greenhouse gases.
In a few minutes, we will be signing Assembly Bill 32.
When we sign this bill, we will begin a bold new era
of environmental protection here in California
that will change the course of history.
I realized that we are onto something really big.
We could be the leaders, not only in California,
but the leaders in America
and the leaders in the world.
California is moving the United States beyond debate and doubt
to action.
So I urge this body
to push its members to action also.
And then when Obama was elected president,
he then adopted our California tailpipe emissions standards
and made it national.
And I want to applaud California Governor Schwarzenegger
and the entire California delegation for their extraordinary leadership.
They have led the way on this,
as they have in so many other efforts, to protect the environment.
[man] When I became leader of the Conservative Party in Britain,
one of the first things I did was to point out
it is a Conservative thing to be concerned about the environment.
It was inspiring to see someone running
one of the most important economies in the world,
but at the same time saying, "Actually, these two things aren't in conflict."
"If you want a growing economy,
you need to have, long term, a green economy too."
And all agree to the net-zero, so we're in good shape…
[Arnold] When you step back,
it's exciting to kind of look at an issue like that,
study and learn it, and then try to figure out how can you help.
And that opportunity for me
to do something and to have an impact…
When I was in movies,
the kids would come to the studio and they would do their homework.
Then, whenever they called me to the set,
they all run to the set and were waiting, and then all the sudden, boom!
There was a shootout and everything was blowing up.
"That was really cool. Wow."
They were high-fiving each other. So the kids loved all this stuff.
So when I go to Sacramento,
and then all the sudden the kids visit me up there,
they said,
"Daddy."
"I hate it here."
"These people act so serious. Why are they all wearing suits?"
They just were absolutely in shock
and despised my job.
And then on top of it,
then you spend four days a week up in Sacramento,
and my kids would say,
"You didn't come to my recital on Tuesday."
"What about my basketball game on Wednesday?"
And I'd say, "I promised to serve the people of California."
"Yeah, but you promised family's supposed to be number one."
And they started crying.
Maria didn't help much at all,
because Maria says, "Just express yourself, kids."
"Let Daddy know how you really feel." I said, "Thanks a lot."
It was very important to see each one of the kids
have their needs,
that your wife, that the whole family has its needs,
that how you have to take vacations together,
how you have to communicate with the kids every night,
that you don't just stay upstairs with your goals,
but then that becomes a more bigger goal.
But that's a tough one to handle, when you hear your kids complaining
and your wife complaining about you not being at home enough,
when you know you're not home because for a reason.
Across the northern perimeter of the fire, and, uh…
[Arnold] When we had fires,
and you go to bed
and someone tells you that there's 580 fires now in California…
I got up at 5:00 in the morning and then they told me there's 2,012 fires
that morning.
And you don't have enough resources.
That was really the toughest thing during those years.
There is problems and problems and problems.
I mean, it doesn't stop.
[bell ringing]
[reporter] Tonight, the Dow plummets as the financial world is rocked
by the fate of two powerhouse investment firms.
[reporter 2] The financial system is in crisis.
The economic news goes from bad to worse.
[reporter 3] Of all the states, California may be in the worst financial shape.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed higher taxes
and deep spending cuts.
People are concerned
that this state is going to go off the cliff.
[Kennedy] Every governor faces a recession,
and the one that hit on Arnold's watch was a global recession.
Everybody took a beating, and Schwarzenegger went down in the polls
like every politician did,
but he actually left the state stronger
than any governor that faced it before him.
Arnold Schwarzenegger was the most ambitious governor
California had in the second half of the 20th century.
He tried policies of every flavor and stripe.
They think he actually sort of advanced us 25 years of stuff in seven.
I think there were probably three things that would be on the highlight reel.
When it came to appointing women and minorities as judges,
he went out of his way to find the best and the brightest
and make sure it was the most diverse, and they achieved that.
Political reform is by far the most impactful.
Take the districts out of the hands of politicians
and put it into the hands of the voters.
Open up the primaries, so the parties didn't have a lock on the primary.
It permanently changed how people are elected to office in California.
Another big difference between Schwarzenegger and other governors
is how much joy he got from the job,
and that kind of happy warrior approach
has a way of lifting up the staff and lifting up the state.
Schwarzenegger personifies what I think is the essence of California.
[inspiring music plays]
[reporter] Arnold Schwarzenegger finishes his seven-year run
as governor of California today.
[reporter 2] And the question Arnold watchers are asking now is, what's next?
It was very, very tough
on my marriage,
on my relationship with Maria
and with the kids
when I was governor.
And I also lived in denial
of a lot of the problems that exist.
Maria and I went to counseling
once a week,
and then at one of the sessions
the counselor said,
"I think today Maria wants to go and be very specific about something."
"She wants to know if you're the father of Joseph."
And um…
I was like… I thought my heart stopped.
And then I told the truth.
"Um, yes, Maria."
"Joseph is my son."
She was, you know, obviously crushed because of that.
[reporter] Late last night, Maria Shriver and Arnold Schwarzenegger
put out a statement saying they are separating
after 25 years of marriage.
I had an affair
in '96.
In the beginning, I really didn't know.
I just started kind of feeling.
The older he got,
the more it became clear to me,
and it was then just really a matter of, like,
how do you keep this… quiet?
How do you keep this… a secret?
[Barabak] Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver had separated.
So a bit of time passes
and I receive a tip
that one of the reasons was the fact that
Arnold Schwarzenegger had had a child with a member of the household staff.
Didn't have a name, didn't have anything.
Through reporting, we put it together,
and I called the Governor's spokesman for him, whoever it was
and, you know, they confirmed the story was true.
The human and the kind thing to do
was to afford him and Maria Shriver some time to talk to their family.
I had to go
to my kids and…
and explain it to them.
[reporter] Former California governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger,
has admitted to fathering a child
with a member of his family's household staff
more than a decade ago.
[reporter 2] The New York Times reporting tonight, the child is a boy.
He's now 14.
[reporter 3] Baena had worked for the couple for two decades
as a housekeeper,
and he hid that child for years, not just from voters,
but from his own family.
How could he keep this secret for so long?
The reason why I feel reluctant talking about it
is just because
every time I do,
it opens up the wounds again,
and…
and I think that…
that I have caused enough pain for my family
because of my fuckup.
You know, because of that, everyone had to suffer.
Maria had to suffer. The kids had to suffer.
Joseph.
His mother. Everyone.
I am gonna have to live with it the rest of my life.
I mean, you know, people will remember
my successes
and they will also remember those failures.
It's a major failure.
I mean, I had failures in the past,
but… you know, in my career,
but I mean, this is like a whole different ball game.
This is like a whole different dimension of failure.
[indistinct chatter]
[Arnold] I just saw Joseph developing into a fantastic human being
and this fantastic man.
He makes me feel proud,
and I feel really good about him.
It was wrong,
what I did,
but I don't want to make Joseph feel that he's not welcome in this world,
because he's very much welcome in this world,
and I love him,
and he has turned out to be an extraordinary young man.
See you, guys.
[man] Have a good day.
[Arnold] I'm very happy
within this sad story
that, um…
that Maria and I were able to raise the kids really well.
I think that there's nothing more important
than to have a good partner by your side,
and every step of the way, Maria was exactly that.
We have a really great relationship.
-Making a mess. -Making a mess. Exactly.
Any kind of a special day, we are all together as a family,
and everyone is really happy about that.
But it's not
what it was,
where we were all together kind of under one roof as a family.
That is not the case anymore.
It's all about the circular motion.
Ah! [laughs]
-Look at this. -Oh my God.
[laughing]
It's so sick.
[Arnold] My father always said, "As long as you concentrate on being useful,
rather than, 'How do I feel today?',
it doesn't matter. It's not gonna help anything anyway."
"So you can feel shitty, you can feel happy,
the world is not gonna change, so let's get going."
All right.
It's the routine. Every day the same thing.
First, I let the animals out.
Fresh cookies.
Then I bang, make a lot of noise.
That means they have to run out to the tennis court and get the grass.
Now for 15 minutes, they're gonna eat now grass.
That's all they're gonna have.
Everyone has to be cut down to a limited amount of calories.
Good boys and girls. [laughs]
I play with them. I clean them off.
I clean the stable. I shovel the shit.
So for an hour and a half, I cannot think about anything else.
There's a mission.
Now some people take seminars about this stuff,
how to feel better about yourself and all this stuff,
but I always tell people,
"Stay busy. Be useful."
All right.
[curious music plays]
I think that I went through this stage
where you kind of lose it.
Where I felt kind of like,
"I'm not going to take off my T-shirt,
because my abs are not quite anymore what they were."
And you look at your body and all the sudden you see a wrinkle
below your pectoral muscle.
You look at that and lift up your arm and say, "What?"
"I wonder if this can be surgically removed?"
The first drama
I went through years and years and years ago,
when I says, "You look like shit."
"This is not anymore the Arnold that I know of."
Now, I don't even look at that anymore that way.
Now I'm just fighting to hold on.
You're 75 years old and you look in the mirror and you say,
"What the fuck?"
Well, let's just see what else we have here.
Now this
is Franco Columbu,
also known as Dr. Franco Columbu because he was a doctor and chiropractic.
He was my best friend, and he was my training partner.
There was no one that trained more hours with me than him.
I met him when I was 18 years old.
He was powerful.
He inspired me to get stronger.
I inspired him to get bigger muscles. We were really great training partners.
Franco was also a bodybuilding champion, but because he was short
he did not get the notoriety.
It's always, like, the tall guy who in the end wins.
So I was very sensitive about him being left behind.
So when I got into the movie business,
I tried to put him into as many movies as I could.
We used to live together.
We made wine together.
I helped him build his house.
It's been the greatest,
the closest relationship that I've had with any guy.
After he passed away,
there's not a day
when I don't go into my living room and look over at the chessboard.
That's where Franco and I spent so much time.
I really miss him.
I mean, he was such a wonderful man
and such a good human being.
I wish that everyone
has a friend like that,
because if you don't, you miss out on a lot.
That's all I can say.
It is a big adjustment
when you see so many of your friends pass away.
You know, when I think about Gerstl,
when I think about Wag Bennett,
Reg Park.
When I think about Joe Weider,
and this year,
Bob Rafelson,
Ivan Reitman.
These are all people that I am indebted to.
When someone says, "Arnold, you're the perfect example."
"The self-made man."
And I say, "The only thing that is self
is kind of my motivation and my visualization and all this stuff."
There were endless amounts of people that were helping me.
You can call me Arnie.
You can call me Schnitzel. You can call me Kraut,
but don't ever call me self-made man,
because I'm not.
[birds chirping]
[indistinct chatter]
[Arnold in German] I dreamt that I would be Mr. Universe,
that I would be an actor and all that,
but I never would have thought that this would turn into a museum.
Never.
[in English] The day when my friends came here
and sat around the Stammtisch,
they looked very happy.
Everyone has their own definition of success.
People's ambition is just to have a family and to make normal money
and to see their kids and see their grandkids,
and they're happy.
I was more adventurous, and I was more hungry,
because of the needs that I had,
but in the end, we have the same values and we're striving for the same thing.
[inspirational music plays]
Whoo!
[Sylvester] It's kind of like the fighting's over.
We are the last dinosaurs.
We're kind of the elder statesmen, if you want to call it that.
But Arnold has developed that kind of impervious,
bigger-than-life character.
-Let me do one with the arms out. -[screams]
[Sylvester] And I don't think it's gonna stop.
[Wachter] Arnold is Mr. Universe.
He is one of the few, if only, people
who has succeeded in three completely different realms.
But he never turned his back on bodybuilding.
He always cared about the sport.
That's why he ran the Arnold Classic.
And acting, he didn't stop making movies.
[man] He looks old.
Never seen a terminator old before.
My auditory circuits have not degraded, however.
I'm old,
not obsolete.
Arnold wasn't trained to think in those terms,
but I don't see anything slowing him down.
He loves life.
He loves people. He loves getting things done,
and as long as he's got a breath, he's gonna continue doing it.
[man] With every bid, you're helping After-School All-Stars.
[Cameron] He's got this huge brand and this huge fan base.
He's just trying to give back.
-I'm back. -[applause]
We need the people to put the pressure on our elected leaders.
[Kennedy] He is an elder statesman now,
and a statesman with global stature.
The world needs him.
You just have to ignore the naysayers,
because anything and everything is possible.
All right, I just got my vaccine and I would recommend it to everyone.
Come with me if you want to live.
[adventurous music plays]
[Arnold] I say to myself,
"Well, Arnold, you wanted to change things?"
"Now is your time. Now is your chance."
I have a big platform,
so I have to use that power of influence
in a good way.
I'm sending this message through various different channels
to reach my dear Russian friends
and the Russian soldiers serving in Ukraine.
I'm speaking to you today,
because there are things that are going on in the world
that are being kept from you.
A lot of the stuff that I talk about, I have witnessed firsthand.
For instance,
the broken man in Austria
after the Second World War,
when I was born,
and I saw them getting drunk. I saw them being in pain.
Not only because they lost the war, but also because they fell
for a horrible, loser ideology.
They were lied to and misled
into a path that ended in misery.
So when I see something similar happening today…
I mean, I see people marching with Nazi flags and all this,
I say to myself, "There's someone that is lying to them
that this is the way to go."
I knew what that led to.
That led to World War II,
and it led to the atrocities.
More than six million Jews were killed.
Innocent other people were tortured and killed,
only because these people were lied to.
[clamoring]
I speak with the same heartfelt concern
when there was an attempted insurrection on January 6th last year.
There are moments like this that are so wrong,
and then we have to speak up.
I ask you to help me spread the truth.
To me, I don't understand this idea
of looking at anyone as the enemy,
because I can get together with anyone
and try to figure out how can we work together.
Don't we all want to be loved,
and therefore, we should give love back to people?
Over the years, that thought started coming more and more into my mind…
that I've had as close to a perfect life
than anyone can have.
Then, of course, you feel like it's too short.
I hope that when I am long gone, people say that he made a difference.
[sentimental music plays]
Well,
let's get back to work.
["Heroes" plays]
[lyrics in German]
♪ We can be heroes ♪
♪ Forever and ever ♪
♪ We can be heroes ♪
♪ Just for one day ♪
♪What do you say? ♪