FILE-President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk pose for a photo during the UFC 309 event at Madison Square Garden on November 16, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Getty Images)
Celebrities have left the fame and spotlight behind for careers in politics in what has become a common phenomenon in the U.S. through the years, and these are some of the high-profile luminaries who have made a name for themselves in the political world.
Donald Trump
President-elect Donald Trump is returning to the White House for his second stint in office. The former reality TV star and real estate mogul didn’t have a background when he first ran and won the presidency in 2016.
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Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan was a Hollywood actor who began his political career as California governor and moved on to become the President of the United States from 1981 to 1989.
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger is one of Hollywood’s biggest movie stars best known for his blockbuster films, but the action star moved from the big screen to politics when he served as governor of California from 2003 to 2011.
Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood was elected mayor of Carmel, California in 1986. The famous actor and director was later appointed to the California State Park and Recreation Commission in 2001 under Governors Gray Davis and Arnold Schwarzenegger, according to Business Insider.
Ross Perot
Henry Ross Perot was not only a successful businessman, but one of the most successful third-party candidates in modern American history. Perot ran for president in 1992 and received 19% of the popular vote during his presidential bid that year, which is the best showing by an independent candidate in the past century, encouraging a second run four years later.
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Before getting into the political arena, the U.S. Navy veteran and graduate of the Naval Academy was a titan in the business world, founding several companies worth millions of dollars. Perot died in 2019, and Forbes had his estimated net worth at $4.1 billion.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk is a billionaire businessman well-known for his roles with SpaceX and Tesla. He also owns X, formerly Twitter.
President-elect Donald Trump has tapped Musk to head the new Department of Government Efficiency, a non-governmental commission aimed at reducing government waste and cutting federal bureaucracy. Musk will collaborate with entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy to achieve substantial structural reforms within federal agencies.
RELATED: Trump taps Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy to lead Department of Government Efficiency
Pete Hegseth
Pete Hegseth was a co-host of FOX News Channel’s “Fox & Friends Weekend” and has been a contributor to the network since 2014, according to the Associated Press. This is where he developed a friendship with Trump, who made regular appearances on the show.
President-elect Donald Trump has picked the 44-year-old to serve as his secretary of defense. Hegseth was an infantry captain in the Army National Guard and served overseas in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and he unsuccessfully ran for the Senate in Minnesota in 2012.
Linda McMahon
Linda McMahon is the co-founder and former CEO of the WWE wrestling franchise, and she’s also a former Small Business Administration director and is considered a favorite to become Donald Trump’s commerce secretary.
Trump selected the 76-year-old to be his education secretary. McMahon is a bigger donor for Trump and was one of his early supporters when he first ran for president in 2016.
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Manny Pacquiao
Manny Pacquiao is lauded as one of the greatest boxers of all-time and the former world champion left the sport for politics and was elected to the Philippines House of Representatives in 2010 and was elected as a senator in 2016.
Jerry Springer
The famous daytime TV talk show host was first elected to Cincinnati City Council in 1971 and resigned in 1974 after admitting to hiring a sex worker. He won back his seat in 1975 and served one year as mayor in 1977.
Jesse Ventura
Jesse Ventura was a professional wrestler and actor who starred in action films with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Ventura was also a member of the US Navy Underwater Demolition team and later served as governor of Minnesota from 1999 to 2003.
Kevin Johnson
Kevin Johnson played 12 seasons in the NBA for most of his career with the Phoenix Suns. The three-time All-Star served as the mayor of Sacramento from 2008-2016 and was the first African American to hold that role.
Al Franken
Al Franken made a name for himself as a writer and performer on “Saturday Night Live” and as a political talk show host. He later became a Democratic senator for Minnesota in 2009 before announcing his resignation in 2017 over allegations of sexual harassment.
Bill Bradley
Bill Bradley played 10 years in the NBA with the New York Knicks, winning two championships. And the NBA All-Star left the sport to focus on a political career that led to him serving as a senator for New Jersey from 1979 to 1997.
Fred Thompson
Fred Thompson was well-known for his role in “Law & Order,” and the veteran actor made a name for himself in politics by becoming a US senator for Tennessee from 1994 to 2003.
Sonny Bono
Sonny Bono was a singer and songwriter and is best-known for being one half of the singing duo Sonny and Cher. Bono served as mayor of Palm Springs, California from 1988 to 1992, and he was elected to the House of Representatives in 1994 and served until he died in 1998.
