When was Arnold Schwarzenegger governor of California?
ARNOLD Schwarzenegger is well-known for his iconic action movies and was also the former governor of California.
The Terminator star held the political position for eight years after being re-elected for a second term in 2007.
When was Arnold Schwarzenegger governor of California?
Arnold Schwarzenegger served as the 38th governor of California from 2003 to 2011.
The Predator star became the governor when he won a recall election against incumbent Gray Davis, a Democrat.
The Republican received 48.6% of the vote, 17 points ahead of Democrat runner-up Cruz Bustamante.
At his re-election, he earned 55.9% of the vote.
Schwarzenegger returned to acting after he reached his term limit as governor.
He was among Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2004 and 2007.
Where is Arnold Schwarzenegger now?
Schwarzenegger and actor Sylvester Stallone are featured in the new TMZ special titled Arnold & Sly: Rivals, Friends, Icons.
Per , the television program debuts on Tuesday, April 23, 2024, at 8 pm ET/7 pm CT.
Most read in The US Sun
"Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone sit down for the first time to discuss how their once-fierce rivalry led to two Hollywood icons forever being friends and brothers in arms," its Fox description states.
In March 2024, 76-year-old Schwarzenegger shared that he had a fourth heart surgery after experiencing complications from a past operation.
The star was born with a congenital heart condition, a bicuspid aortic valve, which has led to his surgeries.
He opened up about his fourth procedure on his Arnold's Pump Club podcast.
"Last Monday, I had surgery to become a little bit more of a machine: I got a pacemaker," he said.
"I had my surgery on Monday, and by Friday, I was already at a big environmental event with my friend and fellow fitness crusader Jane Fonda.
"Nobody would ever have thought I started the week with a surgery."
Schwarzenegger's doctors advised him to have the surgery because of an irregular heartbeat caused by scar tissue from his previous operation.
"They also advised me that it was time to go through with this because some scar tissue from my previous surgery had made my heartbeat irregular," the film icon continued.
"It had been like that for a few years, so I stayed in touch with my medical team and visited in person at least once a year to get a full check-up and see how my heart was doing.
"That's life with a genetic heart issue.
"My mother and her mother's bicuspid valves killed them. I'm still here because of medical innovation and being very diligent about staying in touch with my doctors and listening to them."
Is Arnold Schwarzenegger married?
While Schwarzenegger is no longer married, he wed Maria Shriver in 1986.
The former couple split in 2011 and finalized their divorce in December 2021, reported.
Schwarzenegger has been dating physical therapist Heather Milligan for over a decade. The couple met in 2012, and romance rumors began in 2013, per .
In June 2023, the former bodybuilder revealed details about his marital affair – and the moment he had to tell his now ex-wife Shriver he had a son with Mildred Baena.
In the Netflix documentary series Arnold, he spoke about the exposure of his bombshell affair with a housekeeper in the 1990s.
The Hollywood star said his "heart stopped" when Shriver confronted him with rumors about fathering Joseph Baena, now 26, in 2011.
The pair were already attending regular counseling sessions after his stint as governor kept him away from Shriver and their four kids and caused rifts in the marriage — which was finally killed off by the scandal.
In the three-part series, which premiered on June 7, 2023, Schwarzenegger revealed, "One day, the counselor said, 'Today Maria wants to be very specific about something.
"She wants to know if you're the father of Joseph.'
"I thought my heart stopped. And then I told the truth.
"'Yes, Maria. Joseph is my son.' She was obviously crushed by that."
The actor said that after the 1996 affair, Mildred continued to work for the family, who had believed her husband Rogelio was Joseph's father.
He said, "In the beginning, I really didn't know, but the older he got, the more it became clear to me.
"It was then just a matter of, 'How do you keep this quiet?'"
Joseph was born days after Shriver gave birth to Schwarzenegger's fourth child, Christopher, on September 27, 1997.
The confession, which took place 14 years later, proved too much for her to forgive.
The former couple, who also share daughters Katherine and Christina, and son Patrick, announced their separation in May 2011.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
The Hollywood icon admitted the affair was his biggest "failure" but said he has a close relationship with Joseph, as well as with his other kids.
In his documentary, he also opened up about his abusive childhood while growing up in Austria with his violent "schizophrenic" father Gustav, which drove him to his huge success.