On Friday (August 27th) the John Wayne Estate posted a retro interview that showed John Wayne explaining why he always sought to “vote for the man” and not for certain political parties.
“‘I vote for the man’ 🇺🇸 #JohnWayneValues (Thanks for sharing this video @john.wayne.fans 🤠),” The John Wayne Estate states in the post.
During the interview, Wayne says that while he is well known for his western films, as well as his love for the U.S., his popularity did give some power to the Republican Party. But he also admitted that he didn’t necessarily always voted for one party. He also said he voted for a Democrat in a gubernatorial race.
John Wayne Opens Up About Politics & His Thoughts on Richard Nixon
John Wayne was known for his phrase, “I didn’t vote for him, but he’s my president. And I hope he does a good job” after John F Kennedy won the President Election in 1960. He actually voted for the Republican candidate, Richard Nixon, during that election.
The actor shared that he voted for President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the 1936 Presidential Election and supported President Harry S. Truman.
“He was a wonderful, feisty guy who’ll go down in history as quite an individual,” John Wayne told Playboy in 1971. “It’s a cinch he had great guts when he decided to straighten things out in Korea.”
Wayne also admitted in the PlayBoy interview that he didn’t understand politicians because they were either “yellowing out” from taking a stand or using outside pressure to improve their political positions. This is why he didn’t want to run for any political office.
Wayne revealed what he told George Wallace when asked to be his running mate for the 1968 American Independent candidate. “I explained that tI was working for the other Wallis – Hal Wallis – the producer of True Grit and I’ve been a Nixon Man.”
He then shared his thoughts about President Richard Nixon. “I think Mr. Nixon is proving himself [to be] his own man,” He said. “I knew he would. I knew him and stuck with him when he was a loser. And I stick with him now that he’s a winner.”
Wayne also discussed the criticism of his film The Green Berets and how it was a “shameless” propaganda film. “I agreed with them. It was an American film about American boys who were heroes over there. In that sense, it was propaganda.”
In regards to how he dealt with people and differences of opinion, Wayne goes on to explain that he follows his father’s advice. “He told me, first, to always keep my word and second, to never insult anybody unintentionally. If I insult you, you can be god— sure I intend to.”
Wayne then added that his father told him to not go around looking for trouble.
