When Hollywood Was Right How Movie Stars, Studio Moguls, and Big Business Remade American Politics

Hollywood was not always a bastion of liberalism. Following World War II, an informal alliance of movie stars, studio moguls, and Southern California business interests formed to revitalize a factionalized Republican Party. Coming together were stars such as John Wayne, Robert Taylor, George Murphy, and many others who joined studio heads Cecil B. DeMille, Louis B. Mayer, Walt Disney, and Jack Warner to rebuild the Republican Party. They found support among a large group of business leaders who poured money and skills into this effort, which paid off with the election of George Murphy to the U.S. Senate and of Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan to the highest office in the nation.