ADVERTISEMENT

Some precedents of celebrities who have become presidents

However, only one sportsman -- Hungary's double Olympic fencing champion Pal Schmitt -- has previously become president.

However, only one sportsman -- Hungary's double Olympic fencing champion Pal Schmitt -- has previously become president.

Here are some precedents:

US: Reagan and Trump

ADVERTISEMENT

B movie actor Ronald Reagan, who played in Hollywood for more than two decades, was the first cinema star to enter the high echelons of US politics. He was elected governor of California in 1966 before starting the first of two terms as president in 1981.

Several decades later, in January 2017, real estate mogul and reality TV star Donald Trump entered the White House without any political, diplomatic or military experience. The 45th president of the United States, whose surprise election shocked the world, hosted the TV show "The Apprentice" between 2004 and 2015.

Hollywood star Arnold Schwarzenegger, who succeeded Trump as host of the reality show, also made the leap from cinema to politics. The bodybuilder and action hero was California's Republican governor from 2003 to 2011.

Estrada in the Philippines

All-action tough guy movie star Joseph Estrada, who played in around 100 films, entered politics in 1969 and was elected president of the Philippines in 1998 where he remained until 2001. He was then detained for six years and convicted of plundering state coffers before winning a pardon in 2007.

ADVERTISEMENT

Martelly in Haiti

In Haiti popular carnival singer Michel Martelly -- known to the country's youth as "Sweet Micky" -- won the April 2011 presidential election with more than 67 percent of votes.

Morales in Guatemala

Jimmy Morales, a former TV comic with no previous political experience who campaigned on anti-corruption promises, was elected Guatemala's president in October 2015. Also a cinema producer and TV personality, Morales is famous for his 2007 film "A President in a Sombrero" in which he plays a country bumpkin cowboy named Neto who nearly gets elected president by accident.

Europe: Schmitt and Landsbergis

ADVERTISEMENT

After his election by parliament in June 2010, Pal Schmitt, a double Olympic gold medal epee winner in 1968 and 1972, became the fourth president of democratic Hungary. Schmitt entered politics as secretary general of the Hungarian Olympic Committee in the 1980s. He was toppled from the presidency in April 2012 by a plagiarism scandal.

In Lithuania musician Vytautas Landsbergis led his country to independence from the Soviet Union and was in 1990 elected as president.

Writers, boxer

Others have leapt from careers in literature to politics, like Senegal's poet and author Leopold Sedar Senghor, who became the republic's first president upon independence in 1960, and Vaclav Havel who in 1989 won post-communist Czechoslovakia's first presidential election.

Well away from the electoral process, Ugandan dictator Idi Amin Dada, who seized power in 1971 in a coup, was a former heavyweight boxing champion from 1951 to 1960.

JOIN OUR PULSE COMMUNITY!

Unblock notifications in browser settings.
ADVERTISEMENT

Eyewitness? Submit your stories now via social or:

Email: eyewitness@pulse.ng

Recommended articles

Reps vow to retrieve sold Govt helicopters, summon aviation ministers

Reps vow to retrieve sold Govt helicopters, summon aviation ministers

Distress of abducted Kuriga school children led to successful rescue - DHQ

Distress of abducted Kuriga school children led to successful rescue - DHQ

Reps halt NASU's strike to resolve dispute between FG, universities

Reps halt NASU's strike to resolve dispute between FG, universities

Lagos VIS seizes 50 unroadworthy vehicles in enforcement operation

Lagos VIS seizes 50 unroadworthy vehicles in enforcement operation

Aiyedatiwa sends 12 commissioner nominees to Ondo Assembly for confirmation

Aiyedatiwa sends 12 commissioner nominees to Ondo Assembly for confirmation

Woman saves animal from the streets — then she finds out it is something else

Woman saves animal from the streets — then she finds out it is something else

Alake calls on Badaru to fish out illegal miners, violators of mining laws

Alake calls on Badaru to fish out illegal miners, violators of mining laws

Divers find bodies of 2 people who drowned after Baltimore bridge collapsed

Divers find bodies of 2 people who drowned after Baltimore bridge collapsed

INEC rejects LP's National convention in Anambra, questions venue change

INEC rejects LP's National convention in Anambra, questions venue change

Pulse Sports

Nigeria vs Mali: Has Finidi George done enough to land Super Eagles job permanently?

Nigeria vs Mali: Has Finidi George done enough to land Super Eagles job permanently?

I want to emulate Keshi and win the AFCON - Finidi George shares ambitious Super Eagles dream

I want to emulate Keshi and win the AFCON - Finidi George shares ambitious Super Eagles dream

Michelle Alozie: I had to do it because of African referees

Michelle Alozie: I had to do it because of African referees

AC Milan star reveals he was named after Super Eagles legend Tijani Babangida

AC Milan star reveals he was named after Super Eagles legend Tijani Babangida

Give him the job! Super Eagles fans beg NFF to make Finidi George permanent coach after Nigeria's win over Ghana

Give him the job! Super Eagles fans beg NFF to make Finidi George permanent coach after Nigeria's win over Ghana

Super Eagles 2-1 Black Stars: Nigerians praise Iwobi, Lookman, Finidi George after friendly victory against Ghana

Super Eagles 2-1 Black Stars: Nigerians praise Iwobi, Lookman, Finidi George after friendly victory against Ghana

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT