<P> Throughout most of his life, Wayne was a vocally prominent conservative Republican in Hollywood, supporting anti-communist positions . Initially a self - described socialist during his college years, he voted for Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1936 presidential election and expressed admiration for Roosevelt's successor, fellow Democratic President Harry S. Truman . He took part in creating the conservative Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals in February 1944, and was elected president of that organization in 1949 . An ardent anti-communist and vocal supporter of the House Un-American Activities Committee, he made Big Jim McLain (1952) with himself as a HUAC investigator to demonstrate his support for the cause of anti-communism . Declassified Soviet documents reveal that, despite being a fan of Wayne's movies, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin contemplated assassination of Wayne for his frequently espoused anti-communist politics . </P> <P> Wayne supported Vice President Richard Nixon in the presidential election of 1960, but expressed his vision of patriotism when John F. Kennedy won the election: "I didn't vote for him but he's my president, and I hope he does a good job ." He used his star power to support conservative causes, including rallying support for the Vietnam War by producing, codirecting, and starring in the financially successful, critically panned The Green Berets (1968). </P> <P> Due to his status as the highest profile Republican star in Hollywood, wealthy Texas Republican Party backers asked Wayne to run for national office in 1968, as had his friend and fellow actor Senator George Murphy . He declined, joking that he did not believe the public would seriously consider an actor in the White House . Instead, he supported his friend Ronald Reagan's runs for Governor of California in 1966 and 1970 . He was asked to be the running mate for Democratic Alabama Governor George Wallace in 1968, but he rejected the offer and actively campaigned for Richard Nixon; Wayne addressed the Republican National Convention on its opening day in August 1968 . For a while, he was also a member of the anti-communist John Birch Society . </P> <P> Wayne openly differed with the Republican Party over the issue of the Panama Canal, as he supported the Panama Canal Treaty in the mid-1970s; conservatives had wanted the U.S. to retain full control of the canal, but Wayne believed that the Panamanians had the right to the canal and sided with President Jimmy Carter and the Democrats . Wayne was a close friend of the late Panamanian leader Omar Torrijos Herrera, and Wayne's first wife, Josephine, was a native of Panama . His support of the treaty brought him hate mail for the first time in his life . </P>

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