# A John Wayne quote on politics **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 6, 2010, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-john-wayne-quote-on-politics/538481 "2010-05-06T04:21:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-john-wayne-quote-on-politics/538481/1 "2010-05-06T04:21:48Z")
I just read this quote and I wanted to pass it along. John Wayne was a conservative. But in 1960 he said this after the election of John Kennedy: _“I didn’t vote for him, but he’s my President, and I hope he does a good job.”_ I wish this kind of thinking was more common fifty years later. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-john-wayne-quote-on-politics/538481/2 "2010-05-06T07:32:33Z")
Maybe instead of asking, “What would Jesus do?”, we should be asking “What would John Wayne do?” I think generally speaking it would involve a good deal of shootings and beat downs. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-john-wayne-quote-on-politics/538481/3 "2010-05-06T08:22:55Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Maybe instead of asking, “What would Jesus do?”, we should be asking “What would John Wayne do?” > > I think generally speaking it would involve a good deal of shootings and beat downs. Did John Wayne have anything like this OFF screen? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-john-wayne-quote-on-politics/538481/4 "2010-05-06T08:30:40Z")
No idea, but John Wayne was the Chuck Norris of his day. Look at the Chuck threads and you’d get a pretty good idea of what people would think about the Duke – true or not. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-john-wayne-quote-on-politics/538481/5 "2010-05-06T13:52:08Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Maybe instead of asking, “What would Jesus do?”, we should be asking “What would John Wayne do?” > > I think generally speaking it would involve a good deal of shootings and beat downs. And there’s that walk. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-john-wayne-quote-on-politics/538481/6 "2010-05-06T14:01:30Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > Did John Wayne have anything like this OFF screen? If memory serves, the Canadian government seized a substantial quantity of expensive alcohol from the Duke’s yacht at one point. He confronted some very high officials about this, using language and behavior that, in the words of one witness, “wouldn’t make good print.” Per the OP: the Duke reacted much the same way to Jimmy Carter’s election, attending the Inaugural Ball as a self-proclaimed member of the “loyal opposition”. Say what you want; the Duke could be a real class act politically. When he was sober. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-john-wayne-quote-on-politics/538481/7 "2010-05-06T15:15:16Z")
Wayne also strongly supported President Carter in transferring control of the Panama Canal to the locals, unlike most of his conservative pals: [http://www.nytimes.com/1987/03/16/us/reagan-angered-john-wayne.html](http://www.nytimes.com/1987/03/16/us/reagan-angered-john-wayne.html) As to the OP, I agree. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-john-wayne-quote-on-politics/538481/8 "2010-05-06T15:33:38Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > Did John Wayne have anything like this OFF screen? Reading through the stuff IMDB has on him and some of his movies, he seems to have a little bit of a “frat boy” streak: Quoted from the IMDB entry for “Rio Bravo”: > [@](#): > > On May 8th, just one week into shooting ‘Rio Bravo’, Ricky Nelson celebrated his 18th birthday. As a gift, John Wayne and Dean Martin gave him a 300 lb. sack of steer manure, which they then threw Nelson into as a rite of passage. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-john-wayne-quote-on-politics/538481/9 "2010-05-06T17:46:08Z")
The Smothers Brothers, who had endless battles with CBS over their political and religious material, ended their show several times by asking viewers “to pray for our President and his efforts to make peace.” ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-john-wayne-quote-on-politics/538481/10 "2010-05-07T03:25:45Z")
I wish that kind of thinking had been more common 40 years later, especially among those who bring it up now.