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" Whether it&amp;#039;s a pro-wrestler-turned-governor or Hollywood actor elected President, the line between celebrity and politician has become more and more blurred in the last half-century. With midterm elections rapidly approaching, we thought it fitting to look at entertainers who were elected to\u2014or at the very least, ran for\u2014a position in government. From Ronald Reagan to Clint Eastwood, here are 10 noteworthy celebrities who campaigned for a different kind of stardom. Ronald Reagan  In the early days, Ronald Reagan was merely known as the handsome star of such films as Kings Row and The Killers, and TV shows including Death Valley Days. But starting in 1947, after he was elected president of the Screen Actors Guild, Reagan became intrigued with politics. In 1966, Reagan was elected governor of California and was re-elected in 1970. Then, in 1980, American voters elected him President with George Bush as his Vice President. Serving two terms from 1981 to 1989, Reagan was known for, among other things, his overhaul of the tax system and staunch anti-Communist stance. Photo Left: John Kobal Foundation/Getty Images; Right: Getty Images Arnold Schwarzenegger  Austrian-born bodybuilder and actor Arnold Schwarzenegger just might be the perfect example of the American dream. In 1968, the then 20-year-old was the youngest person ever to win the Mr. Universe title; in 1982, he got his first big Hollywood break in the action film Conan the Barbarian. A year later he was granted U.S. citizenship and went on to become one of the biggest action stars in the world, starring in such films as The Terminator, Total Recall and True Lies. During his acting career, he promoted children&amp;#039;s health and fitness and dabbled in politics. In 2003, Schwarzenegger, a Republican, ran in the recall election for California governor and won, replacing then-governor Gray Davis. Schwarzenegger won again in 2006, and will complete his term in January 2011. Photo Left: Dirck Halstead/Getty Images; Right: Jonathan Leibson/FilmMagic Jesse Ventura  Jesse &amp;quot;The Body&amp;quot; Ventura first became a public figure during the early 1980s when he was a wrestler with the World Wrestling Federation. After retiring, he worked as an announcer for the organization from 1985 to 1990, as well as acted in movies such as Predator and The Running Man. His foray into politics began in 1991, when he was elected mayor of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. When his term ended in 1995, he went on to become governor of Minnesota, serving from 1999 to 2003. Ventura did not seek re-election; instead, he became an author, penning several books including American Conspiracies: Lies, Lies, and More Dirty Lies that the Government Tells Us. In recent years, Ventura has also worked the political pundit circuit as a liberal voice and critic of conservatives. Photo Right: Jonathan Elderfield/Getty Images Al Franken  Al Franken spent two decades as a writer on Saturday Night Live. He won five Emmys and seven nominations for his work between 1975 and 1995. After leaving SNL, Franken began writing satirical political books including Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations and Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right, both of which became bestsellers. As Franken rose up in the Democratic Party, he moved back to his home state of Minnesota and ran for state Senate in 2008. Although he won, Franken&amp;#039;s victory was challenged and the case went to the Minnesota Supreme Court. The court sided with Franken in June 2009; he began his term on July 7, 2009. Photo Left: Ron Galella/WireImage; Right: Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images Sonny Bono  You didn&amp;#039;t have to be alive in the &amp;#039;60s and &amp;#039;70s to know about Sonny and Cher and the comedy TV show that launched them into stardom. It was in the 1980s that Bono inadvertently became involved in politics. According to his obituary, he ran for mayor of Palm Springs, California, after facing bureaucratic hurdles while trying to post a sign for his Italian restaurant. Bono was elected mayor of Palm Springs in 1988, and served for four years. He then ran for the California Senate as a Republican, but lost. In 1994, he ran for Congress and this time won as the California representative for the state&amp;#039;s 44th Congressional District, taking office in January 1995. Tragically, however, he died three years into his term in a skiing accident. Photo Left: Keystone/Getty Images; Right: Arnold Sachs/Getty Images Jerry Springer   Unlike the others on this list, Jerry Springer actually started in politics and then moved into entertainment. His career began in 1968 when, after graduating from Northwestern Law School, he worked on Robert F. Kennedy&amp;#039;s presidential campaign. After Kennedy&amp;#039;s assassination, Springer moved to Cincinnati and ran for Congress in 1970. He lost, but a year later he ran and won a seat on the Cincinnati city council. He resigned in 1974 when he was targeted by police for paying a prostitute with a check. In 1977 he was elected as Cincinnati mayor, and went on to run for governor of Ohio. When he lost that bid, Springer started working in television news; later, in 1991, he launched his own talk show. He hit it big with the Jerry Springer Show, which celebrated its 20th season in October 2010. Photo Right: Michael Loccisano/Getty Images Clint Eastwood  First known for playing tough-guy roles in such films as The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Dirty Harry and Unforgiven, Clint Eastwood later became an Oscar-winning director, renowned for his films including Million Dollar Baby and Flags of Our Fathers. Less well known is that Eastwood was mayor of Carmel, California, from 1986 to 1988. In 2001, Governor Gray Davis appointed him to the State Park and Recreation Commission, as did Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2004. But after opposing some of Schwazenegger&amp;#039;s proposals, he was not reappointed in 2008. Fortunately for audiences, however, he continued his directing career with Gran Torino, Invictus and Hereafter, which was released this year. Photo Left: Keystone/Getty Images; Right: Bob Larson/AFP/Getty Images Shirley Temple Black  Shirley Temple is perhaps the most popular child star of all time. She could sing, dance and act, and delighted audiences with her curly hair and cheery demeanor in such films as Bright Eyes, Dimples and Heidi. Despite her popularity, Temple&amp;#039;s star power began to fade as she reached adolescence; she made her last movie in 1949 at the age of 21. As an adult, however, under her married name, Shirley Temple Black, she forayed into politics. She unsuccessfully ran for U.S. Congress in 1967, but then, in 1969, President Richard Nixon appointed her as an ambassador to the United Nations. She was later appointed as the U.S. ambassador to Ghana from 1974 to 1976 and Czechoslovakia from 1989 to 1992. Photo Left: General Photographic Agency/Stringer/Getty Images; Right: KMazur/WireImage Levi Johnston  Levi Johnston was thrust into the spotlight in 2008 when the public found out he was the father of Sarah Palin&amp;#039;s grandchild (he was dating her then-17-year-old daughter, Bristol, at the time). After the election, he went on to pose for Playgirl and became a fixture of the tabloids. And now, he has decided that if Palin can be mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, he can too! The only catch: Johnston recently admitted on The View that even he doesn&amp;#039;t know what his platform will be, let alone whether he&amp;#039;ll run as Democrat or Republican. Photo Left: US Weekly/Getty Images; Right: ABC Wyclef Jean  Most people know Wyclef Jean as a member of the Grammy-winning &amp;#039;90s group The Fugees, but he&amp;#039;s also an activist for his native country of Haiti. Jean came to the U.S. at 9 years old as a refugee; as an adult, he formed the Y\u00E9le Organization, which supports various issues relating to Haiti, including community outreach, education, environmental issues and healthcare. After the devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Jean stepped up his activism and ran for president of Haiti. However, in August 2010, Haitian election officials disqualified him from running because he is not currently a resident of the country. Photo Left: Paul Natkin/WireImage; Right: Joe Raedle/Getty Images "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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