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Cigars Transform Schwarzenegger Foe into Friend

David Savona
Posted: June 1, 2007

If ever there was doubt that time spent smoking fine cigars can forge friendships, read yesterday's front-page article in the Wall Street Journal about California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and State Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez. The Republican governor and Democratic speaker had gotten off to a poor start in their relationship: Schwarzenegger dubbed Núñez and his fellow Democrats "girly men," while the speaker once "declared political war" on Schwarzenegger.

Today, the two are friends, thanks to cigars.

According to the piece, by the Journal's Jim Carlton, the two have smoked cigars in Schwarzenegger's smoking tent set up outside the Sacramento capitol building, plus they have smoked together at Schwarzenegger's home.

"Their journey toward rapprochement -- one part political calculation, another part personal ties forged over cigars in the governor's backyard -- helps explain why California is beginning to solve problems that have vexed the Golden State for years," wrote Carlton.

Schwarzenegger is a passionate cigar smoker, and the only living person to appear twice as the sole subject of a Cigar Aficionado cover. He recently attended Cigar Aficionado's Night to Remember, which raises money for prostate cancer research.