Editing Kirk Douglas (section)

===Politics===
[[File:Kirk Douglas with book 2002.jpg|thumb|Douglas in 2002 with his book ''My Stroke of Luck'']]
Douglas and his wife traveled to more than 40 countries, at their own expense, to act as goodwill ambassadors for the [[U.S. Information Agency]], speaking to audiences about why democracy works and what freedom means.<ref name=heart/> In 1980, Douglas flew to Cairo to talk with Egyptian President [[Anwar Sadat]]. For all his goodwill efforts, he received the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]] from President [[Jimmy Carter]] in 1981.<ref name=LATimes/> At the ceremony, Carter said that Douglas had "done this in a sacrificial way, almost invariably without fanfare and without claiming any personal credit or acclaim for himself".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=44540|title=Jimmy Carter: Presidential Medal of Freedom Remarks at the Presentation Ceremony|website=Presidency.ucsb.edu|date=January 16, 1981|access-date=December 17, 2016|archive-date=February 14, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170214202718/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=44540|url-status=dead}}</ref> In subsequent years, Douglas testified before Congress about [[elder abuse]].<ref name="Paskin">Paskin, Barbra. [http://www.thejc.com/lifestyle/interviews/82813/hollywood-gladiator-kirk-douglas-has-his-eyes-set-a-third-barmitzvah "Hollywood gladiator Kirk Douglas has his eyes set on a third barmitzvah"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121002075725/http://www.thejc.com/lifestyle/interviews/82813/hollywood-gladiator-kirk-douglas-has-his-eyes-set-a-third-barmitzvah |date=October 2, 2012 }}, ''The Jewish Chronicle'', September 20, 2012.</ref> Douglas was also friends with former [[Secretary of State]] [[Henry Kissinger]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1917-72PubDipv08/d72 | title=Historical Documents - Office of the Historian }}</ref>

Douglas was a long-time member of the Democratic Party.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Shaw |first=Tony |title=Hollywood and Israel: a history |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=2022 |isbn=9780231544924 |publication-date=2022 |pages=185}}</ref> He wrote letters to politicians who were friends. He noted in his memoir, ''Let's Face It'' (2007), that he felt compelled to write to former president [[Jimmy Carter]] in 2006 to stress that "Israel is the only successful democracy in the Middle East ... [and] has had to endure many wars against overwhelming odds. If Israel loses one war, they lose Israel."<ref name="face"/>{{rp|226}} During the [[2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries]] he endorsed [[Michael Bloomberg]]'s [[Michael Bloomberg 2020 presidential campaign|campaign]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=D'Zurilla|first=Christine|date=February 11, 2020|title=Kirk Douglas' last words? Michael Douglas says they were a political endorsement|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2020-02-11/michael-douglas-kirk-douglas-mike-bloomberg|access-date=June 11, 2021|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US}}</ref>