Editing Bob Hope (section)

=== Politics and beliefs ===
Hope had extensive relationships with US Presidents from [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] to [[Bill Clinton]] and often made topical political jokes in his comedic material. He hosted the [[White House Correspondents Dinner]] three times in 1944, 1953, and 1976.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.whca.net/1944.htm |title=Big Names Abound at Press Banquet|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130501092117/http://www.whca.net/1944.htm |archive-date=May 1, 2013|work=[[The Charlotte Observer]]|date=March 6, 1944}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969): About this item|url=http://myloc.gov/Exhibitions/hopeforamerica/blurringlines/hopeandpresidents/ExhibitObjects/Eisenhower.aspx |work=Library of Congress Eisenhower Archives|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130618190310/http://myloc.gov/Exhibitions/hopeforamerica/blurringlines/hopeandpresidents/ExhibitObjects/Eisenhower.aspx |archive-date=June 18, 2013|access-date=October 29, 2012}}</ref><ref name="ford">{{cite news|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4188/is_20061227/ai_n17077415 |title=Humor played big role in Ford's persona|work=[[Deseret News]]|location=Salt Lake City|date=Dec 27, 2006|first=Bruce |last=Fessier|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080422214758/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4188/is_20061227/ai_n17077415|archive-date=22 Apr 2008}}</ref> Hope was supportive politically of conservative Presidents such as [[Richard Nixon]] and [[Ronald Reagan]].<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/bobhope/pubserv.html|title= Public Service - Bob Hope|website= [[Library of Congress]]|date= May 10, 2000|accessdate= November 28, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/hope-for-america/hope-and-the-presidents.html|title= Hope for America: Performers, Politics and Pop Culture|website= [[Library of Congress]]|date= July 11, 2010|accessdate= November 28, 2024}}</ref>

In an interview with Hope biographer Richard Zoglin on [[NPR]] he stated that "Bob Hope was the establishment. Bob Hope was friends with [[Richard Nixon|Nixon]]. Bob Hope was speaking in favor of the [[Vietnam War]]. Bob Hope was expressing that kind of backward, suburban, [[WASP]] view of minorities, [[homosexuals]], the [[women's movement]]."<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.npr.org/2014/11/24/366137941/the-rise-and-fall-of-comedian-bob-hope|title= The Rise And Fall Of Comedian Bob Hope|website= [[NPR]]|accessdate= November 28, 2024}}</ref> Hope's beliefs and attitudes of the social issues are a part of the plot of the 2020 film ''[[Misbehaviour (film)|Misbehaviour]]'', which follows the [[Women's liberation movement|Women's Liberation]] protests at the [[Miss World 1970]] competition that Hope hosted; [[Greg Kinnear]] plays Hope.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Gilbey|first=Ryan|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/mar/06/greg-kinnear-on-misbehaviour-and-metoo-where-were-human-resources-in-the-1990s|title=Greg Kinnear on Misbehaviour and #MeToo: 'Where were human resources in the 1990s?'|date=March 6, 2020|work=The Guardian|access-date=March 8, 2020|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200308214602/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/mar/06/greg-kinnear-on-misbehaviour-and-metoo-where-were-human-resources-in-the-1990s|archive-date=March 8, 2020|url-status=live}}</ref>

After the shootings of President Ronald Reagan and [[Pope John Paul II]] in 1981, Hope advocated for gun control. Hope told [[Tom Shales]] of ''The Washington Post'', “I’m for gun registration. I don’t think any jerk that’s coked up or anything should be allowed to walk in a store and buy a gun and turn around and shoot 19 people, you know? … And what the hell, hunters can have their guns, they’re registered. I’ve got a gun in each house for a warning thing; that can be registered … They gotta tell me what’s wrong with having them registered. That’s all I wanna hear.”<ref>{{Cite web |last=Shales |first=Tom |date=1981-06-06 |title="Bob Hope steps out in favor of gun control" |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/293273171 |access-date=2025-02-07 |website=www.newspapers.com |language=en}}</ref> When Hope shared these views during an [[ABC News Radio|ABC Radio]] interview, he quickly realized the repercussions. Vice President [[George H. W. Bush|George H.W. Bush]], who was visiting [[United States Military Academy|West Point]] the same day Hope taped a special there, had declined to meet with him. Additionally, at a luncheon in Washington that same week, Hope had planned to sit with Nancy Reagan, but she canceled at the last minute.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1981-05-21 |title=Bob Missed Nancy |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-05211981-reagans-ditch-hope/102707131/ |access-date=2025-02-07 |work=Daily News |page=296}}</ref>

Hope’s views on the gay community also evolved. At the height of [[Anita Bryant|Anita Bryant’s]] campaign to reverse the progress of gay rights and anti-discrimination legislation in Florida in 1977, he, as well as many other comedians, ridiculed her in their routines, but also expressed his disagreement with Bryant: “We’re all entitled to our own sexual habits [and] I believe what these people do behind closed doors is their business … Most of us today are aware of Anita Bryant’s stand [but] I still think jobs should be based on talent, not whether a person is homosexual or heterosexual.”<ref>{{Cite web |title="Bob Hope: Why I don't agree with the war on homosexuals" |website=[[Library of Congress]] |url=https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/hope-for-america/blurringlines/controversy/Assets/}}</ref> However, Texaco and Chrysler, sponsors for many of his TV specials, asked him to refrain from making further jokes about the subject.<ref>{{Cite news |last=King |first=Larry |date=1978-02-07 |title="From 'starvation' to war—Hope survived it all" |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-miami-news-02071978-larry-king-gri/101610342/ |access-date=2025-02-07 |work=The Miami News |pages=13}}</ref> In February 1986, he joined [[Elizabeth Taylor]], to cohost a benefit for American Foundation for AIDS Research and the Arizona AIDS Fund Trust in [[Scottsdale, Arizona|Scottsdale, AZ]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Coolidge |first=Joy |date=1986-02-08 |title="Anti-AIDS crusade: Benefit activities to generate funds for education, service" |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-arizona-republic-02081986-bh-to-ap/101937042/ |access-date=2025-02-07 |work=The Arizona Republic |pages=34}}</ref> Though expressing these supportive views, he occasionally used epithets and told jokes at the expense of the community yet showed remorse when called on it. During a performance at [[Liberty Weekend]] in 1986, Hope remarked, “I just heard that the Statue of Liberty has AIDS, but she doesn't know if she got it from the mouth of the Hudson or the Staten Island Ferry.”<ref>{{Cite web |last=Archives |first=L. A. Times |date=1986-07-30 |title=Hope's Joke |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-07-30-me-18831-story.html |access-date=2025-02-07 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> Two months later, Hope took responsibility for telling the joke and apologized, explaining that he overheard the joke and thought it was funny.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1986-08-24 |title=hope apology to wayne friday re statue of liberty joke via herb caen |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/ventura-county-star-hope-apology-to-wayn/122642609/ |access-date=2025-02-07 |work=Ventura County Star |pages=105}}</ref> When Hope used the word “fag” on a 1988 ''[[The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson|Tonight Show]]'' appearance, [[GLAAD]] asked for a statement apologizing for the slur. He agreed to tape a public service announcement opposing "bigotry" on their behalf<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDO34rXZJg4 |title=1989 Bob Hope GLAAD Public Service Announcement |date=2011-10-28 |last=floridalgbtqmuseum |access-date=2025-02-07 |via=YouTube}}</ref>