Editing Johnny Carson (section)

=== Politics ===
[[File:President George H. W. Bush and Mrs. Barbara Bush award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to comedian Johnny Carson.jpg|thumb|right|Carson being awarded the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]] by [[President of the United States|President]] [[George H. W. Bush]] and [[First Lady of the United States|First Lady]] [[Barbara Bush]] in 1992]]
Carson opposed the [[Vietnam War]]<ref name=bio>{{cite web|url=http://www.anb.org/articles/18/18-03822-print.html|title=American National Biography Online|work=anb.org}}</ref> and [[capital punishment in the United States|capital punishment]], favored racial equality, and was against criminalizing extramarital sex and pornography. He avoided explicitly mentioning his views on ''The Tonight Show,'' saying he "hates to be pinned down" as that would "hurt me as an entertainer, which is what I am."{{r|tynan19780220}} As he explained in 1970, "In my living room I would argue for liberalization of abortion laws, divorce laws, and there are times when I would like to express a view on the air. I would love to have taken on [[Billy Graham]]. But I'm on TV five nights a week; I have nothing to gain by it and everything to lose."<ref name=Life>{{cite magazine|last=Barthel|first=Joan|title=Here's Johnny! Out There|magazine=Life|date=January 23, 1970|page=52|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gVAEAAAAMBAJ&q=In%20my%20living%20room%20I%20would%20argue%20for%20liberalization%20of%20abortion%20laws%2C%20divorce%20laws%2C%20and%20there&pg=PA52|access-date=March 28, 2012}}</ref> He also seldom invited political figures onto the ''Tonight Show'' because he "didn't want it to become a political forum" and did not want the show used, by himself or others, to influence the opinions of the viewers.<ref name=bio />

In his book, Carson's former lawyer Henry Bushkin stated, he "was by instinct and upbringing definitely [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]], but of an [[Dwight D. Eisenhower|Eisenhower]] sort that we don't see much of anymore ... Overall, you'd have to say he was anti-big: anti-big government, anti-big money, anti-big bullies, anti-big blowhards." Carson served as MC for [[Ronald Reagan]]'s inaugural gala in 1981 at the request of [[Frank Sinatra]].<ref>Henry Bushkin, ''Johnny Carson'', 153–175.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/hollywood-flashback-1981-stars-came-ronald-reagans-inauguration-961270|title=Hollywood Flashback: In 1981, the Stars Came Out for Ronald Reagan's Inauguration|website=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|date=January 6, 2017 }}</ref>