Thank You - Charlton Heston

Charlton Heston receiving Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush at White House ceremony.



At a 2000 NRA rally in Charlotte, Heston declared the presidential race a referendum on gun-control legislation and criticized Democratic candidate Al Gore. Holding aloft a Revolutionary War rifle, Heston said,
"When the loss of liberty looms as it does now, this is for those who would take it -- and especially for you, Mr. Gore -- from my -- cold -- dead -- hands!"

That year, Jeb Bush, the Florida governor, and other Republican Party leaders credited Heston with energizing the GOP base for electoral victories.