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Politics and Lux Radio Theatre

Cecil B. DeMille was outspoken about his strong Episcopalian integrity, but his private life included mistresses and adultery. DeMille was a conservative Republican activist, becoming more conservative as he aged. He was known as anti-union and worked to prevent the unionizing of film production studios. However, according to DeMille himself, he was not anti-union and belonged to a few unions himself. He said he was rather against union leaders such as Walter Reuther and Harry Bridges, whom he compared to dictators. He supported Herbert Hoover and in 1928 made his largest campaign donation to Hoover. DeMille also liked Franklin D. Roosevelt, however, finding him charismatic, tenacious, and intelligent and agreeing with Roosevelt's abhorrence of Prohibition. DeMille lent Roosevelt a car for his campaign for the 1932 United States presidential election and voted for him. However, he would never again vote for a Democratic candidate in a presidential election.

From June 1, 1936, until January 22, 1945, Cecil DeMille hosted and directed Lux Radio Theatre, a weekly digest of current feature films. Broadcast on the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) from 1935 to 1954, the Lux Radio show was one of the most popular weekly shows in the history of radio. While DeMille was host, the show had forty million weekly listeners, gaining DeMille an annual salary of $100,000. From 1936 to 1945, he produced, hosted, and directed all shows with the occasional exception of a guest director. He resigned from the Lux Radio show because he refused to pay a dollar to the American Federation of Radio Artists (AFRA) because he did not believe that any organization had the right to "levy a compulsory assessment upon any member."

DeMille sued the union for reinstatement but lost. He then appealed to the California Supreme Court and lost again. When the AFRA expanded to television, DeMille was banned from television appearances. Consequently, he formed the DeMille Foundation for Political Freedom in order to campaign for the right to work. He began presenting speeches across the United States for the next few years. DeMille's primary criticism was of closed shops, but later included criticism of communism and unions in general. The United States Supreme Court declined to review his case. Despite his loss, DeMille continued to lobby for the Taft–Hartley Act, which passed. This prohibited denying anyone the right to work if they refuse to pay a political assessment, however, the law did not apply retroactively. Consequently, DeMille's television and radio appearance ban lasted for the remainder of his life, though he was permitted to appear on radio or television to publicize a movie. William Keighley was his replacement. DeMille would never again work on radio.