Friend Richardson
Friend William Richardson | |
---|---|
25th Governor of California | |
In office January 9, 1923 – January 4, 1927 | |
Lieutenant | C. C. Young |
Preceded by | William D. Stephens |
Succeeded by | C. C. Young |
21st California State Treasurer | |
In office January 5, 1915 – January 9, 1923 | |
Governor | Hiram Johnson William Stephens |
Preceded by | Edward D. Roberts |
Succeeded by | Charles G. Johnson |
Personal details | |
Born | William Richardson December 1, 1865 Friends Colony, Publisher, politician |
Friend William Richardson (born William Richardson; December 1, 1865 – September 6, 1943) was an American
Biography
William Richardson was born in December 1865 to William and Rhoda Richardson at Friends Colony, Michigan, a Quaker township located outside of Ann Arbor. Early in his life, William legally changed his first name to "Friend", the traditional Quaker greeting.[1] In his young adult life, Richardson worked as a county clerk and law librarian, and following his move to San Bernardino, California, married Augusta Felder in 1891, with whom he had five children. Five years later, Richardson became the owner and newspaper editor of The San Bernardino Times Index.[2][self-published source]
In 1900, Richardson relocated to
In 1914, Richardson officially entered politics, running as a
After two successful terms as state treasurer, Richardson set his sights on the governorship as the Republican Party's nomination in 1922. Running against incumbent William Stephens in the party's primary election, Richardson campaigned on a conservative platform, capitalizing on electoral fatigue with Progressive-minded politics. The campaign worked, successfully defeating Governor Stephens and effectively returned the state Republican Party to a more conservative bent.
With Stephens out of the
Governorship
Richardson began his governorship on January 9, 1923, promising a no-frills administration to deeply cut governmental expenditures.
Richardson embarked on a program to eliminate "unnecessary boards and officers, by consolidation, and by doing away with overlapping functions," calling it a massive waste of taxpayers’ money.[8] In the preface to his proposed 1923 budget to the Legislature, Richardson declared his opposition to pork barrel politics and that "[m]y chief burden has been to relieve the people of their great burden of taxation."[9] In his various modifications to the state bureaucracy, Richardson appointed various individuals that were favorable to corporate interests.[10]
An electoral backlash against his deep-rooted fiscal conservatism came during the 1924 legislative elections, when resurgent
As the Legislature and Richardson thwarted each other's political agendas, the governor attended to other duties outside of the political realm. Richardson personally accompanied
That same year, the increasingly embattled Richardson faced a crucial primary election. Growing anger at Richardson's overly-conservative administration led to the progressive wing of the Republican Party supporting C. C. Young, the lieutenant governor under both William Stephens and Richardson.[10] Young emerged victorious in the primary vote, depriving Richardson of the chance to run in the general election.
Defeated by his own party, Richardson left the governorship as his term expired on January 4, 1927. One accomplishment to his various eliminations and consolidations to the state government was a surplus of $20 million in the state treasury.[1]
Post-governorship
Richardson returned to newspaper publishing, becoming the chief publisher of the
In July 1943, Richardson suffered a
Throughout his life, Richardson was a member of the
References
- ^ a b c d "Governor Friend Richardson". California State Library. 2014. Retrieved 2014-11-04.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4257-2965-3.
- ^ "November 3, 1914 General Election Results". JoinCalifornia.org. 1914-11-03. Retrieved 2007-09-22.
- ^ "November 5, 1918 General Election Results". JoinCalifornia.org. 1918-11-05. Retrieved 2007-09-22.
- ^ "Madera Mercury 31 October 1922 — California Digital Newspaper Collection".
- ISBN 0-8223-0772-3.
- ^ "November 7, 1918 General Election Results". JoinCalifornia.org. 1922-11-07. Retrieved 2007-09-22.
- ^ a b "Inaugural Address, Friend Richardson. Presented: January 9, 1923". California State Library. 1923-01-09. Archived from the original on September 19, 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-22.
- ^ Richardson, Friend (1923). Budget Recommendations and Estimated Revenues: 75th and 76th Fiscal Years. Sacramento: California State Printing Office.
- ^ ISBN 0-321-08975-8.
- ^ Anonymous, "Introductory: The Genesis and Development of the State Bar," xiii-xix, in the Proceedings of the First Annual Meeting of the State Bar of California (San Francisco: The Recorder Printing and Publishing Co., 1929), xvi.
- ^ "The Mission Inn Museum's Hands on History; Movers and Shakers; Swedish Prince". Mission Inn. 2006-10-06. Archived from the original on 2007-09-18. Retrieved 2007-09-22.