Pat Brown
Pat Brown | |
---|---|
Matthew Brady | |
Succeeded by | Thomas C. Lynch |
Personal details | |
Born | Edmund Gerald Brown April 21, 1905 San Francisco, California, U.S. |
Died | February 16, 1996 Beverly Hills, California | (aged 90)
Resting place | Holy Cross Cemetery (Colma, California) |
Political party | Democratic (1932–1996) |
Other political affiliations | Republican (before 1932) |
Spouse | |
Children | 4, including Jerry and Kathleen |
Alma mater | San Francisco Law School (LLB) |
Profession | Lawyer |
Edmund Gerald "Pat" Brown (April 21, 1905 – February 16, 1996) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 32nd governor of California from 1959 to 1967. His first elected office was as district attorney for San Francisco, and he was later elected Attorney General of California in 1950, before becoming the state's governor after the 1958 California gubernatorial election.
Born in San Francisco, Brown had an early interest in speaking and politics. He skipped college and he earned an
His son Jerry Brown was the 34th and 39th Governor of California, as well as the 31st Attorney General of California, holding two offices he once held. His daughter, Kathleen Brown, was the 29th California State Treasurer.
Background
Brown was born in San Francisco, California, one of four children of Ida (née Schuckman) and Edmund Joseph Brown. His father came from an Irish Catholic family, with his grandfather Joseph immigrating from
Brown was a debate champion as a member of the
Brown ran as a
District attorney
Four years after his defeat, Brown ran for district attorney again in 1943 with the slogan "Crack down on crime, elect Brown this time." His victory over Brady was decisive, coming to the surprise of San Francisco politicians, as well as bookmakers who had put 5 to 1 odds against his election. He was reelected to the office in 1947, and after seven years in office, received the support of Republican Governor Earl Warren. He emulated the course followed by Warren when the Governor himself was the Alameda County district attorney. His actions against gambling, corruption, and juvenile delinquency brought attention to his office.[9]
In 1946, as the Democratic nominee, Brown lost the race for
First term as governor, 1959–1963
In the
Brown was known for his cheerful personality, and his championing of building an infrastructure to meet the needs of the rapidly growing state. As journalist Adam Nagourney reports: "With a jubilant Mr. Brown officiating, California commemorated the moment it became the nation's largest state, in 1962, with a church-bell-ringing, four-day celebration. He was the boom-boom governor for a boom-boom time: championing highways, universities and, most consequential, a sprawling water network to feed the explosion of agriculture and development in the dry reaches of central and Southern California."[11] Brown appointed Fred Dutton as chief of staff as a reward for his enormously energetic and effective row last campaign manager. Bert Levitt, a Republican friend, was named director of finance to draw up a state budget. The role of press secretary went to reporter Hale Champion. Further down the ladder, Brown cleaned house, replacing all of Knight's political appointees. His team worked hard in preparation for the governor's inauguration. Although he was basically a moderate, Brown reached out to the powerful left wing in his party by emphasizing the word “liberal” repeatedly, He proclaimed: "Offered government by retreat, the people preferred progress." Newcomers were arriving at 500,000 a year, and there was no time to be lost in responding to the needs they created.[12]
He set up a Fair Employment Practices Commission that helped
Tax increase
Brown wanted to expand state services but first had to end the deficit and obtain enough revenue for his plans. Tax increases were headed by the personal income tax, where the top rate went from 6% to 7%, with new exemptions for the poor. There was an increase in the profits taxes paid by banks and corporations, a tax on cigarettes, beer, and betting, as well as a severance tax on oil and natural gas. A few compromises were made, but in the end, Brown got his money for expansion of the state budget.[14]
California State Water Project
With his administration beginning in 1959, Brown set in motion a series of actions whose magnitude was unseen since the governorship of
Opposition to the State Water Project was immediate, especially with Sacramento River Delta users worrying about saltwater intrusion which had already been a concern without factoring in redirection of outward freshwater flow. Residents of the Bay Area and elsewhere in Northern California were concerned about the increase in water draw the South might demand as populations expanded. While Southern support for the project was clear, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California worried that the project did not ensure permanent rights to Northern water. This led the legislature to amend the plan, prohibiting the state's southern water rights from being rescinded, clearing any remaining reservations from the state's southern water authorities. Governor Brown was a staunch supporter of the plan, energetically opposing critics and seeking solutions. He lobbied Congress to exempt California from the 160-acre rule, lauding the benefit of employment and progress to the state's northern and southern residents, calling for an end to the north–south rivalry. Brown also reduced his introductory bond issuance from $11 billion to $1.75 billion, beginning a television campaign to appeal to residents.[8] Governor Brown insisted on the Burns-Porter Act which sent the bond issue to a referendum; the 1960 vote saw Butte County as the sole Northern California county not voting against the measure. However, the growth in Southern California's population led to the plan's adoption.[8]
Political reforms
The first year of Brown's administration saw the abolition of the cross-filing system which had enabled candidates to file with multiple political parties at once while running for office. The 1964 Supreme Court decision of Reynolds v. Sims declared unconstitutional California's "federal plan," which had allocated the apportionment of state senators through county lines, as opposed to population-based districts. Now, while San Francisco County had one state senator, Los Angeles County received thirteen; this massive shift in the legislature's composition led Brown, along with Assembly Speaker Jesse M. Unruh, to change the way California government operated. In 1962, the Constitutional Revision Commission, which operated until 1974, was established, proposing changes to the state's 1879 constitution, decreasing length and complexity by nearly fifty percent through ballot propositions recommended by the commission, of which seventy-five percent were approved by voters,[8] such reforms as the removal of the 120-day limit on legislative sessions, increasing legislator's salaries, and reducing the percentage of signatures required to place propositions on the ballot. Governor Brown insisted on Unruh's reforms which abolished various government agencies, and consolidated others.[8]
Structural reform of the executive branch
Upon taking office, Brown realized that the state executive branch had grown to an unmanageable level of complexity because of the legislature's unfortunate habit of solving problems by creating new boards and commissions directly responsible to the governor—approximately 360 boards, commissions, and agencies all reported directly to the governor. In February 1961, Brown proposed a massive reorganization plan for the state government, which included the creation of several so-called "super-agencies" (originally spelled with a hyphen) to greatly reduce the number of direct reports to the governor.[16] In September 1961, Brown appointed the secretaries of the first four superagencies (of eight then planned).[17] The superagencies continue to exist today as part of the long-term legacy of the Brown administration, although there are currently only seven, and there are several Cabinet-level departments outside of them.[18][19]
Education
Californians were energized by the need to catch up with the
Re-election of 1962 against Richard Nixon
Brown's first term as governor was very successful, but failings on important matters to him were costly. Agriculture and special interests defeated his best efforts to pass a $1.25 per hour
Second term as governor, 1963–1967
The legislature passed the
Brown's terms in office were marked by a dramatic increase in water-resources development. The California Aqueduct, built as part of the program, was named for him. He also presided over the implementation of the California Master Plan for Higher Education, fair employment legislation, a state economic development commission, and a consumers' council. He sponsored some 40 major proposals, gaining passage of 35.[8]
Watts riots
On August 11, 1965, the
Capital punishment
During both terms in office, Brown commuted 23
While governor, Brown's attitude toward the capital punishment was often ambivalent, if not arbitrary. An ardent supporter of
In contrast, Governor Brown approved 36 executions, including the highly controversial cases of Caryl Chessman in 1960 and Elizabeth Duncan; she was the last female put to death before a national moratorium was instituted.[26] Though he had supported the capital punishment while serving as district attorney, as attorney general, and when first elected governor,[27] he later became an opponent of it.[4]
During the Chessman case, Brown proposed that
Campaign for third term
Brown's decision to seek a third term as governor, violating an earlier promise not to do so, hurt his popularity. His sagging popularity was evidenced by a tough battle in the Democratic primary, normally not a concern for an incumbent. Los Angeles Mayor Sam Yorty received nearly forty percent of the primary vote while Brown only received fifty-two, a very low number for an incumbent in a primary election.[28]
The
On election day, Reagan was ahead in the polls and favored to win a relatively close election. Brown lost the 1966 election to Ronald Reagan in his second consecutive race against a future Republican President. Reagan won in a landslide; his nearly 1 million vote plurality surprised even his staunchest supporters. Reagan's victory against an incumbent was a dramatic upheaval. His majority of nearly fifty-eight percent nearly matched that of Brown's own victory in 1958, and Reagan garnered some 990,000 new votes from the larger electorate.[citation needed]
Legacy
Although he left office defeated, Brown's time in office is one which has fared well. Brown was a relatively popular Democrat in what was, at the time, a Republican-leaning state. After his reelection victory over Richard Nixon in 1962, he was
While no person elected Governor of California has been denied a second term since Earl Warren defeated Culbert Olson in 1942, Brown's losing bid for a third term to Ronald Reagan was the last time, as of 2022, an incumbent governor lost in the general election (Gray Davis' loss in the 2003 recall was a non-quadrennial election). Today, Governor Brown is widely credited with the creation of modern California.[1][2]
Personal life
Brown's wife, Bernice Layne, was a fellow student at Lowell High School, but it was not until the completion of his law degree, and her teaching credential, that they began a courtship. Following his loss in the Assembly election, he and Bernice eloped in 1929.[8] They had four children, who were all born in San Francisco:
- Barbara Layne Brown (born July 13, 1931)
- Cynthia Arden Brown (born October 19, 1933 – died March 29, 2015)[31]
- Edmund Gerald "Jerry" Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938)
- Kathleen Lynn Brown (born September 25, 1945)
In 1958, as governor-elect, Brown appeared as a guest challenger on the TV panel show What's My Line?[32]
Brown died at age 90 in
My son asked me what I hoped to accomplish as Governor. I told him: essentially to make life more comfortable for people, as far as government can. I think that embraces everything from developing the water resources vital to California's growth, to getting a man to work and back fifteen minutes earlier if it can be done through a state highway program.
Presidential and vice presidential candidate
Unlike his son
During the
Brown also briefly sought the vice presidential nomination at the 1956 Democratic National Convention, winning one vote.[41]
Electoral history
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Pat Brown | 3,140,076 | 59.75 | |||
Republican | William F. Knowland
|
2,110,911 | 40.16 | |||
No party | William P. Gale (write-in) | 4,790 | 0.09 | |||
Total votes | 5,255,777 | 100.00 | ||||
Turnout | {{{votes}}} | |||||
Democratic gain from Republican |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Pat Brown (I) | 3,037,109 | 51.92 | |
Republican | Richard Nixon | 2,740,351 | 46.85 | |
Prohibition | Robert L. Wyckoff | 69,700 | 1.12 | |
Invalid or blank votes | 82,442 | 1.39 | ||
Total votes | 5,929,602 | 100.00 | ||
Turnout | {{{votes}}} | 57.50 | ||
Democratic hold |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Ronald Reagan | 3,742,913 | 57.55 | |||
Democratic | Pat Brown (I) | 2,749,174 | 42.27 | |||
Other | Various candidates | 11,358 | 0.18 | |||
Total votes | 6,503,445 | 100.00 | ||||
Turnout | {{{votes}}} | 57.70 | ||||
Republican gain from Democratic |
See also
- Membership discrimination in California social clubs
References
- ^ a b Kotkin, Joel (19 April 2015). "The Daily Beast".
- ^ a b "California State of Mind: The Legacy of Pat Brown". Pat Brown Documentary. Retrieved July 28, 2022 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Award-winning journalist discusses Brown family, California politics | University of Redlands".
- ^ a b c Reinhold, Robert (February 18, 1996). "Edmund G. Brown Is Dead at 90; He Led California in Boom Years". The New York Times. Retrieved November 14, 2010.
- ^ Ethan Rarick, California Rising: The Life and Times of Pat Brown (2005) pp. 8, 30.
- YouTube
- ^ Rarick (2005) pp. 15, 17.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Rice, Richard B. (2012). The Elusive Eden: A New History of California. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
- ^ Rarick (2005) pp 34–45.
- ^ Pawel, Miriam (2018). The Browns of California. New York, NY: Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 66.
- ^ Adam Nagourney, "Brown's Arid California, Thanks Partly to His Father," New York Times May 16, 2015
- ^ Rarick (2005), 113–115.
- ^ Rarick (2005), 125–127.
- ^ Rarick (2005), 120–121, 134.
- ^ "US Inflation Calculator".
- ^ Blanchard, Robert (February 14, 1961). "Brown Criticized for His Super-Agency Proposal". Los Angeles Times. p. 1. Available through ProQuest Historical Newspapers.
- ^ Gillam, Jerry (October 1, 1961). "Brown Picks 8-Member Cabinet: Four Named to Head New State Super-Agencies". Los Angeles Times. p. 1. Available through ProQuest Historical Newspapers.
- ISBN 9781452203065. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
- ISBN 9781538129302.
- ISBN 978-0-520-23627-1– via Internet Archive.
- ^ The California Idea and American Higher Education: 1850 to the 1960 Master Plan, John Aubrey Douglass, Stanford, Cal.: Stanford University Press, 2000, pages 308 and following.
- ^ Kahn, Jeffery. "Ronald Reagan launched political career using the Berkeley campus as a target". UC Berkeley News. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
- ISBN 978-0-415-94596-7. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
- ISBN 0-691-07026-1.
- ^ Szymanski, Michael (August 5, 1990). "How Legacy of the Watts Riot Consumed, Ruined Man's Life". Orlando Sentinel. Archived from the original on 2013-12-06. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
- ^ a b c d e Lewis, Anthony (August 20, 1989). "He was their last resort". The New York Times. Retrieved November 14, 2010.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-55584-253-6(1989)
- ^ "Our Campaigns - CA Governor - D Primary Race - Jun 07, 1966". Retrieved 13 February 2019.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-312-64454-3
- OCLC 1260107112.
- ^ "Cynthia Kelly Obituary". Legacy.com. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
- ^ What's My Line? (18 February 2014). "What's My Line? - CA Governor Edmund Brown; Harry Belafonte; Peter Lind Hayes [panel] (Nov 16, 1958)" – via YouTube.
- ^ "Our Campaigns - US President - D Primaries Race - Feb 01, 1952". ourcampaigns.com.
- ^ "Our Campaigns - CA US President - D Primary Race - Jun 03, 1952". ourcampaigns.com.
- ^ "Our Campaigns - Information Link - Governor Pat Brown Inaugural Address January 7, 1963". ourcampaigns.com.
- ^ "Our Campaigns - CA US President - D Primary Race - Jun 07, 1960". ourcampaigns.com.
- ^ "Our Campaigns - US President - D Primaries Race - Feb 01, 1960". ourcampaigns.com.
- ^ "Our Campaigns - US President - D Convention Race - Jul 11, 1960". ourcampaigns.com.
- ^ "Our Campaigns - US President - D Primaries Race - Feb 01, 1964". ourcampaigns.com.
- ^ "Our Campaigns - CA US President - D Primary Race - Jun 02, 1964". ourcampaigns.com.
- ^ "Our Campaigns - US Vice President - D Convention Race - Aug 13, 1956". ourcampaigns.com.
- ^ "November 4, 1958 General Election". Join California. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
- ^ "November 6, 1962 General Election". Join California. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
- ^ "CA Governor Race – Nov 08, 1966". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 2015-08-25.
- ^ "1966 Gubernatorial General Election Results - California". Archived from the original on September 12, 2015.
Further reading
- Anderson, Totton J. “The 1958 Election in California.” Western Political Quarterly 12#1 (1959), pp. 276–300. online
- Anderson, Totton J., and Eugene C. Lee. “The 1962 Election in California.” Western Political Quarterly, 16#2 (1963), pp. 396–420. online
- Anderson, Totton J., and Eugene C. Lee. "The 1966 election in California." Western Political Quarterly 20.2_part2 (1967): 535–554. online
- Anderson, Totton J. "Extremism in California Politics: The Brown-Knowland and Brown-Nixon Campaigns Compared." Political Research Quarterly 16.2 (1963): 371+.
- Becker, Jules, and Douglas A. Fuchs. "How two major California dailies covered Reagan vs. Brown." Journalism Quarterly 44.4 (1967): 645–653.
- Brilliant, Mark. The color of America has changed: How racial diversity shaped civil rights reform in California, 1941-1978 (Oxford University Press, 2010).
- Brown, Edmund G., Reagan and Reality: The Two Californias. (NY, 1970.)
- Kully, Robert D. "The 1962 California Gubernatorial Campaign: The 'New' Brown." Western Speech (Spring 1966) 30#2 pp. 111–122.
- Mills, James R. A Disorderly House: The Brown-Unruh Years in Sacramento (Heyday Books, 1987).
- Pawel, Miriam. (2018). The Browns of California : the family dynasty that transformed a state and shaped a nation. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing.
- Rapoport, Roger. “The Political Odyssey of Pat Brown.” California History 64#1 (1985), pp. 2–9. online
- Rapoport, R. California Dreaming: The Political Odyssey of Pat & Jerry Brown. (Berkeley: Nolo Press, 1982) ISBN 0-917316-48-7.
- Rarick, Ethan (2005), California Rising: The Life and Times of Pat Brown, Berkeley: ISBN 978-0-520-93984-4 summary
- Rarick, Ethan. "The Brown Dynasty." in Modern American Political Dynasties: A Study of Power, Family, and Political Influence ed by Kathleen Gronnerud and Scott J. Spitzer. (2018): 211–30.
- Rice, Richard B. (2012). The Elusive Eden: A New History of California. New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0-07-338556-3.
- Rogin, Michael Paul, John L. Shover. Political Change in California: Critical Elections and Social Movements, 1890-1966 (Greenwood, 1970).
- Rorabaugh, William J. Berkeley at War, the 1960s (Oxford University Press, 1989)..
- Schuparra, Kurt. Triumph of the Right: The Rise of the California Conservative Movement, 1945-1966 (M.E. Sharpe, 1998).
External links
- Edmund G. "Pat" Brown letters, 1975-1993. Collection guide, California State Library, California History Room.
- Official Biography and portrait from State of California
- California State of Mind: The Legacy of Pat Brown. documentary film
- Brown family of California at The Political Graveyard Archived 2012-05-21 at the Wayback Machine
- Pat Brown's FBI files, hosted at the Internet Archive:
- Appearances on C-SPAN