#Governor Edmund Brown

[pilgrim1975]

Rudolph Wright, last to die in California for a crime other than murder.

It was January 11, 1962 on San Quentin Prison’s notorious ‘Condemned Row’ on the top floor of North Block. Caryl Chessman, California’s notorious ‘Red Light Bandit,’ was long gone. Executed on May 2, 1960, he was a mere memory. An enduring memory, granted, but dead and gone all the same. Merle Haggard, in for robbery on a three-to-fifteen-year sentence, was paroled just over two years previously.…

[deadpresidents]

"We've just got to go after him. And...put him right where he belongs: with [Barry] Goldwater] around his neck...He's got a better television personality and he's more effective. But he's more dangerous."

-- President Lyndon B. Johnson, telling California Governor Edmund G. "Pat" Brown, that the Democrats needed to portray Brown's opponent during the 1966 California Gubernatorial election, actor Ronald Reagan, as an extremist and link him with LBJ's unsuccessful opponent in the 1964 Presidential election, Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona, during a phone call recorded by LBJ's White House taping system on June 13, 1966.

[mariacallous]

After scorning his leadership for the last 15 years of his life, Sacramento virtually deified Jesse M. Unruh upon his death Aug. 4 [1987], with politicians of both parties tumbling over each other to praise the fallen state treasurer. Republican Gov. George Deukmejian named State Office Building No. 1 after Unruh, but Democratic Assembly Speaker Willie Brown went a step further, placing within the 80-member chamber a shrine to Unruh, an 81st desk that, draped in black and forever vacant, mournfully awaits the return of Big Daddy.

Naturally, a strain of opportunism underscored Sacramento’s official sorrow, as speculation over the treasurer’s successor overtook reminiscences of the once-mighty Unruh. Still, for many who knew him when he ruled as Assembly speaker in the 1960s, Unruh’s death in relative obscurity capped two decades of lost opportunity. Unruh never became governor, and California was ruled instead by a succession of slicker but arguably shallower politicians.

And so, James R. Mills’ “A Disorderly House: The Brown-Unruh Years in Sacramento” reads not so much as a history but rather as a tragedy. Mills, a San Diego Democrat who would later become president pro tem of the state Senate, spent his first six years at the Capitol as an Unruh protege in the Assembly. The book is his lively memoir of the years 1961-66, when California’s Democrats, despite their control of both the Legislature and the governor’s mansion, foundered on the rivalry between Unruh and Gov. Edmund G. (Pat) Brown for party rulership.

Told through the wide eyes of an idealistic, young assemblyman, “A Disorderly House” is a politician’s coming-of-age story. It begins with Mills taking the oath of office in January, 1961. He stands enraptured by the classical elegance of the Assembly chamber, only to find his political and aesthetic tempers joined in disgust to see the house ruled by Unruh, who seemed little but a corrupt, corpulent servant of special interests.

Mills had come to Sacramento intent on aiding the owlish, bespectacled Brown in his battles with Unruh, a 290-pound behemoth already known as Big Daddy for his appetites for the wine, women and song provided by lobbyists’ money. But soon after his arrival, Mills switches sides. Brown had excluded Mills from his confidence for what seemed arbitrary, political reasons. Big Daddy, however, appeared to recognize Mills’ intellect and integrity, and gradually welcomed him to his inner circle.

Soon thereafter, Mills comes to see that despite their public reputations, it is Unruh rather than Brown who is responsible for the progressive legislation of the day. From then on, he commits himself to Unruh as the Speaker advances his liberal goals and expands the power of the Legislature.

As a memoir, “A Disorderly House” makes no claim to objectivity. Sketches of characters are telling but often superficial, and Mills frequently oversimplifies issues into what seem to him obvious matters of right (Unruh) and wrong (everybody else).

But in exchange for scholarly detachment, Mills offers the passion of a participant. He casts the battle between Unruh and Brown in heady, even mythic terms. The Speaker emerges as a figure of legend, alternately described as a Lincoln, a Caesar and even a King David. Brown appears as a petty, perfidious nincompoop who mistakenly sees his greatest enemy in the Speaker. Brown’s machinations succeed in foiling Unruh, but it is a Pyrrhic victory that cripples the party and delivers California into the unworthiest hands of all--those of Ronald Reagan.

Although it rings with disappointment at the end, “A Disorderly House” is far from an angry book. Throughout there is a sense of reflective self-mockery; nostalgic rather than embittered, Mills recalls those days with a sense of joy. He doesn’t argue Unruh’s liberal agenda, for he takes as a given that all would support such goals as civil rights, consumer protection and aid for the aged.

Looking back, Mills sees the days of Unruh’s ascendance as an adventure of Arthurian proportions. In this Sacramento Camelot, Unruh was “the most heroic of all,” and Mills was one of that “trusty band of companions who loved to join him in doing battle with the forces of darkness and in coming to the aid of the friendless and afflicted, just as they loved to join him in eating and drinking at tables round.”

But like all heroes of classical drama, Unruh had his flaw; for one hubristic act, Unruh would pay for the rest of his career. It came on July 30, 1963, when the Speaker, enraged at Assembly Republicans for their refusal to vote on the state budget until they saw the text of a school finance measure, locked the minority members in the chamber for 23 hours.

The action tarred Unruh as a tyrant; forever, wrote the San Francisco Chronicle, Unruh would stand “revealed for what he is--a crude political adventurer out to gain totalitarian control . . ..”

To Mills, Unruh locked up the Republicans for the same reason he did anything: because it was right. And because of his courage and candor, Unruh suffered. His enemies--the Brown Administration and the Republicans--exploited Unruh’s unflattering image, portraying him as an amoral despot when in reality he was the most righteous of them all.

For Mills, the tragedy is that Unruh never became governor. Brown rather than Unruh was the Democratic nominee in 1966, and his misfiring campaign sent Ronald Reagan to the Capitol, condemning California to “a dark age of lowered expectations.” Unruh’s fortunes faded as the 1960s wore on. After losing races for governor and Los Angeles mayor, he was able only to capture the ministerial office of state treasurer, where he remained from 1974 until his death last summer.

In an epilogue added after Unruh’s death at age 64, Mills writes that Unruh ennobled every office he held, whether as a legislator or as treasurer. “In whatever role he appeared, there was a Shakespearean dimension to him,” he concludes. In “A Disorderly House,” Big Daddy is remembered as one that led not wisely, but too well.

[legends-of-time]

The Strength of a High and Noble Hill (Outlander)

Chapter 51: Caught With Your Pants Down

Masterlist

May 1771 

The time had come for a moment they all dread, having to face the Regulators or, more specifically, Murtagh. Lizzie, Jemmy, and Ellen are staying in Hillsborough at the Sherstons' while Brian, Roger, Da and Mama join the militia, Fraser's company, where they camp with the rest of the regiment at Alamance. 

They'd been a bit lost on the outcome of this event. Brian and Ellen have no recollection of this event from any of the history books on the revolution despite Ellen's uncompleted degree in History. They had read about the Boston Massacre but never this. Not a word about Governor Tryon, or North Carolina, or a place called Alamance. Ellen had been arguing that it can only mean that there will not be a battle as if there is a big battle, someone would have written something about it and nobody has. 

Brian hopes that she is right. They are no more than four years from the outbreak of the Revolution; even the minor skirmishes preceding that conflict are well-known. The Boston Massacre had happened a little more than a year before. It had been reported, with a good deal of fierce editorialising, in one of the Boston newspapers. He had seen it, in Jocasta's parlour; one of her friends had sent her a copy. And two hundred years later, that brief incident is immortalised in children's textbooks, evidence of the rising disaffection of the Colonists. 

Everyone's tense, not knowing when it'll all happen. That is the question, all right. Rumours have flown around them like a tornado, all the way from Fraser's Ridge. The Regulators have ten thousand men, who are marching in a body upon New Bern. General Gage is sailing from New York with a regiment of official troops, cannons and guns to subdue the Colony. The Orange County militia have rioted and killed their officers. Half the Wake County men have deserted. Hermon Husband has been arrested and spirited onto a ship, to be taken to London for trial on charges of treason. Hillsborough has been taken by the Regulators, who are preparing to fire the town and put Edmund Fanning and all his associates to the sword. Brian hopes that one isn't true—or if it is, that Hubert Sherston was not one of Fanning's allies for Lizzie, Jemmy, and Ellen's sake. Sorting through the mass of hearsay, supposition, and sheer wild invention, the only fact of which they can be sure appears to be that Governor Tryon is preparing them all for a fight and does not appear ready to back down. 

It doesn't help that Isaiah Morton then returns to the militia, much to the dismay of the Browns who still want Alicia back. Mama had tried to insist Alicia made her own choice, but that didn't go over well with 18th century patriarchy. Morton wanted to repay Brian for helping him and Alicia, so they tried to convince the Browns to accept another man willing to lay down his life. Da tells them they can go if they won't fight alongside them – so they begrudgingly agree to let the unpleasantness go. 

As Brian watches his Da talk to the young Findlay boys, teaching them the differences between hunting and war and to focus on killing as the only way to defend themselves. The boys soak up his advice like sponges. 

He knows his Da is worried and anxious. They had seen the weapons that the regiment has and the comparison to the fact that the Regulators are not as well equipped as the English army is terrifying. Colonel Chadwick has also been a nightmare. The man seems to counterpoint Da at every turn as they advise Governor Tryon. Every time Da tries to get Tryon to proceed with caution, or even stop the fight, Chadwick is aggressive and stimulates him. 

Surely, if there is to be a major battle here, a Royal Governor putting down what is essentially a taxpayer rebellion, that will be worth noting. Still, that is theory. And Brian is uneasily aware that neither warfare nor history take much account of what should happen. He's never been in a war before; he'd spent his time protesting against one happening. But here he is, Captain Fraser, son of Colonel Fraser, reporting to Governor Tryon, an English colonist. Brian knows Roger is in a similar boat, but for him, he's recalling the loss of his father to war and not wanting the same for his own son. 

As the thought passes through Brian's mind, he freezes when he spots a familiar tall man with a thin, wiry build and black hair lurking at the edge of camp. It is only when the face turns and Brian's blue eyes meet a familiar blue, does he realise it's Brynmor Jones complete with the high cheekbones. 

Brian strides over to him and gawps at him like a fish. "W–what are you doing here?" 

Brynmor shrugs with a smirk. "What? You didn't think I'd miss a fight, did you?" 

"More that you're in this camp and not in the opposing one." Brian retorts lightly blushing. 

"A man can be versatile." Is said with a pointed raised eyebrow. 

Brian blushes a deeper red, looking down. Doesn't he know it. "Really, why are you here?" 

Brynmor sighs reluctantly before asking, "Why do you think?" 

"Information." Brian realises, eyes flickering over his shoulder in panic and worry for the man in front of him. "You want to get information on the regiment." 

Brynmor, for the first time, looks hesitant and worried. "You won't give me away, would you? You can't seriously support what our supposed Governor is doing?" 

"Of course not," Brian assures him vehemently. "To both." 

Brynmor smiles, relaxing. "So... I didn't come here just for information." 

Brian's heart skips. "No?" 

"No." Brynmor replies. "I came to see you." 

Brian looks around, Da's with the Findlay boys and Mama is in another tent set up as an infirmary. Realising everyone is occupied, Brian grabs Brynmor's arm and drags him into his tent. The man chuckles behind him.

——

"Brian? The troops begin' te move. Yer mother is—" 

Brian freezes as he hears his father's voice suddenly cut off behind him. Brynmor sits on the table, Brian pressing into his front with his undone pants slung low on his waist or Brynmor's hand gripping his shoulder. Brian feels Brynmor tense against him, going completely, lifelessly still. His hands are clutched in Brian's shirt, tight enough to hurt and his breathing had picked up to desperate. He is blocking most of Brynmor from sight but Da must see how the legs, wrapped around his waist, are distinctly male. 

Brian can feel his throat closing up, his chest pounding. Please, he internally begs, please just leave. Please just pretend you didn't see anything. But Da doesn't move and neither do they and the light spilling in from the outside is begging for more witnesses. Brynmor shifts his body and slowly unclench his hands. The table groans underneath him and snaps everyone out of their stand off. 

"Wha' the– cac, Brian? Wha' in the devils name are ye doin'?" 

His father's face is one of complete befuddlement as he stares at them, mostly Brian who – he realises – hasn't stepped away from Brynmor, hasn't tried to run, just frozen. Brynmor has kept his hand on Brian's shoulder. It certainly doesn't seem like anything other than a passionate tryst. 

"Wha' are ye two doin'?" Da speaks in a way that makes it sound like he knows the answer but can't believe it. Or doesn't want to. He is faced with his son and an acquaintance in a tent and he has zero idea how to handle it. Da takes a step back, ready to flee. 

"Da, please, wait." Brian pleads, turning his body slightly toward his father. 

Da turns tail and flees. 

——

A/N: cac = shit

Literally

Please leave comments on how you're enjoying this story and what you think.

[pastdaily]

Jesse Unruh: California Power-Broker - 1966

An interview from November 1966, with California State Assembly Speaker Jesse Unruh over the recent defeat of Governor Edmund G. Brown to newcomer Ronald Reagan and the status of California politics. Click on the link at the Past Daily website and listen to the original interview from 1966. And consider becoming a Patron if you like what Past Daily is all about.

[lboogie1906]

Dr. Daniel A. Collins (June 11, 1916 - September 13, 2007) received a MS in dental science from the UC San Francisco, School of Dentistry where he became an assistant professor, the first African American to teach at the dental school. He opened a private practice in the city.

He received a BS from Paine College and a DDS from Meharry Medical College.

He helped establish the Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples in San Francisco. He founded the San Francisco branch of the National Urban League. He worked at the branch and helped Black residents get decent jobs.

He, Urban League director Seaton Manning, and other prominent civil rights activists formed the San Francisco Citizens Committee for Equal Opportunity and campaigned for a mandatory anti-discrimination ordinance. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors did not adopt a fair employment ordinance, some employers signed antidiscrimination agreements with the city government.

California Governor Edmund G. “Pat” Brown appointed him to the State Board of Education. The Board approved a new history textbook for the eighth grade titled Land of the Free: A History of the United States, co-written by noted Black historian John Hope Franklin. He served on the board of the National Committee for Citizens in Education.

He served on the board of directors of the San Francisco Dental Society, was a member of the California Dental Society, and belonged to the trustees of the American Fund for Dental Education. He served on the board of the National Urban League and was a member of the National Advisory Council on Minorities in Engineering.

The National Urban League awarded him the Whitney M. Young Medallion. UCSF School of Dentistry named him a Distinguished Alumnus.

He was a member of Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity. He was survived by four sons, six grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence #sigmapiphi

[fifihunterbakariafrocentric]

Edmund G. Brown Jr. - National Governors Association

[chubbycaucasianchristiancloseted]

Big Libs in bed with big oil GASP!

Big Libs in bed with big oil GASP! It’s a good thing they solved the climate issue in Dubi or this might look SUPER hypocritical. The author suggests these families got intertwined prior to their “peaks of wealth and power”, they bonded over “old bones”, Science and wine AND the Getty’s only had a few billion at the time.

This is a very recent article did anyone else hear this on main stream media? It’s fascinating how privileged all of these Dems are.

Direct Quotes:

The Gettys, too, are on that list. Founded by oil baron J. Paul Getty who moved under the radar until his "outing" as the richest American by Fortune magazine in 1957, the subsequent four generations of his family have been in the spotlight navigating fields from environmentalism to fashion to business, music, digital archives, arts, LGBTQ rights and politics. With five wives, the patriarch of the dynasty, J. Paul Getty, fathered four sons who lived to adulthood, and the family tree has flowered to some 19 grandchildren, 40 great-grandchildren and 15 great-great-grandchildren.

In the wake of the sale of the company in 1985 to Texaco for $10.1 billion—at that time the biggest corporate acquisition in history—$3 billion was partitioned into four separate trusts. Currently, the family's combined net worth could be in the neighborhood of $20 billion, which will finally be divided among all the heirs upon the death of J. Paul Getty's last living son—Gordon, currently 88.

As the family has navigated personal and professional successes and failures, it has also become inextricably enmeshed into the California political fabric, with longtime close family friendships developing between the Gettys and current Governor Gavin Newsom, Vice President Kamala Harris and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, as well as their families. William A. Newsom II, Gavin's grandfather, was a surrogate father to Getty sons John Paul Jr. and Gordon. William "Bill" Newsom III, Gavin's father, was even the bearer of the ransom money when John Paul III was kidnapped. Newsoms, Harrises, Pelosis and Gettys are godparents to one another's children and make appearances at important family events.

Left to their own devices, Paul Jr. and Gordon spent a good deal of time at the nearby home of their St. Ignatius prep school classmate, William "Bill" Newsom III, and his five siblings. This lively Irish-Catholic household was presided over by William A. Newsom II, a real estate developer and campaign manager for Edmund G. Brown, governor of California from 1959 to 1967 (whose son Jerry subsequently reclaimed the office in 1974 for the first of his four terms).

Their great affection for him endured. When Paul Jr. died at his mansion in England in 2003, a framed photograph of Newsom II was near his bed. This intimate family friendship between the Gettys and the Newsoms spanned generations, including Gordon's four sons—Peter, Andrew, John and Billy—and Bill's son— Gavin, California's 40th governor.

Since moving with her husband to the Pelosis' hometown of San Francisco in 1969, Baltimore-born Nancy had her hands full taking care of their four children; their fifth child was born in 1970. Though she'd grown up in a political household, the idea of herself taking office was still nearly two decades off.

As they grew up, Billy Getty and Gavin developed an appreciation of good wine from their fathers, both passionate oenophiles and best friends. In the years after these families met and became intertwined, as they rose to the peaks of wealth and power, there have been inevitable accusations of cronyism. But they bonded over old bones. They were all fascinated by the science—

At Billy's 1999 wedding to Vanessa Jarman, held on a ranch in Napa Valley, Judge Newsom officiated, and Gavin served as best man. Among the 165 guests was a new assistant district attorney in town, a 34-year-old up-and-comer named Kamala Harris, Vanessa's new friend. Two years later, Harris threw the shower before the birth of the couple's first son. When their daughter was born, Kamala was asked to be the godmother.

Over the years, Newsom political opponents have tried to weaponize his connections to the Gettys, portraying him as a child of privilege.

In the election cycle of 2020, some airtime was devoted to pondering Kimberly Guilfoyle's path from Gavin to fiancé Donald Trump Jr. "Life's interesting," Newsom said

Amid the pandemic, the Gettys were shaken by back-to-back tragedies. Ann, the matriarch, died of a heart attack, and son John, 52, was found dead in a San Antonio hotel room. According to the medical examiner's report, he died of "cardiomyopathy and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD], complicated by fentanyl toxicity."

[bobmccullochny]

History

November 7, 1659 - The Treaty of the Pyrenees was signed, ending the Franco-Spanish war of 1648-59.

November 7, 1811 - General William H. Harrison led 1,000 Americans in battle, defeating the Shawnee Indians at the Battle of Tippecanoe Creek near Lafayette, Indiana.

November 7, 1837 - A pro-slavery mob attacked and killed American abolitionist Elijah Lovejoy at his printing works in Alton, Illinois.

November 7, 1885 - Canada's first transcontinental railway, the Canadian Pacific, was completed in British Columbia.

November 7, 1917 - Russian Bolsheviks overthrew the provisional government of Alexander Kerensky in Petrograd. The Council of People's Commissars was then established as the new government of Russia, with Nikolai Lenin as chairman, Leon Trotsky as foreign commissar and Josef Stalin as commissar of nationalities. This event was celebrated each year in the former USSR with parades, massive military displays and public appearances by top Soviet leaders.

November 7, 1944 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected to an unprecedented fourth term, defeating Thomas E. Dewey. Roosevelt died less than a year later on April 12, 1945.

November 7, 1962 - Richard Nixon told news reporters in Los Angeles "…just think how much you're going to be missing. You won't have Nixon to kick around any more, because, gentlemen, this is my last press conference." Nixon's statement came the day after he lost the election for California governor to incumbent Edmund G. Brown. In 1968, Nixon re-entered politics and won the presidency, defeating Hubert H. Humphrey. Re-elected in 1972, he resigned in 1974 during impeachment proceedings resulting from the Watergate scandal.

November 7, 1967 - Carl Stokes became the first African American mayor in the U.S., elected mayor of Cleveland, Ohio.

November 7, 1989 - The East German government resigned after pro-democracy protests.

November 7, 1989 - L. Douglas Wilder became the first African American governor in U.S. history, elected governor of Virginia.

November 7, 1990 - Mary Robinson became Ireland's first female president.

Birthday - Polish chemist Marie Curie (1867-1934) was born in Warsaw, Poland. In 1903, she and her husband received the Nobel Prize for physics for their discovery of the element Radium.

Birthday - Christian evangelist Billy Graham was born near Charlotte, North Carolina, November 7, 1918. After his conversion at a revival meeting at age 16, he embarked on a career of preaching and has become known worldwide.

[gallegoskenny]

Figures related to water conservation

Edmund G. “Pat” Brown (1905-1996)

He was California’s governor from 1959-1967, exemplified the best in public service and left a wide-ranging legacy that featured first and foremost the State Water Project (SWP) and California Aqueduct but also included the Fair Housing Act, the Fair Employment Act, the Master Plan for Higher Education and highway expansion.

Rachel Carson (1907-1964)

She authored Silent Spring, a book published in 1962 about the impacts of pesticides on the ecosystem and credited with beginning the modern environmental movement.

Before becoming a full-time writer, she worked at the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries, renamed the Fish and Wildlife Service, from 1935-1952 as a biologist and then editor-in-chief of publications.

Gordon Cologne

Gordon Cologne served for 10 years in the California Legislature during the 1960s and early 1970s while the California State Water Project was being built.

His interest in water issues began from his early life in the Coachella Valley desert. An attorney, he worked in both the public sector in Washington, D.C, and then in private practice in California. He also served his local community as a member of the city of Indio City Council, including as mayor, before his decision to run for election to fill an open seat in the Assembly.

[muzzioian]

Relevant figures of water conservation

Ralph M. Brody (1912-1981)

He served as Gov. Pat Brown’s special counsel on water issues and chief deputy director of the Department of Water Resources.

He was instrumental in ensuring passage of the State Water Project in 1960. He chaired the California Water Commission from 1960 -1966. From 1960 until his retirement in 1977, he was manager and chief counsel for Westlands Water District.

Edmund G. “Pat” Brown (1905-1996)

He was a California’s governor from 1959-1967, Brown exemplified the best in public service and left a wide-ranging legacy that featured first and foremost the State Water Project (SWP) and California Aqueduct but also included the Fair Housing Act, the Fair Employment Act, the Master Plan for Higher Education and highway expansion.

Francis C. Carr (1875-1944)

Carr and his descendants played a prominent role in the development of the federal Central Valley Project, including Shasta Dam, and the creation of the Whiskeytown National Recreation Area.

In the Northern California community of Redding, he was a justice of peace, a renowned water rights attorney in the law firm of Carr and Kennedy and helped form the Anderson-Cottonwood Irrigation District. He was often in the nation’s Capitol in Washington, D.C., advocating for funds from Congress to get this visionary project built for the benefit of all of California. In his honor, the Judge Francis Carr Powerplant was named after him.

[guerrerobianca]

Important figures of water conservation

Jean Auer (1937-2005)

She was the first woman to serve on the California State Water Resources Control Board and a pioneer for women aspiring to be leaders in the water world.

She is described as a “woman of great spirit who made large contributions to improve the waters of California.” She was appointed as the State Water Board’s public member by then-Governor Ronald Reagan.

Harvey O. Banks (1910-1996)

He became the first director of the state Department of Water Resources, appointed by Governor Goodwin J. Knight on July 5, 1956 — the date the department was officially established. He continued as director under Governor Edmund G. “Pat” Brown. During Banks’ tenure as director from 1956-1961, he was key in the planning and the initial construction of the California State Water Project (SWP).

Carl Boronkay (1929-2017)

He was general manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) between 1984 and 1993. Boronkay is credited with developing a long-term vision for the district’s sustainable water supplies as well as large projects such as Diamond Valley Lake, the large reservoir near the Riverside County town of Hemet, and the Inland Feeder that connects the State Water Project to the Colorado River Aqueduct and Diamond Valley Lake.

[deadpresidents]

What do you mean when you said Carter faced a "historically weak group of challengers" in 76?

Quite simply, Jimmy Carter got lucky when it came to his opposition for the Democratic Presidential nomination in 1976 because the biggest potential Democratic candidates chose not to run that year.

It's difficult now to understand how little-known Carter was when he decided to run for President in 1976. He had served a single term as Governor of Georgia and had almost zero national name recognition. So, he was very fortunate that the biggest names in the Democratic Party decided against running for various reasons. Chappaquiddick was still too fresh for Ted Kennedy to make his long-awaited bid for the White House that year. George McGovern had lost one of the biggest landslides in American history to Richard Nixon four years earlier. Senator Edmund Muskie of Maine and New York City Mayor John Lindsay were much bigger names than Carter, but also decided against running. Former Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey considered jumping in the race for months, but ultimately decided against it, probably because he was dying of cancer. If any of those five Democrats had been in the race, they almost certainly would have been favored over Carter.

It's not fair to suggest that luck alone elected Carter. He ran an excellent campaign, and he was the first Democrat to jump in the race, so he gave himself plenty of time to introduce himself to the country -- which was necessary because, again, nobody outside of Georgia knew who he was! And his timing worked out perfectly because as the more-and-more potential heavyweight Democratic contenders decided against running, Carter was seen as an honest and appealing outsider who could bring a fresh approach to Washington.

But the field of candidates who did eventually seek the Democratic nomination in 1976 is so weak that a lot of people today probably don't even know who most of them were. I mean, one of the candidates who went into the 1976 Democratic National Convention was the notorious racist and Alabama Governor George C. Wallace! The best-known of Carter's 1976 Democratic opponents was Jerry Brown, who was in his first term as Governor of California and just 38 years old at the time, and he started to gain some real momentum in the campaign. However, Brown jumped in the race way too late and didn't have enough time to capture enough delegates before the Convention.

Other than Brown and Wallace, though, Carter's main opponents for the Democratic nomination in 1976 were Arizona Congressman Mo Udall, Senator Frank Church of Idaho, Senator Henry "Scoop" Jackson of Washington, Senator Birch Bayh of Indiana, anti-abortion advocate Ellen McCormack, former Senator Fred R. Harris of Oklahoma, and Governor Milton Shapp of Pennsylvania. If I told you I made up six of those people, would you be shocked? But I didn't! That was the Democratic field in 1976!

[mariacallous]

A guard sleeps at night in the old mansion, which has been condemned as a dwelling by the state fire marshal. It cost about $85,000 a year to keep guards at the new official residence. Meanwhile the current governor of California, Edmund G. Brown, Jr., sleeps on a mattress on the floor in the famous apartment for which he pays $275 a month out of his own $49,100 annual salary. This has considerable and potent symbolic value, as do the two empty houses themselves, most particularly the house the Reagans built on the river. It is a great point around the Capitol these days to have never seen the house on the river. The governor himself has “never seen” it. The governor‘s press secretary, Elisabeth Coleman, has “never seen” it. The governor’s chief of staff, Grey Davis, admits to having seen it, but only once, when “Mary McGrory wanted to see it.” This unseen house on the river is, Jerry Brown has said, “not my style.”

As a matter of fact this is precisely the point about the house on the river - the house is not Jerry Brown’s style, not Mary McGrory’s style, not our style - and it is a point which present a certain problem, since the house so clearly is the style not only of Jerry Brown’s predecessor but of millions of Jerry Brown’s constituents. Words are chosen carefully. Reasonable objections are framed. One hears about how the house is too far from the Capitol, too far from the Legislature. One hears about the folly of running such a lavish establishment for an unmarried governor and one hears about the governors temperamental austerity. One hears every possible reason for not living in the house except the one that counts: it is the kind of house that has a wet bar in the living room. It is the kind of house that has a refreshment center. It is the kind of house in which one does not live, but there is no way to say this without getting into touchy and evanescent and finally inadmissible questions of taste, and ultimately of class. I have seldom seen a house so evocative of the unspeakable.

The conclusion to “Many Mansions” in The White Album by Joan Didion

[welidot]

Jerry Brown

This Biography is about one of the best Politician of the world Jerry  Brown including his Height, weight, Age & Other Detail… Express info Real Name Edmund Gerald "Jerry" Brown Jr. Nickname Moonbeam Profession Politician Age (as in 2023) 85 Years old Physical Stats & More Info Party Democratic Political Journey • In 1970, Jerry Brown was elected California Secretary of State. • Jerry Brown drafted and helped to pass California Political Reform Act of 1974. • Jerry Brown was elected Governor of California on November 5, 1974. • In March 1976, he ran for the Democratic Nomination for President. • In 1976 US Presidential Election, he finished third behind Congressman Morris Udall and Jimmy Carter. • In 1978, Jerry Brown was reelected as Governor of California. • He challenged Jimmy Carter for renomination in 1980 • In 1982, he decided not to run for a third time. • In 1982, he ran for the United States Senate but lost to Pete Wilson. • In 1988, he became Chairman of the California Democratic Party. • He resigned abruptly in 1991 and announced to run for the senate seat. • In 1992, he announced to run for the US presidential election against George H. W. Bush. • He served as Mayor of Oakland from 1999 to 2007. • He served as Attorney General of California from 2007 to 2011. • In 2011, he was elected as 39th Governor of California. Biggest Rival           Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton Height in centimeters- 178 cm in meters- 1.78 m in Feet Inches- 5’ 10” Weight in Kilograms- 78 kg in Pounds- 172 lbs Eye Color Hazel Brown Hair Color White Personal Life of Jerry Brown Date of Birth April 7, 1938 Birth Place San Francisco, California Nationality American Hometown Oakland Hills, Oakland, California School St. Ignatius College Preparatory, San Francisco, California College       Santa Clara University, California University of California, Berkeley Yale Law School, New Haven, Connecticut, United States Educational Qualifications Bachelor of Arts, Juris Doctor Debut 1970 Family Father- Pat Brown (former Governor of California) Mother- Bernice Layne Brown Brothers- N/A Sisters- Kathleen Brown (politician), Barbara Layne Brown, Cynthia Arden Brown Religion Roman Catholicism Address State Capitol Building, Sacramento, CA, 95814 Sacramento, California 95814 Hobbies Swimming, Biking, Playing Golf, Palying Baseball, Doing Charity Favorite Things Of Jerry Brown Favourite Food Organic Fruits, Flax Plus Multibran Favorite Film       Enemy of the State Favorite Book      The People's History of the United States, By Howard Zinn, Memoirs of a Geisha, By Arthur Golden, Labyrinths, By Jorge Luis Borges, The Maltese Falcon, By Dashiell Hammett, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, By Milan Kundera Girls , Affairs and More Of Jerry Brown Marital Status Married Affairs Linda Ronstadt (singer) Wife Anne Gust (married 2005) Earning Money of Jerry Brown Net Worth 2.4 million USD This Biography written by www.welidot.com Read the full article

[pilgrim1975]

Merle Haggard, James 'Rabbit' Kendrick, Caryle Chessman, Eddie Bunker and Johhny Cash.

Merle Haggard, James ‘Rabbit’ Kendrick, Caryle Chessman, Eddie Bunker and Johhny Cash.

As today is the sixtieth anniversary of the execution of James ‘Rabbit’ Kendrick, here’s a free chapter from my latest book ‘Murders, Mysteries and Misdemeanors in Southern California.’ The story of county music legend Merle Haggard, jailhouse lawyer and author Caryl Chessman, and professional criminal James “Rabbit” Kendrick is an unlikely tale of five convicts, two executions, and a surprising…