Jerry Brown
Overview
Edmund Gerald "Jerry" Brown, Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American
politician
. Brown served as the 34th Governor of California
(1975–83), and is currently serving as the 39th California Governor (2011–present). He is the son of Pat Brown
, the 32nd Governor of California (1959–67).
Both before and after his first two terms as governor, Brown was elected to a number of state, local and party offices. Brown previously served as a member of the Los Angeles Community College District
Board of Trustees (1969–1971), Secretary of State of California (1971–1975), chairman of the California Democratic Party
(1989–1991), Mayor of Oakland (1999–2007) and Attorney General of California (2007–2011).
At the time of his election to a third, non-consecutive term as governor, on November 2, 2010, Brown was serving as the 31st Attorney General
of California
, an elected position.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
. Brown served as the 34th Governor of California
Governor of California
The Governor of California is the chief executive of the California state government, whose responsibilities include making annual State of the State addresses to the California State Legislature, submitting the budget, and ensuring that state laws are enforced...
(1975–83), and is currently serving as the 39th California Governor (2011–present). He is the son of Pat Brown
Pat Brown
Edmund Gerald "Pat" Brown, Sr. was the 32nd Governor of California, serving from 1959 to 1967, and the father of current Governor of California Jerry Brown.-Background:...
, the 32nd Governor of California (1959–67).
Both before and after his first two terms as governor, Brown was elected to a number of state, local and party offices. Brown previously served as a member of the Los Angeles Community College District
Los Angeles Community College District
The Los Angeles Community College District is the community college district serving Los Angeles, California and some of its neighboring cities. In addition to typical college aged students, the LACCD also serves adults of all ages. Indeed, over half of all LACCD students are older than 25 years...
Board of Trustees (1969–1971), Secretary of State of California (1971–1975), chairman of the California Democratic Party
California Democratic Party
The California Democratic Party is the state branch of the Democratic Party in the state of California, headquartered in Sacramento. It is chaired by veteran Democratic politician and former United States Representative John L. Burton, who succeeded Art Torres in April 2009. It is the majority...
(1989–1991), Mayor of Oakland (1999–2007) and Attorney General of California (2007–2011).
At the time of his election to a third, non-consecutive term as governor, on November 2, 2010, Brown was serving as the 31st Attorney General
California Attorney General
The California Attorney General is the State Attorney General of California. The officer's duty is to ensure that "the laws of the state are uniformly and adequately enforced" The Attorney General carries out the responsibilities of the office through the California Department of Justice.The...
of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, an elected position.
Unanswered Questions
Quotations
There's nothing wrong with being an anarchist.
Speaking to the International Transpersonal Association Conference in Santa Clara, California, 10 June 1995
We are in a degenerate state of self-government. In fact, even to use the words self-government, is not only an exaggeration, it's a lie. It's a big lie!
Speaking to the International Transpersonal Association Conference in Santa Clara, California, 10 June 1995
I've been in office and I've been out of office. And if I were to choose, I'd rather be in office.
"Capitol Journal", Los Angeles Times|Los Angeles Times, 19 January 2004
I'd shrink government in a minute, if I could shrink GM, Bank of America, and all these immoral corporations that operate by an undemocratic code, with no soul and no conscience.
From an unspecified KPFA-FM radio show program
The U.S. incarceration binge is not tied to crime. It's a strategy to control the surplus population in a capitalist system that is breaking down.
Jerry Brown was just a nut.
James Carville, All's Fair: Love, War, and Running for President (1994), pp. 89-90
Encyclopedia
Edmund Gerald "Jerry" Brown, Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American
politician
. Brown served as the 34th Governor of California
(1975–83), and is currently serving as the 39th California Governor (2011–present). He is the son of Pat Brown
, the 32nd Governor of California (1959–67).
Both before and after his first two terms as governor, Brown was elected to a number of state, local and party offices. Brown previously served as a member of the Los Angeles Community College District
Board of Trustees (1969–1971), Secretary of State of California (1971–1975), chairman of the California Democratic Party
(1989–1991), Mayor of Oakland (1999–2007) and Attorney General of California (2007–2011).
At the time of his election to a third, non-consecutive term as governor, on November 2, 2010, Brown was serving as the 31st Attorney General
of California
, an elected position. Brown was formally inaugurated as governor on January 3, 2011, the 28th anniversary of the end of his last term. During his first term (as California's 34th Governor), he was the sixth-youngest Governor of that state. Upon his inauguration as California's 39th Governor, he became its oldest serving governor. At the age of , Brown is also the oldest currently serving governor in the United States.
Brown sought the Democratic nominations for President of the United States
in 1976
, 1980
, and 1992
, and was the Democratic candidate for the United States Senate
in California in 1982
but was unsuccessful in these attempts.
, California, as the only son of four siblings born to Bernice Layne Brown
and former San Francisco lawyer, district attorney
and later California governor Edmund G. "Pat" Brown, Sr. Jerry Brown has Irish ancestry
through his paternal grandfather and German ancestry
through his paternal grandmother. He was a member of the California Cadet Corps
at St. Ignatius High School
, where he graduated in 1955. He then studied at Santa Clara University
. In 1956, Brown entered Sacred Heart Novitiate, a Jesuit
seminary
, intending to become a Catholic
priest
. However, Brown left the seminary and entered University of California, Berkeley
, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts
in Classics in 1961. Brown went on to Yale Law School
and graduated with a Juris Doctor
in 1964.
After law school, Brown worked as a law clerk
for California Supreme Court
Justice Mathew Tobriner
and studied in Mexico
and Latin America
.
exam and passed on his second attempt. Brown then settled in Los Angeles
and joined the law firm
of Tuttle & Taylor. In 1969, Brown ran for the newly created Los Angeles Community College Board of Trustees, which oversaw community college
s in the city, and placed first in a field of 124.
In 1970, Brown was elected California Secretary of State
. Brown argued before the California Supreme Court and won against Standard Oil of California
, International Telephone and Telegraph
, Gulf Oil
, and Mobil
for election law violations (Brown vs. Superior Court). In addition, he forced legislators to comply with campaign disclosure laws. While holding this office, he discovered the use of falsely notarized documents to earn a tax deduction by then-President Richard Nixon
. Brown also drafted and helped to pass the California Fair Political Practices Act, which established the California Fair Political Practices Commission
.
and San Francisco Mayor Joseph L. Alioto. Alioto had support in Northern California and Moretti in Southern California. Brown had the name recognition of his father, Pat Brown, whom Democrats fondly remembered for his progressive administration. Brown won the primary, and in the General Election on November 5, 1974, Brown was elected Governor of California over California State Controller Houston I. Flournoy
. Republicans ascribed the loss to anti-Republican feelings from Watergate, the election being held only ninety days after President Richard Nixon
resigned from office. Brown succeeded Republican
Governor Ronald Reagan
, who had planned on retiring from office after serving two terms. Eight years after his father left Sacramento in 1967, Jerry Brown took office on January 6, 1975.
After taking office, Brown gained a reputation as a fiscal conservative
. The American Conservative
later noted he was "much more of a fiscal conservative than Governor Reagan
." His fiscal restraint resulted in one of the biggest budget surpluses in state history, roughly $5 billion. For his personal life, Brown refused many of the privileges and perks of the office, forgoing the newly constructed governor's residence and instead renting a modest apartment at the corner of 14th and N Streets, adjacent to Capitol Park in downtown Sacramento. Instead of riding as a passenger in a chauffeured limousine
as previous governors had done, Brown drove to work in a Plymouth Satellite
sedan.
During his two-term, eight-year governorship, Brown held a strong interest in environmental issues. He appointed J. Baldwin
to work in the newly created California Office of Appropriate Technology, Sim Van der Ryn
as State Architect, and Stewart Brand
as Special Advisor. Brown appointed John Bryson
, later the CEO of Southern California Edison Electric Company
and a founding member of the Natural Resources Defense Council
, chairman of the California State Water Board in 1976. Brown also reorganized the California Arts Council
, boosting its funding by 1300 percent and appointing artists to the council and appointed more women and minorities to office than any other previous California governor. In 1977, he sponsored the "first-ever tax incentive for rooftop solar" among many environmental intiatives. In 1975, Brown obtained the repeal of the "depletion allowance", a tax break for the state's oil industry, despite the efforts of lobbyist Joe Shell
, a former intraparty rival to Richard M. Nixon.
Like his father, Brown strongly opposed the death penalty and vetoed it as Governor, which the legislature overrode in 1977. He also appointed judges who opposed capital punishment. One of these appointments, Rose Bird
as the Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court
, was recalled
in 1986 by voters angry at her opposition to the death penalty. She and two other Brown appointed justices were the first such removals in California history. In 1960, he had lobbied his father, then Governor, to spare the life of Caryl Chessman
and reportedly won a 60-day stay for him.
Brown was both in favor of a Balanced Budget Amendment
and opposed to Proposition 13
, the latter of which would decrease property taxes and greatly reduce revenue to cities and counties. When Proposition 13 passed in June 1978, he heavily cut state spending and, along with the Legislature, spent much of the $5 billion surplus to meet the proposition's requirements and help offset the revenue losses which made cities, counties and schools more dependent on the state. His actions in response to the proposition earned him praise from Proposition 13 author Howard Jarvis
who went as far to make a television commercial for Brown just before his successful reelection bid in 1978
.
The controversial proposition immediately cut tax revenues and required a two-thirds supermajority
to raise taxes. Proposition 13 "effectively destroyed the funding base of local governments and school districts, which thereafter depended largely on Sacramento for their revenue". Max Neiman, a professor at the Institute of Government Studies at University of California, Berkeley, credited Brown for "bailing out local government and school districts" but felt it was harmful "because it made it easier for people to believe that Proposition 13 wasn't harmful."
, (1918–1989) a former Los Angeles County District Attorney. Jerry Brown had the attention of the state, national and international media.
Brown was responsible for appointing the first openly gay judge in the United States when he named Stephen Lachs
to serve on the Los Angeles County Superior Court in 1979. In 1981, he also appointed the first openly lesbian
judge in the United States, Mary C. Morgan
of the San Francisco Municipal Court. Brown completed his second term having appointed a total of five openly gay judges, including Rand Schrader
and Jerold Krieger
. Brown had completed his first term as governor without appointing any openly gay people to any position, but he cited the failed 1978 Briggs Initiative, which sought to ban homosexuals from working in California's public schools, for his increased support of gay rights.
Brown proposed the establishment of a state space academy and the purchasing of a satellite
that would be launched into orbit to provide emergency communications for the state—a proposal similar to one that was indeed eventually adopted. In 1979, an out-of-state columnist, Mike Royko
, then at the Chicago Sun-Times
, picked up on the nickname from Brown's girlfriend at the time, Linda Ronstadt
, who was quoted in a 1978 Rolling Stone
magazine interview humorously calling him "Moonbeam". A year later Royko expressed his regret for publicizing the nickname, and in 1991 Royko disavowed it entirely, proclaiming Brown to be just as serious as any other politician.
Brown chose not to run for a third term in 1982 and instead ran for the United States Senate
, but lost to then San Diego mayor
Pete Wilson
. He was succeeded as governor by George Deukmejian
, then the Attorney General of California, in 1983.
, Brown entered the race in March after the primary season had begun, and over a year after some candidates had started campaigning. Brown declared, "The country is rich, but not so rich as we have been led to believe. The choice to do one thing may preclude another. In short, we are entering an era of limits."
Brown's name began appearing on primary ballots in May and he won big victories in Maryland
, followed by Nevada
, and his home state of California. He missed the deadline in Oregon
, but he ran as a write-in candidate and finished a strong third behind Carter
and Senator Frank Church
of Idaho
, another late candidate. Brown is often credited with winning the New Jersey
and Rhode Island
primaries, but in reality, uncommitted slates of delegates that Brown advocated in those states finished first. With support from Louisiana
Governor Edwin Edwards
, Brown won a majority of delegates at the Louisiana delegate selection convention; thus Louisiana was the only southern state to not support Southerners Carter or Alabama Governor George Wallace
. Despite this success, he was unable to stall Carter's momentum, and his rival was nominated on the first ballot at the 1976 Democratic National Convention
. Brown finished third with roughly 300 delegate votes, narrowly behind Congressman Morris Udall and well behind Carter. His name was placed in nomination by United Farm Workers President Cesar Chavez
.
icon Senator Ted Kennedy
of Massachusetts
.
Brown's 1980 platform, which he declared to be the natural result of combining Buckminster Fuller
's visions of the future and E. F. Schumacher
's theory of "Buddhist economics
", was much expanded from 1976. Gone was his "era of limits" slogan, replaced by a promise to, in his words, "Protect the Earth, serve the people, and explore the universe." Three main planks of his platform were a call for a constitutional convention
to ratify the Balanced Budget Amendment
, a promise to increase funds for the space program, and, in the wake of the 1979 Three Mile Island accident
, opposition to nuclear power
. On the subject of the 1979 energy crisis
, Brown decried the "Faustian bargain" that he claimed Carter had entered into with the oil industry, and declared that he would greatly increase federal funding of research into solar power
. He endorsed the idea of mandatory non-military national service
for the nation's youth, and suggested that the Defense Department cut back on support troops while beefing up the number of combat troops. He described the health care
industry as a "high priesthood" engaged in a "medical arms race
" and called for a market-oriented system of universal health care
.
As his campaign began to attract more members of what some more conservative commentators described as "the fringe", including activists like Jane Fonda
, Tom Hayden
, and Jesse Jackson
, Brown's polling numbers began to suffer. Brown received only 10% of the vote in the New Hampshire primary
, and he was soon forced to announce that his decision to remain in the race would hinge on a good showing in the Wisconsin
primary. Although he had polled well there throughout the primary season, an attempt to film a live speech in Madison
, the state's capital, into a special effects-filled, 30-minute commercial (produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola
) was disastrous.
for the seat being vacated by Republican S.I. Hayakawa. He was defeated by Republican San Diego Mayor Pete Wilson
by a margin of 52% to 45%. After his Senate defeat, Brown was left with few political options. Republican George Deukmejian
, a Brown critic, narrowly won the governorship in 1982, succeeding Brown, and was reelected overwhelmingly in 1986. After his Senate defeat in 1982, many considered Brown's political career to be over. Brown traveled to Japan to study Buddhism
, studying with Christian/Zen practitioner Hugo Enomiya-Lassalle
under Yamada Koun-roshi
. In an interview he explained, "Since politics is based on illusions, zazen definitely provides new insights for a politician. I then come back into the world of California and politics, with critical distance from some of my more comfortable assumptions." He also visited Mother Teresa
in Calcutta, India
, where he ministered to the sick in one of her hospices. He explained, "Politics is a power struggle to get to the top of the heap. Calcutta and Mother Teresa are about working with those who are at the bottom of the heap. And to see them as no different than yourself, and their needs as important as your needs. And you're there to serve them, and doing that you are attaining as great a state of being as you can."
Upon his return from abroad in 1988, Brown announced that he would stand as a candidate to become chairman of the California Democratic Party
. Brown won the position in 1989 against investment banker Steve Westly
. Although Brown greatly expanded the party's donor base and enlarged its coffers, with a focus on grassroots
organizing and get out the vote
drives, he was criticized for not spending enough money on TV ads, which was felt to have contributed to Democratic losses in several close races in 1990. In early 1991, Brown abruptly resigned his post and announced that he would run for the Senate seat held by the retiring Alan Cranston
. Although Brown consistently led in the polls for both the nomination and the general election, he abandoned the campaign, deciding instead to run for the presidency for a third time.
, many in the media and his own party dismissed his campaign as having little chance of gaining significant support. Ignoring them, Brown embarked on an ultra-grassroots
campaign to, in his words, "take back America from the confederacy of corruption
, career
ism, and campaign consulting
in Washington". Brown tapped into a populist
streak in the Democratic Party.
In his stump speech
, first used while officially announcing his candidacy on the steps of Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
, Brown told listeners that he would only be accepting campaign contributions
from individuals and that he would accept no contribution over $100. Continuing with his populist reform
theme, he assailed what he dubbed "the bipartisan
Incumbent Party in Washington" and called for term limit
s for members of Congress. Citing various recent scandals on Capitol Hill, particularly the recent House banking scandal
and the large congressional pay-raises from 1990, he promised to put an end to Congress being a "Stop-and-Shop
for the moneyed special interests".
As Brown campaigned in various primary states, he would eventually expand his platform beyond a policy of strict campaign finance reform
. Although he would focus on a variety of issues throughout the campaign, most especially his endorsement of living wage
laws and his opposition to free trade
agreements such as North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA), he mostly concentrated on his tax policy, which had been created specifically for him by Arthur Laffer
, the famous supporter of supply-side economics
who created the Laffer curve
. This plan, which called for the replacement of the progressive income tax
with a flat tax
and a value added tax
, both at a fixed 13% rate, was decried by his opponents as regressive. Nevertheless, it was endorsed by The New York Times
, The New Republic
, and Forbes
, and its raising of taxes on corporation
s and elimination of various loopholes which tended to favor the very wealthy, proved to be popular with voters. This was, perhaps, not surprising, as various opinion poll
s taken at the time found that as many as three-quarters of all Americans believed the current tax code to be unfairly biased toward the wealthy.
Quickly realizing that his campaign's limited budget meant that he could not afford to engage in conventional advertising, Brown began to use a mixture of alternative media
and unusual fund raising techniques. Unable to pay for actual commercials, he used frequent cable television
and talk radio
interviews as a form of free media to get his message to the voters. In order to raise funds, he purchased a toll-free telephone number
, (the same number is still in use by Brown) which adorned all of his campaign paraphernalia. During the campaign, Brown's repetition of this number combined with the moralistic language used, led some to describe him as a "political televangelist
" with a "anti-politics gospel".
Despite poor showings in the Iowa caucus
(1.6%) and the New Hampshire primary
(8.0%), Brown soon managed to win narrow victories in Maine
, Colorado
, Nevada
, Alaska, and Vermont
, but he continued to be considered an also-ran for much of the campaign. It was not until shortly after Super Tuesday
, when the field had been narrowed to Brown, former Senator Paul Tsongas
of Massachusetts, and frontrunning Governor Bill Clinton
of Arkansas
, that Brown began to emerge as a major contender in the eyes of the press. On March 17, Brown forced Tsongas from the race when he received a strong third-place showing in the Illinois
primary and then defeated the senator for second place in the Michigan
primary by a wide margin. Exactly one week later, he cemented his position as a major threat to Clinton when he eked out a narrow win in the bitterly-fought Connecticut
primary.
As the press focused on the primaries in New York and Wisconsin
, which were both to be held on the same day, Brown, who had taken the lead in polls in both states, made a gaffe: he announced to an audience of various leaders of New York City's Jewish community that, if nominated, he would consider the Reverend Jesse Jackson
as a vice-presidential candidate. Jackson, who had made a pair of comments that were perceived to be anti-Semitic
about Jews in general and New York City's Jews in particular while running for president in 1984, was still despised in Jewish communities. Jackson also had ties to Louis Farrakhan
, who said Judaism was a "gutter religion," and with Yasir Arafat, the chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization
. Brown's polling numbers suffered. On April 7, he lost narrowly to Bill Clinton in Wisconsin (37–34), and dramatically in New York (41–26).
Although Brown continued to campaign in a number of states, he won no further primaries. Although overwhelmingly outspent, Brown won upset victories in seven states and his votes won to money raised ratio was by far the best of any candidate in the race. He still had a sizable number of delegates, and a big win in his home state of California would deprive Clinton of sufficient support to win the Democratic nomination, possibly bringing about a brokered convention
. After nearly a month of intense campaigning and multiple debates between the two candidates, Clinton managed to defeat Brown in this final primary by a margin of 48% to 41%. Although Brown did not win the nomination, he was able to boast of one accomplishment: At the following month's Democratic National Convention
, he received the votes of 596 delegates on the first ballot, more than any other candidate but Clinton. He spoke at the convention, and to the national viewing audience, yet without endorsing Clinton, through the device of seconding his own nomination. There was animosity between the Brown and Clinton campaigns, and Brown was the first political figure to criticize Bill Clinton
over what became the Whitewater controversy
.
, a down-on-its-luck "overwhelmingly minority city of 400,000." Brown ran as an independent "having left the Democratic Party, blasting what he called the 'deeply corrupted' two-party system
." Prior to taking office, Brown campaigned to get the approval of the electorate to convert Oakland's weak mayor political structure
, which structured the mayor as chairman of the city council and official greeter, to a strong mayor structure, where the mayor would act as chief executive over the nonpolitical city manager
and thus the various city departments, and break tie votes on the Oakland City Council. He won with 59% of the vote in a field of ten candidates. The political left had hoped for some of the more progressive politics from Brown's earlier governorship, but found Brown "more pragmatic than progressive, more interested in downtown redevelopment and economic growth than political ideology".
The city was rapidly losing residents and businesses, and Brown is credited with starting the revitalization of the city using his connections and experience to lessen the economic downturn, while attracting $1 billion of investments, including refurbishing Fox Theater (Oakland), the Port of Oakland
and Jack London Square
. The downtown district was losing retailers, restaurateurs and residential developers, and Brown sought to attract thousands of new residents with disposable income
to revitalize the area. Brown continued his predecessor Elihu Harris
's public policy of supporting downtown housing development in the area defined as the Central Business District
in Oakland's 1998 General Plan. Since Brown worked toward the stated goal of bringing an additional 10,000 residents to Downtown Oakland, his plan was known as "10K." It has resulted in redevelopment projects in the Jack London District, where Brown purchased and later sold an industrial warehouse which he used as a personal residence, and in the Lakeside Apartments District
near Lake Merritt
. The 10k plan has touched the historic Old Oakland
district, the Chinatown
district, the Uptown
district, and Downtown
. Brown surpassed the stated goal of attracting 10,000 residents according to city records, and built more affordable housing
than previous mayoral administrations.
Brown had campaigned on fixing Oakland's schools, but "bureaucratic battles" dampened his efforts. He concedes he never had control of the schools, and his reform efforts were "largely a bust". He focused instead on the creation of two charter school
s, the Oakland School for the Arts
and the Oakland Military Institute
. Another area of disappointment was overall crime. Brown sponsored nearly two dozen crime initiatives to reduce the crime rate. Although he did decrease crime by 13 percent overall, and increased the police force, the city still suffered a "57 percent spike in homicides his final year in office, to 148". Critics were unable to convince voters in the 2006 race for attorney general that he was responsible for the increased crime rate.
, who put most of his money into TV ads attacking Brown and spent $4.1 million on the primary campaign. Brown defeated Delgadillo, 63% to 37%. In the general election, Brown defeated Republican
State Senator Charles Poochigian
56.3% to 38.2%, which was one of the largest margins of victory in any statewide California race. In the final weeks leading up to Election Day, Brown's eligibility to run for Attorney General was challenged in what Brown called a "political stunt by a Republican office seeker" (Contra Costa County Republican Central Committee chairman and state GOP vice-chair candidate Tom Del Beccaro). Plaintiffs claimed Brown did not meet eligibility according to California Government Code §12503, "No person shall be eligible to the office of Attorney General unless he shall have been admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the state for a period of at least five years immediately preceding his election or appointment to such office." Legal analysts called the lawsuit frivolous because Brown was admitted to practice law in the State of California on June 14, 1965, and had been so admitted to practice ever since. Although ineligible to practice law because of his voluntary inactive status in the State Bar of California
from January 1, 1997 to May 1, 2003, he was nevertheless still admitted to practice. Because of this difference the case was eventually thrown out.
As Attorney General, Brown was obligated to represent the state in fighting death penalty appeals and stated that he would follow the law, regardless of his personal beliefs against capital punishment
. Some legal scholars note that under current law the Attorney General does not have much discretion over death penalty cases. Capital punishment by lethal injection
was halted in California by federal judge Jeremy D. Fogel
until new facilities and procedures were put into place. Brown moved to resume capital punishment in 2010 with the execution of Albert Greenwood Brown
after the lifting of a statewide moratorium
by a California court. Brown's Democratic campaign, which pledged to "enforce the laws" of California, denied any connection between the case and the gubernatorial election. Prosecutor Rod Pacheco
, who supported Republican opponent Meg Whitman, said that it would be unfair to accuse Jerry Brown of using the execution for political gain as they never discussed the case.
In June 2008 Brown filed a fraud lawsuit claiming mortgage lender Countrywide Financial
engaged in "unfair and deceptive" practices to get homeowners to apply for risky mortgages far beyond their means." Brown accused the lender of breaking the state's laws against false advertising
and unfair business practices. The lawsuit also claims the defendant misled many consumers by misinforming them about the workings of certain mortgages such adjustable-rate mortgages, interest-only loan
s, low-documentation loans and home-equity loans while telling borrowers they would be able to refinance before the interest rate on their loans adjusted. The suit was settled in October 2008 after Bank of America
acquired Countrywide. The settlement involves the modifying of troubled 'predatory loans' up to $8.4 billion dollars.
Proposition 8
, a contentious voter-approved amendment to the state constitution that banned same-sex marriage
was upheld in May 2009 by the California Supreme Court. In August 2010, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
ruled that Proposition 8 violated the Due Process
and the Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
. Brown and Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
have declined to appeal the ruling. The state appeals court declined to order the men to defend the proposition and scheduled a hearing in early December to see if there is "legal standing to appeal Walker's ruling."
's term.
Brown's Republican opponent in the election was former eBay
president Meg Whitman
. On October 3, 2010, Brown was endorsed by the Los Angeles Times
, The Sacramento Bee
, and the San Francisco Chronicle
. He was endorsed by the San Jose Mercury News
on October 10. He was also endorsed by the Service Employees International Union
- CA. Independent groups broke campaign spending records, with contributions totaling more than $31.7 million. Approximately $25 million went to support Gov. Brown's campaign. Brown also received the support of a number of prominent Republicans such as Los Angeles businessman Rick J. Caruso
.
On November 2, 2010, Jerry Brown successfully won the governorship for a third, non-consecutive term.
. He will be up for re-election in 2014. Brown is working on a budget that would shift many government programs from the state to the local level, a reversal of trends from his first tenure as governor.
.
Beginning in 1995, Brown hosted a daily call-in talk show on the local Pacifica Radio
station, KPFA
-FM, in Berkeley
broadcast to major US markets. Both the radio program and Brown's political action organization, based in Oakland
, were called We the People. His programs, usually featuring invited guests, generally explored alternative views on a wide range of social and political issues, from education and health care to spirituality and the death penalty.
Brown has a long-term friendship with Jacques Barzaghi, his aide-de-camp, whom he met in the early 1970s and put on his payroll. Author Roger Rapaport wrote in his 1982 Brown biography California Dreaming: The Political Odyssey of Pat & Jerry Brown, "this combination clerk, chauffeur, fashion consultant, decorator and trusted friend had no discernible powers. Yet late at night, after everyone had gone home to their families and TV consoles, it was Jacques who lingered in the Secretary (of state's) office." Barzaghi and his sixth wife Aisha lived with Brown in the warehouse in Jack London Square; Barzaghi was brought into Oakland city government upon Brown's election as mayor, where Barzaghi first acted as the mayor's armed bodyguard. Brown later rewarded Barzaghi with high-paying city jobs, including Arts Director. Brown dismissed Barzaghi in July 2004.
In March 2005, Brown announced his engagement to his girlfriend since 1990, Anne Gust, former chief administrative officer for The Gap
. They were married on June 18 in a ceremony officiated by Senator Dianne Feinstein
in the Rotunda Building in downtown Oakland. They had a second, religious ceremony later in the day in the Roman Catholic church
in San Francisco where Brown's parents had been married. Brown and Gust live in the Oakland Hills in a home purchased for $1.8 million, as reported by The Huffington Post
.
On April 29, 2011, Brown had surgery to remove a basal-cell carcinoma from the right side of his nose.
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United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
. Brown served as the 34th Governor of California
Governor of California
The Governor of California is the chief executive of the California state government, whose responsibilities include making annual State of the State addresses to the California State Legislature, submitting the budget, and ensuring that state laws are enforced...
(1975–83), and is currently serving as the 39th California Governor (2011–present). He is the son of Pat Brown
Pat Brown
Edmund Gerald "Pat" Brown, Sr. was the 32nd Governor of California, serving from 1959 to 1967, and the father of current Governor of California Jerry Brown.-Background:...
, the 32nd Governor of California (1959–67).
Both before and after his first two terms as governor, Brown was elected to a number of state, local and party offices. Brown previously served as a member of the Los Angeles Community College District
Los Angeles Community College District
The Los Angeles Community College District is the community college district serving Los Angeles, California and some of its neighboring cities. In addition to typical college aged students, the LACCD also serves adults of all ages. Indeed, over half of all LACCD students are older than 25 years...
Board of Trustees (1969–1971), Secretary of State of California (1971–1975), chairman of the California Democratic Party
California Democratic Party
The California Democratic Party is the state branch of the Democratic Party in the state of California, headquartered in Sacramento. It is chaired by veteran Democratic politician and former United States Representative John L. Burton, who succeeded Art Torres in April 2009. It is the majority...
(1989–1991), Mayor of Oakland (1999–2007) and Attorney General of California (2007–2011).
At the time of his election to a third, non-consecutive term as governor, on November 2, 2010, Brown was serving as the 31st Attorney General
California Attorney General
The California Attorney General is the State Attorney General of California. The officer's duty is to ensure that "the laws of the state are uniformly and adequately enforced" The Attorney General carries out the responsibilities of the office through the California Department of Justice.The...
of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, an elected position. Brown was formally inaugurated as governor on January 3, 2011, the 28th anniversary of the end of his last term. During his first term (as California's 34th Governor), he was the sixth-youngest Governor of that state. Upon his inauguration as California's 39th Governor, he became its oldest serving governor. At the age of , Brown is also the oldest currently serving governor in the United States.
Brown sought the Democratic nominations for President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
in 1976
United States presidential election, 1976
The United States presidential election of 1976 followed the resignation of President Richard Nixon in the wake of the Watergate scandal. It pitted incumbent President Gerald Ford, the Republican candidate, against the relatively unknown former governor of Georgia, Jimmy Carter, the Democratic...
, 1980
United States presidential election, 1980
The United States presidential election of 1980 featured a contest between incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter and his Republican opponent, Ronald Reagan, as well as Republican Congressman John B. Anderson, who ran as an independent...
, and 1992
United States presidential election, 1992
The United States presidential election of 1992 had three major candidates: Incumbent Republican President George Bush; Democratic Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton, and independent Texas businessman Ross Perot....
, and was the Democratic candidate for the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
in California in 1982
United States Senate elections, 1982
The United States Senate election of November 2, 1982 was an election for the United States Senate following the Republican gains in 1980. Party balance was unchanged following the election. Incumbents Howard Cannon of Nevada and Harrison Schmitt of New Mexico lost seats to the opposite party, the...
but was unsuccessful in these attempts.
Early life and education
Brown was born in San FranciscoSan Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, California, as the only son of four siblings born to Bernice Layne Brown
Bernice Layne Brown
Bernice Layne Brown was the wife of former Governor of California Edmund "Pat" Brown and the mother to former and current governor Jerry Brown....
and former San Francisco lawyer, district attorney
District attorney
In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...
and later California governor Edmund G. "Pat" Brown, Sr. Jerry Brown has Irish ancestry
Irish American
Irish Americans are citizens of the United States who can trace their ancestry to Ireland. A total of 36,278,332 Americans—estimated at 11.9% of the total population—reported Irish ancestry in the 2008 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau...
through his paternal grandfather and German ancestry
German American
German Americans are citizens of the United States of German ancestry and comprise about 51 million people, or 17% of the U.S. population, the country's largest self-reported ancestral group...
through his paternal grandmother. He was a member of the California Cadet Corps
California Cadet Corps
The California Cadet Corps is a paramilitary youth organization in California open for students in the college, high school, middle school and elementary school grades.-Role and purpose:...
at St. Ignatius High School
St. Ignatius College Preparatory
St. Ignatius College Preparatory is a preparatory school in the Jesuit tradition serving the San Francisco Bay Area since 1855. Located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco, in the Sunset District of San Francisco, St. Ignatius is one of the oldest secondary schools in the U.S. state...
, where he graduated in 1955. He then studied at Santa Clara University
Santa Clara University
Santa Clara University is a private, not-for-profit, Jesuit-affiliated university located in Santa Clara, California, United States. Chartered by the state of California and accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, it operates in collaboration with the Society of Jesus , whose...
. In 1956, Brown entered Sacred Heart Novitiate, a Jesuit
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
seminary
Seminary
A seminary, theological college, or divinity school is an institution of secondary or post-secondary education for educating students in theology, generally to prepare them for ordination as clergy or for other ministry...
, intending to become a Catholic
Roman Catholicism in the United States
The Catholic Church in the United States is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, the Christian Church in full communion with the Pope. With more than 68.5 registered million members, it is the largest single religious denomination in the United States, comprising about 22 percent of the population...
priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
. However, Brown left the seminary and entered University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in Classics in 1961. Brown went on to Yale Law School
Yale Law School
Yale Law School, or YLS, is the law school of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Established in 1824, it offers the J.D., LL.M., J.S.D. and M.S.L. degrees in law. It also hosts visiting scholars, visiting researchers and a number of legal research centers...
and graduated with a Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
in 1964.
After law school, Brown worked as a law clerk
Law clerk
A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person who provides assistance to a judge in researching issues before the court and in writing opinions. Law clerks are not court clerks or courtroom deputies, who are administrative staff for the court. Most law clerks are recent law school graduates who...
for California Supreme Court
Supreme Court of California
The Supreme Court of California is the highest state court in California. It is headquartered in San Francisco and regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sacramento. Its decisions are binding on all other California state courts.-Composition:...
Justice Mathew Tobriner
Mathew Tobriner
Mathew Oscar Tobriner was an Associate Justice on the California Supreme Court from July 1962–January 1982. An appointee of Democratic Governor Pat Brown, he had worked as a labor lawyer until 1959, when Brown appointed him to the California Court of Appeal. After three years on the Court...
and studied in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
and Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
.
Legal career and entrance into politics
Returning to California, Brown took the state barBar (law)
Bar in a legal context has three possible meanings: the division of a courtroom between its working and public areas; the process of qualifying to practice law; and the legal profession.-Courtroom division:...
exam and passed on his second attempt. Brown then settled in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and joined the law firm
Law firm
A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to represent clients in civil or criminal cases, business transactions, and other...
of Tuttle & Taylor. In 1969, Brown ran for the newly created Los Angeles Community College Board of Trustees, which oversaw community college
Community college
A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries.-Australia:Community colleges carry on the tradition of adult education, which was established in Australia around mid 19th century when evening classes were held to help adults...
s in the city, and placed first in a field of 124.
In 1970, Brown was elected California Secretary of State
California Secretary of State
The Secretary of State of California is the chief elections officer of that U.S. state. The Secretary of State is also responsible for the California State Archives, as well as chartering corporations. The Secretary of State is elected to four year terms, concurrent with the other constitutional...
. Brown argued before the California Supreme Court and won against Standard Oil of California
Chevron Corporation
Chevron Corporation is an American multinational energy corporation headquartered in San Ramon, California, United States and active in more than 180 countries. It is engaged in every aspect of the oil, gas, and geothermal energy industries, including exploration and production; refining,...
, International Telephone and Telegraph
ITT Corporation
ITT Corporation is a global diversified manufacturing company based in the United States. ITT participates in global markets including water and fluids management, defense and security, and motion and flow control...
, Gulf Oil
Gulf Oil
Gulf Oil was a major global oil company from the 1900s to the 1980s. The eighth-largest American manufacturing company in 1941 and the ninth-largest in 1979, Gulf Oil was one of the so-called Seven Sisters oil companies...
, and Mobil
ExxonMobil
Exxon Mobil Corporation or ExxonMobil, is an American multinational oil and gas corporation. It is a direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil company, and was formed on November 30, 1999, by the merger of Exxon and Mobil. Its headquarters are in Irving, Texas...
for election law violations (Brown vs. Superior Court). In addition, he forced legislators to comply with campaign disclosure laws. While holding this office, he discovered the use of falsely notarized documents to earn a tax deduction by then-President Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
. Brown also drafted and helped to pass the California Fair Political Practices Act, which established the California Fair Political Practices Commission
California Fair Political Practices Commission
SUMMARYThe California Fair Political Practices Commission is the government body that enforces political campaign, lobbying, and conflict of interest laws in the state of California, similar to what the Federal Elections Commission does at the federal level...
.
First term
In 1974, Brown was in a three-person primary race with Speaker of the California Assembly Bob MorettiBob Moretti
Robert Moretti was a Democratic California politician. He served in the California State Assembly from 1965 until 1974. He represented the 42nd district. he served as the Speaker of the Assembly from 1971 until he left office in 1974 when he ran for Governor of California. He died of a heart...
and San Francisco Mayor Joseph L. Alioto. Alioto had support in Northern California and Moretti in Southern California. Brown had the name recognition of his father, Pat Brown, whom Democrats fondly remembered for his progressive administration. Brown won the primary, and in the General Election on November 5, 1974, Brown was elected Governor of California over California State Controller Houston I. Flournoy
Houston I. Flournoy
Houston Irving Flournoy was an American politician who served as a California legislator and State Controller...
. Republicans ascribed the loss to anti-Republican feelings from Watergate, the election being held only ninety days after President Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
resigned from office. Brown succeeded Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
Governor Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
, who had planned on retiring from office after serving two terms. Eight years after his father left Sacramento in 1967, Jerry Brown took office on January 6, 1975.
After taking office, Brown gained a reputation as a fiscal conservative
Fiscal conservatism
Fiscal conservatism is a political term used to describe a fiscal policy that advocates avoiding deficit spending. Fiscal conservatives often consider reduction of overall government spending and national debt as well as ensuring balanced budget of paramount importance...
. The American Conservative
The American Conservative
The American Conservative is a monthly U.S. opinion magazine published by Ron Unz. Its first editor was Scott McConnell, his successors being Kara Hopkins and the present incumbent, Daniel McCarthy....
later noted he was "much more of a fiscal conservative than Governor Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
." His fiscal restraint resulted in one of the biggest budget surpluses in state history, roughly $5 billion. For his personal life, Brown refused many of the privileges and perks of the office, forgoing the newly constructed governor's residence and instead renting a modest apartment at the corner of 14th and N Streets, adjacent to Capitol Park in downtown Sacramento. Instead of riding as a passenger in a chauffeured limousine
Limousine
A limousine is a luxury sedan or saloon car, especially one with a lengthened wheelbase or driven by a chauffeur. The chassis of a limousine may have been extended by the manufacturer or by an independent coachbuilder. These are called "stretch" limousines and are traditionally black or white....
as previous governors had done, Brown drove to work in a Plymouth Satellite
Plymouth Satellite
The Plymouth Satellite is an automobile introduced in 1965 as the top model in Plymouth's mid-size Belvedere line. The Satellite remained the top of the line model until the 1967 model year, where it became the mid-price model with the GTX taking its place as the top model. The Fury name was moved...
sedan.
During his two-term, eight-year governorship, Brown held a strong interest in environmental issues. He appointed J. Baldwin
J. Baldwin
James Tennant Baldwin is an American industrial designer and writer...
to work in the newly created California Office of Appropriate Technology, Sim Van der Ryn
Sim Van der Ryn
Sim Van der Ryn is acknowledged as a leader in "sustainable architecture." He is also a researcher and educator. Van der Ryn's driving professional interest has been applying principles of physical and social ecology to architecture and environmental design....
as State Architect, and Stewart Brand
Stewart Brand
Stewart Brand is an American writer, best known as editor of the Whole Earth Catalog. He founded a number of organizations including The WELL, the Global Business Network, and the Long Now Foundation...
as Special Advisor. Brown appointed John Bryson
John Bryson
John E. Bryson is the 37th Secretary of Commerce. The Senate confirmed him by a 74–26 vote on October 20, 2011. He was sworn in on October 21, 2011...
, later the CEO of Southern California Edison Electric Company
Southern California Edison
Southern California Edison , the largest subsidiary of Edison International , is the primary electricity supply company for much of Southern California, USA. It provides 14 million people with electricity...
and a founding member of the Natural Resources Defense Council
Natural Resources Defense Council
The Natural Resources Defense Council is a New York City-based, non-profit, non-partisan international environmental advocacy group, with offices in Washington DC, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Beijing...
, chairman of the California State Water Board in 1976. Brown also reorganized the California Arts Council
California Arts Council
The California Arts Council is a state agency based in Sacramento. Its eleven council members are appointed by the Governor and the state Legislature...
, boosting its funding by 1300 percent and appointing artists to the council and appointed more women and minorities to office than any other previous California governor. In 1977, he sponsored the "first-ever tax incentive for rooftop solar" among many environmental intiatives. In 1975, Brown obtained the repeal of the "depletion allowance", a tax break for the state's oil industry, despite the efforts of lobbyist Joe Shell
Joe Shell
Joseph Claude Shell, Sr. was an American oil producer and lobbyist who represented District 58 in the California State Assembly from 1953-1963. During 1961-62 he was the Assembly Republican Minority Leader...
, a former intraparty rival to Richard M. Nixon.
Like his father, Brown strongly opposed the death penalty and vetoed it as Governor, which the legislature overrode in 1977. He also appointed judges who opposed capital punishment. One of these appointments, Rose Bird
Rose Bird
Rose Elizabeth Bird served for 10 years as the 25th Chief Justice of California. She was the first female Justice, and first female Chief Justice, on that court, appointed by then Governor Jerry Brown...
as the Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court
Supreme Court of California
The Supreme Court of California is the highest state court in California. It is headquartered in San Francisco and regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sacramento. Its decisions are binding on all other California state courts.-Composition:...
, was recalled
Recall election
A recall election is a procedure by which voters can remove an elected official from office through a direct vote before his or her term has ended...
in 1986 by voters angry at her opposition to the death penalty. She and two other Brown appointed justices were the first such removals in California history. In 1960, he had lobbied his father, then Governor, to spare the life of Caryl Chessman
Caryl Chessman
Caryl Whittier Chessman was a convicted robber and rapist who gained fame as a death row inmate in California. Chessman's case attracted worldwide attention, and as a result he became a cause célèbre for the movement to ban capital punishment.-Crime and conviction:Born in St...
and reportedly won a 60-day stay for him.
Brown was both in favor of a Balanced Budget Amendment
Balanced Budget Amendment
A balanced-budget amendment is a constitutional rule requiring that the state cannot spend more than its income. It requires a balance between the projected receipts and expenditures of the government....
and opposed to Proposition 13
California Proposition 13 (1978)
Proposition 13 was an amendment of the Constitution of California enacted during 1978, by means of the initiative process. It was approved by California voters on June 6, 1978. It was declared constitutional by the United States Supreme Court in the case of Nordlinger v. Hahn,...
, the latter of which would decrease property taxes and greatly reduce revenue to cities and counties. When Proposition 13 passed in June 1978, he heavily cut state spending and, along with the Legislature, spent much of the $5 billion surplus to meet the proposition's requirements and help offset the revenue losses which made cities, counties and schools more dependent on the state. His actions in response to the proposition earned him praise from Proposition 13 author Howard Jarvis
Howard Jarvis
Howard Arnold Jarvis was an American businessman, lobbyist, and politician. He was an anti-tax activist responsible for passage of California's Proposition 13 in 1978.-Early life and education:...
who went as far to make a television commercial for Brown just before his successful reelection bid in 1978
California gubernatorial election, 1978
The 1978 California gubernatorial election occurred on November 7, 1978. The Democratic incumbent, Jerry Brown, defeated the Republican nominee, Attorney General Evelle J...
.
The controversial proposition immediately cut tax revenues and required a two-thirds supermajority
Supermajority
A supermajority or a qualified majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level or type of support which exceeds a simple majority . In some jurisdictions, for example, parliamentary procedure requires that any action that may alter the rights of the minority has a supermajority...
to raise taxes. Proposition 13 "effectively destroyed the funding base of local governments and school districts, which thereafter depended largely on Sacramento for their revenue". Max Neiman, a professor at the Institute of Government Studies at University of California, Berkeley, credited Brown for "bailing out local government and school districts" but felt it was harmful "because it made it easier for people to believe that Proposition 13 wasn't harmful."
Second term
On November 7, 1978, Jerry Brown was re-elected governor. The Republican candidate was state Attorney General Evelle J. YoungerEvelle J. Younger
Evelle Jansen Younger was an American politician. He was California Attorney General from 1971 to 1979. Prior to that, he was Los Angeles County District Attorney from 1964 to 1971. In 1978, he ran for Governor of California, but lost to incumbent Jerry Brown. Younger was a member of the...
, (1918–1989) a former Los Angeles County District Attorney. Jerry Brown had the attention of the state, national and international media.
Brown was responsible for appointing the first openly gay judge in the United States when he named Stephen Lachs
Stephen Lachs
Stephen M. Lachs served as a judge of the Los Angeles County Superior Court from 1979 to 1999. He was the first openly gay judge appointed in the United States and is thought to be the first openly gay judge appointed anywhere in the world.-Early life and education:Lachs received a B.A. from the...
to serve on the Los Angeles County Superior Court in 1979. In 1981, he also appointed the first openly lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
judge in the United States, Mary C. Morgan
Mary C. Morgan
Mary Carolyn Morgan is a judge of the San Francisco County Superior Court and former judge of the San Francisco Municipal Court. She was the first openly lesbian judge appointed in the United States.-Early life and education:...
of the San Francisco Municipal Court. Brown completed his second term having appointed a total of five openly gay judges, including Rand Schrader
Rand Schrader
Rand Schrader was an AIDS and gay rights activist who also served as a judge of the Los Angeles Municipal Court.-Early life and education:Schrader was born in Los Angeles, California...
and Jerold Krieger
Jerold Krieger
Jerold A. Krieger was a judge of the Los Angeles County Superior Court known for his work fighting for civil rights for gays, minorities and the disadvantaged. As an openly gay judge, he served as Chairperson of the Sexual Orientation Fairness Subcommittee of the California Judicial Council's...
. Brown had completed his first term as governor without appointing any openly gay people to any position, but he cited the failed 1978 Briggs Initiative, which sought to ban homosexuals from working in California's public schools, for his increased support of gay rights.
Satellite
In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
that would be launched into orbit to provide emergency communications for the state—a proposal similar to one that was indeed eventually adopted. In 1979, an out-of-state columnist, Mike Royko
Mike Royko
Michael "Mike" Royko was a newspaper columnist in Chicago, who won the 1972 Pulitzer Prize for commentary...
, then at the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
, picked up on the nickname from Brown's girlfriend at the time, Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt is an American popular music recording artist. She has earned eleven Grammy Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, an ALMA Award, numerous United States and internationally certified gold, platinum and multiplatinum albums, in addition to Tony Award and Golden...
, who was quoted in a 1978 Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine interview humorously calling him "Moonbeam". A year later Royko expressed his regret for publicizing the nickname, and in 1991 Royko disavowed it entirely, proclaiming Brown to be just as serious as any other politician.
Brown chose not to run for a third term in 1982 and instead ran for the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
, but lost to then San Diego mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
Pete Wilson
Pete Wilson
Peter Barton "Pete" Wilson is an American politician from California. Wilson, a Republican, served as the 36th Governor of California , the culmination of more than three decades in the public arena that included eight years as a United States Senator , eleven years as Mayor of San Diego and...
. He was succeeded as governor by George Deukmejian
George Deukmejian
Courken George Deukmejian, Jr. born June 6, 1928) is an Armenian American politician from California who as a Republican served as the 35th Governor of California and as California Attorney General .-Early life:...
, then the Attorney General of California, in 1983.
1976 Democratic presidential primary
While serving as governor, Brown twice ran for the Democratic nomination for president. The first time, in 1976Democratic Party (United States) presidential primaries, 1976
The 1976 Democratic presidential primaries were the selection process by which voters of the Democratic Party chose its nominee for President of the United States in the 1976 U.S. presidential election...
, Brown entered the race in March after the primary season had begun, and over a year after some candidates had started campaigning. Brown declared, "The country is rich, but not so rich as we have been led to believe. The choice to do one thing may preclude another. In short, we are entering an era of limits."
Brown's name began appearing on primary ballots in May and he won big victories in Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, followed by Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
, and his home state of California. He missed the deadline in Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, but he ran as a write-in candidate and finished a strong third behind Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
and Senator Frank Church
Frank Church
Frank Forrester Church III was an American lawyer and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a United States Senator from Idaho from 1957 to 1981....
of Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
, another late candidate. Brown is often credited with winning the New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
and Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
primaries, but in reality, uncommitted slates of delegates that Brown advocated in those states finished first. With support from Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
Governor Edwin Edwards
Edwin Edwards
Edwin Washington Edwards served as the Governor of Louisiana for four terms , twice as many terms as any other Louisiana chief executive has served. Edwards was also Louisiana's first Roman Catholic governor in the 20th century...
, Brown won a majority of delegates at the Louisiana delegate selection convention; thus Louisiana was the only southern state to not support Southerners Carter or Alabama Governor George Wallace
George Wallace
George Corley Wallace, Jr. was the 45th Governor of Alabama, serving four terms: 1963–1967, 1971–1979 and 1983–1987. "The most influential loser" in 20th-century U.S. politics, according to biographers Dan T. Carter and Stephan Lesher, he ran for U.S...
. Despite this success, he was unable to stall Carter's momentum, and his rival was nominated on the first ballot at the 1976 Democratic National Convention
1976 Democratic National Convention
The 1976 Democratic National Convention met at Madison Square Garden in New York City, from July 12 to July 15, 1976. The assembled United States Democratic Party delegates at the convention nominated Governor Jimmy Carter of Georgia for President and Senator Walter Mondale of Minnesota for Vice...
. Brown finished third with roughly 300 delegate votes, narrowly behind Congressman Morris Udall and well behind Carter. His name was placed in nomination by United Farm Workers President Cesar Chavez
César Chávez
César Estrada Chávez was an American farm worker, labor leader, and civil rights activist who, with Dolores Huerta, co-founded the National Farm Workers Association, which later became the United Farm Workers ....
.
1980 Democratic presidential primary
In 1980, Brown challenged Carter for renomination. His candidacy had been anticipated by the press ever since he won re-election as governor in 1978 over the Republican Evelle Younger by the biggest margin in California history, 1.3 million votes. But Brown had trouble gaining traction in both fundraising and polling for the presidential nomination. This was widely believed to be the result of the more prominent candidacy of liberalLiberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
icon Senator Ted Kennedy
Ted Kennedy
Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy was a United States Senator from Massachusetts and a member of the Democratic Party. Serving almost 47 years, he was the second most senior member of the Senate when he died and is the fourth-longest-serving senator in United States history...
of Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
.
Brown's 1980 platform, which he declared to be the natural result of combining Buckminster Fuller
Buckminster Fuller
Richard Buckminster “Bucky” Fuller was an American systems theorist, author, designer, inventor, futurist and second president of Mensa International, the high IQ society....
's visions of the future and E. F. Schumacher
E. F. Schumacher
Ernst Friedrich "Fritz" Schumacher was an internationally influential economic thinker, statistician and economist in Britain, serving as Chief Economic Advisor to the UK National Coal Board for two decades. His ideas became popularized in much of the English-speaking world during the 1970s...
's theory of "Buddhist economics
Buddhist economics
Buddhist Economics is a spiritual approach to Economics. It examines the psychology of the human mind and the anxiety,aspirations and emotions that direct economic activity. Its understanding aims to clear the confusion between what is truly harmful and beneficial in Economics and ultimately tries...
", was much expanded from 1976. Gone was his "era of limits" slogan, replaced by a promise to, in his words, "Protect the Earth, serve the people, and explore the universe." Three main planks of his platform were a call for a constitutional convention
Constitutional convention (political meeting)
A constitutional convention is now a gathering for the purpose of writing a new constitution or revising an existing constitution. A general constitutional convention is called to create the first constitution of a political unit or to entirely replace an existing constitution...
to ratify the Balanced Budget Amendment
Balanced Budget Amendment
A balanced-budget amendment is a constitutional rule requiring that the state cannot spend more than its income. It requires a balance between the projected receipts and expenditures of the government....
, a promise to increase funds for the space program, and, in the wake of the 1979 Three Mile Island accident
Three Mile Island accident
The Three Mile Island accident was a core meltdown in Unit 2 of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania near Harrisburg, United States in 1979....
, opposition to nuclear power
Nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
. On the subject of the 1979 energy crisis
1979 energy crisis
The 1979 oil crisis in the United States occurred in the wake of the Iranian Revolution. Amid massive protests, the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, fled his country in early 1979 and the Ayatollah Khomeini soon became the new leader of Iran. Protests severely disrupted the Iranian oil...
, Brown decried the "Faustian bargain" that he claimed Carter had entered into with the oil industry, and declared that he would greatly increase federal funding of research into solar power
Solar power
Solar energy, radiant light and heat from the sun, has been harnessed by humans since ancient times using a range of ever-evolving technologies. Solar radiation, along with secondary solar-powered resources such as wind and wave power, hydroelectricity and biomass, account for most of the available...
. He endorsed the idea of mandatory non-military national service
National service
National service is a common name for mandatory government service programmes . The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes...
for the nation's youth, and suggested that the Defense Department cut back on support troops while beefing up the number of combat troops. He described the health care
Health care
Health care is the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in humans. Health care is delivered by practitioners in medicine, chiropractic, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, allied health, and other care providers...
industry as a "high priesthood" engaged in a "medical arms race
Arms race
The term arms race, in its original usage, describes a competition between two or more parties for the best armed forces. Each party competes to produce larger numbers of weapons, greater armies, or superior military technology in a technological escalation...
" and called for a market-oriented system of universal health care
Universal health care
Universal health care is a term referring to organized health care systems built around the principle of universal coverage for all members of society, combining mechanisms for health financing and service provision.-History:...
.
As his campaign began to attract more members of what some more conservative commentators described as "the fringe", including activists like Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda is an American actress, writer, political activist, former fashion model, and fitness guru. She rose to fame in the 1960s with films such as Barbarella and Cat Ballou. She has won two Academy Awards and received several other movie awards and nominations during more than 50 years as an...
, Tom Hayden
Tom Hayden
Thomas Emmet "Tom" Hayden is an American social and political activist and politician, known for his involvement in the animal rights, and the anti-war and civil rights movements of the 1960s. He is the former husband of actress Jane Fonda and the father of actor Troy Garity.-Life and...
, and Jesse Jackson
Jesse Jackson
Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr. is an African-American civil rights activist and Baptist minister. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as shadow senator for the District of Columbia from 1991 to 1997. He was the founder of both entities that merged to...
, Brown's polling numbers began to suffer. Brown received only 10% of the vote in the New Hampshire primary
New Hampshire primary
The New Hampshire primary is the first in a series of nationwide political party primary elections held in the United States every four years , as part of the process of choosing the Democratic and Republican nominees for the presidential elections to be held the subsequent November.Although only a...
, and he was soon forced to announce that his decision to remain in the race would hinge on a good showing in the Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
primary. Although he had polled well there throughout the primary season, an attempt to film a live speech in Madison
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
, the state's capital, into a special effects-filled, 30-minute commercial (produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...
) was disastrous.
1980s
In 1982, Brown chose not to seek a third term as Governor. Instead, Brown ran for the U.S. SenateUnited States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
for the seat being vacated by Republican S.I. Hayakawa. He was defeated by Republican San Diego Mayor Pete Wilson
Pete Wilson
Peter Barton "Pete" Wilson is an American politician from California. Wilson, a Republican, served as the 36th Governor of California , the culmination of more than three decades in the public arena that included eight years as a United States Senator , eleven years as Mayor of San Diego and...
by a margin of 52% to 45%. After his Senate defeat, Brown was left with few political options. Republican George Deukmejian
George Deukmejian
Courken George Deukmejian, Jr. born June 6, 1928) is an Armenian American politician from California who as a Republican served as the 35th Governor of California and as California Attorney General .-Early life:...
, a Brown critic, narrowly won the governorship in 1982, succeeding Brown, and was reelected overwhelmingly in 1986. After his Senate defeat in 1982, many considered Brown's political career to be over. Brown traveled to Japan to study Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
, studying with Christian/Zen practitioner Hugo Enomiya-Lassalle
Hugo Enomiya-Lassalle
Aiun-ken Hugo Makibi Enomiya-Lassalle was a German Jesuit priest and one of the foremost teachers to embrace both Roman Catholic Christianity and Zen Buddhism.Enomiya-Lassalle joined the Society of Jesus on the 25 april 1919...
under Yamada Koun-roshi
Yamada Koun
, or Koun Yamada, was the former leader of the Sanbo Kyodan lineage of Zen Buddhism, the Dharma heir of his teacher Yasutani Haku'un Ryoko. Yamada was appointed the leader of the Sanbo Kyodan in 1967, 1970 or 1973 and continued to differentiate the lineage from other Japanese Zen traditions by...
. In an interview he explained, "Since politics is based on illusions, zazen definitely provides new insights for a politician. I then come back into the world of California and politics, with critical distance from some of my more comfortable assumptions." He also visited Mother Teresa
Mother Teresa
Mother Teresa , born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu , was a Roman Catholic nun of Albanian ethnicity and Indian citizenship, who founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India, in 1950...
in Calcutta, India
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
, where he ministered to the sick in one of her hospices. He explained, "Politics is a power struggle to get to the top of the heap. Calcutta and Mother Teresa are about working with those who are at the bottom of the heap. And to see them as no different than yourself, and their needs as important as your needs. And you're there to serve them, and doing that you are attaining as great a state of being as you can."
Upon his return from abroad in 1988, Brown announced that he would stand as a candidate to become chairman of the California Democratic Party
California Democratic Party
The California Democratic Party is the state branch of the Democratic Party in the state of California, headquartered in Sacramento. It is chaired by veteran Democratic politician and former United States Representative John L. Burton, who succeeded Art Torres in April 2009. It is the majority...
. Brown won the position in 1989 against investment banker Steve Westly
Steve Westly
Steven Paul Westly is an American venture capitalist and politician. He was the State Controller and Chief Financial Officer of California from 2003 to 2007 and was one of the top candidates in the Democratic primary for Governor of California in the 2006 election...
. Although Brown greatly expanded the party's donor base and enlarged its coffers, with a focus on grassroots
Grassroots
A grassroots movement is one driven by the politics of a community. The term implies that the creation of the movement and the group supporting it are natural and spontaneous, highlighting the differences between this and a movement that is orchestrated by traditional power structures...
organizing and get out the vote
Get out the vote
"Get out the vote" are terms used to describe two categories of political activity, both aimed at increasing the number of votes cast in one or more elections.- Non-partisan contexts :...
drives, he was criticized for not spending enough money on TV ads, which was felt to have contributed to Democratic losses in several close races in 1990. In early 1991, Brown abruptly resigned his post and announced that he would run for the Senate seat held by the retiring Alan Cranston
Alan Cranston
Alan MacGregor Cranston was an American journalist and Democratic Senator from California.-Education:Cranston earned his high school diploma from the old Mountain View High School, where among other things, he was a track star...
. Although Brown consistently led in the polls for both the nomination and the general election, he abandoned the campaign, deciding instead to run for the presidency for a third time.
1992 Democratic presidential primary
When Brown announced his intention to run for president against President George H.W. BushGeorge H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
, many in the media and his own party dismissed his campaign as having little chance of gaining significant support. Ignoring them, Brown embarked on an ultra-grassroots
Grassroots democracy
Grassroots democracy is a tendency towards designing political processes where as much decision-making authority as practical is shifted to the organization's lowest geographic level of organization: principle of subsidiarity....
campaign to, in his words, "take back America from the confederacy of corruption
Political corruption
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...
, career
Career
Career is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as a person's "course or progress through life ". It is usually considered to pertain to remunerative work ....
ism, and campaign consulting
Consultant
A consultant is a professional who provides professional or expert advice in a particular area such as management, accountancy, the environment, entertainment, technology, law , human resources, marketing, emergency management, food production, medicine, finance, life management, economics, public...
in Washington". Brown tapped into a populist
Populism
Populism can be defined as an ideology, political philosophy, or type of discourse. Generally, a common theme compares "the people" against "the elite", and urges social and political system changes. It can also be defined as a rhetorical style employed by members of various political or social...
streak in the Democratic Party.
In his stump speech
Stump speech (politics)
A political stump speech is a standard speech used by a politician running for office. The term derives from the custom in 19th century America for political candidates campaigning from town to town to stand upon a sawed off tree stump to deliver a standard speech...
, first used while officially announcing his candidacy on the steps of Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
, Brown told listeners that he would only be accepting campaign contributions
Campaign finance
Campaign finance refers to all funds that are raised and spent in order to promote candidates, parties or policies in some sort of electoral contest. In modern democracies such funds are not necessarily devoted to election campaigns. Issue campaigns in referendums, party activities and party...
from individuals and that he would accept no contribution over $100. Continuing with his populist reform
Reform movement
A reform movement is a kind of social movement that aims to make gradual change, or change in certain aspects of society, rather than rapid or fundamental changes...
theme, he assailed what he dubbed "the bipartisan
Bipartisanship
Bipartisanship is a political situation, usually in the context of a two-party system such as the United States, in which opposing political parties find common ground through compromise. The adjective bipartisan can refer to any bill, act, resolution, or other political act in which both of the...
Incumbent Party in Washington" and called for term limit
Term limit
A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms a person may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method to curb the potential for monopoly, where a leader effectively becomes "president for...
s for members of Congress. Citing various recent scandals on Capitol Hill, particularly the recent House banking scandal
House banking scandal
The House banking scandal broke in early 1992, when it was revealed that the United States House of Representatives allowed members to overdraw their House checking accounts without risk of being penalized by the House bank ....
and the large congressional pay-raises from 1990, he promised to put an end to Congress being a "Stop-and-Shop
Convenience store
A convenience store, corner store, corner shop, commonly called a bodega in Spanish-speaking areas of the United States, is a small store or shop in a built up area that stocks a range of everyday items such as groceries, toiletries, alcoholic and soft drinks, and may also offer money order and...
for the moneyed special interests".
As Brown campaigned in various primary states, he would eventually expand his platform beyond a policy of strict campaign finance reform
Campaign finance reform
Campaign finance reform is the common term for the political effort in the United States to change the involvement of money in politics, primarily in political campaigns....
. Although he would focus on a variety of issues throughout the campaign, most especially his endorsement of living wage
Living wage
In public policy, a living wage is the minimum hourly income necessary for a worker to meet basic needs . These needs include shelter and other incidentals such as clothing and nutrition...
laws and his opposition to free trade
Free trade
Under a free trade policy, prices emerge from supply and demand, and are the sole determinant of resource allocation. 'Free' trade differs from other forms of trade policy where the allocation of goods and services among trading countries are determined by price strategies that may differ from...
agreements such as North American Free Trade Agreement
North American Free Trade Agreement
The North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA is an agreement signed by the governments of Canada, Mexico, and the United States, creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America. The agreement came into force on January 1, 1994. It superseded the Canada – United States Free Trade Agreement...
(NAFTA), he mostly concentrated on his tax policy, which had been created specifically for him by Arthur Laffer
Arthur Laffer
Arthur Betz Laffer is an American economist who first gained prominence during the Reagan administration as a member of Reagan's Economic Policy Advisory Board . Laffer is best known for the Laffer curve, an illustration of the theory that there exists some tax rate between 0% and 100% that will...
, the famous supporter of supply-side economics
Supply-side economics
Supply-side economics is a school of macroeconomic thought that argues that economic growth can be most effectively created by lowering barriers for people to produce goods and services, such as lowering income tax and capital gains tax rates, and by allowing greater flexibility by reducing...
who created the Laffer curve
Laffer curve
In economics, the Laffer curve is a theoretical representation of the relationship between government revenue raised by taxation and all possible rates of taxation. It is used to illustrate the concept of taxable income elasticity . The curve is constructed by thought experiment...
. This plan, which called for the replacement of the progressive income tax
Progressive tax
A progressive tax is a tax by which the tax rate increases as the taxable base amount increases. "Progressive" describes a distribution effect on income or expenditure, referring to the way the rate progresses from low to high, where the average tax rate is less than the marginal tax rate...
with a flat tax
Flat tax
A flat tax is a tax system with a constant marginal tax rate. Typically the term flat tax is applied in the context of an individual or corporate income that will be taxed at one marginal rate...
and a value added tax
Value added tax
A value added tax or value-added tax is a form of consumption tax. From the perspective of the buyer, it is a tax on the purchase price. From that of the seller, it is a tax only on the "value added" to a product, material or service, from an accounting point of view, by this stage of its...
, both at a fixed 13% rate, was decried by his opponents as regressive. Nevertheless, it was endorsed by The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, The New Republic
The New Republic
The magazine has also published two articles concerning income inequality, largely criticizing conservative economists for their attempts to deny the existence or negative effect increasing income inequality is having on the United States...
, and Forbes
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
, and its raising of taxes on corporation
Corporation
A corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...
s and elimination of various loopholes which tended to favor the very wealthy, proved to be popular with voters. This was, perhaps, not surprising, as various opinion poll
Opinion poll
An opinion poll, sometimes simply referred to as a poll is a survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions of a population by conducting a series of questions and then extrapolating generalities in ratio or within confidence...
s taken at the time found that as many as three-quarters of all Americans believed the current tax code to be unfairly biased toward the wealthy.
Quickly realizing that his campaign's limited budget meant that he could not afford to engage in conventional advertising, Brown began to use a mixture of alternative media
Alternative media
Alternative media are media which provide alternative information to the mainstream media in a given context, whether the mainstream media are commercial, publicly supported, or government-owned...
and unusual fund raising techniques. Unable to pay for actual commercials, he used frequent cable television
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
and talk radio
Talk radio
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
interviews as a form of free media to get his message to the voters. In order to raise funds, he purchased a toll-free telephone number
Toll-free telephone number
A toll-free, Freecall, Freephone, 800, 0800 or 1-800 number is a special telephone number which is free to the calling party, and instead the telephone carrier charges the called party the cost of the call...
, (the same number is still in use by Brown) which adorned all of his campaign paraphernalia. During the campaign, Brown's repetition of this number combined with the moralistic language used, led some to describe him as a "political televangelist
Televangelism
Televangelism is the use of television to communicate the Christian faith. The word is a portmanteau of television and evangelism and was coined by Time magazine. A “televangelist” is a Christian minister who devotes a large portion of his ministry to television broadcasting...
" with a "anti-politics gospel".
Despite poor showings in the Iowa caucus
Iowa caucus
The Iowa caucuses are an electoral event in which residents of the U.S. state of Iowa meet in precinct caucuses in all of Iowa's 1784 precincts and elect delegates to the corresponding county conventions. There are 99 counties in Iowa and thus 99 conventions...
(1.6%) and the New Hampshire primary
New Hampshire Democratic primary, 1992
The 1992 New Hampshire Democratic primary was won by Paul Tsongas, but is known for the insurgent campaign of Bill Clinton, who managed a surprising second place finish.The Iowa caucus, the first contest of the 1992 Democratic primaries, was not contested...
(8.0%), Brown soon managed to win narrow victories in Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
, Alaska, and Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
, but he continued to be considered an also-ran for much of the campaign. It was not until shortly after Super Tuesday
Super Tuesday
In the United States, Super Tuesday, in general, refers to the Tuesday in February or March of a presidential election year when the greatest number of states hold primary elections to select delegates to national conventions at which each party's presidential candidates are officially nominated...
, when the field had been narrowed to Brown, former Senator Paul Tsongas
Paul Tsongas
Paul Efthemios Tsongas was a United States Senator from Massachusetts from 1979 to 1985. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 1992 presidential election. He previously served as a U.S...
of Massachusetts, and frontrunning Governor Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
of Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
, that Brown began to emerge as a major contender in the eyes of the press. On March 17, Brown forced Tsongas from the race when he received a strong third-place showing in the Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
primary and then defeated the senator for second place in the Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
primary by a wide margin. Exactly one week later, he cemented his position as a major threat to Clinton when he eked out a narrow win in the bitterly-fought Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
primary.
As the press focused on the primaries in New York and Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
, which were both to be held on the same day, Brown, who had taken the lead in polls in both states, made a gaffe: he announced to an audience of various leaders of New York City's Jewish community that, if nominated, he would consider the Reverend Jesse Jackson
Jesse Jackson
Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr. is an African-American civil rights activist and Baptist minister. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as shadow senator for the District of Columbia from 1991 to 1997. He was the founder of both entities that merged to...
as a vice-presidential candidate. Jackson, who had made a pair of comments that were perceived to be anti-Semitic
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
about Jews in general and New York City's Jews in particular while running for president in 1984, was still despised in Jewish communities. Jackson also had ties to Louis Farrakhan
Louis Farrakhan
Louis Farrakhan Muhammad, Sr. is the leader of the African-American religious movement the Nation of Islam . He served as the minister of major mosques in Boston and Harlem, and was appointed by the longtime NOI leader, Elijah Muhammad, before his death in 1975, as the National Representative of...
, who said Judaism was a "gutter religion," and with Yasir Arafat, the chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization
Palestine Liberation Organization
The Palestine Liberation Organization is a political and paramilitary organization which was created in 1964. It is recognized as the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people" by the United Nations and over 100 states with which it holds diplomatic relations, and has enjoyed...
. Brown's polling numbers suffered. On April 7, he lost narrowly to Bill Clinton in Wisconsin (37–34), and dramatically in New York (41–26).
Although Brown continued to campaign in a number of states, he won no further primaries. Although overwhelmingly outspent, Brown won upset victories in seven states and his votes won to money raised ratio was by far the best of any candidate in the race. He still had a sizable number of delegates, and a big win in his home state of California would deprive Clinton of sufficient support to win the Democratic nomination, possibly bringing about a brokered convention
Brokered convention
A brokered convention is a situation in United States politics in which there are not enough delegates 'won' during the presidential primary and caucus elections for a single candidate to have a pre-existing majority, during the first official vote for a political party's presidential-candidate at...
. After nearly a month of intense campaigning and multiple debates between the two candidates, Clinton managed to defeat Brown in this final primary by a margin of 48% to 41%. Although Brown did not win the nomination, he was able to boast of one accomplishment: At the following month's Democratic National Convention
1992 Democratic National Convention
The 1992 National Convention of the U.S. Democratic Party nominated Governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas for President and Senator Al Gore of Tennessee for Vice President; Clinton announced Gore as his running-mate on July 9, 1992. The convention was held at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New...
, he received the votes of 596 delegates on the first ballot, more than any other candidate but Clinton. He spoke at the convention, and to the national viewing audience, yet without endorsing Clinton, through the device of seconding his own nomination. There was animosity between the Brown and Clinton campaigns, and Brown was the first political figure to criticize Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
over what became the Whitewater controversy
Whitewater controversy
The Whitewater controversy was an American politics controversy that began with the real estate investments of Bill and Hillary Clinton and their associates, Jim and Susan McDougal in the Whitewater Development Corporation, a failed business venture in the 1970s and 1980s.A New York...
.
Mayor of Oakland (1999–2007)
What was to become Brown's re-emergence into politics after six years was also the start of the renaissance of Oakland, CaliforniaOakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
, a down-on-its-luck "overwhelmingly minority city of 400,000." Brown ran as an independent "having left the Democratic Party, blasting what he called the 'deeply corrupted' two-party system
Two-party system
A two-party system is a system where two major political parties dominate voting in nearly all elections at every level of government and, as a result, all or nearly all elected offices are members of one of the two major parties...
." Prior to taking office, Brown campaigned to get the approval of the electorate to convert Oakland's weak mayor political structure
Mayor-council government
The mayor–council government system, sometimes called the mayor–commission government system, is one of the two most common forms of local government for municipalities...
, which structured the mayor as chairman of the city council and official greeter, to a strong mayor structure, where the mayor would act as chief executive over the nonpolitical city manager
City manager
A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city, in a council-manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are sometimes referred to as the chief executive officer or chief administrative officer in some municipalities...
and thus the various city departments, and break tie votes on the Oakland City Council. He won with 59% of the vote in a field of ten candidates. The political left had hoped for some of the more progressive politics from Brown's earlier governorship, but found Brown "more pragmatic than progressive, more interested in downtown redevelopment and economic growth than political ideology".
The city was rapidly losing residents and businesses, and Brown is credited with starting the revitalization of the city using his connections and experience to lessen the economic downturn, while attracting $1 billion of investments, including refurbishing Fox Theater (Oakland), the Port of Oakland
Port of Oakland
The Port of Oakland was the first major port on the Pacific Coast of the United States to build terminals for container ships. It is now the fifth busiest container port in the United States, behind Long Beach, Los Angeles, Newark, and Savannah...
and Jack London Square
Jack London Square
Jack London Square is a popular tourist attraction on the waterfront of Oakland, California. Named after the author Jack London and owned by the Port of Oakland, it is the home of stores, restaurants, hotels, an Amtrak station, a ferry dock, the historic Saloon, the cabin Jack London lived in the...
. The downtown district was losing retailers, restaurateurs and residential developers, and Brown sought to attract thousands of new residents with disposable income
Disposable income
Disposable income is total personal income minus personal current taxes. In national accounts definitions, personal income, minus personal current taxes equals disposable personal income...
to revitalize the area. Brown continued his predecessor Elihu Harris
Elihu Harris
Elihu Mason Harris is a former U.S. Democratic Party politician and college administrator. He served as the 46th mayor of Oakland, California from 1991 to until 1999. He served for 12 years as a member of the California State Assembly before his election as Oakland mayor...
's public policy of supporting downtown housing development in the area defined as the Central Business District
Central business district
A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...
in Oakland's 1998 General Plan. Since Brown worked toward the stated goal of bringing an additional 10,000 residents to Downtown Oakland, his plan was known as "10K." It has resulted in redevelopment projects in the Jack London District, where Brown purchased and later sold an industrial warehouse which he used as a personal residence, and in the Lakeside Apartments District
Lakeside Apartments District, Oakland, California
The Lakeside Apartments District neighborhood, also known as The Gold Coast, and simply as The Lakeside, is one of Oakland, California's historic residential neighborhoods between its Downtown district and Lake Merritt...
near Lake Merritt
Lake Merritt
Lake Merritt is a large tidal lagoon that lies just east of downtown Oakland, California. It is surrounded by parkland and city neighborhoods. A popular 3.1 mile walking and jogging path runs along its perimeter...
. The 10k plan has touched the historic Old Oakland
Old Oakland
Old Oakland, formally known as the Old Oakland Historic District, is a historic district in downtown Oakland, California. The area is located on the northwest side of Broadway, between the City Center complex and the Jack London Square district, and across Broadway from Chinatown.The Old Oakland...
district, the Chinatown
Chinatown, Oakland, California
The Chinatown neighborhood in Oakland, California, is a pan-Asian neighborhood which reflects Oakland's diverse Asian American community. It is frequently referred to as "Oakland Chinatown" in order to distinguish it from nearby San Francisco's Chinatown...
district, the Uptown
Uptown Oakland
Uptown is a neighborhood in Downtown Oakland, California, located just north of the center of downtown. Its boundaries are ill-defined, but most definitions include the area bounded by Grand Avenue at the north, Telegraph Avenue on the west, City Center plaza on the south, and Harrison Street on...
district, and Downtown
Downtown Oakland
Downtown Oakland is the central business district of Oakland, California; roughly bounded by 6th Street or the Oakland Estuary on the southwest, Interstate 980 on the northwest, Grand Avenue on the northeast, and Lake Merritt on the east....
. Brown surpassed the stated goal of attracting 10,000 residents according to city records, and built more affordable housing
Affordable housing
Affordable housing is a term used to describe dwelling units whose total housing costs are deemed "affordable" to those that have a median income. Although the term is often applied to rental housing that is within the financial means of those in the lower income ranges of a geographical area, the...
than previous mayoral administrations.
Brown had campaigned on fixing Oakland's schools, but "bureaucratic battles" dampened his efforts. He concedes he never had control of the schools, and his reform efforts were "largely a bust". He focused instead on the creation of two charter school
Charter school
Charter schools are primary or secondary schools that receive public money but are not subject to some of the rules, regulations, and statutes that apply to other public schools in exchange for some type of accountability for producing certain results, which are set forth in each school's charter...
s, the Oakland School for the Arts
Oakland School for the Arts
Oakland School for the Arts is a performing arts charter school in Oakland, California.OSA is located on the Fox Oakland Theatre at 530 18th Street across from Telegraph.On April 1, 2009 OSA was selected to be a California Distinguished School....
and the Oakland Military Institute
Oakland Military Institute
Oakland Military Institute , formally the Oakland Military Institute College Preparatory Academy, is a charter school affiliated with the Oakland Unified School District in Oakland, California....
. Another area of disappointment was overall crime. Brown sponsored nearly two dozen crime initiatives to reduce the crime rate. Although he did decrease crime by 13 percent overall, and increased the police force, the city still suffered a "57 percent spike in homicides his final year in office, to 148". Critics were unable to convince voters in the 2006 race for attorney general that he was responsible for the increased crime rate.
Attorney General (2007–2011)
In 2004, Brown expressed interest to be a candidate for the Democratic nomination for Attorney General of California in the 2006 election. In May 2004, he formally filed. He had an active Democratic primary opponent, Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky DelgadilloRocky Delgadillo
Rockard John "Rocky" Delgadillo is an American politician. He is the 6th and former City Attorney of Los Angeles, California.-Career:*Teacher / Coach, Los Angeles Unified School District, Franklin*Attorney, O’Melveny & Myers...
, who put most of his money into TV ads attacking Brown and spent $4.1 million on the primary campaign. Brown defeated Delgadillo, 63% to 37%. In the general election, Brown defeated Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
State Senator Charles Poochigian
Charles Poochigian
Charles S. "Chuck" Poochigian is an Associate Justice of the California Court of Appeal and a former California State Senator....
56.3% to 38.2%, which was one of the largest margins of victory in any statewide California race. In the final weeks leading up to Election Day, Brown's eligibility to run for Attorney General was challenged in what Brown called a "political stunt by a Republican office seeker" (Contra Costa County Republican Central Committee chairman and state GOP vice-chair candidate Tom Del Beccaro). Plaintiffs claimed Brown did not meet eligibility according to California Government Code §12503, "No person shall be eligible to the office of Attorney General unless he shall have been admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the state for a period of at least five years immediately preceding his election or appointment to such office." Legal analysts called the lawsuit frivolous because Brown was admitted to practice law in the State of California on June 14, 1965, and had been so admitted to practice ever since. Although ineligible to practice law because of his voluntary inactive status in the State Bar of California
State Bar of California
The State Bar of California is California's official bar association. It is responsible for managing the admission of lawyers to the practice of law, investigating complaints of professional misconduct, and prescribing appropriate discipline...
from January 1, 1997 to May 1, 2003, he was nevertheless still admitted to practice. Because of this difference the case was eventually thrown out.
As Attorney General, Brown was obligated to represent the state in fighting death penalty appeals and stated that he would follow the law, regardless of his personal beliefs against capital punishment
Capital punishment in California
Capital punishment is a legal form of punishment in the U.S. state of California. The first recorded execution in the area that is now California took place on April 11, 1878 when four Native Americans were shot in San Diego County for conspiracy to commit murder. These were the first of 709...
. Some legal scholars note that under current law the Attorney General does not have much discretion over death penalty cases. Capital punishment by lethal injection
Lethal injection
Lethal injection is the practice of injecting a person with a fatal dose of drugs for the express purpose of causing the immediate death of the subject. The main application for this procedure is capital punishment, but the term may also be applied in a broad sense to euthanasia and suicide...
was halted in California by federal judge Jeremy D. Fogel
Jeremy D. Fogel
Jeremy Don Fogel is a former United States federal judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. An appointee of President Bill Clinton, Fogel previously was a judge for the municipal court and superior court of Santa Clara County, California from 1981 to 1998...
until new facilities and procedures were put into place. Brown moved to resume capital punishment in 2010 with the execution of Albert Greenwood Brown
Albert Greenwood Brown
Albert Greenwood Brown, Jr. is an American convicted of sexual molestation of a minor, two counts of rape, and the murder of an adolescent in Riverside, California. He was scheduled to die by lethal injection at 9 p.m. on September 30, 2010 in California's first use of capital punishment...
after the lifting of a statewide moratorium
Moratorium (law)
A moratorium is a delay or suspension of an activity or a law. In a legal context, it may refer to the temporary suspension of a law to allow a legal challenge to be carried out....
by a California court. Brown's Democratic campaign, which pledged to "enforce the laws" of California, denied any connection between the case and the gubernatorial election. Prosecutor Rod Pacheco
Rod Pacheco
Rodric Anthony Pacheco , usually known as Rod Pacheco, is an American politician. He served in the Riverside County District Attorney's Office as a Deputy District Attorney, Chief Deputy District Attorney, Assistant District Attorney and then as District Attorney from 2007-2010 in Riverside County,...
, who supported Republican opponent Meg Whitman, said that it would be unfair to accuse Jerry Brown of using the execution for political gain as they never discussed the case.
In June 2008 Brown filed a fraud lawsuit claiming mortgage lender Countrywide Financial
Countrywide Financial
Bank of America Home Loans is the mortgage unit of Bank of America. Bank of America Home Loans is composed of:*Mortgage Banking, which originates purchases, securitizes, and services mortgages. In 2008, Bank of America purchased the failing Countrywide Financial for $4.1 billion...
engaged in "unfair and deceptive" practices to get homeowners to apply for risky mortgages far beyond their means." Brown accused the lender of breaking the state's laws against false advertising
False advertising
False advertising or deceptive advertising is the use of false or misleading statements in advertising. As advertising has the potential to persuade people into commercial transactions that they might otherwise avoid, many governments around the world use regulations to control false, deceptive or...
and unfair business practices. The lawsuit also claims the defendant misled many consumers by misinforming them about the workings of certain mortgages such adjustable-rate mortgages, interest-only loan
Interest-only loan
An interest-only loan is a loan in which, for a set term, the borrower pays only the interest on the principal balance, with the principal balance unchanged...
s, low-documentation loans and home-equity loans while telling borrowers they would be able to refinance before the interest rate on their loans adjusted. The suit was settled in October 2008 after Bank of America
Bank of America
Bank of America Corporation, an American multinational banking and financial services corporation, is the second largest bank holding company in the United States by assets, and the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by market capitalization. The bank is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina...
acquired Countrywide. The settlement involves the modifying of troubled 'predatory loans' up to $8.4 billion dollars.
Proposition 8
California Proposition 8 (2008)
Proposition 8 was a ballot proposition and constitutional amendment passed in the November 2008 state elections...
, a contentious voter-approved amendment to the state constitution that banned same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....
was upheld in May 2009 by the California Supreme Court. In August 2010, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
United States District Court for the Northern District of California
The United States District Court for the Northern District of California is the federal United States district court whose jurisdiction comprises following counties of California: Alameda, Contra Costa, Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Marin, Mendocino, Monterey, Napa, San Benito, San Francisco, San...
ruled that Proposition 8 violated the Due Process
Due process
Due process is the legal code that the state must venerate all of the legal rights that are owed to a person under the principle. Due process balances the power of the state law of the land and thus protects individual persons from it...
and the Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was adopted on July 9, 1868, as one of the Reconstruction Amendments.Its Citizenship Clause provides a broad definition of citizenship that overruled the Dred Scott v...
. Brown and Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
have declined to appeal the ruling. The state appeals court declined to order the men to defend the proposition and scheduled a hearing in early December to see if there is "legal standing to appeal Walker's ruling."
2010 gubernatorial campaign
Brown announced his candidacy for governor on March 2, 2010. First indicating his interest in early 2008, Brown formed an exploratory committee in order to seek a third term as Governor in 2010, following the expiration of Governor Arnold SchwarzeneggerArnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
's term.
Brown's Republican opponent in the election was former eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
president Meg Whitman
Meg Whitman
Margaret Cushing "Meg" Whitman is an American business executive. She is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Hewlett-Packard. A native of Long Island, New York, she is a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Business School...
. On October 3, 2010, Brown was endorsed by the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, The Sacramento Bee
The Sacramento Bee
The Sacramento Bee is a daily newspaper published in Sacramento, California, in the United States. Since its creation in 1857, the Bee has become Sacramento's largest newspaper, the fifth largest newspaper in California, and the 25th largest paper in the U.S...
, and the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
. He was endorsed by the San Jose Mercury News
San Jose Mercury News
The San Jose Mercury News is a daily newspaper in San Jose, California. On its web site, however, it calls itself Silicon Valley Mercury News. The paper is owned by MediaNews Group...
on October 10. He was also endorsed by the Service Employees International Union
Service Employees International Union
Service Employees International Union is a labor union representing about 1.8 million workers in over 100 occupations in the United States , and Canada...
- CA. Independent groups broke campaign spending records, with contributions totaling more than $31.7 million. Approximately $25 million went to support Gov. Brown's campaign. Brown also received the support of a number of prominent Republicans such as Los Angeles businessman Rick J. Caruso
Rick J. Caruso
Rick J. Caruso, founder and chief executive officer of Caruso Affiliated, is a developer and retail operator who has designed and built properties in Southern California...
.
On November 2, 2010, Jerry Brown successfully won the governorship for a third, non-consecutive term.
Governor of California (2011–present)
Brown was sworn in for his third term as governor on January 3, 2011, succeeding Republican Arnold SchwarzeneggerArnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
. He will be up for re-election in 2014. Brown is working on a budget that would shift many government programs from the state to the local level, a reversal of trends from his first tenure as governor.
Electoral history
- 1970: Elected as California Secretary of StateCalifornia Secretary of StateThe Secretary of State of California is the chief elections officer of that U.S. state. The Secretary of State is also responsible for the California State Archives, as well as chartering corporations. The Secretary of State is elected to four year terms, concurrent with the other constitutional...
with 51% of the vote - 1974: Won Democratic primary for Governor of California with 38% of the vote
- 1974: Elected as Governor of CaliforniaGovernor of CaliforniaThe Governor of California is the chief executive of the California state government, whose responsibilities include making annual State of the State addresses to the California State Legislature, submitting the budget, and ensuring that state laws are enforced...
with 50% of the vote - 1976: Lost Democratic presidential primariesDemocratic Party (United States) presidential primaries, 1976The 1976 Democratic presidential primaries were the selection process by which voters of the Democratic Party chose its nominee for President of the United States in the 1976 U.S. presidential election...
to Jimmy CarterJimmy CarterJames Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
, finishing second with a nationwide 14% of the vote - 1978: Won Democratic primary for Governor of California as an incumbent, with 78% of the vote
- 1978: Reelected as Governor of CaliforniaGovernor of CaliforniaThe Governor of California is the chief executive of the California state government, whose responsibilities include making annual State of the State addresses to the California State Legislature, submitting the budget, and ensuring that state laws are enforced...
with 56% of the vote - 1980: Lost Democratic presidential primariesDemocratic Party (United States) presidential primaries, 1980The 1980 Democratic presidential primaries were the selection process by which voters of the Democratic Party chose its nominee for President of the United States in the 1980 U.S. presidential election...
to Jimmy Carter, finishing third with a nationwide 3% of the vote - 1982: Won Democratic primary for Senator from California with 51% of the vote
- 1982: Lost California Senate electionUnited States Senate elections, 1982The United States Senate election of November 2, 1982 was an election for the United States Senate following the Republican gains in 1980. Party balance was unchanged following the election. Incumbents Howard Cannon of Nevada and Harrison Schmitt of New Mexico lost seats to the opposite party, the...
to Pete WilsonPete WilsonPeter Barton "Pete" Wilson is an American politician from California. Wilson, a Republican, served as the 36th Governor of California , the culmination of more than three decades in the public arena that included eight years as a United States Senator , eleven years as Mayor of San Diego and...
, with 45% of the vote - 1992: Lost Democratic presidential primariesDemocratic Party (United States) presidential primaries, 1992The 1992 Democratic presidential primaries were the selection process by which voters of the Democratic Party chose its nominee for President of the United States in the 1992 U.S. presidential election...
to Bill ClintonBill ClintonWilliam Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
, finishing second with a nationwide 20% of the vote - 1998: Elected Mayor of OaklandOakland, CaliforniaOakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
with 59% of the vote - 2002: Reelected Mayor of Oakland with 63% of the vote
- 2006: Won Democratic primary for California Attorney General with 63% of the vote
- 2006: Elected California Attorney GeneralCalifornia Attorney GeneralThe California Attorney General is the State Attorney General of California. The officer's duty is to ensure that "the laws of the state are uniformly and adequately enforced" The Attorney General carries out the responsibilities of the office through the California Department of Justice.The...
with 56% of the vote - 2010: Won Democratic primary for Governor of California with 84% of the vote
- 2010: Elected as Governor of CaliforniaGovernor of CaliforniaThe Governor of California is the chief executive of the California state government, whose responsibilities include making annual State of the State addresses to the California State Legislature, submitting the budget, and ensuring that state laws are enforced...
with 53% of the vote
Personal life
A bachelor as governor and mayor, Brown achieved some prominence in gossip columns for dating high-profile women, the most notable of whom was the singer Linda RonstadtLinda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt is an American popular music recording artist. She has earned eleven Grammy Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, an ALMA Award, numerous United States and internationally certified gold, platinum and multiplatinum albums, in addition to Tony Award and Golden...
.
Beginning in 1995, Brown hosted a daily call-in talk show on the local Pacifica Radio
Pacifica Radio
Pacifica Radio is the oldest public radio network in the United States. It is a group of five independently operated, non-commercial, listener-supported radio stations that is known for its progressive/liberal political orientation. It is also a program service supplying over 100 affiliated...
station, KPFA
KPFA
KPFA is a listener-funded progressive talk radio and music radio station located in Berkeley, California, broadcasting to the San Francisco Bay Area. KPFA airs public news, public affairs, talk, and music programming. The station signed on-the-air April 15 1949, as the first Pacifica Station...
-FM, in Berkeley
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
broadcast to major US markets. Both the radio program and Brown's political action organization, based in Oakland
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
, were called We the People. His programs, usually featuring invited guests, generally explored alternative views on a wide range of social and political issues, from education and health care to spirituality and the death penalty.
Brown has a long-term friendship with Jacques Barzaghi, his aide-de-camp, whom he met in the early 1970s and put on his payroll. Author Roger Rapaport wrote in his 1982 Brown biography California Dreaming: The Political Odyssey of Pat & Jerry Brown, "this combination clerk, chauffeur, fashion consultant, decorator and trusted friend had no discernible powers. Yet late at night, after everyone had gone home to their families and TV consoles, it was Jacques who lingered in the Secretary (of state's) office." Barzaghi and his sixth wife Aisha lived with Brown in the warehouse in Jack London Square; Barzaghi was brought into Oakland city government upon Brown's election as mayor, where Barzaghi first acted as the mayor's armed bodyguard. Brown later rewarded Barzaghi with high-paying city jobs, including Arts Director. Brown dismissed Barzaghi in July 2004.
In March 2005, Brown announced his engagement to his girlfriend since 1990, Anne Gust, former chief administrative officer for The Gap
Gap (clothing retailer)
The Gap, Inc. is an American clothing and accessories retailer based in San Francisco, California, and founded in 1969 by Donald G. Fisher and Doris F. Fisher. The company has five primary brands: the namesake Gap banner, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Piperlime and Athleta. As of September 2008,...
. They were married on June 18 in a ceremony officiated by Senator Dianne Feinstein
Dianne Feinstein
Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein is the senior U.S. Senator from California. A member of the Democratic Party, she has served in the Senate since 1992. She also served as 38th Mayor of San Francisco from 1978 to 1988....
in the Rotunda Building in downtown Oakland. They had a second, religious ceremony later in the day in the Roman Catholic church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
in San Francisco where Brown's parents had been married. Brown and Gust live in the Oakland Hills in a home purchased for $1.8 million, as reported by The Huffington Post
The Huffington Post
The Huffington Post is an American news website and content-aggregating blog founded by Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer, and Jonah Peretti, featuring liberal minded columnists and various news sources. The site offers coverage of politics, theology, media, business, entertainment, living, style,...
.
On April 29, 2011, Brown had surgery to remove a basal-cell carcinoma from the right side of his nose.
External links
- Office of Governor Jerry Brown Official California government site
- Jerry Brown 2010 official gubernatorial campaign site
- Blog at TypePadTypePadTypePad is a blogging service from company Say Media . Originally launched in October 2003, TypePad is based on Six Apart's Movable Type platform, and shares technology with Movable Type such as templates and APIs, but is marketed to non-technical users and includes additional features like...
(last entry October 8, 2005) - Blog at Huffington Post (last entry October 21, 2009)
Articles
- Newsmaker of the Week: Jerry Brown, SCVTVSanta Clarita, CaliforniaSanta Clarita is the fourth largest city in Los Angeles County, California, United States and the twenty-fourth largest city in the state of California. The 2010 US Census reported the city's population grew 16.7% from the year 2000 to 176,320 residents. It is located about northwest of downtown...
, May 31, 2006 (video interview 30:00) - "Jerry Brown envisions still another public role", Christian Science Monitor, November 6, 2006
- "New office, but vintage Jerry Brown, Tim Reiterman, Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles TimesThe Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, August 19, 2007 - "Sacramento Dreaming Again, George F. Will, The Washington PostThe Washington PostThe Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
, August 7, 2008
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