Pat Brown

This article deals with the politician. For the actress, see Pat Crawford Brown ; for other people, see Patrick Brown .

Pat Brown (1964)

Edmund Gerald "Pat" Brown sr. (Born April 21, 1905 in San Francisco , California , † February 16, 1996 in Beverly Hills , California) was an American politician ( Democratic Party ). He was the 32nd Governor of California from 1959 to 1967 .

His son Jerry Brown was also Governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and again from 2011 to 2019.

Life

Earlier years and political advancement

Edmund Brown, called Pat, was born on April 21, 1905 in San Francisco. His father had moved there during the gold rush and started his own business as a trader. He grew up with two brothers and a sister. After graduating from Lowell High School , he began studying law at San Francisco Law School , graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1927 . In the same year he was admitted to the bar. Brown worked as a lawyer in California until 1943. Although he tried several times to gain a foothold in politics, he ran as a Republican for a seat in the Californian parliament as early as 1928 , but was able, as in 1939, as a candidate for the Democrats when he ran for the office of public prosecutor in a California district wanted to be voted, not enforce.

Brown was first victorious in the election in 1943 as prosecutor for his home district of San Francisco. Four years later he was re-elected for a second term, which he did not end because he was elected Attorney General of California in 1950 . In the 1954 re-election primaries, in which the individual parties pre-select their candidates for election, it was particularly noteworthy that he ran for both the Democrats and the Republicans and was even elected by both parties. Since both parties were able to agree on Brown, his re-election was a matter of form.

Governor of California (1959-1967)

Governor Brown (center left) with President Johnson (front right), 1963

In November 1958, he won the gubernatorial election against Republican Senator William F. Knowland with 59 percent of the vote. He took up his new office on January 5, 1959 as the successor to Goodwin Knight . During his time as governor, Brown campaigned for the expansion of highways and the further development of water supply systems. Above all, the southern parts of the country should be made usable. He significantly expanded social services and the state school system. During his tenure, three more universities and six colleges were built to offer all high school graduates a degree at affordable prices. In August 1965, violent race riots broke out in Watts . Governor Brown then dispatched the California National Guard to restore law and order. Despite the use of the militia, 34 fatalities and property damage of 40 million US dollars were reported after the six days of unrest.

In the course of the 1964 presidential election , he was traded as a possible vice-presidential candidate for incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson . Johnson ultimately chose Hubert H. Humphrey as his running mate .

In the gubernatorial election in November 1962, he won with 51 percent of the vote against the future President Richard Nixon , for whom 46 percent of the electorate voted and who shortly thereafter announced his temporary retirement from politics. In the campaign, Brown was also heavily supported by President John F. Kennedy .

In May 1966, Governor Pat Brown signed a bill to protect “the growing threat to society, especially young adventurers”, to make LSD illegal in California. The law went into effect on October 6, 1966 and was the first LSD ban in the Western world.

In November 1966 Brown sought a third term, but lost the election with a clear result (41 to 57 percent of the vote) against his Republican challenger Ronald Reagan , who would later also become President of the United States.

Later years

Brown's grave in Colma , California

With his departure from office in January 1967, he also linked his exit from politics and so Brown worked again as a lawyer in California until 1990. Edmund Brown died of a heart attack on February 16, 1996 at the age of 90.

family

In high school, Brown had met a woman named Bernice Layne, whom he married in 1930. They had three daughters and one son. His son Jerry Brown served as governor of California twice (1975 to 1983 and again from 2011 to 2019). His daughter Kathleen Brown was also a State Treasurer in the California state government . In 1994 she ran unsuccessfully for governor.

literature

• Ethan Rarick: California Rising. The Life and Times of Pat Brown. University of California Press, 2005, ISBN 0-520-23627-0 .
• Roger Rapoport: California Dreaming: The Political Odyssey of Pat & Jerry Brown. Nolo Press, Berkeley 1982, ISBN 0-917316-48-7 .
• Edmund GP Brown , in: Internationales Biographisches Archiv 44/1996 of October 21, 1996, in the Munzinger archive ( beginning of article freely accessible)

Web links

Commons : Pat Brown  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• Pat Brown in the nndb (English)
• Pat Brown in the National Governors Association (English)
• Pat Brown in the database of Find a Grave (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Jesse Jarnow : LSD Now: How the Psychedelic Renaissance Changed Acid In: Rolling Stone .com of October 7, 2016.