Happy Belated Birthday Governor Gage!

Christmas Day 1852 is the birthdate of California’s 20th governor, Henry Tifft Gage, whose one term at the turn of the 20th Century was overshadowed by a bubonic plague outbreak in San Francisco that the Los Angeles Republican spent most of his tenure denying. 

The political issues during his term straddled the two centuries, highlighting the state’s metamorphosis into a global power.

In his 1899 inaugural address, Gage called for annexation of the Philippines, a territory won through the Untied States’ victory in the Spanish-American War, as a means to improve the state’s trading posture.

At the same time, the [....]

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110-Year-Old Gubernatorial Advice on Legislating

“The evil of an individual, as a general rule, affects him alone, for his power of injuring the few around him can be summarily restrained.

“But the wrong of a bad law affects the whole community and its poison may spread before discovery and the injury may be irreparable, though afterward annulled by a decision of a court or repealed by an act of a future Legislature.

“Hence, it becomes your duty not to rely upon the Executive (Branch), with his limited assistance, for a remedy by way of veto.

“You should carefully scrutinize each measure introduced both in committee [....]

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The Origin of California’s Great Seal

The state seal was approved during the constitutional convention convened September 4, 1849, one year prior to California’s 1850 admission as the 31st state.

Major Robert S. Garnett, a native of Virginia, was the designer. Twenty-seventh in his class at West Point and sent to California to deliver dispatches, Garnett became the academy’s commandant in 1852.

He submitted his sketch for the seal through Caleb Lyon, one of the participants in the constitutional convention.

Garnett used Lyon as a go-between, afraid his idea would be rejected because of his being a member of the Army and a supporter of Thomas Butler King, a [....]

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Brown the Elder & Brown the Younger

At a wide-ranging meeting with reporters to discuss his accomplishments in 2011, Gov. Jerry Brown “invoked” — his verb — his father, Gov. Pat Brown several times.

Discussing the role of the chief executive and the Legislature and how, in the interest of “comity” the governor sometimes signs bills with little impact or import merely to forge a better working relationship with lawmakers, Brown noted that his father was “very hesitant to veto” bills that had a “strong vote” in the Legislature. 

Asked what was different about his third time as governor, the 73-year-old Democrat said, “I’m more focused on being [....]

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Happy Birthday Governor Merriam!

Born December 22, 1865, Frank Finley Merriam – nicknamed “Marble Top” because of his bald pate – was California’s 28th governor.

At 68, the Long Beach Republican was the oldest man to become governor until the current occupant of the Capitol’s corner office began his third four-year turn in the wheelhouse at age 72.

Despite his conservatism, Merriam brought California its state income tax – much criticized at the time by Hearst newspapers, among others – as well as an increase to 3 percent in the sales tax and creation of the bank and corporations tax and fuel tax.

California’s first governor to marry in office, [....]

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Happy Birthday Governor Knight!

Goodwin Jess Knight, the tap-dancing 31st governor of the 31st state in the union was born December 9, 1896 in Provo Utah.

The genial moderate Republican, who spokes fluent Spanish, had more in common with his successor, Democrat Pat Brown, than the Cold War ideologue U.S. Sen. William Knowland.

It was Knowland’s presidential ambition and efforts – along with ally Richard Nixon – to control the state Republican Party that led to the end of both Knight and Knowland’s political careers in 1958.

Knight’s father, Jesse, was a lawyer and mining engineer. His mother, Lillie, a concert singer and suffragette.

“Goodie,” [....]

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Former Chief Justice Roger Traynor, Tax Expert

Roger Traynor, chief justice of the California Supreme Court from 1964 to 1970, is one of the 10 2011 inductees to the California Museum’s Hall of Fame.

Traynor served on the state high court for 30 years, earning national respect.

A law and political science professor at the University of California at Berkeley, Traynor inaugurated Boalt Hall’s first course in taxation.

His expertise in taxation led the Legislature to seek his help in writing California’s modern tax law. He was a consultant to the Board of Equalization from 1932 to 1940 and to the U. S. Department of the Treasury from 1937 to 1940.

Traynor took a [....]

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How Richard Nixon Became “Tricky Dick”

Former President Richard Nixon was famously labeled “Tricky Dick.”

According to one Internet site, the Yorba Linda native earned the nickname for his actions while president involving the Watergate break-in and subsequent investigations.

Others suggest it was coined by the John Kennedy campaign in 1960, which did incorporate the phrase as well as posters of a devious looking Nixon with the caption, “Would You Buy a Used Car from This Man?”

The alliterative ‘Tricky Dick” moniker was 10 years old by the time Kennedy’s team took the nickname national.

Its origin is found in Nixon’s 1950 race against Rep. Helen Gahagan [....]

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A November 17 Capitol Housewarming — 211 Years Ago

From The Writers Almanac with Garrison Keillor:

On this date in 1800, the U. S. Congress met in the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., for the first time. Construction had begun in 1793 but it soon fell behind schedule and went over budget. (Nothing new under the sun.)

The cost overruns caused planners in 1796 to elect to build only the Senate wing. On move-in day on November 17, some of the rooms were still incomplete but the building was sufficiently finished to accommodate the Senate as well as the House of Representatives, the Supreme Court, the Library of Congress and some [....]

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Happy Birthday Governor Burnett!

November 15 is the 204th anniversary of the birth of Peter Hardeman Burnett, the state of California’s first – albeit brief-tenured — governor.

A native of Tennessee, Burnett served as California’s governor from December 20, 1849 to January 9, 1851.

California became a state on September 9, 1850 although didn’t learn about until October 18 when the steamer Oregon sailed into San Francisco bay with a banner saying, “California is Now a State” tied to her rigging.

“I leave the high office to which I was called by the voluntary voice of my countrymen with but one regret — that my feeble abilities have allowed me [....]

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