Jerry Brown

EDMUND "JERRY" G. BROWN JR., the son of former Governor Pat Brown (1959-1967), was born in San Francisco on April 7, 1938. He graduated with degrees in Latin and Greek from the University of California-Berkeley in 1961 and received a juris doctor from Yale in 1964. He studied for the priesthood at Sacred Heart Novitiate at Los Gatos for four years. He worked as a research attorney for the state supreme court and for a Los Angeles law firm. In 1970, Brown was elected California's Secretary of State, and held that position until his inauguration as governor in 1975. As governor, he had revolutionary ideas about state spending and refused to live in the huge new governor's mansion - renting a modest apartment instead, and nixing the governor's limousine in favor of a state-issued Plymouth. Brown was a leader in energy efficiency, sponsored and signed the first labor laws in the U.S. to protect farmworkers, and began the State Civilian Conservation Corp. His appointments emphasized minorities and women, echoing the social awareness of his era. During his two terms, the hunt for kidnapped heiress Patricia Hearst continued, the controversial Proposition 13 tax reduction initiative passed by a landslide (1978) and George Moscone and Harvey Milk were assassinated in San Francisco City Hall (1979). Governor Brown chaired the Democratic Governors' Conference. Governor Brown mounted several unsuccessful presidential campaigns and was elected as California's Attorney General in 2006. In 2010 he became Governor of California once again.