Happy Birthday Mr. President! (and Governor)

Ronald Reagan, California’s 33rd governor and the 40th President of the United States, was born in Tampico, Illinois 101 years ago on February 6. 

A number of books have been written about the actor-turned-politician. Among the best are those by Reagan biographer Lou Cannon. 

Rather than rehash territory well covered by others, here’s a brief Reagan anecdote from February 1981, upon the occasion of his 70th birthday:

Speaking to a Washington Press Club dinner on February 4, the GOP president noted that the group was founded by six Washington newspaperwomen in 1919.    Read more »

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Healthier Than a Chaw or a Cigarette, Though

“Wood shavings littered the floor of the (legislative) chambers because whittling was a favorite pastime of some legislators. Eventually, small blocks of wood had to be supplied for that purpose so that the desks, chairs and other fixtures would not be carved to slivers,” writes Mary Jo Ignoffo in Gold Rush Politics, California First Legislature.    Read more »

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Can’t Improve on the Lede of This Article

Jan. 8, 1976, Page C-2 

By Nancy Skelton, McClatchy Newspaper Services 

Sacramento — Peyote. Snakes. Pocketknives. Pregnant goats.

An odd combination to begin with.

Odder, still, when they come up, front and center, at a Governor’s Prayer Breakfast.

But these were subjects chosen this morning by anthropologist-writer Gregory Bateson, who delivered the main address at the annual gathering held to seek God’s help for state leaders during the coming year.    Read more »

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From 1850: A History of California’s First 27 Counties

Among the tasks of lawmakers during California’s first legislative session, which began December 15, 1849, was naming the state’s counties.

Twenty-seven counties were established. Mariposa, for example, was the largest covering one-fifth of the state. Twelve subsequent counties were created in whole or in part out of Mariposa. Some original counties didn’t survive like Branciforte which became Santa Cruz.    Read more »

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The More Things Change…

As adopted December 19, 1849 – four days into California’s first legislative session – the 6th Rule of the Senate reads:

“No member shall speak to another or otherwise interrupt the business of the Senate or read any newspaper while the journals or public papers are reading and while the President is putting a question, no senator shall walk out of, or across the house, nor while a senator is speaking pass between him and the chair.”    Read more »

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Happy Belated Birthday Governor Bigler!

John Bigler, California’s third governor and the only chief executive to serve two terms in the 19th Century, was born January 8, 1805 in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

No other governor until Hiram Johnson in 1911 would win a first and second term.

At his political height, the roly-poly Bigler was popular enough that lawmakers named a lake after him.    Read more »

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Sure Doesn’t Look Like Phil Burton

(Check out the video)    Read more »

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California’s First Police Force and — The Supposed — Capture of Joaquin Murrieta

California’s third governor, John Bigler, signed legislation passed May 17, 1853 authorizing the raising of a company of up to 20 State Rangers, to be led by Captain Harry Love, a bounty hunter and veteran of the Mexican American War. They were charged – for three months or less – to “capture the party or gang of robbers commanded by the five Joaquins whose names are, Joaquin Murietta, Joaquin O’Comorenia, Joaquin Valenzuela, Joaquin Betellier, and Joaquin Carrillo, and their banded associates.”     Read more »

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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.    Read more »

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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.    Read more »

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