Brown, Willie

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Brown, Willie

March 20, 1934

Willie Lewis Brown Jr., a politician, was born and raised in Mineola, Texas. After graduating from high school in 1951, he moved to San Francisco, where he received a B.A. from San Francisco State University in 1955 and a J.D. from the Hastings College of Law in 1958. In 1959 Brown opened the law firm of Brown, Dearman, and Smith.

In 1964 Brown was elected to the California state assembly. In 1974 he unsuccessfully campaigned to become speaker of the assembly, but he won the post in 1980, becoming the first African American to hold one of the most powerful positions in California politics. Since then Brown has established himself as the most prominent and influential black politician in the state. Although he toned down his early, left-liberal politics when he rose to the position of speaker, Brown has consistently championed California's public education system and supported minority, gay, reproductive, and workers' rights.

Despite his credentials as a populist defender of liberal reforms, Brown has been criticized for his expensive taste in clothes and cars and his various alliances of convenience with Republican politicians and big business. As senior partner of Brown, Dearman, and Smith, his clients have included some of California's most powerful businesses, and Brown has often been charged with conflict of interest, particularly when he has endorsed tax breaks for corporations and real estate developers. In 1984 Republican opponents took advantage of Brown's image as an opportunist and autocrat by sponsoring Proposition 24, which would have significantly reduced the speaker's power, but it was rejected by the state's voters.

Brown has also been an influential figure in national Democratic politics. He served as campaign chairman and raised more than $11 million for Rev. Jesse Jackson's campaign during the 1988 primary election.

In the 1990 election, Brown's tenure was limited when the state's voters passed Proposition 140, limiting members of the assembly to three two-year terms and state senators to two four-year terms. In November 1994 the Republicans gained a slim majority in the assembly. However, through a parliamentary maneuver, Brown retained his post as speaker. In 1996 he resigned his post prior to making a successful run for mayor of San Francisco.

During his tenure as mayor, Brown distinguished himself in San Francisco by construction of a new central library and by introducing plans for the conversion of the abandoned naval base at Treasure Island. In 2003 Brown left office because of term-limit provisions, but he remains one of the most influential African-American leaders in California.

See also Politics in the United States