After reading the Dan Walters review of this book I almost passed.
For Brown, it has to be a disappointment when someone writes the defining biographical work of your career before you can get your two cents in. James Richardson beat Brown to the punch with his book from 1996 on the former Speaker of the Assembly and Mayor of San Francisco.
Being Mayor really did nothing to add to the legend of Willie Brown. To most conservatives it was good to have him confined San Francisco instead of roaming the state. If he wanted to spend his time getting an Amtrak station somewhere in Texas — that is his deal with President Clinton.
There are only three things that I found interesting in this book. The first is the Brown version of what happened with Assemblyman Paul Horcher after the 1994 election. It was certainly not the way I viewed it but that is his version.
The second interesting thing was his version of NIMBYism when he served as Mayor of San Francisco. This is something that every community has. In the end you have to just make something happen. If he would have had this experience under his belt when he served as Speaker his policy legacy probably would have been very different. Now that I think about it — maybe it was best for California Republicans that he gained this experience in the order he did.
The third thing was the story on pages 105-107 where Brown, then Lt. Governor Merv Dymally, and Senator George Moscone teamed up to legalize sodomy. Dymally flew back suddenly from Colorado to break the tie on the Senate Floor. All of the churches and conservatives were opposed. Governor Jerry Brown signed the bill. It would seem that true conservatives today probably wouldn’t be making campaign contributions to Dymally — but that is a topic for another post.
Dan Walters is exactly right about the policy legacy of Willie Brown in California government. It was about show not substance.
Richardson’s book will remain the defining work on Wilie Brown. This thing is an interesting footnote. If you have to choose a book — go Richardson.
April 9th, 2008 at 12:00 am
I disagree with Matt’s choice of Willie Brown bio’s. Clearly his last book skimped on political history. To write about Willie’s career and never mention a name like Richie Ross or John Miller and barely to mention a John Mockler means you are not getting much in real background. But what Willie did do was to give his advice on how to survive and thrive in dozens of different situations that people come across in Sacramento. His advice on everything from Legislative negotiation to how to “dress for success” put this book high on my list of recommended reading for young politico’s. On the subject of someone buying a ticket to a Dymmally fundraiser, since Matt is clearly trying to make an attack on a political opponent, I wouldn’t recommend mentioning the subject in a discussion about Willie Brown, because not only lobbyists, but virtuallyy every conservative politician in California has bought a ticket to a Willie Brown event.