Willie Brown
Politician
1934 –
Who is Willie Brown?
Willie Lewis Brown, Jr. is an American politician of the Democratic Party. He served over 30 years in the California State Assembly, spending 15 years as its Speaker, and afterward served as the 41st mayor of San Francisco, the first African American to do so. Under the current California term limits law, no Speaker of the California State Assembly will ever have a longer tenure than Brown's. The San Francisco Chronicle called Brown “one of San Francisco’s most notable mayors” that had “celebrity beyond the city’s boundaries.”
Brown was born in Mineola, Texas and attended a segregated high school. He moved to San Francisco in 1951, attending San Francisco State, graduating in 1955 with a degree in liberal studies. Brown earned a J.D. from University of California, Hastings College of the Law in 1958. He spent several years in private practice before gaining election in his second attempt to the California Assembly in 1964. Brown became the Democrats' whip in 1969 and Speaker in 1980. He was known for his ability to manage people and maintain party discipline. According to The New York Times, Brown became one of the country's most powerful state legislators. His long tenure and powerful position were used as a focal point of California's initiative campaign to limit the terms of state legislators, which passed in 1990. During the last of his three allowed post-initiative terms, Brown maintained control of the Assembly despite a slim Republican majority by gaining the vote of several Republicans. Near the end of his final term, Brown left the legislature to become mayor of San Francisco.
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- Born
- Mar 20, 1934
Mineola - Also known as
- Willie Lewis Brown, Jr.
- Willie L. Brown, Jr.
- Mayor Willie Brown
- Mayor Willie L. Brown
- Hon. Mayor Willie L. Brown Jr.
- Willie L. Brown
- Major Willie L. Brown Jr.
- Parents
- Spouses
- Blanche Vitero
(1958/09 - )
- Blanche Vitero
- Children
- Religion
- Methodism
- Ethnicity
- African American
- Nationality
- United States of America
- Profession
- Education
- San Francisco State University
- University of California, Hastings College of the Law
- Lived in
- San Francisco
Submitted
on July 23, 2013
Citation
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"Willie Brown." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 26 Apr. 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/willie_brown>.
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