Jesse M. Unruh
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Jesse Marvin Unruh | |
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| In office September 1961 – January, 1969 |
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| Preceded by | Ralph M. Brown |
| Succeeded by | Robert T. Monagan |
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| Born | September 30, 1922 Newton, Kansas |
| Died | August 4, 1987 (aged 64) Marina Del Rey, California |
| Political party | Democrat |
| Spouse | Virginia June Lemon |
Jesse Marvin Unruh (September 30, 1922 – August 4, 1987), also known as Big Daddy Unruh, was a U.S. Democratic politician and California State Treasurer.
Born in Newton, Kansas, he served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. After leaving the Navy, Unruh enrolled at the University of Southern California, and received a B.A. in Political Science and Journalism in 1948.
His political career began as an unsuccessful candidate for the California State Assembly in 1950 and 1952. He was elected as a member of the Assembly on his third attempt in 1954. In 1956, he was an unsuccessful candidate for Presidential Elector for California. During 1959, he authored California's Unruh Civil Rights Act, which outlawed discrimination for housing or employment, and was a model for later reforms that were enacted nationally during the 1960s and 1970s. Unruh was Speaker of the California State Assembly from 1961 to 1969 and a delegate to Democratic National Convention from California in 1960 and 1968.
He became a national figure in Democratic Party politics, often feuding with fellow Democrat Pat Brown, who was Governor of California from 1959 to 1967, and was a case-study in the James Q. Wilson treatise on machine politics, The Amateur Democrat.
As an early supporter of the Presidential campaign of Robert F. Kennedy in 1968, Unruh emerged as a pivotal figure in the run-up to the Democratic Convention. He helped Kennedy capture the California Primary in June of that year, but an assassin's bullet that night ended the campaign. In the melee that ensued, Unruh assisted in keeping suspect Sirhan Sirhan from the reach of angry Kennedy supporters. After an unsuccessful effort, led by Unruh and Mayor Richard J. Daley of Chicago, to draft Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, he endorsed Eugene McCarthy at the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago.
He left the legislature to run for Governor against Ronald Reagan in 1970, then was a candidate for Mayor of Los Angeles in 1973. He lost both elections, but was elected State Treasurer in 1974, and served from 1975 until he died in office of prostate cancer on August 4, 1987.
The University of Southern California Department of Political Science includes an institute named the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics.
According to one apocryphal tale, he was nicknamed "Big Daddy" by Raquel Welch, when the two were allegedly involved. Raquel Welch denies this claim; it is more likely that the nickname was a reference to the character in the Tennessee Williams play, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
His religion was described as Protestant, and he was a member of the American Legion. He married twice, and had five children. He was buried in Santa Monica, California.
[edit] Famous Quotes
- "Money is the mother's milk of politics."
- "If you can't take their money, drink their liquor, fuck their women, and then come in here the next day and vote against them, you don't belong here." (Referring to lobbyists.)
- Winning: "Winning isn't everything but losing is nothing." (said after losing the gubernatorial election in 1970)
- God: "Anyone who thinks all this is an accident, has got to be some kind of stupid." (about creation and the universe)
- Disillusionment: "Who knows, who cares, why bother?" (On his death bed)
- Principles: "Sometimes we must rise above principles." (quoted by Herb Caen)
[edit] Further reading
- Cannon, Lou (1969) Ronnie and Jesse;: A political Odyssey. New York: Doubleday. ISBN: B0006D5M5E.
- Putnam, Jackson K (2005) Jess: The Political Career of Jesse Marvin Unruh. New York: University Press of America. ISBN 978-0761830672.
- Boyarsky, Bill (2007) Big Daddy: Jesse Unruh and the Art of Power Politics. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-21967-0
[edit] External links
- Information about Jesse Unruh by his grandson of same name at jesseunruh.com
- The USC Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics biography on Jesse M. Unruh
- Jesse Unruh Political History
- The Jesse M. Unruh Assembly Fellows Program
| Preceded by Ralph M. Brown |
Speaker of the California State Assembly September 1961–January 1969 |
Succeeded by Bob Monagan |
| Preceded by Ivy Baker Priest |
California State Treasurer 1975–1987 |
Succeeded by Elizabeth Whitney |
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