California Rising: The Life and Times of Pat Brown [Hardcover]

Ethan Rarick (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0520236270 | ISBN-13: 978-0520236271 | Publication Date: January 24, 2005 | Edition: 1

It is now commonplace to say that the future happens first in California, and this book, the first biography of legendary governor Edmund G. "Pat" Brown, tells the story of the pivotal era when that idea became a reality. Set against the riveting historical landscape of the late fifties and sixties, the book offers astute insights into history as well a fascinating glimpse of those who charted its course--including Ronald Reagan, John F. Kennedy, and the Brown family dynasty. Ethan Rarick mines an impressive array of untapped sources--such as Pat Brown's diary and love letters to his wife--to tell the unforgettable story of a true mover-and-shaker within his fascinating and turbulent political arena.
California Rising illuminates a singular moment in time with surprising intimacy. John Kennedy laughs with Pat Brown. Richard Nixon offers the governor a schemer's deal. Lyndon Johnson sweet-talks the governor on the phone and then ridicules him behind his back. And as context for the human drama, key events of the era unfold in gripping prose. There is Brown's struggle with the fate of Caryl Chessman, the convicted kidnapper who gained international attention by writing best-selling books on death row. There is the tale of intrigue and politics surrounding the Free Speech Movement at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1964, and the violence and horror of the Watts Riots in 1965.
Through the story of the life and times of Pat Brown, we witness an extraordinary period that changed the entire country's view of itself and its most famous state.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Gov. Edmund G. "Pat" Brown (1905– 1996) was surely one of the Golden State's greatest governors. Fortunately, in political journalist Rarick, he has found a sure-penned, balanced and astute biographer. Elected governor in 1958 and serving until defeated by Ronald Reagan in 1966, Brown accomplished what other governors had to envy and faced challenges they'd pray to avoid. It was Brown who reorganized the state's world-class university system for a new era; led to completion of the controversial Feather River Project, which brought more water to Southern California; and, perhaps most memorably, defeated Richard Nixon for governor in 1962. But the ghastly problems he faced were even greater than these promising opportunities. He was governor when student unrest overtook the Berkeley campus in 1964 and when Watts exploded in race rioting in 1965. A first-class disposition and sensitive political antennae got him through these and other difficulties, but also opened him to opposition by those, like Nixon and Reagan, who portrayed him inaccurately as soft and ineffective. In the end, as Rarick argues, sometimes in too great detail, Brown led his state through its boom times with vision and understanding. Rarick tells the tale with great skill in this lively, fast-paced, critical and fully informed work. 26 b&w photos.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"A shrewd and lively account of the life of Pat Brown, California's most constructive governor in the last half-century. A very impressive book." - Nelson W. Polsby, University of California, Berkeley; "An important and enjoyable book." - Bruce Cain, coeditor of Voting at the Political Fault Line; "An impressive and important work - exhaustively researched, elegantly written. It's not only the biography of the central figure in modern California history, Governor Pat Brown, but the story of a crucial era in California and its place in the nation's imagination." - Peter Schrag, author of Paradise Lost; "Thanks to this exhaustively researched and vividly written study by Ethan Rarick, we can now grasp the true strength and charisma of this extraordinary governor. A seasoned reporter, Rarick left everything behind to research and write this book. He made the right decision." - Kevin Starr, University of Southern California"

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 501 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (January 24, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520236270
• ISBN-13: 978-0520236271
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,695,979 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well-told, overdue story of a Governor and changing times., May 18, 2005

By 

Sandy Harrison (Sacramento, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: California Rising: The Life and Times of Pat Brown (Hardcover)

First I'll disclose that the author, Ethan Rarick, is a friend of mine.
Having said that, I'd have quickly bought and read this biography whether I knew the guy or not.
Secondly, as a lifelong Californian of 50, I guess I'm exactly the right demographic for appreciating this book--Pat Brown is the first governor I can remember. Having childhood memories of the events in this book certainly made learning more about them that much more satisfying.
But what makes this book so fascinating is how drastically the political landscape changed during the years of his administration, and how the changes ruined him politically--for a while.
When elected in 1958 Brown was a forward-looking liberal with an ambitous agenda for improving California, one at which he was remarkably successful: banning racial discrimination, expanding a great university, and building a massive project to transport water unprecedented distances from wet parts of the state to dry ones.
But by the time of his loss to Ronald Reagan in 1966, time had passed Brown by. Events like the Berkeley free speech movement and Watts riots pushed middle America into a sharp right backlash. The fact that he genuinely anguished over whether to have men executed or to spare their lives, unlike successors who adopted a safe, knee-jerk, blanket pro-death approach, injured him further at a time of increasingly pro-authoritarian attitudes.
By '66, Brown seemed a hopeless relic. Damaged by a rough primary against Sam Yorty, L.A.'s racist demagogue mayor, and by his own inept scheme to sabotage the Republican primary, he was creamed by Reagan in his quest for a third term.
Yet, by the time of his death 30 years later, Brown had again become an icon, hailed as the most effective governor ever by political wannabes of both major parties.
A great personal story and an interesting slice of California history.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Governor Edmund G. Pat Brown The Democratic Party in CA, September 7, 2005

By 

DANIEL E. WYATT (HAYWARD, CALIFORNIA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: California Rising: The Life and Times of Pat Brown (Hardcover)

Ethan Rarick has written a great biography of a man who was to be one of the most well known of California Governors.Edmund G. "Pat" Brown came on the political scene as DA of San Francisco County. He would follow the path of Earl Warren as State Attorney General and then Governor. Brown in 1959 became only the second Democrat elected governor in the 20th Century; Culbert L. Olson served 1939-1943. "Pat" Brown picked the right time to run for governor when US Senator William F. Knowland figured to use the California governorship as a stepping stone to run for President. Popular governor Goodwin J. "Goodie" Knight was forced by Knowland to seek his vacated Senate seat. This broke the GOP is California. Then, Knowland endorced Proposition 18 "The Right To Work Law." This lost the labor vote for the GOP totally. Brown would win in a landslide. Four years later, the governor's race in 1962, Brown defeated former Vice President Richard M. Nixon. Nixon made the famous remark to the press: " You won't have Dick Nixon to kick around anymore."
"Pat" Brown, in 1966 faced in a run for a 3rd term, a washed up actor from Warner Brothers, in the 1950's the host of General Electric Theatre and now the host of television's Death Valley Days. Ronald Reagan running on the platform to "Clean Up the Mess in Berkeley." Ronald Reagan defeated Pat Brown as he tried to do what Earl Warren had done be elected to a 3rd term.
Governor Brown has many accomplishments the State Water Project; Freeways and many others.
UC Berkeley, Watts and many problems of a changing time came at Governor "Pat" Brown, during his second term.
Since 1958 except for a few years during the term of Gov. Reagan; the Democrats have controled the Legislature.
In the book we see Browns fellow party members infighting famed Los Angeles Mayor Sam Yorty and Speaker of the Assembly Jesse "Big Daddy" Unruh. The Brown family continued with Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. 1975-1983 present Mayor of Oakland. "Pat" Brown's daughter Kathleen holding statewide office and being defeated in her bid for governor. This is a great book on a man of California Edmund G. "Pat" Brown.

5.0 out of 5 stars Review of California Rising: The Life and Times of Pat Brown, September 2, 2011

By 

Melinda C. Luedtke (Amelia Island, FL, US) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: California Rising: The Life and Times of Pat Brown (Hardcover)

Author Ethan Rarick has written a balanced and even-handed biography of former Governor Pat Brown. It is clear that he conducted a prodigious amount of research on this well written volume which begins with the early influences in Pat Brown's life and continues through his two terms in the office of governor of the State of California. The fact the Pat Brown is Jerry Brown's father (two time Governor of the State of California Edmund G. Brown, Jr. who is both the youngest governor ever to serve as well as the oldest now that he was reelected in 2010.

Governor Pat Brown has long been remembered as the "father of infrastructure" in California. It was his recognition of the need for a major, well designed and constructed highway syatem in the State of California that fostered so much of the State's economic growth. He also proposed major water projects to serve the needs of Southern California long before many political figures even thought of addressing the water needs. His foresight in engineering the state's infrastructure has served California well.

Author Rarick has done a fine job of creating the context of the times and political climate during the life of Governor Pat Brown. It provides an interesting chronology of the politics from the 30's through the 60's and sets the stage for a follow up biography of Jerry Brown should the author wish to continue a discussion of the Brown era legacy which is significant.

All in all a great job and an informative and balanced biography.