California Rising The Life And Times Of Pat Brown Summary

California Rising: The Life and Times of Pat Brown by Ethan Rarick is a captivating read. As a reader you are immediately drawn in by Rarick’s lively, fast-paced, critical and fully informed work. Ethan Rarick illustrates the story of a pivotal era in which the idea “the future happens first in California” becomes a reality as told in the first biography of legendary governor Edmund G. “Pat” Brown. Rarick imparts boldly on those who charted its course – including Ronald Reagan, John F. Kennedy, and the Brown family dynasty.

Rarick is well suited to chronicle former governor Pat Brown’s life and the politics of post-World War II. Rarick, a former political journalist that covered politics in both California and Oregon for more than 15 years

Rarick states that this is the turning point of what the American experience is, New York being the old and California being the new. 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. Pat Brown was the perfect person to serve as California governor (1959-1965) during a period of both booming population and economic growth. Brown served as the city’s district attorney in San Francisco and the state’s attorney general before being elected governor. Brown was a natural politician. In his first term, Brown was given the name as the “father of infrastructure” in California. Brown recognized the major need for a well designed and constructed highway system in California that fostered majority of the state’s economic growth. His foresight in engineering the states infrastructure is the basis of California’s modern prosperity. Brown also proposed major water projects, a network of dams to serve the needs of Southern California from Northern California. The California Aqueduct, the giant conduit that delivers waters to millions of people and countless acers of crops. Brown was the first political figure to address water needs. Brown continued to win public praise for his push for affordable higher education, including the UC system. Brown’s insisted on Unruh's reforms which abolished various government agencies, and the abolition of the cross-filing system which had enabled candidates to file with multiple political parties at once while running for office. His environmental policies, consumer protection laws, and the increase in disability were amongst the many policies that helped shape California. In addition, Brown’s first major bill, the Fair Employment Practice Commissions to fight racial bias in job hiring furthered California’s development. Pat Brown