We Found a Book by a Thinking Republican

Henry Kissinger. World Order. New York, N.Y.: Penguin Press, 2014.

Kissinger observes that President Harry Truman was proud both of the U.S. victories as well as its conciliations that brought defeated nations back into the “community of nations.”

The U.S. favors nations that have liberal economic systems, do not seek to conquer others, respect other nation’s sovereignties, and have a participatory democratic system. Yet modern rules confuse this favoring system. There are non-Western countries that do not adhere by the expectations that the U.S. has although they indicate they are willing to move towards these goals. The 21st century challenges of weapons of mass destruction, global environmental concerns, genocide, and technological changes present new challenges. The vast changes in global communications present new ramifications.

There has never been a global “world order” The 17th century saw one fourth of Central Europe’s population die from war, starvation, or disease during the Thirty Years’ War.
The Westphalian peace sought to keep countries from attacking each other by creating a power equilibrium and agreement to respect other countries’ sovereignty.

Islam arose between Europe and Chia with a belief that Islam would spread through “realm of war”. The Ottoman Empire claimed to be the legitimate governance of Islam. It believe it should become world’’s one ermpire with Islam as the world’s one religion,

The United States began advocating for a world order that embraced peace through a balance and having democratic principles. The U.S. now struggles with using its power to update balances of powers and its principles. It does so recognizing the the concept of freedom cannot be spread through coercion.

As Kissinger notes, “Order without freedom, even if sustained by momentary exaltation, eventually creates its own counterpoise; yet freedom cannot be secured or sustained without a framework of order to keep the peace.” Order and freedom are interdependent.

China with its Emperors and Islam with its Caliphs have histories of fallen dynasties replaced by new dynasties seeking to repair the fallen ones. Europe has a history fo divided governments and never had a unified identity. Charlemagne sought to become an Emperor protecting Christianity.  Civil wars broke apart that dynasty within a century after Charlemagne’s passing.

Europeans sought to influence world affairs by saving souls as well as increasing their wealth from other countries. The Protestant Reform split Christianity in two.

The balance of power shifted as Britain emerged as a sea power France sought dominance as well. Napoleon sought to unify Europe. Russia appeared as a dominant power. Germany has a history of either being too weak and thus prone to invasion or too strong and thus it became an invader. The European concept of creating a world order guided by its nationality disappeared after World War II. There is a serious effort to bring Russia into this unity.

Islam and the Middle East present a disorder to European and American order. The rapid spread of Islam convinced its faithful that Islam could bring peaceful unity to the world, They could make peace with non-Islams, yet this should be done only to give Islam the strength to regroup for future incursions.

The Islamic Ottoman Empire did not accept the legitimacy of the European order, The Ottoman Empire was larger and militarily stronger. Thus the 1526 alliance between the Holy Roman Empire, whose Habsburg government feared France, and the Ottoman Empire was a strange one on religious grounds. Later Habsburg and France created an alliance with Shia Persia creating tensions with the Sunni Ottoman Empire.

Islam split into two factions. The Sunnis believe the Prophet Ali was the true trustee of the religion. The Shias believed the Sunni claimed authority. While there are today internal divisions between the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood, the Shia Khomeini revolution and Hezbollah, al-Qaeda, and Hamas, there are unified “in their commitment to dismantle the existing regional order and rebuild it as a divinely inspired region.”

Sayyid Quitb declared in his 1964 “Milestones” that all non-Isamic governments and societies are “illegal”. This created for his followers a purity in the Islamic concept of creating a world order that is Islamic.

The Arab Spring movement was mostly guided by a younger generation of Islamics. Democracy, an American value, was a stated goal. This created a conflict for some Americans who saw allies such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia, which are un-democratic, challenged by anti-American democratic reformers. Should the United States stick to its values of spreading democracy and liberal reforms or does it stick by its political allies? Kissinger advises “Western tradition requires support fro democratic institutions and free elections” yet warns that the one time use of democracy to elect a religious dominated military regime destroys the progress towards democracy. The U.S. needs to encourage  permanent democracy while considering the security risks to the U.S. this could entail.

In Syria, the U.S. sought, through the United Nations, a coalition government. The United Nations resisted responding. ISIL, a jihadist group considered too extreme by al-Qaeda, militarily gained much ground in Syria and in western Iraq.

Many Arabs for generations now believe that Irael illegally took Muslim land.

Saudi Arabia is targeted by al-Qaeda and Iran. This has created a country torn in its support for Islamic radicalism while maintaining Western ties. Saudi Arabia attempted to please radical Islamics abroad while opposing those within its own country. They nurture Wahhabist schools throughout the world to show their support for the growth of Islam with in turn creates more jihadists that threaten Saudi Arabia and its Western allies.

The Sunni states of Saudi Arabia, the Gulf states, and to some degree Egypt and Turkey are in opposition to a Shia block of Iran, Bashar al-Assad’s part of Syria, Nuri al-Maliki’s parts of Iray, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza. Iran seeks to dominate the region. The Sunnis supports uprisings against Maliki in Iraq and Assad in Syria. Russia seeks to protect the Muslim part of its country against Syrian and Iraqi jihadists. The United States denounces the brutality of Assad yet recognizes that Assad’s opponents are al-Qaeda and ISIL.

Kissinger notes “it is tempting to let these upheavals run their course and concentrate on dealing with the successor states. But several of the potential successors have declared America and the Westphalian world order as principal enemies.”

Kissinger notes “revolutionary Islam has not, up to now, manifested itself as a quet for international cooperation as the West understands the term.” Kissinger does recommend the U.S. and the West be open to “fostering cooperative relations with Iran” in hopes the Iranian people seek “a genuine reconciliation.”

In 1905, Japan became the first modern Asian country to defeat a Western country in itw war with russia. Kissinger views that modern Japan understands security realities and that it will base its relations with the U.S. on how they view U.S. credibility towards it rather than depending upon U.S. assurances.

Chin had historically not acted, for centuries, to impose its political system onto other countries. It was upset when the West imposed its values on them. During the Cultural Revolution of Mao it had just four ambassadors worldwide. Mao began relaxing Chinese interventions with other countries in the 1960s. Kissinger notes the U.S. is allied with Japan and a partner with China.

At the end of World War II, the U.S. created 60% of the world’s Gross National Product. The U.S. was drawn to a draw in the Korean War. This destroyed the U.S. image of invincibility. China feared the U.S. was using Korea as a pretext to invade it.China lost some geopolitical ground as the war made U.S. committed to keeping China from gaining Taiwan.

The Internet create so much information that it is difficult to use it all, Kissinger notes. He fear that historical information that cold be useful in foreign relations is often never seen by decision makers.

The international order faces militias that do not consider sovereignties or borders, areas that are ungovernable or have failed governments, nations whose economic systems are at odds with their political systems which all creates strong challenges to all nations in a world that is more connected than ever before, according to Kissinger.

How a Republican Wins an Election

Harold L. Gullan. Toomey’s Triumph: Inside a Key Senate Campaign. Philadelphia, Pa.: Temple University Press, 2012.

The author analysis Pennsylvania’s 2010 Senate race that was won by U.S. Rep. Patrick Toomey. Gullan noted then that Toomey successfully showed enough voters that he and them had enough shared values even if they did not agree on all the issues.

Pennsylvania is a state with a history of being an “unpredictable swing state”. Toomey had an advantage of having a dozen campaign aides who were “young and energetic”.

Toomey’s general election opponent, U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak, had prior risen to the post of Deputy Chief of Naval Operations. When a new Naval Operations Chief was named, Sestak was replaced by someone loyal to the new Chief. Critics of Sestak incorrectly claimed that Sestak had been “dismissed” with incorrect hints he may have been insufficient in his job. Sestak then ran for Congress and defeated incumbent Curt Weldon.

Toomey was a local political activist who ran for Congress in 1998 when the Democratic incumbent didn’t seek reelection Toomey won by ten percentage points. He served three terms. Toomey is pro-life, wants to reduce gun restrictions, is against gay marriage, and favors oil drilling Toomey challenged incumbent Sen. Arlen Specter in the 2004 Republican Primary. Toomey lost.

Toomey then worked as President of the Club for Growth. When Toomey ran for the Senate in 2010, he opposed government bailouts for any reason, including those for the Wall Street investors and banks he used to defend when he was with the Club for Growth.

Toomey easily defeated Peg Luksik, a conservative ideologue, in the Republican Primary. In the Democratic Primary, Sestak defeated the incumbent Arlen Specter, who had switched parties to run as a Democrat.

Sestak sought to rebrand himself from a liberal to a pragmatist. Sestak lost ground politically when he claimed the White House offered him a job if he would not run against Specter, yet he refused to provide any details on what could have had criminal ramifications. Sestak trailed in most polls and this “job gate” as the press called it hurt his image.

Sestak also lost ground when he called for more “accountability and transparency” in Congressional earmarks for special projects for their states. Critics argued why Sestak didn’t make the issue easier by pledging not to accept earmarks.

Television advertising was critical in the race. The author notes he preferred the “creativity” of Toomey’s ads over Sestak’s.

Toomey’s lead in the polls widened in August. Toomey was seen by more voters as more mainstream and Sestak was seen by more voters as being more extreme. Sestak’s attempt at rebranding himself was not as successful as he wanted.

Toomey concentrated campaigning more in the heartland of Pennsylvania while Sesteak concentrated on increasing support and voter turnout in the southeastern part of the state which supported him more strongly then in the rest of the state.

The author observed that Toomey’s staff and consultants were good in their analysis of what to do throughout most of the state. The author further observes Toomey spent campaign funds well on television advertising. Toomey also benefited from some anti-Obama sentiment that hurt Democratic candidates.

The author notes Sestak ran a “tireless, well-organized campaign” but Toomeys team was “simply more energized”. Negative TV ads were run by both sides. Negative ads can create modest shirts in political opinion yet in such a close race that may have made the difference for Toomey.

Toomey won by just 50.7% of the vote to 49.3% of the vote for Sestak, according to the State Department’s final official vote tally.

Just a Little Disagreement Among Some Republican Leaders

Joseph M Hoeffel. The Iraq Lie: How the White House Sold the War. San Diego, Ca.: Progressive Press, 2014.

Joe Hoeffel, as a member of Congress, voted for the Iraq War. He “soon realized it was one of the worst votes of my career, as we were led into war under false pretenses by the Bush Administration”. Bush stated Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and that there was an “imminent threat” to the U.S. It turned out Bush was wrong, and he should have known he was wrong.

The truth was Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction. U.S. intelligence doubted he had them. Hoeffel writes “Make no mistake, the Bush Administration did not tell the truth to Congress or the public about the classified intelligence regarding Iraq”.

The cost of the Iraq War were 4,500 American dead and 30,000 more wounded. The direct monetary costs were $758 billion with total costs of over $2 trillion, 100,000 Iraqis died.

Intelligence analysts “clearly expressed their doubts” that Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. These doubts were not provided to Congress or the public..

There were language changes made in intelligence analysis before they were shown to Congress. Doubts and uncertainties were rewritten as certainties. Congress approved the Iraq War “under false pretenses”, as stated by Senator Jay Rockefeller.

When Rep. Hoeffel told President Bush that Hoeffel favored an international peacekeeping force for Iraq, Bush responded “we are fighters, not peacekeepers”.

The Congressional Resolution approving the Iraq War called for diplomacy and accountability. Hoeffel argues the Bush Administration ignored both conditions.

Bush claimed Hussein tried to buy uranium as an element for producing weapons of mass destruction in Niger. The Central Intelligence Agency had warned Bush that this was incorrect. Forged documents with inaccuracies were leaked in an effort to gain support for the Iraq War effort.

A Senate study found the intelligence community developed “group think” where many accepted each other’s leanings that Iraq had a strong weapons development program There were too much reliance on reports from other countries and third parties which were inaccurate. This much flawed information was reported as fact.

Secretary of State Colin Powell and CIA Director George Tenet later expressed regrets over the bad information. They both accepted some blame. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and National Intelligence Advisor Condoleezza Rice refuse to acknowledge their mistakes. Cheney continues to cliam Hussein was creating weapons of mass destruction.

Rumsfeld claims the intelligence community did a good job. Powell, on the other had, admits he was fooled by bad intelligence and he acted according to that bad intelligence.

Congress has since passed reforms to achieve greater access to classified documents.

Hoeffel concludes “We have lost something in America. The legacies of Watergate, Vietnam, and Iraq remain front and center today. People basically don’t trust their national government...We must all get to work revitalizing our democracy. We must make government work for all of us, openly and honestly, restoring our confidence in our system of self-government and improving the quality of life for all Americans.”

What Happens When Republicans Lose Power

 Peter Binzen with Jonathan Bizen. Richardson Dilworth: Last of the Barek-Knuckled Aristocrats. Philadelphia Pa.: Camino Books, Inc., 2014.

Richard Dilworth was described by his 1955 Republican opponent for Mayor of Philadelphia as “the last of the bare knuckled aristocrats”. The election’s debate was described by the Philadelphia Bulletin newspaper as “the wildest, most vicious political debate in the city’s recent history.”

Diworth did not have a press secretary or issue press releases. He stated what he wanted to say. He was often blunt. He called restrictive suburban zoning as a “white noose”. He proposed tearing down Philadelphia’s ornate (and world largest) CIty Hall. While he was District Attorney, he attacked Senator Joseph McCarthy as a dangerous man and confronted him on national television.

Dilworth fought in World War I and was wounded. At age 43, he fought in World War II, leaving behind eight children, and was awarded a Silver Star.

Dilworth was an alcoholic, which almost ruined his career.

Dilworth was known for attracting talented people into public service and inspiring them to work at their best. He hired Black and women into an office that seldom had seen either.

Richardson’s great grandfather, William Dilworth, was elected to the Pennsylvania legislature in 1834. William sought to reform politics. He found the major manufacturing executives and corrupt politicians were too strong to defeat with “good government” proposals.

The Dilworth family was involved in manufacturing railroad spikes and supplies. The company was fading away when Richard Dilworth inherited it and sold it for about $150,000. He would reinvest that and lose most of its in the stock market crash.

Richard Dilworth was born in 1898. He joined the Marine Corps in 1914 when it had 10,000 men. The Marines would grow to 70,000 men by the end of 1918. Dilworth fought at Bellevu Wood in France. Of the 8,000 Marines there, 5,200 were killed or wounded. At the battle of Soissons, where there were 12,000 U.S. casualties, Dilworth was wounded with part of the bone in his arm blown away. Infection and several operations hospitalized him for two months.

Dilworth returned to Yale, where he had left to fight in the war. One of his History Professors, Charles Seymour, a former advisor to President Woodrow Wilson, strongly influenced Dilworth. Dilworth became a Democrat.

Dilworth played football at Yale. This is noteworthy as he had only one good arm.

Dilwroty attended and graduated from Yale Law School. As an attorney, he worked on an investigation conducted by the Philadelphia Bar Association into corrupt lawyers. He worked with Henry Drinker. They discovered a ring of corruption that included lawyers making payoffs to police, ambulance drivers and emergency room employees paid for tips on victims who might need lawyers, and a corrupt judge who shared in verdict awards.

Dilworth defended about 100 independent coal miners battling a lawsuit from a coal mining company with strong local Republican political ties. The Republican leader of Northumberland County perjured himself. When Dilworth got the leader to repeat the perjury, the coal mining company dropped all the injunctions they had made against the independent miners.

Dilworth defended the Wilkes Barre Sunday Independent newspaper against a $100,000 libel suit filed by Nanticoke Mayor Anthony Drier. Dilworth had a police officer testify he paid Drier $50 to become an officer, a secretary testify Drier made her falsify records, and had the workmen who did work on Drier’s private house yet were paid with city funds in the courtroom when Drier testified that did not happen. He also had the former police chief in the courtroom when Drier denied that the two of them split funds from holding fake trials of drunks. Drier dropped his lawsuit.

Joseph Clark ran for City Council but lost in 1933. Dilworth was Clark’s campaign manager. Democrats presented signs of resurgence against the decades of one party Republican rule of Philadelphia by getting Democrats elected as City Controller and City Treasurer.

Dillworth was a part of a group called the Warriors which sought to bring the Democratic  Party out of Republican control (the Republicans were so powerful they controlled the minority seats awarded to Democrats). This group included businessmen such as John Kelly, Albert Greenfield, and Matthew McClosky as well as newspaper published David Stern whose paper the Philadelphia Record supported Democrats. Clark and Dilworth that Kelly and McCloskey, self-made business leaders who were both Irish Catholics, were resentful of inherited wealthy Protestants such as Clark and Dilworth. Dilworth observed Kelly and McCloskey would sometimes double cross them.

Dilworth ran for the State Senate in 1934 against incumbent Senator George Woodward, one of the few Republicans independent of the Republican machine at McCloskey’s request. Clark was Dilworth’s campaign manager. McCloskey then stated Dilworth had to contribute $2,500 to the Democratic Party in order to be slated as the nominee. Dilworth refused. The Democrats slated Izzy Finkelstein to run for State Senator instead. Dilworth then decided to run against the party and he challenged Finkelstein in a primary. Dilworth still found that ward leaders who supported him expected political contributions. Dilworth contributed to the 42nd Ward whose leader was Herb McGlinchey. Dilworth received the fewest votes from McGlinche’s ward. McGlinchey told Dilworth “That’s your first political lesson. Never trust a ward leader.” Finkelstein received about 11,000 votes to Dilworth’s 1,000 votes. Woodward then defeated Finkelstein.

Dilworth worked in the John Kelly 1935 campaign for Mayor. When he was sent to a voting district in a Polish neighborhood near the docks because of a dispute between Democratic and Republican poll workers, his wearing a coonskin coat, a symbol of privilege, did not go over well in the working class neighborhood. He was thrown through a plate glass window.

Kelly lost to S. David Wilson yet lost by a narrow 53% to 47%, the best Democratic showing for Mayor in decades.

Moses Annenberg purchased the Philadelphia Inquirer in 1936 where it became known as the “Bible of the Republican Party”. Annenberg immediately ended the joint distribution deal with the Philadelphia Record. Annenberg had left Chicago where circulation wars involved organized crime and led to several men and boys killed. The Record responded with negative front page stories about Annenberg, claiming he was a secret ally of William Randolph Hearst. Annenberg had been Heart’s circulation director.

Dilworth became Moe Annenberg’s attorney, although Dilworth was not his first choice. Several other attorneys turned down representing Annenberg. Dilworty surprised even himself in winning the case for Annenberg which denied David Stern’s attempt at an injunction to prevent separate distribution of both papers.

Annenberg hired Dilworth to be the Inquirer’s General Counsel at $50,000 a year.

Annenberg’s Inquirer attacked Albert Greenfield, claiming a routine transfer of notes Greenfield had made prior to the banking collapse was Greenfield looking out for himself and not for the interests of others.

Annenberg owed back taxes. Dilworth knew Annenberg was guilty et believed it was an effort of the Franklin Roosevelt Administraiton to attack Annenberg. When Moe Annenberg went to prison, his son Walter took over the operations of the Inquirer.

Walter Annenberg’s Inquirer was able to criticize Republicans. The Inquirer has a series on corruption in Mayor Bernard Samuel’s administration. The Inquirer, though, remained slanted pro-Republican.

John Kelly told Dilworth that the Democrats wanted Dilworth to run for District Attorney in 1939. Kelly later decided to create a fusion ticket with a Republican, Lewis Stevens, running for District Attorney. The fusion ticket lost but came closer to winning than Democrats had in several decades.

Dilworth rejoined the Marines in 1942 as a Captain. He experienced jungle rot on his arms and legs while fighting.

In 1947, the new Democratic City Chairman. U.S. Rep.. Michael Bradley, found the party had $186 with $1,000 rent due and a monthly $2,500 payroll due. Dilworth and the party Treasurer, Bill Feely, used their personal funds to keep the party functioning, Dilworth sought to run for Mayor. The Democratic Policy Committee was tied at seven votes for Dilworth and seven votes for Joseph Sharfson. Bradley broke the tie by voting for Dilworth. Bradley later stated “that was the best vote I ever cast in my life.”

At Walter Phillips recommendation, Dilworth went through neighborhoods campaigning. Dilworth attacked incumbent Mayor Bernard Samuel for being corrupt. Dilworth accused Republican Sheriff Austin Meehan of operating illegal gambling.

Several Democratic leaders and candidates made deal with the Republican Party if they cut Dilworth. Dilworth lost 56% to 44%. Clark and Dilworth were surprised to see the volunteers were jubilant after the polls closed. Dilworth notes “the election was lost, but they were seeing the future...they pointed out that they’d done a hell of a job in many wards, and the fight was just beginning.”

Mayor Samuel pledged during the campaign to give city workers a pay raise. He agreed to keep his promise yet he created a panel, known as the Committee of 15, to find a way to pay for the increased costs. Samuel expected the panel to recommend a tax increase. The panel hired Robert Sawyer as its Executive Director. Sawyer and the panel suggested, instead of a tax increase, of saving money by ending improper and inefficient practices. The panel uncovered graft in the Supplies and Purchases Department. The Deputy Director was arrested yet was only fined $1,500.

The panel found the city wasn’t collecting all its taxes. The Amusement Tax Division Chief committed suicide and left a note telling how he and seven others stole some tax monies.

At the 1948 Democratic National Convention, Dilworth was a supporter of Hubert Humphrey’s anti-communist liberal group the Americans for Democratic Action (ADA). Humphrey and aDA support a civil rights plank being in the Democratic Party platform. Dilworth’s work with ADA brought him association with some high status people in Philadelphia society who had previously shunned him for being a divorced man.

In 1949, Dilworth ran for City Treasurer while Joe Clark ran for City Controller. William Meade, the city’s Republican Party leader called Clark and Dilworth “Community Party liners” and that the ADA was “infiltrated with communists”. Dilworth demanded Meade name a single Communist in ADA. Meade never did respond.

The Inquirer and the Bulletin newspapers defended Dilworth. The Daily News responded “we do not believe that Richardson Dilworth is a Communist, but we do believe he will take the aid of any Communist who wants to vote for him.”

Dilworth and Clark won. Democrats also won races for Coroner and Register of Wills, winning all citywide races.

The Committee of 15 continued its work. The Water Department’s Superisor admitted water collection fees had been skimmed for 17 years. He and a Plumbing Inspector both committed suicide.

A federal grand jury investigation police involvement with rackets led to the suicides of a Police Inspector and two other police officers.

In 1950, Pittsburgh Mayor David Lawrence convinced Dilworth to run for Governor. Lawrence did not want Pittsburgh Judge Michael Musmanno slated. Larence convinced Musmanno to run for Lieutenant Governor instead. Dilworth was worred about running with the “Red-baiter” Musmanno. Lawrence convinced Dilworth it would not be a problem.

The Republican nominee for Governor was John Fine, the Republican leader of Luzerne County. Dilworth charged Fine with protecting rackets. Dilworth knew about this from when he handled the libel suit against the Wilkes Barre Sunday Independent. He knew teachers had to kickback a half year’s salary to the Republican Party in order to become teachers.

Fine won the 15th consecutive victory for Republicans in the Pennsylvania Governor’s race. Fine won by only two percentage points. Dilworth carried Philadelphia.

Although Dilworth did well in Philadelphia in the race for Governor, he stuck by his pledge to support Joe Clark for Mayor in 1951. Dilworth ran for District Attorney. Party leaders wanted Dilworth to run for Mayor and Clark for District Attorney. Clark had declined to run for District Attorney four years prior as he had no criminal law experience. Clark went to a meeting of leaders and informed him that he had earlier told the press he was running for Mayor with or without their support. Dilworth stated at the meeting he supported Clark. The leaders, who had hoped the meeting would lead to Dilworth running for Mayor, found they could not do anything different.

Clark and Dilworth received 58% of the vote in their races in defeating Republicans Rev. Daniel Poling for Mayor and Michael Foley for District Attorney.

Clark filled city positions with professionals instead of party workers. Patronage was sharply reduced.

Dilworth studied the death penalty issue He observed that “history makes it clear that cruel punishments are self-defeating”. Many people facing murder charges waited in jail for two years for their trials.

Dilworth insisted that if someone’s right were violated that his office inform the courts. He did this in a death penalty case when a defendant wasn’t properly determined if he was competent to stand trial.

Dilworth was upset at the degree to which organized crime, the police, and politicians worked together. Police did little to stop the “numbers racket” of an illegal lottery.

Dilworth refused to take a loyalty oath and stated it was “some cockeyed, unknown standard of behavior with the knowledge that if they deviate from it in some way, they’re going to get whacked.” He argued against “Red baiters” noting “if we ever resort to such tactics, we should very soon lose our war against Communism, for our strength lies in our integrity and in the courage to maintain our democratic processes.”

Dilworth encouraged Henry Sawyer, an attorney who defended people accused of Communist ties, to run for City Council in 1955, Sawyer ran and won.

Joe Clark was indecisive of whether to run for reelection in 1955 He wanted to run for U.S. Senator in 1956, yet hat would be a tough race against an incumbent Sen. James Duff with Eisenhower running for re-election. Running for Mayor would be an easier race to win. The Democratic Policy Committee was reportedly moving to replace Clark with Judge John Davis. Dilworth decided to run for Mayor and got the Democratic Party Chairman U.S. Rep. William Green, John Kelly, ad Albert Greenfield to back him. Clark decided not to seek reelection.

Dilworth debated his Republican opponent Thacher Longstreth 18 tmes. Longstreth admitted he was “clobbered” in the early debates Longstreth hired Penn Professor Edward Shils who spent 100 hours tutoring Longstreth on policies. Longstreth improved in the debates.

Dilworth lost his temper at Republican District Attorney candidate William Knauer calling Knauer a “mean, nasty stinking littler wretch” who had sold “rotten meat to Philadelphia General Hospital. This allegation has never been made before and wasn’t substantiated. Dilworth then continued to accuse Knauer of being “guilty of manslaughter by automobile” and having the “records destroyed”. Knauer called this a lie and told how he was driving when his car hit a snowplow and his passenger was killed and that the records were intact. Knauer sued Dilworth. Dilworth admitted he was wrong on one of his charges. Knauer withdrew the suit.

Dilworth defeated Longsteth 59% to 41%. Democrat Victor Blanc defeated Knauer.

Longstreth stated Dliworth later told him some of Dilworth’s “famous rages” were planned as they was an asset. DIlworth told him “In politics, politeness is weakness. Anything is OK to get elected. You never win by playing the Queensburg rules.”

Clark for Senator in 1956. Greenfield opposed his running and wanted a different candidate. Dilworth defended Clark. Clark ran and narrowly defeated Jim Duff.

Dilworth stated in his augural address as Mayor “We must never forget that good government is our strength...We must demonstrate our belief in it by deeds, not just by words.”

Under Dilworth, much building continued that Clark began The Dock Street open air market that smelled and was rat infested was closed Penn Center buildings were constructed. The Recreation Commission was professionalized. Dilworth refused to offer patronage yet Democratic leaders got him to allow 500 of 27,000 city jobs to be patronage. City Solicitor David Berger noted Dilworth wanted reform yet he was also pragmatic. Dilworth defended a new charter by allowing political bosses to have a few jobs.

Dilworth appointed Albert Greenfield as City Planning Commission Chairman. Some criticized this as Greenfield was a developer. The Executive Director Edmund Bacon found Greenfield involved with “vested interests” and that Greenfield “messed with the detailed zoning cases”. Greenfield did not interfere with the comprehensive plan and supported the long term physical development plans. Dilworth felt he needed Greenfield because Greenfield, and not Dilworth, could deal with Democratic Party Chairman Bill Green and his key leaders Matthew McCloskey and Jim Clark. Mayor Joe Clark had not faced this problem as Jim Finnegan was Democratic Party City Chairman while Clark was Mayor and Finnegan supported Clark and his charter change efforts.

Dilworth ade Sam Regalbuto the Public Property Commissioner. Dilworth heard a Regalbuto staffer attempted to extract $10,000 from an architect. Dilworth demanded the staffer be fired and that there be no more shakedowns. Dilworth later stated “I’m sure he continued to do some shakedowns. But we never got another complaint.”

Dilworth, unlike Clark, reached out to work with City Council. They met frequently. Councilman Paul D’Ortona stated Dilworth “would compromise. He would respect your views. And if he made a mistake, he was the first to apologize.”

Dilworth appointed his former law firm as Bond Counsel, stating “the firm made it possible for me to be in politics...I think I have the right to stick by them.”

Dilworth and his wife were on the ship Andrea Doria when it collided with an ocean liner. 46 of the 1,1345 passengers died.

Dilworth responded to most articles written about him or his administration. Sometimes he would send a personal letter to the author. Other times he would send a letter for editorial publication.

Dilworth criticized District Attorney Victor Blanc for banning a Brigitte Bardot filmed from being show in Philadelphia. Dilworth stated Blanc shouldn’t decide what movies Philadelphians could see.

Dilworth proposed a $40 per year parking license for residential parking. This was met with angry crowds that threw rocks and shattered glass that cut Councilman Tom Foglietta. Dilworth ignored the protested and walked through them.

Diworth took time to respond to the letters he received, even ones that were critical or had extreme ideas.

Blacks were 26% of Philadelphia population when Dilworth was Mayor. Dilworth saw new race problems that were national in scope. Dilworth declared there was a “white noose” of suburban white communities surrounding Philadelphia where Blacks could not leave the city for the suburbs because of prejudice. Housing costs were kept high to make them unaffordable for Blacks. Some communities outright excluded Blacks.

30% of city employees were Black. Dilworth had good relations with Black community leaders. Dilworth wanted Blacks to be able to purchase homes, something he saw as “virtually impossible” for many. He noticed “non-Negro” housing was being constructed that placed high prices so Blacks could not afford to live there.

Dilworth stated there were Blacks spread throughout Philadelphia. He noted white Protestants who were “apt to be your most prosperous person” were leaving Philadelphia He also noted there was more crime in Polish-American and ItalianAmerican neighborhoods than in the Black neighborhoods.

Dilworth was against banning housing discrimination just in Philadelphia as that would lead to more whites leaving Philadelphia. He wanted it banned statewide.

Dilworth supported mass transit. He unsuccessfully proposed there be free bus service within a 400 block area. Dilworth, in 1963, agreed to a request by President John Kennedy to lead the Eastern Railroad Authority which worked on high speed rail between Washington and Boston. This work was ignored by President Lyndon Johnson.

City Planning Commission Executive Director Ed Bacon and Dilworth guided reviving Society Hill. City Council barely approved the proposals allowing this. Dilworth was influential in getting City Council to pass this.

Dilworth was the choice of most Pennsylvania Democratic leaders to run again for Governor in 1954. Philadelphia Democratic Party Chairman Bill Green was against this as he was upset that Dilworth had taken away his patronage jobs. He also did not like that Dilworth was against Victor Blanc being reelected District Attorney. Dilworth believe Blanc was undoing many of the reforms he had brought to the District Attorney’s office. Dilworth decided in 1954 that it was not worth fighting Green. He did not run for Governor. Blanc was reelected.

In 1958, Governor George Leader wanted Dilworth to succeed him. Mayor David Lawrence, who backed Dilworth in 1950 and 1954, backed Dilworth again in 1958. Former Senator William Benton of Connecticut urged for Dilworth’s elected as Governor as a stepping stone for the Presidency in 1960.

Dilworth spoke in favor of admitting China to the United Nations. Democratic State Chairman Joseph Barr and Mayor Lawrence publicly stated those remarks made him unacceptable to be nominated for Governor. Lawrence was nominated and elected over Republican Arthur McGonigle.

City Council President James Tate was close to Bill Green. He held up approving funds for projects that Dilworth wanted.

Dilworth was renominated for Mayor, despite internal Democratic Party bickering, unanimously by the Democratic Policy Committee. Republicans nominated former Minnesota Governor and former University of Pennsylvania President Harold Stassen. Dilworth won with 66% of the vote to Stassen’s 34%.

It was disclosed the firm building the Frankford Elevated rail line defrauded the city of millions of dollars. Republican leaders called for a grand jury to look into all of City Hall. Dilworth opposed this and presented the courts with evidence of quality performances in every city department. The state Supreme Court agreed that a grand jury was not necessary. Dilworth later stated he knew if there were a grand jory that City Council would halt most of his programs. Council members, Dilworth claimed, received payoffs of $1,500 to %2,500 from gasoline stations for zoning variances. Dilworth wanted the oil company executives to testify about this yet they refused, stating it would hurt them in the eleven cities that demanded payoffs.

Dilworth supported John Kennedy for President in 1960. ADA supported Adlai Stevenson. Kennedy campaigned with Dilworth and Green which helped bridge communications between them.

Dilworth ran for Governor in 1962. Green supported former Lt. Gov. John Morgan Davis for Governor as Dilworth turned down his requests for state patronage jobs. Green declared “All we want is an understanding from the Mayor that the people who elect him aren’t going to be replaced by his ADA friends.”

Republicans nominated U.S. Rep, WIlliam Scranton, who supported civil rights, increasing the minimum wage, and creating the Peace Corps. Scranton attacked Dilworth’s ties to the Democratic Party machine politics and for preventing the grand jury from being created to look into Philadelphia city government corruption. Scranton declared that Dilworth Administration was a “nest of squalor and corruption”.

Dilworth was expected to debate an empty chair on television as Scranton had not responded to the debate invitation Scranton arrived in time for the debate Dilworth had agreed not to use props yet since Scranton hadn’t agreed to the rules, he brought a bucket of whitewash and a brush to illustrate his intention to wash Pennsylvania of corruption. A Dilworth aide, William Klenk, stated later he believes that after the debate Dilworth tried to invoke Scranton to hit him in press view. Dilworth declared to Scranton “if you shake that effeminate finger at me one more time, I’ll separate you from your skinny ass”. Scranton didn’t take the bait and remained cool.

President John Kennedy had to cancel campaigning with Dilworth due to the Cuban missile crisis.

Scranton won with 55% of the vote to Dilworth’s 45%. Joe Clark was reelected Senator.

In 1965, Mayor James Tate appointed Dilworth as President of the Board of Education. The School Board hired 15 administrators with strong backgrounds in liberal arts with an average age of 35. Among those hired was Graham Finney, who in turn hired W. Wilson Goode. Goode would later become Philadelphia Mayor.

Finney proposed a new integrated high school in a nearly all white neighborhood in Northeast Philadelphia. 2,000 people protested yet Dilworth stood in support of Finney.

John Patterson of the School Board proposed and helped created magnet schools that would attract an integrated study body from across the city.

Dilworth and aides created the Parkway Program that held classes in libraries, museums, and other institutions.

Black students protested for more Black principals, Black teachers, and Black Studies classes. Police Commissioner Fran Rizzo had about 200 police officers get into military formation and use their night sticks to disperse the crowd. 18 were injured. Dilworth declared the children protesting were not to be blamed, Mayor Tate responded that Dilworth had no right to comment on police matters.

Dilworth believed Rizzo know about racketeering and looked the other way. Rizzo led raids on coffeehouses that were not breaking the law yet residents feared were turning their neighborhoods into “another Greenwich Village”. Dilworth’s Managing Director Donald Wagner defended the police arguing they had sufficient cause to crack down on places where young people gathered.

As Mayor, Dilworth created the nation’s first civilian Police Advisory Board (PAB) to look into wrongful police actions. The Fraternal Order of Police claimed the PAB was a “communist plot to undermine law enforcement”. DIlworth originally expected the PAB to control graft. It became a place where many raised issues of police brutality. The PAB received about 1,000 cases in the 1960s.

Frank Rizzo was elected Mayor in 1971 with 53% of the vote to Republican Thacher Longstreth’s 46%. Dilworth retired as School Board President before Rizzo became Mayor.

Great Republicans Such as Richard Nixon Came From California

Kevin Starr. California: A History. New York: Modern Library Chronicles Book, 2007.

California in 2005 had a $1.5 trillion economy, which if California were a country, would make it the fifth largest national economy in the world.

Los Angeles is the city with the second largest population of Mexicans worldwide.

California’s 36 million people in 2004 was 12.5% of the U.S. population. In other words, 1 in 8 of every American is a Californian.

California’s 2000 population was 32.4% Latino and almost 11% Asian.

California exported $117 billion to other countries in 2000. The Port of Los Angeles - Long Beach is the U.S.’s busiest port.

Spanish explorers arrived in California in 1533 and six years later they began calling it after a mythic location.

There were probably over 25 generations of Native Americans living in California before the Spanish arrived. Disease and genocide will kill off most of them and their descendants.

Spanish Jesuits built missions in Baja California beginning in the lat 17th century. As  Spain did not have the personnel or resources to expand northward from their settlements, the Jesuits served as a starting point in furthering their reach. The Jesuits protected the Native Americans as they served as their own leadership. In the 18th century, the Jesuit domains and assets were seized by the Spanish government. The Jesuits in Baja California were expelled from their land as part of this seizure. The Spanish leadership feared this left a vacuum that some other country could move into that territory.

Some Jesuits, led by Father Serra, Juan Crespi and Francisco Palou, led mission settlements still northward into California.  Pueblos, which were secular communities, were formed in San Jose de Guadaluoe, in what is now part San Francisco, in 1777 followed by Los Angeles which was formed in 1781. Being sent to a California pueblo then was often a punishment.

Father Serra was upset at the abuses that Spanish soldiers were doing, including sexually abusing Native American women. There were also tensions between the missionaries who were under the Jesuit leadership and the secularist who who under the military Governor. Father Serra brought the matters before the Viceroy of New Spain, Antonio Maria Bucareli.

Native Americans were often forced from their lands and forced to live in the missions where they were often ill treated. Some missions were attacked and missionary parties were killed by Native Americans.

Mexico became independent of Spain in 1821. It was led by a dictatorial Emperor,
Augustin Iturbide. In 1824, Mexico became a federal republic with Alta California and Baja California as its territories. The old social order remained strong and Mexico tended to revert back to a military dictatorship.

Californios generally wanted to be left alone or to govern themselves.There were frequent disagreements between the California padres and the Mexican military officers.  In 1836, Juan Bautista Alvarado declared California a free state and was assisted by Isaac Graham and his followers. The Mexican government responded by changing California from a territory to a department with Alvardao as a mostly autonomous Governor.

The population of Mexican California which were not Native Americans was never more than 7,000 and only 1,000 of those were males. The Native Americans either became wards of Franciscans, fled inland, or had died off.

In 1833, Mexico secularized the missions. In 1834, about 250 colonists moved to Alta California. The California Governor, Jose Figueroa, a Brever General, was against the new colony’s settlement. Figueroa preferred the lands remain with the Native Americas already living there. Figueroa wanted the Native Americans to keep their lands and eventually become Mexican citizens. Figueroa’s plans for secularizing the missions were abandoned after he died.

21 Franciscan missions were built. Most Native Americans were badly treated.

Native Americans attacked Mexican establishments.

About 600 land grants in California were issued by the Mexicans.

English, Russian, and Americans displayed interest in California. Spain did not permit any foreign ships from landing in California.

Mariano Guadalupe Vallego, in 1833, began commanding a military district north of San Francisco. He protected against attacks by Native Americans and Russians.

17 American trappers were the first Americans to arrive in California in 1826. Secretary of State James Buchanan sent word that Californios, if they became independent of Mexico, should then become part of the U.S.

There was a Catholic vs. Protestant religious divide in California. There were plans to accept 10000 Irish Catholics to California. This was in part due to a growing Methodist populaiton. Lyman Beecher, an American preacher, was advocating Protestant settlement of the Western part of the U.S. continent.

Sen. Thomas Hart Benton and others supported the Manifest Destiny which was a belief that God wanted the United States to extend to the Pacific Ocean. Benton’s son-in-law, John Charles Fremont, led expeditions into California. Kit Carson as Chief of Stat on a large army expedition. It was apparent to the Mexican leadership that Fremont wanted to seize California. Fremont claimed President James Polk and Secretary of State James Buchanan secretly asked Fremont to seize California. Scholars believe this claim may be false.

Admiral John Drake Sloat learned of Fremont’s actions and sailed to Monterey and San Francisco to capture them for the U.S. Commodore Robert Field Stockton took command and named Fremont Brevet Major of the California Battalion of Mounted Riflemen.

Kit Carson led a “bloodthirsty” march that slaughtered Native American villages and murdered two sons of a leading Mexicans. Andres Pico, the Mexican Governor’s brother, led an attack that killed 23 Americans. The Americans responded with a larger group that seized Los Angeles. California was surrendered to Fremont, believing hie was the most understanding of the American attackers.

Fremont and Stockton both believed they were the new Governor. A Military Governor, Colonel Richard Mason, was named as Governor. Fremont was arrested for mutiny. Fremont was found guilty yet was fully pardoned by President Polk.

Fremont would later be the Republican Party’s first nominee for President in 1856.

The United States and Mexico signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The U.S. received all Mexican territories north of the Rio Grande. The U.S. paid Mexico $15 million plus paid claims agains the U.S. made by Mexican citizens of $3,250,000. California was governed according to international law as a wartime occupied enemy territory.

Whether California should have slavery delayed California becoming a territory. California was governed by military civil administration alongside local law governance. Allcaide law, which came from Islamic and Christian Spanish influences, was use as a military form of governance where the military were chief executives, judges, and juries.

Intermarriage between Americans and Mexicans was common.

Mormons escaping persecution moved to California. Many Mormons served as needed manual laborers.

Captain John Augustus Sutter brought New York military personnel plus discharged Mormons to settle in what became known as Sacramento. A prosperous sawmill attracted more settlers. Captain James Wilson Marshall in 1848 discovered gold in the mill’s gravel bed. A rush of people began looking for gold. A regional rush in 1848 became an international rush in 1849. California went from under 10,000 non-Native Americans in 1848 to almost 100,000 non-Native Americans in 1850 to 250,000 in 1851.

1 in 12 gold prospectors died during the travel or while searching for gold Claims disputes were common and often met with violence. The homicide rate in Los Angeles from September 1850 to September 1851 was 1,240 per 100,000, its highest rate ever,

The gold belonged to whoever found it and got it to an assay center. $594 million (about $10 billion in 2001 dollar) was found.

A license tax of $20 per month on foreigners looking for gold drove away 10,000 of the estimated 15,000 Mexican gold miners.

By 1870, San Francisco was the tenth largest U.S. city.

Brigadier General Bennett Riley was the last of the military Governors. He had the public elect a Constitutional Convention of 48 Delegates. The public ratified the Constitution in 1849 by 12,061 in favor to 811 against.

Peter Burnett was the first elected Governor. The state legislature was known as the “Legislature of a Thousand Drinks” as State Sen. Thomas Jefferson Green would announce at adjournment “Well, boys, let’s go and take a thousand drinks”.

The U.S. Senators were chosen by the legislature to negotiate for statehood. John Charles Fremont was unanimously elected, William Gwin was elected after three ballots.

Gwin was pro-slavery. Sen. John Calhoun’s last speech, which had to be read fo him, was against admitting California without Congressional approval. Sen. Daniel Webster was detrimental to Southern Senators while arguing that California and New Mexico did not have terrain where slavery could be used. Sen. William Seward argued California had legally formed a government and that no one should expect people to remain under military rule.

President Zachary Taylor wanted California admitted as a state with no reference to slavery. Taylor died. The new President, Millard Fillmore, supported California statehood.

Sen. Henry Clay proposed California become a free state while New Mexico and Utah would become territories without referring to slavery in addition to abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia while enacting a stronger fugitive slave law.

Sen. Stephen Douglas proposed admitting California as a free state. His bill passed the Senate 34 to 18 and the House by 150 t 56 and President Fillmore signed it.

California, while a free state, elected pro-slavery members of Congress. Gwin handled Federal patronage. Gwin kept control of patronage when David Broderick was elected as an anti-slavery Senator. Broderick died in a duel.

Numerous Native Americans were forced into servitude similar to slavery. The state government sanctioned this. Genocidal massacres of Native Americans happened in several parts of California.

John Augustus Sutter received numerous land grant. The U.S. agreed to honor land grants awarded by previous Mexican and Spanish governments. Many Mexican claims were vague. There were numerous settlers on land Sutter claimed. Sutter wanted them removed. Over two days of riots and confrontations, the Sheriff, several Deputy Sheriffs, and the City Assessor were dead and the Mayor was seriously hurt.

813 land claims went before the courts. 604 claims were upheld. It took 17 years for some cases to be heard and go through appeals. Many holders of land grants lost their holdings due to legal costs. Many of these were Hispanics who concluded that this would “a legalized form of theft.”

The railroad became California’s largest land owner.

Several South Californians asked that Southern California be admitted to the U.S. as a separate state. Several bills in the state legislature in the 1850s proposed this.

The Masons sought to keep Irish Catholics out of San Francisco. By 1870, San Francisco’s population was one third Irish Catholic.

A state prison at Point San Quentin was built in 1852. The prison management was subcontracted to those seeking profits. Prisoners were once not fed for a week. Politically connected prisoners were given special privileges including being released.

Agoston Haraszthy heralded creating a wine industry. He wrote a report for the State Agricultural Society in 1859 and another for the state legislature in 1863. He delivered to California 200,000 cuttings of 1,400 grape varieties.

In 1874, Governor Newton Booth was elected to the U.S. Senate. Lt. Gov. Romualdo Pacheo became Governor, becoming the only Hispanic Governor during the U.S. era.

The California public was mostly pro-Union during the Civil War Several pro-Confederate groups exists. Since California did not use the draft, men avoiding the draft moved to California.

There were desires to improve transporting goods in and out of California as well as concerns about the British invading California as well as fears about succession-ist sentiments along the West Coast. In 1862, the Union Pacific was granted a right of way to build a railroad from Omaha while the Central Pacific was given a right of way to build a railroad from Sacramento. Each would own 40 miles of width along their rails.

Railroad owners raised $15,800 for what would earn them over $200 million over the next few decades. Governor Leland Stanford also served as the same time as President of the Central Pacific.

There were not enough men to build the rails. 50 Chinese laborers, whose ethnicity made it difficult for them to find work, were hired as rail workers in 1865, They worked well and impressed the railroad owners, Eventually 10,000 Chinese would be hired for the rest of project.

There were marches against capitalism including protesting the political and economic powers of the unregulated railroads and the unregulated banks. A new state Constitution was called for in 1877. The protest movement quieted after that. Still, the railroads and banks dominated California’s economy and politics.

California was the state that grew the most wheat in the 1870s and the 1880s until Minnesota began growing more wheat in the early 1890s. The wheat grows in northern California.

Refrigerated rail cars could get California produce, such as oranges, lemons, and grapefruit, to Europe within a week.

In 1900, almost half of the California population of 1,485,053 lived in the San Francisco Bay area, over 100,000 lived in Los Angeles, and about 18,000 lives in San Diego. The addition of Big Red Cars, which delivered freight across the state, into Los Angeles helped drive the Los Angeles populatkon to 319,198 in 1910.

The Big Red Cars executives had large political influence in San Francisco and Los Angeles. The public impression of railroads was cemented in the results of a shootout between ranchers unable to pay the escalated land prices to railroads and the U.S. Marshals that attempted to evict them which left seven dead.

The University of California at Berkeley, beginning in 1868, followed by Stanford, admitted women on equal consideration as given to men.

Political corruption led to the rise of opposition political organizations including Progressives, Fabian Socialists, and Red Socialists.

The 1908 San Francisco earthquakes killed about 3,000 people and devastated numerous communities.

The California legislature passed the Draining Act of 1878 which provided for $100,000 for studies of irrigation, drainage, and navigation and created a State Engineer. The State Engineer, William Hammond Hall, conducted studies for a decade.

An 1877 lawsuit on riparian rights created a compromise allowing different parties to take water at different times from a river. This was the type of model compromise that others sought in subsequent disputes.

The Wright Act of 1877, heralded by State Sen. C.C. Wright, created local irrigation districts that could take land by eminent domain, divert river water for irrigation and / or flood control, and could tax and issue revenue bonds.

A canal diverted water from the Colorado River into the Salton Sink which was renamed Imperial Valley.

An inadequately and illegally made second canal flooded Southern California when the Colorado River shifted course. 1,500 men poured 2,500 carloads of rock, gravel, and clay to combat the flooding. President Theodore Roosevelt promised to compensate the Southern Pacific Railway for its damages yet Congress did not approve this.

The Los Angeles Aqueduct of 235 miles of canals, tunnels, conduit, and similar facilities took six years to build.

The O’Shaughnessey Dam project of four dams, 100 miles of pipes, and 60 miles of tunnels took 11 years go build. 90 died working on this.

The U.S. and Japan agreed to allow 30,000 Japanese women into the U.S for the Japanese custom of arranged marriages to men who their localities in Japan for the U.S.

The Boulder Dam, constructed from 1931 to 1935, later renamed the Hoover Dam, provided more water to Southern California.

Automobiles were popular in Los Angeles. There were 310,000 automobiles per day in Los Angeles in 1924, which was more than the total number of cars in New York State. The corner of Figueroa and Adams in Los Angeles was the busiest vehicle intersection in the entire nation. Streetcar usage in 1933 was half what it was in its peak year of 1924.

San Francisco also saw sharply increased vehicle traffic. The San Francisco Ferry Building was the second busiest ferry terminal in the world behind one in London in the mid-1920s. San Francisco built bridges to met growing vehicle demands.

Amadeo Peter Giannini believed banks could serve others than the rich and that large numbers of smaller financial depositors could make a sturdy bank. He studied how Canada did branch banking and opened 64 branch banks of the Bank of Italy throughout California. The Bank of Italy as well as the Bank of American created loans that resulted in much home construction, office buildings, public utilities, agricultural ventures, and the film industry in the early third of the 20th century. The Bank of America was an important financier of building the Golden Gate Bridge, which was built from 1933 to 1937.

The economic diversity of California led to the Depression hitting California later than it did the industrial areas.

Migratory farm labor has been a consistency in California’s economy since the 19th century. Whites and Chinese was the primary migrant farm workers in the 1880s and 1890s, Japanese and East Indians entered this profession in the 1900s followed by Mexicans and African Americans in the 1920s.

In the early 20th century, labor unions gained strength, followed by a “Red Scare” reaction, in California as well as nationally.  In 1919, California passed the Criminal Syndication Act which made it a felony to advocate violence for political or industrial control changes. This law was used to sent about forty members of the International Workers of the World to prison. This law was declared unconstitutional in 1969.

Upton Sinclair, a socialist writer, was on the verge of being elected Governor in 1934. The film industry responded with fake films of hobos in Russian accents claiming they were moving to California for the revolution. Frank Merriman was elected.

There was a shortage of migrant labor during World War II. A program of bringing Mexican workers in by train began and continued until 1964.

Culbert Olson was elected Governor. He promised, and delivered on this promise, to release Tom Mooney from prison. Mooney had served 26 years in prison for a labor struggle bombing which most believe he was innocent. Earl Warren was elected Governor against Olson. Warren promised the first thing he would do as Governor would be to fire Carey McWilliams as Commissioner of Immigration and Housing for his activist support of better immigrant conditions.

During World War II a “Yellow Peril” movement began that made people suspicious of Japanese Americans. This fear dated prior going back to the Alien Land Act which the legislature adopted in 1913 which disallowed Japanese from owning land. President Woodrow Wilson argued against the bill yet Governor Hiram Johnson, a progressive Republican, signed it into law. Even a progressive Democrat, Senator James Phelan, spoke against the Japanese. During World War II, the Governor, Attorney General, both Senators, and Mayors of San Francisco and Los Angeles called for evacuating Japanese. 110,000 Japanese were removed from their homes and placed in relocation camps.

Riots broke out in 1943 people Mexican Americans, mostly teenagers, wearing zoot suits versus men in military uniforms, mostly teenagers. Zoot suits became a symbol of adolescent rebellion.

From 1940 to 1950 California’s population grew by 53% from 6.9 million to 10.6 million. Disneyland helped create growth in southern California.

The anti-Communist movement led to dismissals of faculty members who refused to sign a loyalty oath. The movement helped elect Richard Nixon to Congress and then to the Senate.

The film industry became well established in California. It never suffered an economic slum. The arts of various kinds flourished in California.

The angry crowd reactions of white police officers arrested several Blacks led to five days of riots in Watts in 1965. In 1972, riots broke out again in Los Angeles only this time Blacks and Hispanics were pitted against whites and Koreans.

Sometimes Republicans Can Work With a New York Democrat

Kiristen Gillibrand. Raise Your Voice, Change the World. New York: Ballantine Books, 2014.

The author hopes this book will inspire readers into “action” for better public policies. She shares her experiences and provides lessons she has learning in attempting to “create the counts we want and deserve.”

Gillibrand was inspired by her mother, Polly, a politically active woman. Both derives inspiration from her grandmother, also named Polly, who worked as a secretary for the New York state legislature. Her grandmother helped recruit secretaries and place then with legislators. Her grandmother wore roller skates to get around the Capitol. The grandmother was active with the Albany County Democratic Women’s Club and led a group who called themselves “Polly’s Girls”, who circulated petitions, organized rallies, campaigned, and fund raised. Polly was close to Albany’s Mayor Erastus Corning. Polly defended the local political organization, claiming it was not a political machine, remarking “It’s not a machine! It’s a well-oiled organization. A machine has no heart.”

GIllibrand went to Yale and then UCLA Law School. She found herself inspired hearing Hillary Clinton, which motivated her to go into politics. She held a fund raiser for Hillary Clinton’s Senate campaign She then was hired to work for the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department.

Gillibrand decided to run for Congress. Political experts told her a Democrat couldn’t win in her district. She went to three campaign training schools. She took a poll that showed that while the Republican ncumbent John Sweeney led her by 57% to 19% that half the Republicans were undecided  on the race. If she could do well with Democrats and pick up significant enough support among Independents and Republicans, she had a change even though the district was 2 to 1 Republican. She campaigned hard and won.

She supported Steny Hoyer over John Murtha for Majority Leader, much to the chagrin of Nancy Pelosi. She does not regret doing this.

In Congress, she fought to end the $25 bill for overhead charged for child support. She fought to ban unsafe drop side cribs. She fought for more care for veterans with post traumatic stress disorder. She fought for assistance for 9-11 first responders. She fought to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and allowing gays to serve in the military. She sought more actions to prevent sexual abuse in the military.

She brought her children to work and allowed staff to bring their children to work. When she went to the Senate, the Senate rules did not allow her to bring her children onto the Senate floor. She had to figure out where to leave her children while voting.

Although she had only been in Congress for two years, she asked Governor David Patterson to consider naming her to the Senate vacancy left when Hillary Clinton left the Senate to become Secretary of State. She advises that women to “use that feminine strength”. to “trust yourself”, and “draw your own map”. It is alright for a woman to be ambitious, even as most women shy away from appearing ambitious. She told Governor Patterson being from upstate New York and having lived a decade in New York City that she could represent the entire state. She heard many of the other people interviewed had criticized each other and her remarks to the Governor were “I’ve heard the nastiest things about you! And you have reflected none of that. It makes me like you even more.” His staff asked many later questions on where she stood on several issues. Governor Patterson picked her.

In Congress, she represented a rural area with many hunters and had an “A” rating from the National Rifle Association. After becoming Senator, she met with people affected by gun violence and her opinions on guns evolved.

One of her earliest acts as Senator was to draft a bill to allow gays to serve in the military. The White House wanted someone with more seniority to sponsor the bill. She helped convince Senator Joe Lieberman to introduce the bill. He agreed and his support helped attract more support.

Many people who were first responders at the September 11 terrorist attack later developed illnesses, especially lung ailments. Gillibrand sought to provide them with medical benefits. This effort was successful.

Gillibrand fought for justice for those sexually abused by superiors while serving in the military. She was quickly joined by Senator Blumenthal, Boxer, Collins, and Mikulski. Senators Paul and Cruz also joined making the issue bipartisan. She continues with this fight.

Let Them in Harrisburg Eat Funnel Cake

A good method for local officials to better understand tourist is to try to view their locality as tourists find the area.

Harrisburg hosted a conference of a group to which I belonged. I had traveled to various cities for this organization. I already had experienced many of the problems tourists face with unfamiliar surroundings. I wondered how our guests had fared visiting Harrisburg. So I asked them.

Keeping in mind what our visitors stated, I then attempted to view Harrisburg as a tourist might. Here are some observations:

The main physical attractions (not counting periodic attractions such as festivals and sports games)  in Harrisburg are the Civil War Museum (while technically outside the city it is owned by the city government), the State Capitol, the Whitaker Center, the Fire Museum, and the John Harris Museum. A striking feature is many residents do not know how to tell a tourist how to get to some of these places. Hotel, restaurant, and services staff often do not know how to tell tourists how to get to these places. A few well placed brochures and increasing residents’ awareness of these attractions would help. Further, finding ways to attract local residents to these attractions (i.e. discounts or special features according to attendees’ zip codes) would help.

If people do not wish to drive to any of these locations and wish to use mass transit, even fewer local residents could tell them how to do so. For the John Harris Museum, the correct answer is you can’t get there by bus. Fortunately, the John Harris Museum, the State Capitol, and the Whitaker Center are walkable from the downtown hotels.

As for the other two attractions, there is nothing on the bus schedules which mention even which bus lines go near these museums. There is nothing on the maps of the buses going nearest these attractions that show where these museums are and which stops from which to exit, nor in which directions the shorts walks are to reach these museums.

The bus system is designed for commuters. The schedules and printed bus schedules are meant for commuter use. There is nothing wrong with this, as the bus officials are meeting their customer needs. Yet, if we wish to get tourists to feel comfortable using our bus system, some easily achievable changes could assist.

The printed bus schedules could include more landmarks, including what commercial, entertainment, and museums are located along and near the bus routes. This will help tourists. Further, newly arrived residents, and perhaps some long time residents would haven’t ventured out much lately, could also benefit from more information as to what is reachable along which bus lines.

The front page of the bus schedules, which list bus destinations, should include listing the museums. At present, the schedules do not mention them.

It is also advisable the bus schedules use a bolder and larger font. One of the complaints I received from people with vision difficulties who wanted to explore the area by bus is the schedules were difficult to read. It would help if the schedules were easier to read.

It would be helpful to tourists, new residents, and casual bus riders who may not be familiar with the bus system if bus stops would include the bus number(s) at the bus stops. This would especially be useful in the downtown areas where several buses stop at different nearby locations. It helps ridership if people are standing at the correct stop.

It would also be helpful if the bus numbers could be placed on the back of the buses. I have often seen people chasing buses only to realize they are chasing the wrong buses. This could be prevented if the bus numbers were displayed in back and in front of buses.

It is good to see plans to place the downtown bus originations closer to the train station. It is also good to see that Amtrak is planning a stop close to the airport. It helps tourists if transportation modes transfers are easier to reach. At present, transferring from one mass transit mode to another may be confusing as the transfer areas are uncommonly further distances from each other.

An issue that needs consideration is the current use of the bus transfer area as outdoor homeless shelters. The city should offer those who choose to be outdoors and homeless better accommodations. In speaking with visitors, especially those staying at the downtown Crowne Plaza, the presence of the homeless and pan handlers at the Market Square bus area is a deterrent to visitors going past that area. They thus are deterred from walking to the downtown restaurants and other attractions.

The Capitol building is an integral part of Harrisburg tourism. The Pennsylvania Capitol is the largest Capitol building in the nation. According to Smithsonian magazine, it is the “most ornate” of the Capitol buildings. It should be a key tourist destination.

A problem many tourists note is the State Capitol has a small gift shop. Having been to several State Capitols, I can confirm this. I find it hard to imagine that the largest Capitol in the country is unable to find enough room to accommodate the desires of tourists to spend money.

Even more ironic is some of the better quality gifts that the Pennsylvania Capitol has to offer are sold from an office on the Capitol’s top floor. There are few directional signs within the building guiding tourists to this shop. These items should be sold in a shop experiencing higher tourist traffic.

We have an excellent Fire Museum. I have been to several fire museums in other cities, and ours stands out amongst the best. What it lacks is attendees. The Fire Museum should be part of an organized attempt to get people to not only come to Harrisburg, yet to have seeing this museum as among their reasons in which to increase their stay.

I was surprised at the recent suggestions by some that the Civil War Museum be closed. On the contrary, Harrisburg stands to benefit from the tourism this museum attracts. It should be used to entice more visitors. It was always a logical idea to attempt to attract the many tourists who visit two of the busiest Pennsylvania attractions, namely Gettysburg and Hersheypark. Harrisburg is between these two.

Having the best Civil War Museum should especially entice the Gettysburg tourists wishing to learn more about the Civil War. The Civil War Museum is critical for attracting these tourist dollars. We should be encouraging local hotels to offer free or low cost shuttles to Civil War Museum, which would also help attract tourists to book at these hotels..

As much as this following statement may attract some angry resentments, the dead projects of creating more museums would have been steps in the right direction. There are good arguments over which types of museums would have been best. Certainly the manner in which they were handled warranted criticism. The issue of creating more museums should be revisited.

A Wild West Museum could have attracted visitors to the area who are not able to travel to the Western U.S. to see their wild west museums. (Indeed, there really aren’t that many such museums out west, anyway.) An assortment of museums, such as an African American Museum and a sports museum would draw a mixture of tourists. There should have been public debate over what that mix of museums should be. Those ideas were decent ones. Such ideas should be rekindled, and done so in open public discussion with the museums created with public oversight.

An issue that several tourists complain about is the airport taxi service. One company has a monopoly over picking up passengers. It was reported in the Patriot that this would done to punish a competitor who overcharged. Yet experiences show that rides from the airport into Harrisburg are often about twice what is charged for rides from Harrisburg to the airport from all taxi services. This makes one wonder if overcharging is now institutionalized.

Further, it is frustrating for airport arrivers to discover there are no taxis outside. One driver told me the company with the airport monopoly also has a county contract and that while he was coming to pick up a passenger, the county contract called and the county receives priority over airport passengers.

A representative from a competing cab company stated his driver could pick up a passenger at the airport but the driver would have to pay a surcharge which meant the driver would lose money taking a passenger from the airport into Harrisburg. Whatever the facts are, the airport’s taxi service needs to improve. The reputation of Harrisburg as a tourist destination depends upon it.

The city needs innovative ideas in attracting tourists. A city in Vietnam decorated its bridge to look like a dragon which brings people to see the bridge. The Colorado State Capitol has a winter lights display that pulls in lots of cars driving by. We could decorate our pedestrian bridge. Our Capitol or City Hall could have a night lights show. There could be lots of other ideas. There could be a competition on what could be done---indeed, several good projects could be done--- and some of the funds designated for the arts could be used to invest in something innovative where the arts could attract tourists.

Harrisburg is in a good location between major tourist attractions, connected to several highways, is a rail terminating station, and has an international airport. With a few steps in the right direction, it can find financial success attracting tourists.

The Search for Intelligent Life in Outer Space and Within the Republican Party

Lynn Sherr. Sally Ride: America’s First Woman in Space. New York:Simon and Shuster, 2014.

This is an excellent insightful look into the life of Sally Ride. The following are notes from the book that should be of use to Public Administration and American History students:

It was suggested by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Director James Webb in 1962 that women should be allowed to be considered for becoming astronauts. Vice President Lyndon Johnson, who headed NASA, replied with “Let’s stop this now!”

In 1964, 1% of those with high paying jobs at NASA at the GS- 12 or higher levels were female.

In 1967, NASA sought non-pilot scientists without specifying gender.

The Soviet Union made Valentina Tereshkova he first female (and sixth) cosmonaut. She orbited the Earth 48 times in three days.

Passage of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act in 1972 made employment discrimination according to gender illegal. Government agencies were included in those required to abide by this new law.

President Nixon rejected a proposal for a NASA flight to Mars.

In 1976, NASA encourage women to apply to become astronauts. Nichelle Nicholas, who portrayed Lt. Uhara on “Star Trek” was hired to promote women and Blacks applying to become astronauts. Sally Ride with a Ph.D. in Astrophysics, was among the first women hired for this NASA training. 35 people were selected with 21 from the military.

Ride took pilot lessons privately and obtained a pilot’s license. Non-pilot mission specialists wound need to know about piloting in case a pilot became incapacitated.

Sally Ride worked on the Remote Manipulator System which involved engineering knowledge in operating an arm that could lift and move a payload. Ride often worked from 8:30 am until 9 pm learning about these operations.

Ride was chosen to be the first American woman in space. Ride married. There was a rumor that NASA did not want the image of a single woman in space with several men.

Engineers wanted Sally Ride to have enough tampons for a one week space flight yet were woefully ignorant of how many would be necessary. “Is 100 the right number?” one asked. Ride didn’t tell them that her strenuous exercising had stopped her periods.

Ride went into space on June 18, 1983.

When Sally Ride visited Norway, the U.S. Ambassador Mark Austad remarked “I’m sure it’s been a tiring journey. I guess it’s like rape. If it’s inevitable, you might as well lie back and enjoy it.”

Sally Ride and others knew that launching a spacecraft in below freezing weather could cause the 0 rings to ignite and explode the craft. NASA management ignored this in launching the Challenger, which exploded for this precise reason.

Ride made three flights into space. After the Challenger disaster, she decided that was enough. She remained with NASA for a year to help with their “recovery process”. Ride retired from NASA in 1987.

Stanford University declined to offer Ride a professorship. She instead became a tenured Physics Professor at the University of California, San Diego and Director of the California Space Institute.

After the Columbia exploded on reentry, Ride noted it could have remained in flight for about 30 days. During that time, the Atlantic could have been sent to rescue the crew.