We will be reading a book on the life of Chief Justice, Earl Warren and his impact on American Society. Because of the length of the book, almost 32 hours, we will be reading it in two sessions. In December we will read Parts One and Two entitle “Made by California” and “in Command” which describes the factors in Warren’s early life and political rise to power which the author claims led to Warren becoming the most consequential Chief Justice of the United States since John Marshal. Be sure and join us on December 6th to see if Jim Newton makes his case.

Born in 1891 in a small predominantly Mexican village called Los Angeles, Earl Warren was the son of an immigrant railroad worker who had been blacklisted by Southern Pacific Railroad for his participation in the 1894 Pullman Strike and was forced to move to Bakersfield. A rather shy withdrawn high school student Warren worked part-time for Southern Pacific which exposed him to some of the seamier aspects of the “wild west” atmosphere of Bakersfield and also the way the all-powerful railroad treated its employees. At the University of California He was not an exceptional student but unlike high school, he became a socially active member of campus organizations. . For example, he became a member for life and a leader in The Gun Club secret society and Sigma Phi fraternity. Later, he became a member of California’s elite Bohemian Club and officiated as Grand Master of the California Masons.
After graduation from Cal and Boalt law school and completing service in the Army during World War One, he held several public and private attorney positions. In 1925 he switched to the Republican Party garnering the support of the powerful Republican Joseph R. Knowland, publisher of The Oakland Tribune securing his support in obtaining an interim appointment as District Attorney of alameda County.
This developed into Knowland's long-standing support and to Warren’s subsequent political career where he won all of the next seven elections for district Attorney, State Attorney General, and three terms as Governor. AS lead county and state prosecuting attorney he ran a “fair”, “non-partisan” “professional” administration. As a hardline, anti-crime, anti-corruption District Attorney and Attorney General prosecuting local sheriff’s labor leaders and “subversives” he developed a first-name relationship with J. Edgar Hoover. It may be noted that he used coerced confessions and wiretaps, which were later outlawed by his court. As Attorney General he led the effort to incarcerate the Japanese during World War Two for which he never apologized, but as Governor he welcomed the Japanese back after the war.

AS California’s only three consecutive term Governor –appearing on both party tickets in 1946- during a world war and post war boom, he successfully guided the state through a post-war boom, raised taxes to successfully maintain the influx of ten-thousand newcomers a week, signed bills eliminating segregated schools long before Brown V Board of Education and left the state with a surplus.
On the national scene he declined to run as a vice-presidential candidate with Dewey in 1944, spectacularly lost with Dewey the 1948 election to Truman and Barkley. Nixon allegedly sabotaged Warren’s campaign for president as a Favorite son in 1952. . . but that’s another story in Part Three on January 3rd.

Be sure and Read the first fifteen chapters by December6t, h its only 14 hours and 45 minutes. We will discuss his impact as Chief Justice on January. 6th.

NLS Annotation:
Justice for All: Earl Warren and the Nation He Made
Newton, Jim. Read by Bill Wallace. Reading time 31 hours 51 minutes.
Legal Issues
Award-winning journalist uses archives and personal interviews to portray former chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court Earl Warren (1891-1974). Details Warren's rise in California politics to the governorship and 1948 Republican Party vice presidential nomination. Highlights Warren's 1953 appointment to the bench and his legal opinions. Bestseller. 2006.
Download Justice for All: Earl Warren and the Nation He Made, DB63759
RC63759
Recordings for the Blind and Dyslexic
Book Number: HW141

facilitated by Don Queen
Email: queens@pacbell.net