Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Basic Brown: My Life and Our Times
    Basic Brown: My Life and Our Times
    Basic Brown: My Life and Our Times
    Ebook406 pages5 hours

    Basic Brown: My Life and Our Times

    By Willie L. Brown

    3/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    To The Washington Post, he's "The Last Political Showman of the 20th Century."

    Bill Clinton has called him "the real Slick Willie."

    Ronald Reagan's secretary of state George Shultz called this famously liberal politician "a man of his word" and endorsed his successful candidacy for mayor of San Francisco.

    Indeed Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton both called upon him for advice and help. He is Willie L. Brown, Jr., and he knows how to get things done in politics, how to work both sides of the aisle to get results. Compared to him, Machiavelli looks meek. And drab.

    In Basic Brown, this product of rural, segregated Texas and the urban black neighborhoods of San Francisco tells how he rose through the civil rights movement to become the most potent black politician in America through his shrewd understanding and use of political power and political money. He adapts the lessons he has learned so they can be used by anyone -- black, female, male -- intent on acquiring political power.

    And this master of the political deal demonstrates why deals are not enough, and that political power grows only when public good is being done. Willie Brown shows how some of the most far-reaching and socially advanced legislation in American history -- like gun control, legalized abortion, gay rights, and school funding -- was carried out under his guidance and on his watch, and tells of the ingenuity, the political machinations, and the personal perseverance that were required to enact what now seems to many to be obvious legislation. These are stories of breathtaking, sometimes hilarious ruses and gambits that show that even the most high-minded legislation needs the assistance of the skills of a shark, which is what Willie Brown often sees himself as.

    Basic Brown is a compendium of insights and stories on the real forces governing power in American political life that will leave you looking at politics anew. It is also the inspiring and funny story of the rise of a gawky teenager in mail-order shoes and trousers who rose to entertain royalty and schoolchildren, superstars and supersize egos, the saintly and the scholarly, while working to transform and open American politics. If you ever wanted to learn how to be slick, a shark, a do-gooder, and a man of your word, Willie L. Brown, Jr., is the storyteller for you.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster
    Release dateFeb 5, 2008
    ISBN9781416539766
    Basic Brown: My Life and Our Times
    Author

    Willie L. Brown

    Willie L. Brown, Jr., has been at the center of California politics, government, and civic life for four decades. His career spans the American presidency from Lyndon Johnson to George W. Bush: he served in the California assembly for thirty years, fourteen-and-a-half of them as its speaker, and for two four-year terms (all that the law allows) as mayor of San Francisco. Today, he heads the Willie L. Brown Jr. Institute on Politics and Public Service, where this acknowledged master of the art of politics shares his knowledge and skills with a new generation of California leaders.

    Related to Basic Brown

    Related ebooks

    Politics For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Wild Rice Goldie Glow Bowl

      Mar 26, 2021

      Wild Rice Goldie Glow Bowl
      2 min read

    • Article

      Jeff Flake's 'Conservative Conscience'

      Aug 9, 2017

      The book pulls no punches. It sharply condemns conservatism for its role in a "culture of vicious dehumanization," not to mention its sins of incoherence, rejection of empirical fact and plain hypocrisy. Writing of the rush by the conservative party,

      2 min read

    • Article

      A Year in Reading: Namwali Serpell

      Dec 13, 2018

      I’ve been thinking a lot about pettiness lately. I live in the U.S. and right now, the American media landscape is all blah blah incivility blah anger blah blah hate. But it feels to me like the great fever of rage-mourning prompted by the 2016 elect

      7 min read

    • Article

      Unreleased Orson Welles Film ‘The Other Side Of The Wind’ Arrives

      Nov 2, 2018

      For Welles aficionados, and perhaps only for them, “The Other Side of the Wind” will function as a skeleton key to the themes and obsessions of his entire career.

      3 min read

    • Article

      What Makes Willie Run?

      Aug 15, 2020

      What Makes Willie Run?
      20 min read

    • Article

      The Last Liberal

      Jan 25, 2024

      The Last Liberal
      13 min read

    • Article

      George Skelton: Even At 90 And With Deteriorating Eyesight, Willie Brown's Political Vision Remains Unmatched

      Mar 24, 2024

      The first time I saw Willie Brown he was grinning widely, drawing inquisitive eyes and wearing a fashionable Nehru jacket. "And beads," he reminded me the other day with a chuckle. That was long ago — 59 years — when Brown first showed up in the stat

      4 min read

    • Article

      Pull The Plug On The Correspondents' Dinner

      May 3, 2018

      The 2018 White House Correspondents' Dinner. It was a festive evening. Everybody in a good mood. All dressed up. Journalists, members of Congress, newsmakers, guests, administration officials. Rubbing elbows and clinking drinks. Handing out scholarsh

      3 min read

    • Article

      Lost Souls

      May 1, 2018

      Lost Souls
      4 min read

    • Article

      Mighty Morphin Power Player

      Oct 25, 2016

      Mighty Morphin Power Player
      17 min read

    • Article

      Queens And Kings Of The Hill

      Jul 24, 2018

      Queens And Kings Of The Hill
      7 min read

    • Article

      Style Over Substance: Why Fidel Castro’s Revolutionary Chic was a Fraud

      Dec 3, 2016

      I MET FIDEL CASTRO 40 YEARS AGO, AND HE WAS REALLY, really cool. I was part of an American delegation to Cuba led by Senator George McGovern; we met Castro at his brother Raúl’s farm. He showed up in an open Jeep, in a cloud of dust, wearing his famo

      3 min read

    • Article

      RFK And The Nation We Might Have Been

      Jun 3, 2018

      It made my mother scream. That's what I remember. I had been lying dozy in bed, but at the sound of her, I scrambled into the living room. She was standing before the television watching an image of chaos in a hotel ballroom. Although I grew up in th

      2 min read

    • Article

      Who the Fuck Knows

      May 2, 2017

      Who the Fuck Knows
      11 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Basic Brown

    3/5

    1 rating1 review

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      To understand California politics in the late twentieth century, one must understand Willie Brown. Brown is the ultimate political powerbroker; He makes Bill Clinton look like a rookie. Indeed Clinton once remarked to Brown that he was the true "slick Willie." Brown used reward and punishment, combined with an endless abiliy to compromise, to become leader of the Assembly for an unprecedented 14 years, followed by becoming the mayor of San Francisco. I do not know how he did it. Think about the flack that Kerry received for getting an expensive haircut and then consider that Brown wore $6000 Brioni suits, drove a Porsche Turbo, dined in expensive restraunts with beautiful women, and openly cheated on his wife with whom he remained married for over twenty years. He emerges as a very selfish person, in his private persona, and his ego is enormous. Ultimately it is all about him. His love for San Francisco comes through as does his liberal public-spiritedness.

    Book preview

    Basic Brown - Willie L. Brown

    0.abook_preview_excerpt.html}ْ#Ǖ4C([*H*m*U֏f,`, O>@wO%sι=4fb%9:|0]͇ogn߾)owbǪX|>/0ƾň?1o0u1^Zy?޾zux7ݻowS?! jTæ_PqÄ}լyڪ}5ê8V˭b[LՀ9*P_C1Жs,?c0l(<(2)kЫ /*8sPwczWʹٓ|q>L~$O0j|bUq[LC,1N5iZSU0ՑǷ?i_G`wjC8&+92T?_|vSz|q1`clՀmS 8H6=zPfĒ`ǞТ*7u ھ\anŠM58t݁{=7>bV=ApN6wu߄CGu@"|Mu6d*1vlNI06@Urx2sL믧vǻ^mkBr vQyݵk(wctZct{AS܀$% GD8N2eO L)e8mUlK=,F]j^ :u}ru6# \8)/#z|l@tԴ z:HszF6u:yi7P}U U Q+*\|$#i|NEmI~QǾ2?3m@pPmOSY%yV< SR@<Dži!j) ȐlS{f0a]lܸ}-imu?Ǯv34VWxk!Q9JFVOIBRn sRdt`kg Qk@}b6*s0<5=$(Xy[ Zee  0?@>60' *j؛#ơGr(7¡esIZH&z9䀪R&lϗN2kD< 5G ι+$৙*Gi}X"awR`CJ+Rta~0Y` !z2sǰAze'dih>?U oMt pPpF[2Vp,Vh>Q$Gli}r\*GHYmVX%4J])z0]LN0_[Qۥls7ik0\pf,z Mm%اg`yEԦ[t)>` ON =B!v!yÒ{ Ѯ ބKxJs:ԂeU&!RX v'@Z|w@uc@$8-:&Fg$aO2ŭ S*ZF2JqΖri'u.]u#pfjseJg?5H -!!L39k?u*} Ahʴ;v vb|Dc2v Pޓv1qKLE.i,V ٽ$P)*0Ui0C ُ tvHqA6x1X;2uDž lmr7 zO}m|YѸ<&ITYJAmcC#DQtAˀ՗_~ N$ iUT~z82_ăj(%'d}3KpgIմjTss oһXwCmB]d\ {5ūn(nUꊿh}`+C2z}45!Qiy (D] ȍ1?6rP2қ -(fAv'٭qBJASTtN"gR%h< (gJZBn6I>35(R^ ýxtWcn໋LpG[@UQ뽤Ɛ"v=,(V#kֻF9i?GIyp7C8ZZy /x/yvM6E>e$ %TIhtU86/ i*7CZO9^ 4uXQL)aQ5$l#B2?ϨkWJHD4GT*Բ,93%piGũÓ+7mA#҂McWGFpZG Iq&2Q !Thjcxз5 hTt t]q`D 1O0W%"H6عi!fY)a؟QY$ MEia| {)["?zyU;sKH;:PСc <̨XA:QfK=:}8 \z}n撁}뚾}USx$0\l -𼂼^Hk]95j)(DXDƌ^;.hOӺL>ys?G )gijSJ) |s|WN-XGߋ`̯~Z3HG9ZC'ӊOoeF#N,k;_dsq]'8#-~cVnhȿJ Aa; a6E DGF[_kQkizEM=NvNOj&3^|MCnd JftrLAE #.g%!\…8"* rࡹv 6ǦIt` mDgWBQLTxV0`ZI++^w #rHx9VR$K37 źv`6XդE@m뮮 ; ssLBq-QDb^P/b+BQ1Ng:)q1/; ֮3e40GG<0Rƶ'.W2ƨxð)#xr+:T&Hs>{WD9+c4tFzp4S@I./[rҳPdWJTX큈cG/@r lE+ư<#"[@ ԛ><>`cW)(T"D vGM-:XY蝝eŵ d5կAVh+~`D(+ɶ.s\Uy +/eAN-FKC ";4x@F\KO98$>,e(IA0ۣrI38d! Gkh|Cgun t`q ސaX-^W6xuFTsrdMYNrtf+$eo<(>e`\l$lݓNJ{ڸ꾵JC'iFd eOF>&Zl_f*`\-Rֶb2x ډV3z&AfR>[d!TCƪ1 CUyX=9vқTL@6qp*ߔol)*E=YA@U>d(^“#S6!jd SX3i_t'b~Lxɣt^,Tْ)*nqA|i#(w1XvLx*F}^}j/h3TMHuaɀS_. ăY$(*s L ò`0 I7elTFLmd N<l0Dm:C@WX,zX_m5y2Uy5vW[ޢ6zoGX[_9X>ևP)\6[XXK۳0Y)qe2.+Vt*ER˔"=0&*N:2*9!o\$9j5a|$d٣&K5<>Ѩ6XinwbVC(hCI-i̜wY&cJ[nX.NiwEKH6@F#9ĂK}x 4m)O-V&QN> u1?4KJxdBRE'A;ۣ'ɟ7ПN-%sۢ\Fsz$F”C 1{j0 5to=IAt:s]rm c>3TDTXJkh猄k#rաfp6QcU\e 0=MsHַTYQܳ:IK3`$HpUO} eWl yJ>ΑTÈ ,{>BsGkrWje\PEV -rfF٢dۃݭ0za\#_Vw=1xa%;lj~v.mbܛk8e]z|jHr +$|RDt–HնǝPZ+ K^E,,aӍl YyܡIam2^LEVK9o[O5kia̯}XFLn bj23cy;IŠGY?e/4ka.==}7a]8)+wy. 4[@,y jHEK?_vрӅ]Sŋ-h;Fnie}-ߒsF?gu!.xӿ OvL̇Cݤc .~]>j$hI慄ÍPL߳V3 s]kjƯҕ3tA l'/q]FAz[yL0fҗWc//p9JSQ+, r7؂tY?K{v5v(p]z<}R$e/Yg3g{XRG9~q6pN1qxjrSX31$1 M͕̦_# *U&s^] Lu.Tn"f W)m?R% j54ud|v'(beo._nq&+VV /&B8)=/\fuDsHL`Z]tLYu|9C|Q(\(|~5Py!75`7ΓH\@30 ¼͡m#+e=3"omT+ˣ HôR%@ |%8X,WpuzcG]_gwrd%kTn=&z3V1aαrwAv?xe@1&3H?eVBq4ҝD/RVvoCv~}_S9 Uo&XEcBjzJr*`pB,0,m@S QRSd][8\,6eG홱=5LDdU)Z@qHJʞ)ڬhy7ڞnD:/ZZ;j!D )PB' ܹ-Kx: 酚wϱ\GtgjØL)r\߱ݱf%b.ox*ϲ rޓ^v]:zk %ySC*>}9 <(SycVTO6l=zeCe\-n(\ytSfRϚt"@.m Au6{!IW K 7QQ~߅',Sj*Ww*7b6O nV!sRŦ۫ Ώ-M }ds>=ԉ2:هqqz+R$?'ފ<5jݹ#חYu>_'bt!WceOXah~=wU_ӹfs~][X+Rc9{B˛eKYt"/H*0 SO차ҙSL2M}3i)qS9B17{Kz[8pyncsU]No胴cz +o=V6Fߦ&̶RYAtM*-ʤ7J&*?XɋO+cW oc=:@(L_qv: mUV'Kgչsc=@FP c=8: Y(#;pc{lP:^9E"$ulZ`rAJ7 X}l`σVh+r _El6Gx$eܔT|Hž8hyxP>KhLOeŲ,y G+)o0^ X"M]ykAti9t<+kT|s(Vm봼2s^t eQq~ !N+\\ δS> (OLZC ?ƍ'Wӄ;-ńcVXUݪ1^Ȳ`ATud`^<עH)=|@svm||.b!ũճݶ1e =6FTa' LWkCJ%sMx?H|W+x] K5ңޤv˿05ϲN m̍n,/iwxTšlϩnej8fQpt+ټ*/TfGk,T@/Lvvs|[c5jXZfhG5eםNϖ*26Q D` 7b ܳ3Ѯ2Q]C 04 ]#4=ߨPzQ2xlB$zRg3T$W8wf[{HVNwv9ںkTʢ6ߵ˧>]$=_)Dרi,Rnf5?`HYl8=`V4H/M.TTkbv$Wvp_-9-n5G}.*dia?cQlo?/*\"w G7Ћ?yxKu۴Wq|QSҬ Dn7C ܞ[CwyoF 3سK%UK 5 JPLj+oqZ v:%KۜR%49kqrֶ-˾&Cc7~h<3[ 2$ J]*]/1wX.x [uCݮYo,xakYHiwF=CA!̺;Dͺf/j 9vR3N8 R6NX2kr"Î9㜻}nR e(T@enNg%%Uh:5 F> Ǚ x}ZxfX0Dmk_!L-t/`ƛpV1GZ\|_KK؂q%; x԰](>KfY/8f{޻PY{Q ϴLqـչO~vCp$ \J8C C-,i,TSc?II+wP_aJ ~)my|!OsM.$).7+ X(q!`"p=⏃bpp+WRbLXp_vRZ)'Ԅug /5WqL[T謾Cb7_4UlNB1/`t!sP33~티\D=2C_ҏ8'&1R&igvOǦ;SZ cË~~3(3,lCo1&^֖zwn\gWv=ƌ׼'YW0!zZk[ {.$0ks l'龹PZJ;)I x٫::d40J19KԦ_]t\Gڵu
    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1