1. The author attended Brown's Fairmont Hotel birthday party. [BACK]

2. Steve Merksamer, interview, Sep. 1, 1993. [BACK]

3. Interviews, Michael Galizio, Sacramento, Calif., Jan. 28, 1994; Dee Dee Myers, Washington, D.C., June 8, 1993. [BACK]

4. Glenn F. Bunting, "Visit a Capitol Success for Willie Brown," Los Angeles Times , Mar. 11, 1993. [BACK]

5. Willie Brown, press availability, Assembly floor, Feb. 28, 1994. [BACK]

6. Willie L. Brown Jr., State Assembly Action on the California Business Climate (Sacramento California State Assembly, March 1994); Greg Lucas, "Assembly Passes Bills to Cut Cost of Workers Comp," San Francisco Chronicle , Apr. 20, 1993. [BACK]

7. Willie Brown, interview, Assembly floor, Sacramento, Calif. Feb. 24, 1994. [BACK]

8. Kathleen Brown, interview, Sacramento, Calif., May 20, 1994. [BACK]

9. Jerry Roberts, Dianne Feinstein: Never Let Them See You Cry , p. 244. [BACK]

10. Clint Reilly became campaign manager for San Francisco Mayor Frank Jordan in 1995, and Willie Brown finally got his chance at a contest with the political consultant he detested the most. [BACK]

11. Kathleen Brown, interview. [BACK]

12. Encounter with Kathleen Brown and Willie Brown occurred while the author and John Jacobs, political editor of McClatchy Newspapers, were eating lunch with Willie Brown at Biba restaurant in Sacramento, Calif., on June 6, 1995. [BACK]

13. Confidential informants. [BACK]

14. Rick Kushman, "What Does Willie Brown Want?" The Sacramento Bee , Aug. 8 and Aug. 9, 1993. [BACK]

15. Willie Brown, interview, San Francisco, Calif., Dec. 15, 1993. [BACK]

16. Willie Brown, interview, Assembly floor, Sacramento, Calif. Feb. 24, 1994. [BACK]

17. Willie Brown, interview, Sacramento, Calif., Jan. 25, 1995. [BACK]

18. Author's notes, Fairmont Hotel, San Francisco, Calif., Nov. 8, 1994. [BACK]

20. Willie Brown, interview, Sacramento, Calif., Jan. 25, 1995. [BACK]

21. The author attended the press conference, Nov. 9, 1994. [BACK]

22. Jon Matthews, "Republican Says He'll Seize Assembly Post from Brown," The Sacramento Bee , Nov. 11, 1994. [BACK]

23. Ibid. [BACK]

24. Ibid. [BACK]

25. Willie Brown, interview, Sacramento, Calif., June 6, 1995. [BACK]

26. Dominic Cortese, interview, Sacramento, Calif., Dec. 5, 1994. [BACK]

27. Dan Morain and Carl Ingram, "Brown Blocks GOP Assembly Takeover As One Republican Bolts," Los Angeles Times , Dec. 6, 1994. [BACK]

28. Susan F. Rasky, "In California, Political Prestidigitation," The New York Times , Jan. 8, 1995. [BACK]

29. Brulte was followed to his office by John Jacobs, Susan Rasky, and the author. [BACK]

30. Willie Brown, interview, Sacramento, Calif., Jan. 25, 1995. [BACK]

31. Willie Brown, interview, Sacramento, Calif., Jan. 25, 1995; Robert B. Gunnison and Greg Lucas, "Assembly Republicans Flee Capitol," San Francisco Chronicle , Dec. 7, 1994. [BACK]

32. Willie Brown, interview, Sacramento, Calif., June 6, 1995. [BACK]

33. Ibid. [BACK]

34. John Jacobs, "The Two Secrets That Helped Willie Win," The Sacramento Bee , Feb. 8, 1995; also Willie Brown, interview, Sacramento, Calif., Jan. 25, 1995. [BACK]

35. Amy Chance, "Overconfident GOP Blew It, Brown Says," The Sacramento Bee , Jan. 25, 1995; Larry Bowler, press release, "Bowler Statement on the Ascendancy of the Willie Brown Junta," Jan. 24, 1995, author's private collection; conversation with Bowler in Capitol hallway, Jan. 23, 1995. [BACK]

36. "Ear-to-Ear," The Sacramento Bee , June 28, 1995. [BACK]

37. Brad Hayward and Jon Matthews, "GOP Colleague Takes On Brulte," The Sacramento Bee , May 10, 1995. [BACK]

38. Willie Brown, press availability, Assembly floor, June 5, 1995. The comment was widely quoted. [BACK]

39. Willie Brown, interview, Sacramento, Calif., June 6, 1995. [BACK]

40. Mary Lynne Vellinga, "In Fall from Power Bid, Brulte Lands in Horcher's Office," The Sacramento Bee , June 7, 1995. [BACK]

41. Willie Brown, conversation with the author, San Francisco, Calif., July 20, 1995. [BACK]

42. Mary Lynne Vellinga, "Setencich's Challenge: Can 'Nice Guy' Win in Politics?" The Sacramento Bee , Oct. 9, 1995. [BACK]

43. Maxine Waters, interview, Washington, D.C., June 10, 1993. [BACK]

44. Cornel West, interview, Sacramento, Calif., Aug. 15, 1994. [BACK]

45. "The Prince of Sacramento," The Economist , May 29, 1993. [BACK]

46. Stephen Green (ed.), California Political Almanac 1995-1996 , p. 17. [BACK]

47. "An Interview with Mr. Speaker," California Journal , Jan. 1986, p. 17. [BACK]

48. U.S. News & World Report , Fall 1994. The "dog-doo" quote was frequently repeated by the Jordan campaign. [BACK]

49. Herb Caen, "Character Study," San Francisco Chronicle , June 19, 1995. [BACK]

50. Willie Brown, interview, Sacramento, Calif., June 6, 1995. [BACK]

51. The author accompanied Brown to his high school reunion July 9, 1993. James Richardson, "Brown Gets a Hometown Lovefest," The Sacramento Bee , July 10, 1993. [BACK]

52. Robert E. Baskin, "Mineola Schools Backed by Tower," Dallas Morning News , July 19, 1966. [BACK]