1. Lou Cannon, Ronnie and Jesse: A Political Odyssey , p. 108.

2. James R. Mills, A Disorderly House: The Brown-Unruh Years in Sacramento , p. 24.

3. Cannon, Ronnie and Jesse , p. 109; Mills, A Disorderly House , p. 11. Mills credits Assemblyman Don Allen with coming up with the name "Big Daddy" and says that Unruh "laughed mountainously" when he first heard it. Others credit San Francisco Chronicle columnist Art Hoppe with coining the nickname.

4. Press conference, Jesse Unruh, Sacramento, Calif., Jan. 25, 1968, p. 3 of transcript in author's private collection.

5. Bill Stall, "Unruh Says LA Needs Political Muscle of an Old Pro," Associated Press, as published in The Sacramento Bee , Dec. 10, 1972.

6. Official biography of Speaker M. Unruh, issued Sep. 1, 1964, in author's private collection. Other biographical details in this chapter based largely on Cannon, Ronnie and Jesse . See also Herb Michelson, "Treasurer Jesse Unruh: Waiting for Another Chance to Lead," California Journal , Apr. 1980, pp. 143-145.

7. Cannon, Ronnie and Jesse , p. 9.

8. Mills, A Disorderly House , p. 76.

9. Cannon, Ronnie and Jesse , p. 23.

10. John Jacobs, A Rage for Justice: The Passion and Politics of Phillip Burton , pp. 15-17.

11. Typical is a 1961 textbook on California politics published by Stanford University Press: "The pattern of politics in California differs from that found in most states. Party organizations and party bosses of the old type have all but disappeared." Joseph Harris, California Politics , p. 19.

12. Arthur H. Samish and Bob Thomas, The Secret Boss of California , pp. 12, 45.

13. Carey McWilliams, "The Guy Who Gets Things Done," The Nation , July 9, 1949; Lester Velie, "The Secret Boss of California," Collier's , Aug. 13, 1949, and Aug. 20, 1949.

14. Carey McWilliams, California: The Great Exception , p. 213.

15. Cannon, Ronnie and Jesse , p. 93.

16. Ibid., pp. 94-96.

17. Ibid., p. 99.

18. John R. Owens, Edmond Costantini, and Louis F. Weschler, California Politics and Parties , p. 301.

19. Ibid., p. 302. Interview, Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, a former Unruh aide, Sacramento, Calif., Jan. 5, 1995.

20. Cannon, Ronnie and Jesse , p. 110. Jacobs, A Rage for Justice , pp. 89-94.

21. Mills, A Disorderly House , p. 15.

22. Note from Jesse Unruh to Ed Gaffney accompanying horse racetrack passes, Mar. 9, 1962, Jesse M. Unruh Papers, folder "Correspondence, Legislators, G-Ha, 1959-69," LP236:299, California State Archives, Sacramento.

23. Note from Jack Crose, Speaker's office, reporting that Tony Beard, the sergeant-at-arms, was getting too many requests to put members' relatives on the payroll, undated, Jesse M. Unruh Papers, folder "Legislature: Organization," contained in Larry Margolis files, B304, box 11, California State Archives, Sacramento.

24. Memo from Kenneth Cory to Jesse Unruh, "Assembly Contingent Fund," Jan. 29, 1964, Jesse M. Unruh Papers, folder "Legislature: Organization," contained in Larry Margolis files, B304, box 11, California State Archives, Sacramento. In his memo, Cory asked for an audit. "I would rather not be left holding the sack if the chicken has already been stolen!"

25. John A. FitzRandolph, oral history interview, p. 43, California State Archives, Sacramento.

26. Cannon, Ronnie and Jesse , p. 119.

27. Letter from Phillip Burton to Jesse M. Unruh, Nov. 20, 1962, Jesse M. Unruh Papers, folder "Be Kind File 1961-68," LP 236:120, California State Archives, Sacramento.

28. Phillip Isenberg, interview, Sacramento, Calif., Dec. 22, 1992; also memo from Marlene Rothstein to Unruh, undated, reporting on Isenberg's commitment to "the big fight" against "Unruh forces," Jesse M. Unruh Papers, folder "Political, Democratic State Central Committee 1961-63," political files 1961-1968, box 5, location B303, California State Archives, Sacramento.

29. Staff report, "The Third House in Sacramento," Frontier: The Voice of the New West , Aug. 1963. Frontier was on the cutting edge of liberalism in the early 1950s, publishing articles on forest conservation (before environmentalism was popular), smog, civil rights, and political reform. Editorials included "Have the Freeways Failed Los Angeles?" (Jan. 1957) and frequent jabs at Richard Nixon. Authors included Fawn Brodie, Pierre Salinger, Carey McWilliams, Matthew Tobriner, Alan Cranston, Rexford Tugwell, William O. Douglas, Bill Boyarsky, and Gladwin Hill. By 1965 the Vietnam War issue had begun to dominate the magazine's attention and there were fewer articles on progressive domestic politics. In February 1967 Frontier merged with The Nation , and Frontier went out of publication.

30. Larry Margolis, oral history interview, p. 53, California State Archives, Sacramento.

31. Tally sheet on AB 1240, June 21, 1963, NAACP West Coast Region Office Papers (1946-1970), folder "Programs—Housing—Initiative to Repeal AB 1240 (1963)," carton 38.

32. Cannon, Ronnie and Jesse , p. 119.

33. Ibid., pp. 125-129. An insider's perspective on the lockup is offered in Mills, A Disorderly House , pp. 104-141.

34. Tom Arden, "Sweetness and Light Abound As Assembly Organizes for Work," The Sacramento Bee , Jan. 5, 1965.

35. Jack S. McDowell, "Politics Today," San Francisco News—Call Bulletin , Mar. 23, 1965.

36. Sydney Kossen, "Token Revolt against Unruh by Dem Liberals," San Francisco Examiner , Jan. 5, 1965.

37. Kossen, "Token Revolt against Unruh by Dem Liberals." John Burton, interview, Sacramento, Calif., Apr. 26, 1993, and Willie Brown, interview, San Francisco, Calif., Jan. 17, 1994.

38. Willie Brown, interview, Jan. 17, 1994.

39. Ibid.

40. Willie Brown, interview, Assembly floor, Sacramento, Calif., Apr. 15, 1993.