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Willie Lewis Brown, Jr. (born March 20, 1934 in Mineola, Texas) is an American political figure who served over 30 years in the California legislature, after which he became the first African American mayor of San Francisco. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He served as mayor from January 8, 1996, after defeating incumbent Frank Jordan, until January 8, 2004, when he was succeeded by Gavin Newsom. He was previously a member of the California State Assembly from 1964Events January January 1 Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. January 3 Senator Barry Goldwater announces that he will seek the Republican nomination for President. January 5 In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Ort- 951995 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). It has a Golden number of 1, and was the first year of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People (1995- 2005): http://www. org/culture/indigenous . Events January events Ja, and was Speaker of the Assembly from 1981Events January-February January Sarawak Chamber found January 1 Greece enters the EEC January 1 Palau becomes self-governing January 4 Sheffield police arrests Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper January 16 Protestant gunmen shoot and wound Bernadette D- 951995 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). It has a Golden number of 1, and was the first year of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People (1995- 2005): http://www. org/culture/indigenous . Events January events Ja. He graduated from San Francisco State UniversitySan Francisco State University is a branch of the California State University system. It is located in the southwestern part of San Francisco, California near Lake Merced, Fort Funston, and only a mile north of Daly City. In the autumn of 2003, approximat and from the Hastings College of the LawThe University of California Hastings College of the Law is a law school located in downtown San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1878 by Serranus Clinton Hastings, the first Chief Justice of California, as the first law school of the University o.

Brown's long service in the Assembly, coupled with that body's tenure system for leadership appointments, gave Brown almost complete control over the California Legislature as the Assembly Speaker. Brown was extremely popular in his home of San Francisco, though unpopular in the rest of the state, and he wielded great control over legislative affairs and political appointments, making his removal from his position as Speaker politically difficult. Partially to remove Brown from his leadership position, Californians passed a constitutional amendment imposing term limitA term limit is a clause put in a constitution, statute, or bylaw which limits the number of terms a person may serve in a particular elected office. An example would be the 22nd Amendment of the United States Constitution which says that no person can bes on members of the State Legislature. After Brown left office due to the term limits, the Assembly restructured their rules, giving most of the powers formerly held by the Speaker to a leadership committee made up of senior members of both parties.