Hiram Johnson, the only governor of California who was born in Sacramento

(FOX40.COM) — When one hears the name “Hiram Johnson” in Sacramento, the first thing that may come to mind is the high school located in the city’s Tahoe Park area; however, further investigation into the man whom the school was named after uncovers an interesting bit of California history.

For starters, Hiram Warren Johnson, who served as the 23rd governor of California from 1911-1917, remains the only governor of California to be born in Sacramento. Additionally, Johnson, a Republican, was California’s first four-year term governor to be re-elected.

Hiram W. Johnson was born on Sept. 2, 1866, in Sacramento and was “educated in the Sacramento public schools” before attending the University of California at Berkeley.

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According to the Governor’s Library of California, Johnson worked as a stenographer for his father’s law office before leaving for college. In his junior year at Berkeley (1886), he left the university to marry a woman named Minnie. L. McNeal.

After his marriage, the Governor’s Library of California says, “Johnson returned to his father’s office to work as a shorthand reporter and study law.” In 1888, he was admitted to the California bar and joined his father and brother, Albert, in a law practice. The firm Johnson, Johnson & Johnson would prosper until 1893 when Albert began his own law practice.

In 1906, Johnson attracted the attention of various politicians after an infamous graft trial involving one of Northern California’s most “enigmatic” political bosses, Abe Reuf. In the trial, Francis J. Heney, an assistant district attorney at the time, was shot in the courtroom while acting as prosecuting attorney, which led to Johnson stepping in as Heney’s replacement and ultimately convicting Reuf of his crimes.

Four years later, a coalition of progressive Republican activists known as the Lincoln-Roosevelt League asked Johnson to run to become governor of California as a reform candidate. In 1910, he would win the Republican gubernatorial nomination, a significant campaign because it was the first time in California history that the direct primary system was used.

Holding public office for the first time in his life, Johnson was sworn into office as governor of California on Jan. 3, 1911. According to the National Governors Association, during Johnson’s tenure as governor workmen’s compensation and an eight-hour workday for women and children were passed into law. He also left railroads and utilities largely unregulated.

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“Johnson, who advocated reform throughout his administration, was the first U.S. governor to present a cohesive state budget,” the NGA adds. It also states that Johnson enacted the Alien Land Law and the California Land Act as California’s governor.

In 1912, Britannica states that Johnson helped form the Progressive Party and was its unsuccessful vice-presidential candidate on a ticket with former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, notably referred to as the “Bull Moose” ticket.

In 1916, during his second term as governor of California, Johnson was elected to the U.S. Senate; however, Johnson wouldn’t resign from the governor’s office until March 15, 1917.

He would serve four more terms in the Senate before passing away on August 6, 1945. According to the NGA, Hiram Johnson was buried in the Cyprus Lawn Cemetery in San Francisco.

Hiram W. Johnson High School, a high school in the Sacramento City Unified School District, was founded in 1958 and named in his honor.

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In 2009, then-Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger inducted Johnson into the California Hall of Fame alongside icons like George Lucas, Harvey Milk, and John Madden.

The Los Angeles Times stated in 2021 that Johnson was the longest-serving senator in California history until Dianne Feinstein broke his record. Johnson’s previous record was set at 10,371 days. He remains the longest-serving Republican senator and the longest-serving male senator from California.

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