Goodwin Jess "Goodie" Knight was an American attorney and politician. He served as the 35th Lieutenant Governor of California from 1947 to 1959 and as the 31st Governor of California from 1953 to 1959.
Background
Goodwin Jess Knight was born on December 09, 1896 in Provo, Utah, United States, the son of Jesse Knight, a lawyer and mining engineer, and Lillie Milner. Shortly after his birth, the family moved to Southern California, where his father participated in developing the mines of the Mojave Desert. Knight spent his childhood in Los Angeles.
Education
Goodwin attended Manual Arts High School. In 1915, he enrolled at Stanford University and soon became involved in all phases of campus life, from debating to amateur theatricals and even tap dancing. One close companion recalled that Knight seemed "the eternal sophomore. Everyone knew he was around. " On the eve of his graduation in 1917, Knight enlisted in the United States Navy for service in World War I. He spent a year on a submarine chaser and was discharged in January 1919. He then returned to Stanford and collected his Bachelor of Arts degree. In 1919-1920 he went to Cornell University, where he studied political science. He was admitted to the California bar in March 1921.
Career
In 1925, Knight formed a partnership with Thomas Reynolds, a Stanford classmate, and within a decade the firm possessed one of the most important practices in the state. Goodwin, a Republican, campaigned on behalf of Hiram Johnson in 1924, but his serious involvement in California politics started ten years later when he went to work for Frank Merriam. As a payment for political services, Governor Merriam appointed Knight to a vacancy on the Los Angeles Superior Court, where he proved a competent judge. Knight used the position to launch his political ambitions. The medium of radio offered him access to a wide audience, and in 1941 he became the moderator of "The Open Forum, " a well-known discussion program in Los Angeles. He later boosted his statewide recognition by traveling to San Francisco on weekends to host "The Round Table, " a Bay-area radio show. During these years, Knight was twice elected to the superior court. Knight's efforts to gain statewide elective office commenced in earnest in the mid-1940's.
In 1944 he sought a United States Senate seat, but the Republican party leadership endorsed Lieutenant Governor Frederick N. Houser. Two years later, Knight hired the campaign management firm of Whitaker and Baxter to direct his bid for lieutenant governor. In a remarkable display of energy, Knight toured some fifty counties in California, campaigning on the popular postwar platform of economy in government and urging the development of the state's water resources, a long-standing issue in California politics. In the fall election, he won a landslide victory over State Senator John F. Shelley.
As lieutenant governor, Knight worked to broaden the power and visibility of his office. He added assignments to the lieutenant governor's traditional role of presiding in the state senate and was appointed to serve on the state's land commission and disaster council, the University of California Board of Regents, the toll bridge authority, and a committee for interstate cooperation. A thoroughly political man, Knight often calculated his activities toward future elections. He began to anticipate the retirement of Governor Earl Warren. Knight gave enthusiastic support in 1948 to the presidential ticket of Thomas E. Dewey and Earl Warren, but Truman's surprise victory ended Knight's dream of an easy upward move into Warren's office.
By 1950, Knight had begun to distance himself from the liberal governor. He publicly criticized as too liberal Warren's positions on such topics as state health insurance, loyalty oaths, and fiscal matters, and many Republicans felt that he would challenge Warren in 1954. Early in September 1953, Warren announced that he would not seek another term, and on September 16, Knight proclaimed his own candidacy and forecast a "businesslike administration with emphasis on reduced spending. " Knight became California's thirty-first governor on October 5 when President Eisenhower appointed Warren to the United States Supreme Court. Knight commenced a whirlwind tour of the state to ensure his election the next year. He altered his image to appeal to Warren's vast constituency in that while he continued to talk of fiscal conservatism, he emphasized that public services should not be sacrificed.
Knight's first budget, delivered to the state legislature in March 1954, reflected his new outlook. Despite a $6 million reduction in total spending, Knight increased funding for mental hygiene, youth and correctional facilities, state colleges, and the University of California. He seemed assured of victory in the fall election, despite a new law that required a candidate's party affiliation to be listed on the ballot. Confident of the Republican nomination, Knight also sought the Democratic party's nomination for governor. As Warren had done, he narrowly missed capturing both but went on to a substantial victory in the general election. Democrats welcomed his promise to veto any right-to-work law passed by the state legislature.
During his years as governor, Knight continued his predecessor's agenda. He recommended increases in social spending and even signed into law a bill that created permanent child-care centers. During the recession of 1957, he used the California "rainy day" fund to avoid raising taxes but explained that state responsibilities had grown so great in the last twenty years that a reevaluation of the state tax structure was overdue. To the public, Knight seemed an amiable, competent governor, the type of man who would be reelected without opposition. But within Republican ranks, a growing conservative movement, led by Senator William F. Knowland, was disenchanted with the liberal wing of the party.
In 1957, rumors began to circulate that Knowland would oppose Knight in the primary contest for governor in 1958. Such an ideological battle within California would have had national consequences. Vice-President Richard Nixon, worried that a liberal-conservative feud would ruin his election prospects for 1960, immersed himself in state politics in an effort to bring party peace. The result was an unusual compromise: Nixon pressured Knight to drop out of the governor's race and permit Knowland to be nominated, and Knight, with Knowland's blessing, would run for the latter's seat in the United States Senate. When Knight refused to support Knowland because of the conservative's endorsement of right-to-work legislation, the old coalition that had controlled California politics for a generation collapsed. Both Knight and Knowland lost their races. The only one to emerge with his political base intact was Richard Nixon. Knight's defeat marked the end of his political career and he spent the remainder of his life preoccupied with domestic concerns.
Achievements
Politics
Knight was a member of the Republican party. As a governor, he recommended a single agency to regulate the control of alcoholic beverages, an increase in unemployment insurance payments, and a bond issue for veterans' farms and homes.
Connections
Knight's family life had always been happy. On September 19, 1925, he married Arvilla Cooley; they had two children. In 1954, two years after the death of his first wife, he married Virginia Carlson.