A member of the Democratic Party from San Pedro, Gibson served on the Los Angeles City Council for the 15th district from 1951 and 1981, and did two lengthy stints as its president.

After high school, he worked in his father's bank and at age 21 became the mayor of the small town of Geneseo, Kansas, the youngest municipal executive at that time ever to serve in the United States.

"[1][6] Gibson moved with his wife and children to California in 1926 or 1927, where he worked for his father-in-law's Long Beach dairy for a year before relocating to San Pedro, Los Angeles in 1928.

[7] He was a hunter and fisherman and, as a council member, regularly sponsored a fishing derby at the Los Angeles Harbor for local children.

[8] Gibson responded to this unusual challenge by attacking Stanberry for accepting the money and for his membership in the left-wing Peace and Freedom Party.

"[1][6] He "loathed laws and regulations that he felt hampered free enterprise, and his pro-business, pro-growth views often angered environmentalists and tenants seeking protection through rent control and condominium conversion ordinances.

"[1] Gibson was frequently described as a "nice guy," with an "easygoing, affable manner" and a "folksy sense of humor," but he could also be cantankerous and vindictive, the Los Angeles Times remarked editorially, as when he stripped Pat Russell and Marvin Braude of their committee positions in 1975 and "assign[ed] them to obscure and unimportant panels" after the two of them had opposed Gibson's bid for reelection as council president.

"[13] In 1973 he agreed with Councilman Billy G. Mills that the city was following planning policies that ignored housing for the poor and that would result in "larger inner-city ghettos."

[6]Gibson played a key role in bringing the Dodgers baseball club from Brooklyn to Chavez Ravine in Los Angeles.

[1] Funeral services were held at the First Baptist Church in San Pedro, and interment was at Green Hills Memorial Park[18] on the Palos Verdes Peninsula.