He attended Fresno City College before transferring to the University of California at Santa Cruz from which he earned his degree.

In that year he served as Fresno County Co-Chairman of Robert F. Kennedy's California presidential campaign and he was an alternate delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

He was able to strike delicate balances on many of these issues, a particularly important skill given the increasingly conservative nature of his Central Valley district.

His notable successes include playing instrumental roles in passage of laws to protect the Kings and Tuolumne Rivers, the California Desert Protection Act, creation of the Mono Basin National Forest Scenic Area and expansions of wilderness areas in the Sequoia and Yosemite National Parks.

It was renumbered the 19th District, and pushed further to the north and east, incorporating some more rural territory in the Sierra Nevada as well as the more conservative eastern portion of Fresno.