[3] As a legislator, Brown earned a reputation as a supporter of civil rights of gays and lesbians and was able to manage colleagues and maintain party discipline.

His long tenure and powerful position were used as a focal point of the California ballot proposition limiting the terms of state legislators that passed in 1990.

[7] He graduated from Mineola Colored High School, which he later described as substandard, and left for San Francisco in August 1951 at the age of 17 to live with his uncle.

[9] Although Brown did not meet the qualifications for San Francisco State College, a professor at the school facilitated his admission on probation.

He quickly became involved in the Civil Rights Movement, leading a well-orchestrated sit-in to protest housing discrimination after a local real estate office refused to work with him because of his race.

[8] Brown began his first run for the California State Assembly in 1962 by having local African American ministers pass around a hat, collecting $700.

In 1975, Brown authored and lobbied the successful passing of the Consenting Adult Sex Bill that legalized homosexuality in California, thus earning the strong and lasting support of San Francisco's gay community.

Similarly, he voted against AB 607, which banned same-sex marriage in 1977, further building his reputation as a supporter of the civil rights of gays and lesbians.

Brown regained control in 1995 by making a deal with Republican defectors Doris Allen and Brian Setencich, both of whom were elected speaker by the Democratic minority.

[20] Nevertheless, he wielded great control over statewide legislative affairs and political appointments, making it difficult for his conservative opponents to thwart his power.

[27] Brown led efforts in the Assembly for state universities to divest from South Africa and to increase AIDS research funding.

Republican State Senator Ken Maddy of Fresno noted Brown's ability to "size up the situation and create, sometimes on the spot, a winning strategy."

Brown attended the Temple perhaps a dozen times and served as master of ceremonies at a testimonial dinner for Jones where he said in his introduction, "[l]et me present to you a combination of Martin King, Angela Davis, Albert Einstein ... Chairman Mao.

Brown's inaugural celebration included an open invitation party with 10,000 attendees and local restaurants providing 10,000 meals to the homeless.

[34] According to Brown, although he was scheduled for a flight to New York City on the day of the September 11, 2001 attacks, he received a "low key warning" in a phone call from a member of his airport security detail, who advised him not to fly.

[35] In addition, he recommended to representatives of other possible targets in San Francisco, including the Bank of America Tower and Transamerica Pyramid, that they also close.

[4] In 1998, he wrote President Clinton a letter urging him to halt a federal lawsuit aimed at closing medical marijuana clubs.

[26] During his first term as mayor, Brown quietly favored the demolition and abolition of the Transbay Terminal[39] to accommodate the redevelopment of the site for market-rate housing.

Centrally located at First and Mission Streets near the Financial District and South Beach, the terminal originally served as the San Francisco terminus for the electric commuter trains of the East Bay Electric Lines, the Key System of streetcars and the Sacramento Northern railroads which ran on the lower deck of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge.

The terminal also served passengers traveling to San Mateo County and the North Bay aboard SamTrans and Golden Gate Transit buses respectively, and tourists arriving by bus motorcoach.

[41][42][43][44] In 1997, Brown approved San Francisco Police Department Chief Fred Lau's plan to crack down on the rides,[45] calling them "a terrible demonstration of intolerance"[46] and "an incredible display of arrogance.

On the 10th anniversary of Critical Mass on September 27, 2002, the city officially closed down four blocks to automobile traffic for the annual Car-Free Day Street Fair.

In contrast, critics objected to the construction of many live-work loft buildings in formerly working-class neighborhoods that they believed led to gentrification and displacement of residents and light industry.

The new majority limited Brown's power over the Elections Department, the Police Commission, and extending San Francisco International Airport's runways into the bay to reduce flight delays.

Former Los Angeles County GOP assemblyman Paul Horcher, who voted in 1994 to keep Brown as speaker, was reassigned to a position with a six-figure salary as head of San Francisco's solid waste management program.

The San Francisco Chronicle called the Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board and the California Medical Assistance Commission patronage positions.

[73][74][75] As mayor, Brown was often portrayed mockingly but affectionately by political cartoonists and columnists as a vain emperor, presiding in a robe and crown over the kingdom of San Francisco.

[62][63] While serving as Assembly speaker, Brown was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa (RP), a disease that has no cure and would slowly destroy his eyesight.

Living with RP means having to use more of your brain function—I listen more intently, I memorize vast amounts of information, and I have trained my computer to recognize numerous verbal commands.

In one chapter, "The Power of Clothes: Don't Pull a Dukakis", Brown writes that men should have a navy blazer for each season: one with "a hint of green" for springtime, another with more autumnal threading for the fall.