Walt Brown | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Brown in 2007 | |
| Member of theOregon Senate from the 13th and 12th district | |
| In office 1975–1987 | |
| Preceded by | George Eivers |
| Succeeded by | Bill Kennemer |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Walter Frederick Brown (1926-07-28)July 28, 1926 (age 99) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Political party | Progressive |
| Other political affiliations | Socialist Democratic Pacific Green |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 3 |
| Alma mater | University of Southern California Harvard University Boston University University of Oregon |
| Occupation | Attorney |
| Website | http://waltbrown.org |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Navy |
| Service years | 1944–1970 |
| Rank | Commander |
| Conflict | Korean War |
Walter Frederick Brown (born July 28, 1926) is an American politician and former presidential candidate of theSocialist Party USA (2004). Brown became a socialist in 1948 but served as aDemocratic member of theOregon State Senate from 1975 to 1987. Brown also served as a Socialist Party of Oregon candidate for theU.S. Congress (3rd Congressional District) in 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2004 and has been thePacific Green Party candidate for two statewide offices.
Brown was born inLos Angeles, California, to Walter Andrew Brown (August 11, 1897 – November 10, 1978), attorney at law (with prior employment as an auto mechanic, truck driver, and claims adjuster), and Emily Anna (née Weber; October 30, 1897 – February 25, 1978), anelementary school teacher. His ancestry includes English, German, and French.[1]
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In June 1944, during World War II, Brown volunteered for active duty in the U.S. Navy at age 17. He served in the Pacific and China on theUSSCarter Hall (LSD-3). After his honorable discharge in June 1946, and while in the inactive U.S. Navy Reserve, he attended the University of Southern California (USC) on theG.I. Bill, earning a B.A. in law,cum laude (1949), and a Juris Doctor (J.D.) (1952). While at USC he was aRhodes Scholar nominee. He was also elected toPhi Beta Kappa andPhi Kappa Phi.
In 1952, Brown was recalled to active duty during theKorean War. He was commissioned as an officer. While in the Navy he served as an attorney for disabled Navy personnel; an instructor at the U.S. Naval Justice School in Newport, Rhode Island; legal officer at Great Lakes (Illinois), Boston, and Subic Bay, Philippines; special prosecutor in Vietnam; an appellate attorney in Washington, D.C.; and as a general court-martial judge in San Diego serving in the Judge Advocate General Corps (JAG). He retired in 1970 as a commander, with 26 years of service. Brown also continued his education: Harvard Law School (constitutional law (1958)); Boston University (international relations M.A. (1961)); the Judge Advocate General's School University of Virginia, (Master of Laws degree in military law (1965)); University of Oregon (library science M.L.S. (1975)).
Upon Brown's retirement from the Navy he was hired as an associate professor at theNorthwestern School of Law of Lewis and Clark College, teaching from 1970 to 1980. From 1975 to 1987 he also served in the Oregon State Senate as vice chair of the Judiciary Committee and as co-chair of the Legislative Counsel Committee (which drafts all bills for the Legislature). From 1989 to 1991, he served asMalheur County counsel and asMalheur County deputydistrict attorney. He volunteers as general counsel of theOregon Consumer League from 1987 to 1989 and 1991 to present, and as a volunteer attorney with theConsumer Justice Alliance since 2000. In 2003 Brown received two awards from theOregon State Bar in the active emeritus member category: one for the most Legal Services to the Poor, another for Total Hours of Pro Bono Services.
Brown served three terms in theOregon State Senate, elected as a Democrat, from 1974 to 1986. He was responsible for passing the world's first ban onozone-destroyingchlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in 1975, which served as a model for several other governments. The ban went into effect in 1977 inOregon, allowing theOregon Legislative Assembly to make any needed adjustments (such as to allow CFCs to continue to be used in inhalers for people withasthma).[2]
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Brown ran for theUnited States House of Representatives forOregon's 3rd congressional district four times againstincumbentEarl Blumenauer.
Brown, a social democrat, was nominated by theSocialist Party USA (SPUSA) at their November 2003 convention over revolutionary socialistEric Chester of Massachusetts. After the convention, party members learned that Brown had previously held anti-abortion views. Because of these views, a movement to recall Brown as the SPUSA presidential nominee ultimately failed, but much of the party's organization failed to support the ticket. Despite this, Brown and his running mateMary Alice Herbert won ballot access in eight states and had write-in status in eight others. On election day, Brown/Herbert earned 10,837 votes, which was more than any of the Socialist Party's presidential candidates since 1952 and the most in the Socialist Party USA's history. Several third party activists, including Darcy Richardson of Florida and Steve Hauser of Wisconsin, assisted with Brown's presidential campaign.[3]
In 2008, Brown ran as aPacific Green Party candidate for the office ofAttorney General in Oregon in theNovember 2008 elections.[4] Brown received 76,856 votes for 5.1% of the total vote.[5]
In June 2010, he was selected as thePacific Green candidate forOregon State Treasurer in the2010 Oregon elections[6] but he ended his campaign for their nomination and ultimately received the nomination of the Progressive Party instead[7] and was listed as the Progressive candidate in the Oregon Voters' Pamphlet. Brown finished third of four candidates with 38,316 votes (3%).[8]
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Brown is the President of theEastside Democratic Club (not affiliated with theDemocratic Party) and on their Agenda Committee as well. Brown is also on the Board of Directors for theOregon Consumer League. He is a volunteer attorney for both the Oregon Consumer League and theConsumer-Justice Alliance. He and his wife, Beverly, volunteer to both the Sunnyside Homeless Shelter and the St. Francis Dining Hall in Portland.
Near the conclusion of Brown's twelve years in the Oregon State Senate, he served as Chairman of the Senate Agriculture and Forestry Committee. At that time Brown and his wife purchased 185 acres (0.75 km2) of land on both sides of the Siletz River in Lincoln County on the Oregon Coast. This land had been clear-cut during World War I. The couple spent many years of hard work to reforest the land with Sitka spruce, western red cedar, and Douglas fir, all with the express intention of making a public park. When Barbara died in 1999, the park had not been completed and Walt continued to manage this forest alone. On August 8, 2007, he donated the land to Lincoln County, which guaranteed that hunting and logging would not be allowed.[9]
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Oregon State Senator 1975–1987 Socialist PartyPresidential candidate 2004 (lost) | Succeeded by |