Frederick Napoleon Howser (April 11, 1905 – April 26, 1987) was an American politician and attorney. From 1947 to 1951, he was the 22nd Attorney General of California.
Frederick N. Howser | |
|---|---|
 Howser in 1943 | |
| 22nd Attorney General of California | |
| In office January 5, 1947 – January 8, 1951 | |
| Governor | Earl Warren |
| Preceded by | Robert W. Kenny |
| Succeeded by | Pat Brown |
| 31st District Attorney of Los Angeles County | |
| In office 1943–1946 | |
| Preceded by | John F. Dockweiler |
| Succeeded by | William E. Simpson |
| Member of the California State Assembly from the 71st district | |
| In office January 6, 1941 – February 2, 1943 | |
| Preceded by | Paul Peek |
| Succeeded by | Carl Fletcher |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Frederick Napoleon Howser April 11, 1905 David City, Nebraska, U.S. |
| Died | April 26, 1987 (aged 82) Laguna Hills, California, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Helen Sten |
| Children | 1 |
Early career
editHowser was born in David City, Nebraska on April 11, 1905.[1] He attended USC Law School and worked as chief deputy city attorney for the city of Long Beach in the late 1930s.[2]
In 1940, Howser was elected to the first of two terms in the California State Assembly, representing Long Beach.[3][4] Howser was appointed Los Angeles County District Attorney in 1943, following the death of John F. Dockweiler. Howser was elected for a full term as District Attorney in 1944.[5]
As both District Attorney and a member of the Assembly, Howser maintained ties to powerful liquor lobbyist Arthur Samish.[6] Samish would later claim to have "maneuvered" Howser into the chairmanship of the Assembly's Public Morals Committee before later steering his appointment as District Attorney.[7]
In addition to his connection with Samish, Howser was also tied to gambling interests, including gambling boat operator Tony Cornero, who purportedly paid Howser $35,000 for help arranging the return of Cornero's gambling boats to Los Angeles.[6][8]
Attorney General
editHowser ran for California Attorney General in 1946 after incumbent Attorney General Robert W. Kenny opted to forgo reelection to challenge Republican Governor Earl Warren. He received a $170,000 contribution from gambler Elmer "Bones" Remmer, owner of the Oaks Card Room in Emeryville and the Menlo Club on Turk St. in San Francisco. Howser's connections to gambling, however, attracted the scrutiny of Warren, who refused to support Howser's campaign.[6] Howser was nonetheless able to capitalize on the Republican wave of Warren's reelection and the similarity of his name to the outgoing lieutenant governor, Frederick F. Houser.[6] Winning election with 55 percent of the vote, Howser defeated opponent Pat Brown, a future governor, in what would be Brown's first run at statewide office.[9]
Howser's ties to gambling interests followed him into office as Attorney General. Seeking to limit his exposure to Howser, Warren formed the California Crime Commission in 1947, purportedly to investigate organized crime in California, chaired by Admiral William H. Standley and directed by a close Warren ally, Warren Olney III.[6] Olney and the Commission subsequently released a series of reports alleging an attempt to create a "state-wide plan for racket protection under the cloak of the Attorney General's Office."[10]
The investigations circling Howser's office pushed him into direct conflict with Warren, who Howser claimed was attacking him because "he thinks I am a threat to his domination of the Republican Party." Undeterred, the Crime Commission established the most direct link between gambling and Howser's office following the arrest of Fred Grange, an associate of Tony Cornero, for the attempted bribery of the Mendocino County Sheriff. Grange subsequently identified Wiley Caddel, an appointee to Howser's office, as a collector in the slot machine protection racket Grange had been attempting to establish. Grange claimed Howser's monthly take was $100,000.[6]
Holding on to his office despite being implicated in gambling rackets, Howser ran for reelection as Attorney General in 1950 but was defeated in the Republican primary. The winner, Edward S. Shattuck, went on to lose the general election to Pat Brown.[6]
Later life
editFollowing his reelection defeat, Howser engaged in a private law practice for 37 years. He died in Laguna Hills, California, on April 26, 1987.
Electoral history
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Frederick N. Howser | 1,414,744 | 55.0 | |
| Democratic | Pat Brown | 1,070,364 | 41.6 | |
| Prohibition | Claude A. Watson | 85,688 | 2.75 | |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Edward S. Shattuck | 551,934 | 47.5 | |
| Republican | Frederick N. Howser | 276,843 | 24.0 | |
| Republican | Pat Brown | 248,648 | 21.5 | |
| Republican | Claude A. Watson | 36,624 | 3.2 | |
| Republican | Patrick J. Cooney | 20,788 | 1.8 | |
| Republican | Marshall Abbott | 19,319 | 1.7 | |
External links
edit- Profile Archived 2006-05-14 at the Wayback Machine
- Join California Frederick N. Howser
References
edit- ^ "Frederick N. Howser, 22nd Attorney General". State of California Department of Justice. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
- ^ "Office History | Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office". da.lacounty.gov. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
- ^ Journals of the Legislature of the State of California, 1943, Vol. 2. Sacramento: California Legislature. 1943. p. 781. hdl:2027/uc1.a0006354690.
- ^ Assembly Final History, Fifty-Fourth Session (PDF). Sacramento: California Legislature. 1941. p. 10.
- ^ "Fred Howser, Fiery, Controversial Ex-Prosecutor, Dies". Los Angeles Times. 1987-04-29. Retrieved 2020-02-02.
- ^ a b c d e f g Cray, Ed (1997). Chief Justice: A Biography of Earl Warren. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-0-684-80852-9.
- ^ Samish, Arthur; Thomas, Robert (1971). The Secret Boss of California: The Life and High Times of Art Samish (PDF). New York: Crown Publishers. pp. 124–125.
- ^ Newton, Jim (2007-10-02). Justice for All: Earl Warren and the Nation He Made. Penguin. ISBN 978-1-4406-1980-9.
- ^ a b State of California Statement of Vote, General Election, November 5, 1946. Sacramento: California Secretary of State. 1946. p. 9.
- ^ Final report of the Special Crime Study Commission on Organized Crime. Sacramento: State of California. 1950. pp. 10–22. hdl:2027/osu.32437121670562.
- ^ [1] "State of California Statement of Vote, Primary Election, June 6, 1950" (retrieved on February 4, 2020).