18 Facts About Friend Richardson

Friend Richardson's governorship marked a sharp reversal in policies from previous administrations, rolling back many of the Progressive reforms and state governmental agencies put in place by previous governors Hiram Johnson and William Stephens.

William Richardson was born in December 1865 to William and Rhoda Richardson at Friends Colony, Michigan, a Quaker township located outside of Ann Arbor.

Five years later, Friend Richardson became the owner and newspaper editor of The San Bernardino Times Index.

In 1900, Friend Richardson relocated to Berkeley where he purchased within a year The Berkeley Daily Gazette and became active in the California Press Association.

In 1901, Friend Richardson was appointed as Superintendent of the State Printing Office with the consent of the California State Legislature and Governor Henry Gage.

The Friend Richardson family relocated to Sacramento where he assumed state printing responsibilities, while at the same time, continuing to own his newspapers in both San Bernardino and Berkeley.

In 1914, Friend Richardson officially entered politics, running as a Progressive for California State Treasurer.

Friend Richardson easily defeated his Socialist and Prohibitionist rivals by a voting gap of 66 percent.

Friend Richardson began his governorship on January 9,1923, promising a no-frills administration to deeply cut governmental expenditures.

Friend Richardson embarked on a program to eliminate "unnecessary boards and officers, by consolidation, and by doing away with overlapping functions," calling it a massive waste of taxpayers' money.

Meanwhile, Friend Richardson blocked the Progressives' passage of a bill in the Legislature to create a professional State Bar of California with a pocket veto in 1925.

Friend Richardson personally accompanied Swedish Prince Gustaf Adolf and Princess Louise Mountbatten on a portion of their tour through Southern California in 1926.

That same year, the increasingly embattled Friend Richardson faced a crucial primary election.

Friend Richardson returned to newspaper publishing, becoming the chief publisher of the Alameda Times Star in 1931.

Friend Richardson became politically active again in the 1930s, though in appointed positions.

Friend Richardson served as the State Building and Loan Commissioner under James Rolph from 1932 to 1934, and later as the State Superintendent of Banks from 1934 to 1939 under his former campaign manager in 1922, Frank Merriam.

In July 1943, Friend Richardson suffered a heart attack from which he never recovered, and died at his Berkeley home on September 6,1943.

Friend Richardson's ashes are now interred at the Chapel of the Chimes in Oakland.