Goodwin Jess "Goodie" Knight (December 9, 1896 – May 22, 1970) was an American politician who served as the
31st governor of California from 1953 until 1959. A member of the
Republican Party, he previously was the
35th Military units
*35th Fighter Wing, an air combat unit of the United States Air Force
*35th Infantry Division (United States), a formation of the National Guard since World War I
*35th Infantry Regiment (United States), a regiment created on 1 July 1 ...
lieutenant governor of California from 1947 to 1953 under
Earl Warren. Upon Warren's appointment as
Chief Justice of the United States by President
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
, Knight assumed the governorship before being elected in his own right in
1954.
Biography
Early years
Knight was born in
Provo, Utah, but his family moved to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
when he was a boy. His father, Jesse Jasper Knight (nephew of mining magnate
Jesse Knight
Jesse Knight (6 September 1845 — 14 March 1921) was an American mining magnate, one of relatively few Latter-day Saints in 19th century Western America to find major success in the field.
After the death of his father Newel Knight, Jesse's f ...
), was a mining engineer, but Goodwin followed in the footsteps of his maternal grandfather, John B. Milner, who was a
judge in Provo.
Knight attended
high school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
in Los Angeles, at
Manual Arts High School
Manual Arts High School is a secondary public school in Los Angeles, California, United States.
History
Manual Arts High School was founded in 1910 in the middle of bean fields, one-half mile from the nearest bus stop. It was the third high sch ...
. One of his classmates was
Jimmy Doolittle
James Harold Doolittle (December 14, 1896 – September 27, 1993) was an American military general and aviation pioneer who received the Medal of Honor for his daring raid on Japan during World War II. He also made early coast-to-coast flights ...
. He earned an
A.B.
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...
in
Law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
and
Business from
Stanford University, where he was a member of the
Stanford Chaparral
The ''Stanford Chaparral'' (also known as the ''Chappie'') is a humor magazine published by students of Stanford University since 1899.
History
The ''Stanford Chaparral'' was established in 1899 by Bristow Adams. Published for more than 112 ye ...
in 1919. Knight also attended
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...
. He served in the
U.S. Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...
during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.
Career
Knight was a
judge of the
Superior Court in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
beginning in 1935. He was reelected in 1936 and 1942 without significant opposition. His case load varied from the glamorous to the mundane. He oversaw weddings and
divorce
Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...
s for
Hollywood starlets.
Political career and Governor of California
Knight began his political career in 1944, when he pursued the
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
nomination for the
U.S. Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...
. He bowed out early, though, to back
Fred Houser. He was elected as the
35th Lieutenant Governor of California to serve under Governor
Earl Warren in 1946, then reelected in 1950. He became governor himself when Warren resigned to become
Chief Justice of the United States in 1953.
While Lieutenant Governor, he made a guest appearance on
Jack Benny's radio show which aired on May 10, 1953, an episode from San Francisco. He appeared on Benny's TV show four years later, on February 10, 1957.
As governor, Knight fought for control of the
Republican Party of California
The California Republican Party (CAGOP) is the affiliate of the United States Republican Party in the U.S. state of California. The party is based in Sacramento and is led by chair Jessica Millan Patterson.
As of October 2020, Republicans repre ...
with
U.S. Senate Majority Leader William Knowland
William Fife Knowland (June 26, 1908 – February 23, 1974) was an American politician and newspaper publisher. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a United States Senator from California from 1945 to 1959. He was Senate Majority Le ...
and
Vice President
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
. In 1954, Knight was easily elected to his own full term. At first Knight seemed to make an alliance with Knowland, but this began to sour in 1956 when Knowland supported Nixon for renomination as vice president. In 1957, Knowland announced that he would challenge Knight in the 1958
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
primary for governor. Knight, known as a
moderate
Moderate is an ideological category which designates a rejection of radical or extreme views, especially in regard to politics and religion. A moderate is considered someone occupying any mainstream position avoiding extreme views. In American ...
, and sympathetic to
organized labor, faced a serious threat from more
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
challengers. He was induced by Knowland, Nixon,
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
Dwight Eisenhower, and others to run for Knowland's Senate seat instead of running for governor again. Both Knowland and Knight went down in defeat in 1958, with Knowland losing the gubernatorial race to
Edmund G. "Pat" Brown, Sr. and Knight losing the Senate race by over 10% to
Clair Engle
Clair Engle (September 21, 1911July 30, 1964) was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from California from 1959 until his death in 1964. A member of the Democratic Party, he is best remembered for participating in the v ...
, severely weakening the heretofore-dominant Republicans in the state. This left Nixon in control of the California party and in line for the presidential nomination, which Knowland and Knight had also desired.
Knight was present at the July 17, 1955, opening of
Disneyland
Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney initially envision ...
, and gave a speech following
Walt Disney
Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...
's famous dedication.
In September 1961, Knight announced a bid for a return to the governorship. He later dropped out of the race for the Republican nomination which was won by Nixon, who was in turn defeated by Brown.
In 1964, Knight endorsed
Nelson Rockefeller for the Republican nomination against
Barry Goldwater. Rockefeller was unsuccessful in stopping Goldwater, the darling of the party's growing conservative wing. Knight never ran for political office again.
Personal life
Knight's first wife, Arvilla, died of a heart attack on October 29, 1952; the couple had two daughters. He married Virginia Carlson (born Virginia Piergue on October 12, 1918, in
Fort Dodge
Fort Dodge is a city in, and the county seat of, Webster County, Iowa, United States, along the Des Moines River. The population was 24,871 in the 2020 census, a decrease from 25,136 in 2000. Fort Dodge is a major commercial center for North Cen ...
,
Iowa
Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...
), the widow of an Army lieutenant, on August 2, 1954, at the Episcopal Church of Our Savior in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
. The couple had no children.
Death
On May 22, 1970, Knight died three months after his 36-year-old daughter Carolyn Knight Weedman committed suicide. She took her life by carbon monoxide asphyxiation from her car in the garage of her home in the
Hancock Park
Hancock Park is a city park in the Miracle Mile section of the Mid-Wilshire neighborhood in Los Angeles, California.
The park's destinations include the La Brea Tar Pits; the adjacent George C. Page Museum of La Brea Discoveries, which displ ...
neighborhood of Los Angeles and left behind two sons, Jonathan and Robert Weedman. Knight discovered his daughter a day later, and this is believed to have contributed to the stroke that ultimately ended his life. His widow, Virginia, never remarried; she died at age 92 on November 29, 2010.
Goodwin Knight's funeral took place in Saint James Episcopal Church in Los Angeles, with full military honors. The funeral was attended by then California Governor
Ronald Reagan, U.S. Senator
Barry Goldwater from Arizona, accompanied by his son, U.S. Representative
Barry Goldwater Jr. from California, General of the Army
Omar Bradley
Omar Nelson Bradley (February 12, 1893April 8, 1981) was a senior officer of the United States Army during and after World War II, rising to the rank of General of the Army. Bradley was the first chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and over ...
and numerous Hollywood and civic leaders. Knight was initially interred at Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery, but one year later disinterred and his remains moved to
Rose Hills Memorial Park
Rose Hills Memorial Park is located in Whittier, California. It is currently owned and operated by Service Corporation International (formerly, Loewen Group). It claims to be the largest cemetery in North America.
Sites
; Mausoleums
* Whittier ...
in
Whittier, California
Whittier () is a city in Southern California in Los Angeles County, part of the Gateway Cities. The city had 87,306 residents as of the 2020 United States census, an increase of 1,975 from the 2010 census figure. Whittier was incorporated in ...
after his second wife, Virginia Knight, learned he had purchased a crypt next to his first wife, Arvilla.
See also
*
Burton Abbott
Burton Wilbur Abbott (February 8, 1928 – March 15, 1957) was a University of California at Berkeley accounting student living in Alameda, California, who was convicted in November 1955 of the rape and murder of 14-year-old Stephanie Bryan.
...
*
Barbara Graham
Barbara Elaine "Bonnie" Wood Graham (née Ford; June 26, 1923 – June 3, 1955) was an American criminal convicted of murder. She was executed in the gas chamber at San Quentin Prison on the same day as two convicted accomplices, Jack Santo and E ...
References
External links
Goodwin J. Knight Political HistoryFinding aid for Goodwin J. Knight Oral History, Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knight, Goodwin Jess
Republican Party governors of California
Lieutenant Governors of California
Politicians from Provo, Utah
1896 births
1970 deaths
Burials at Rose Hills Memorial Park
Cornell University alumni
Stanford University alumni
United States Navy sailors
Knight family (Latter Day Saints)
Former Latter Day Saints
United States Navy personnel of World War I
Members of the Odd Fellows