One step from the White House Book

"in his case, there seems to ve no final answer to 'How stupid can you get?" " Eisenhower. "He was the most honest man I have ever met." Pat Brown. This is an excellent biography of a figure who has unfortunately been relegated to footnote status in the history books. William Fife Knowland (Of the Tacoma, Washington, Fife's and the Oakland, California, Knowland's ), was , for a time, one of the most powerful men in the United States and even the world. Born into the wealthy and influential Knowland family, which essentially controlled Oakland California, Knowland was brought up to be a staunch conservative Republican and a champion of conservative values. Knowland attended his first Republican when he was 16, and probably had political ambitions in childhood. He was not predictably right-wing on some issues. When he was in the California state legislature in the thirties, he fought hard to pass an anti-lynching bill, and had a pretty good record on Civil rights while he was in the U.S Senate. He enlisted inthe US Army shortly after Pearl Harbor and attained the rank of major , serving-quite ably- in an Army historical unit.
Knowland was appointed to the Senate in 1945,by Governor Earl Warren, to fill the seat the seat of the legendary Hiram Johnson. After crushing Will Rogers, Jr., in the election of 1946, he rapidly became of the most powerful figures in the senate, who was respected for his integrity but often mocked for a strong streak of ponderous pomposity. When the brilliant GOP leader Robert Taft died of cancer in 1953, he succeeded him as Majority Leader. Here, Knowland's real strengths-and real flaws- became evident. A hard working and straight forward Senator, who had an able and loyal staff, he was also frequently outwitted by his Democrat counterpart, Lyndon Johnson. He also had several vices. He was sometimes a drunk, and -often- a womanizer who cheated on his wife. While he worked hard to pass the 19557 Civil Rights bill, and wept when the Democrats gutted it, he was most noted as 'the senator from Formosa, a vociferous supporter of Chiang Kai Shek and a a bitter for of Red China. He also wa an ally of Joe McCarthy.
In 1957, Knowland made a momentous decision. He would leave the senate and try to unseat California's moderate Republican Governor, Godwin Knight. His reason were unclear. In part, it was save his failing marriage. However, there was a bigger reason. Knowland had hated Richard Nixon for years.(The feeling was mutual.), and thoght that he became governor, he could block Nixon at the 1960 GOP convention. In addition, he thought he had a solid gold issue. He wanted California to pass a right -to -work law.
The quarrel between Governor Knight and Senator Knowland split the California GOP. Then, Richard Nixon had a brainstorm. Knowland and Knight would switch places. Knight would run fir Knowland's senate seat, and Knowland would run for governor. While the story of the 1958 election Election in California deserves a whole book, we need only say that the 'big switch" had catastrophic consequences. In 11952, Knowland had been re-elected to the Senate by 800,000 votes. He lost the governor's race to Pat Brown by one million votes. Knight lost his bid for the senate by 600,000 votes. Every single GOP office holder in California also lost.
After the debacle, Knowland moved back to Oakland and took over the family newspaper, The Oakland Tribune. While he was still a respected civic leader in Oakland , his vices were getting worse. He left his wife and married a La Vegas show girl. His drinking grew heavier and he started gambling-and losing. On January 14, 1974, he finally faced up to the millions he owed the Las Vegas mob and came to a decision. H drive, very fast to the family compound in Guernville on the banks of Russian river. There, he took his old Army 45 caliber off the wal, wlakedot ion the pier, and killed himself.