Former Gov. Gray Davis Reflects on Career in Berkeley Project

Nearly a quarter-century has passed since Gray Davis left the California governor's office - today he's in his 80s, an elder statesman. But do not be mistaken: He is still engaged in the politics of our time, even as he reflects deeply on a career that spanned the second half of the 20th century and the first years of the 21st.

Now Davis and the Oral History Center at UC Berkeley's Bancroft Library are releasing a massive new history, the former governor's telling of his own life and times during an era of profound change and innovation that shaped modern California. It is a document of impressive heft - 931 pages in all, distilled from some 17 lengthy recording sessions in 2012 and 2013, a decade after Davis left office.

"I think it's important to leave behind a reflection of what happened during a governor's term," Davis told UC Berkeley News. "Every governor is going to do some good things, some things in between and some things that didn't turn out as well as he or she would have hoped. But just to have that history is helpful not only to historians, but to future policymakers who are looking for advice and guidance."

The new history will be formally introduced today (Monday, Sept. 28) at a high-level, invitation-only campus event, featuring the former Democratic governor, Chancellor Rich Lyons and a host of Davis' contemporaries from the worlds of politics, journalism and scholarship.

Housed at the Oral History Center, the volume is the latest addition to a collection that has become indispensable to the study of California political history. In addition to the Davis volume, the center holds a wealth of voices from the administrations of former Governor and U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren, Governors Edmund G. "Pat" Brown, Ronald Reagan, Jerry Brown and other California elected officials who defined their times.

"There's something very special about the cauldron of political experimentation in this state," said Center Director Paul Burnett. "We've produced political movements that created legislation that has had a nationwide impact, and later a global impact. Like many people, I regard the history of California politics as the future of politics in other places."

In the interview below, Davis reflects on the importance of preserving history. He discusses his role in supporting scientific research, education, and public safety in California. But in recalling past accomplishments and controversies - and even exact bill numbers from long-ago legislative sessions - he makes clear that the past remains vivid in his memory.

UC Berkeley News: Why did you decide to do an oral history about your career in service? And what value do you see in it for historians, for journalists, for others?

Gov. Gray Davis: Well, that's up to the people who review it. But I feel like it's completing the race. And remember, I have a military background. We're calling this a history from military service in ROTC (at Stanford University) and the Vietnam War to my time as 37th governor of California.

In the military, they always ask you to give an after-action report. I went to a military high school, Harvard High School in Los Angeles - it's now Harvard-Westlake. In those days people wore a uniform. We had one hour of military discussion a week, and that got us used to the discipline and the traditions of the military.

After the long process of developing this oral history and the ensuing document - in reflecting on this volume, is there anything in it that surprises you?

I don't know that I'd say 'surprised.' It is a little scary to go back to day one, effectively, and share your whole life. But it's also therapeutic. And if there's any benefit or guidance to the reader, great. If not, no problem.

I tell people that there have been 40 governors. I'm the 37th. Everyone governs for their time. This is an important point to make.

You'll be surprised to hear that in 1999, during my first year as governor, California was a much more divided state. Our Congressional delegation had 28 Democrats and 24 Republicans; Democrats did not have the super majority in the Legislature they do today. We needed a two-thirds majority to pass a budget, even one that lowered taxes.

I've always seen myself as a moderate. That's who I am. That's how I was raised, and that's how I would govern. I said that on inauguration night. I said it in my State of the State speech.

But you also did some things that were quite progressive by the standards of the time.

When I took office in 1999 no states had domestic partnerships. We wanted to make sure all Californians were treated equally. We passed the most progressive domestic partnership law in the country.

We worked very closely with a lot of leaders in the gay and lesbian movement, including Chad Griffin, former President of the Human Rights Campaign. A true leader in the LGBT community. I want to thank my chief of staff, Lynn Schenk, and core team, Susan Kennedy and Daniel Zingale, and many others on my staff who made domestic partnerships a reality in California.

Domestic partnerships led to a ruling by the California Supreme Court, under Chief Justice Ron George, that a law requiring that a marriage be between a man and a woman is unconstitutional. So we started a process that led to marriage equality in California.

What other issues would you include among your progressive successes?

We added at least 30% to the tax credit for research and development. That was not just for Silicon Valley, but also for innovators in entertainment, biotechnology, and other creatives - all of which is part of California's DNA. Today we are far and away the leader among states winning Nobel prizes and on patents, in part because of our incentives for research and development.

I was the first governor in the country to sign legislation authorizing full scale stem cell research to cure some of society's most debilitating illnesses.

You've mentioned, though, that you weren't always progressive.

I believe you should try and live within your means. During my first four years as governor, I reduced taxes by $4.3 billion. Most of that was the car tax, and the balance were incentives to enhance research and development.

I also felt very strongly on public safety. In part because of my service in Vietnam, and just my general appreciation for the fact that, if there's not a sense of public safety - a sense that you can safely take a walk on the street, take your kids to the park, or ride public transit - lots of people will be denied their opportunity to pursue the American dream.

One strong theme in your oral history is the effect of your work to nurture Silicon Valley in its early years. Can you talk about that for a moment?

I spent a lot of time with John Doerr, Brooke Byers and Marc Andreessen [all early Silicon Valley tech visionaries], who are senior statesmen themselves now.

I remember Doerr wanted me to ride a Segway. He said, 'This is going to be great. People will ride this on sidewalks.' And all my staff says, "Don't get on it, you may hurt yourself!" I'm not going to hurt myself. I got on, I rode it. But I told them, "There are a zillion people on sidewalks, people in wheelchairs and pedestrians - I doubt it will work on sidewalks but maybe law enforcement will benefit from using it."

It turned out the police did value it.

But Silicon Valley -

I knew it was something big. It looked like it could be headquartered in California. I wanted to see it grow and expand. And so if I had one passion beyond my passion for education, it was to expand our scientific footprint in the state and to encourage more emphasis on research.

You mentioned California's strength in winning Nobel Prizes.

From 2010 to 2025, there were 27 Nobels for science awarded to scientists in California - and 59% of the winners have been from the University of California. In that period, Massachusetts and New Jersey were second with seven Nobels each. Texas won two.

California is a patent factory and an intellectual powerhouse. There's no place on planet Earth where it's better to invent the future than in California. Not only do we have 13 research universities, but the entire venture capital community lives here.

But how are we on everything else having to do with business? Not so good. Other states take business away from us. I don't like that.

Pete Wilson [Davis' Republican predecessor as governor] had red teams that worked very hard to hold onto our businesses, and I kept them because business creates jobs and jobs start you down a path toward your American dream. If you don't have a job, you can't begin that path and can't go down the path to success.

Let's jump to the present moment in California - the governor's race. Xavier Becerra, the Democrat, is running against Steve Hilton, the Republican. Given your role as a senior statesman, do you have any advice for the new governor who will be elected on Nov. 3?

I'm proud of Secretary Becerra [Becerra served as secretary of Health and Human Services under President Joe Biden]. He's going to be a very good governor. He has a lot of experience, so I don't want to be presumptuous to tell him what to do.

In general terms, though, he should decide the two things he really wants to accomplish as governor and begin focusing on those things on day one.

Every governor has more authority and power, in the best sense of the word, on day one, than he does on his last day in office. So begin the process as soon as you can.

No advice on policy priorities?

The only subject matter that I'll bring up - and I'm passionate about this - is that we have to do a better job about housing. It is too darn expensive. Housing can be our Achilles heel. We have to subsidize it. There's no way of getting around that.

The GI Bill was a subsidy to veterans coming home from military service after World War II. That bill provided financial assistance for them to buy a home. Owning a home creates wealth. And if you can't own a home, it's very hard to get on what I call the equity escalator.

There are different ways to bring down the cost of housing, but we simply must make it more affordable to buy a home. There are ways to do that. But if we don't allow people to get a house in the state, they will not stay here, and we won't be able to produce all the scientists, engineers, working-class people and professionals that do all the things that make California great.

Thinking of this new volume of your history, what impression do you want people to come away with? What legacy do you hope emerges from these pages?

My passion has always been education. In my first year as governor, I would go to a school at least once or twice a month. And I would say, "I want you guys to work hard, study, learn as much as you can. Only one child can be the best, but every child can get better.

"The more you learn, the more you will earn. The more you learn, the better your family will think of you, the better you'll think of yourself. The more options and opportunities you'll have growing up. Take advantage of this time, learn as much as you can. Be inquisitive."

The interview has been edited for clarity and length.