Oral Histories

Interview of Robert W. Kenny

Attorney general of California from 1943 to 1947 and California senator from 1939 to 1943.
Subtitle:
My First Forty Years in California Politics, 1922-1962
Series:
Z: Orphan Interviews pre 1999
Topic:
Politics and Government
Biographical Note:
Attorney general of California from 1943 to 1947 and California senator from 1939 to 1943.
Interviewer:
Nunis, Doyce B. Jr
Interviewee:
Kenny, Robert W.
Place Conducted:
Kenny's office in Los Angeles, California.
Supporting Documents:
Records relating to the interview are located in the UCLA Library's Center for Oral History Research.
Language:
English
Copyright:
Regents of the University of California, UCLA Library.
Abstract:
Arrival of both grandfathers in California, 1852; paternal grandfather in book business with Hubert Howe Bancroft, San Francisco; further family background; father's banking pursuits in Los Angeles, 1890-1914; childhood in Los Angeles; education at Stanford University; early careers as newspaper reporter, lawyer, and municipal judge; bureau manager of United News Service in Los Angeles; partnership in Los Angeles Press Service; reporter for Los Angeles Express; Aimee Semple McPherson case, 1926; Julian Petroleum Company crash, 1927; James Rolph, Jr.'s gubernatorial campaign, 1930; Reverend Robert Shuler's radio station; appointment to superior court bench, 1932; Upton Sinclair and End Poverty in California (EPIC) campaign; bombing of Clifford Clinton's home, 1937; recall of Mayor Frank Shaw; opposition to fascism; election to California Senate, 1938; Governor Culbert L. Olson's administration; service as attorney general during governorship of Earl Warren, 1943-47; varied political activities for Demo-cratic Party while in and out of public office; rise and decline of California Democratic Party prior to 1955; effects of communist scare period on California education, politics, and Hollywood motion picture industry; debate with State Senator Jack B. Tenney at UCLA, 1952; Dwight D. Eisenhower and Adlai E. Stevenson presidential campaigns.