John Harold Swan

Candidate Biography:

Born: July 17, 1903 in Washington, DC
Died: May 30, 1957

1938: Chairman, California Democratic Central Committee, Educational Division
1947-1957: Dean, University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law

• LEGISLATION: Swan was the author of SCR 15 (1942) authorized the State Personnel Board "to take every proper means to prevent anyone securing a position on the eligible list of the state civil service or from being certified to a civil service position in the state service who is not loyal to the United States and to further make such rules as may be necessary to provide for the dismissal from the service of such persons as may be proved to be disloyal to the United States of America in this present war." This law resulted in the dismissal of all state employees (over 300) of Japanese ancestry.
• QUOTE: “It is not what you eat, but what you digest,that makes you strong. It is not what you can earn, but what you save, that makes you rich - it is not what you learn, but what you remember, that makes you wise.”
• SECOND JOB: While serving in the legislature in 1944, Senator Swan was also a law student at UC Berkeley. To pay the bills, he washed dishes at the Alpha Chi Omega sorority.