As district attorney for San Francisco, Edmund G. "Pat" Brown made his name with high profile prosecutions of illegal gambling and abortion providers. Running as a Democrat for state attorney general in 1946, he lost to the district attorney for Los Angeles, but came back in 1950 to win the office. In 1958, he won the first of his two terms as governor, losing reelection in 1966 to a movie actor and conservative activist named Ronald Reagan. Brown's son and namesake, known as Jerry, would follow closely in Pat's footsteps, serving as both attorney general and governor.

Scarce poster from early in Brown's career.