Once California’s youngest governor, Jerry Brown reprises his
role as the state's chief executive starting Monday, now as the
oldest person elected to that office. Then, as now, Brown
replaced a Hollywood actor-gone-governor – Ronald Reagan in 1975
and Arnold Schwarzenegger now – and the top issue was high
unemployment amid a sagging economy. Here's a look at California
and Brown then and now. Dick Schmidt/Sacramento Bee/Newscom/File
Succeeding Gov. Ronald Reagan, Brown took office in 1975 amid
high unemployment, a recession, and runaway inflation. In his
1975 inaugural address, he said, “We are going to cooperate with
local government and industry to create as many new jobs as
humanly possible.” In some ways, Brown may have it even worse
now. California’s unemployment rate in 1975 stood at a
relatively high 9.4 percent, but now it's at a whopping 12.4
percent. That's the second highest jobless rate in the nation:
Only Michigan's is higher. During Brown’s first year in office,
the unemployment rate worsened,