George Moscone

George Richard Moscone (November 24, 1929 – November 27, 1978)

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Today, particularly outside of San Francisco, those who recognize Mayor George Moscone’s name may think of him as a career politician who was assassinated along with Harvey Milk. Still, there was much more to this influential and fascinating man’s story. He was a trailblazing progressive and powerful state legislator who was instrumental in passing legislation on issues ranging from LGBT rights to decriminalizing acupuncture and marijuana to funding for school lunches. Moscone’s 1975 campaign for mayor was historically significant because it was the first time a primary race was won by a candidate who campaigned aggressively for expanding civil rights for African Americans and LGBT people. He won his campaign for mayor chiefly because of massive support from those two constituencies.

 

In the brief time he served as mayor, Moscone remade city government by appointing people to city government and commissions who represented San Francisco's diversity. His vision of a progressive, neighborhood-based city government is still the model for progressive politicians in San Francisco and urban America. Moscone was also instrumental in saving the Giants from moving to Toronto.

 

Moscone was also a very colorful character who, in addition to being a successful politician, was a charming and charismatic bon vivant who was deeply embedded in the fabric and culture of San Francisco. He grew up the only son of a single mother in the Cow Hollow district when it was a working class, primarily Italian American neighborhood, and he became the kind of politician who knew bartenders, playground attendants, small business owners, and neighborhood activists in every corner of the city. Moscone’s life and the history of San Francisco during the middle half of the twentieth century are deeply intertwined.”

 

by Lincoln Mitchell