26th Governor of California, January 4, 1927 - January 6, 1931
(Republican)

Born:  April 28, 1869, in Lisbon, New Hampshire

Died:  December 24, 1947, in Berkeley, California

Marriage:  Lyla Jeannette Vincent (1902), 2 daughters

California’s 26th governor, Clement Calhoun Young, was given the nickname of “C-Squared Young” by his students when he was a high school English teacher.

Early Life

Clement Calhoun Young was born in New Hampshire but his family moved to California when Clement was just one year old. He went to school in Butte County, in San Jose, and in Santa Rosa. In 1892 he graduated from the University of California with a teaching certificate.

Career

After a year as vice-principal at Santa Rosa High School, Young began a 14-year career of teaching English at Lowell High School in San Francisco. During that time he was a co-author of English Poetry: Its Principles and Progress, a textbook used in many California schools. When the 1906 earthquake and fire disrupted San Francisco schools, Young went into real estate and insurance with Mason-McDuffie Company, where he became a vice-president of the company.

Young’s political career began with ten years in the State Assembly, followed by two terms as lieutenant governor under governors Stephens and Richardson. In 1926 Young took the Republican nomination for governor over Richardson.

As
Governor

Governor Young continued the reorganization of the executive branch of state government, adding four more members to the governor’s council of five. He urged the legislature to do long-range planning for administration of the state. Young inherited a surplus in the general fund of the state budget, and he left office in 1931 with that surplus even greater, cushioning the effect of the 1929 stock market crash and nation-wide depression.

Later Years

Though Young wanted another term as governor, he lost the nomination to James Rolph. When Rolph died in office, Young again announced his desire to return to the governor’s chair, but again was unsuccessful in the primary election. He went back to his work with Mason-McDuffie Company and became active in the Commonwealth Club of California.  Young was 78 years old when he died from a stroke at his home on Christmas Eve, 1947.