George Deukmejian Philanthropy
Before Courken George Deukmejian, Jr. became the governor of California, he was elected state senator for Long Beach in 1962. Of ethnic Armenian descent, George was born to a rug merchant and a retail store employee on July 6, 1928. He was born and raised in Menands, New York.
In 1949, he graduated from Siena College in the Albany County of New York with a bachelor’s degree in Sociology. Later on, he received his Juris Doctor in 1952 from St. John’s University in Queens, New York.
After serving in the U.S. Army for two years, he moved to California in 1955. Upon entering politics, he became the majority leader in the State Senate in 1969 and then became the Attorney General of California in 1978. At one point, he led an impressive and much publicized anti-marijuana campaign in North Carolina.
Finally, in 1982, George Deukmejian ran for governor of California and served from 1983 to 1991. Throughout his governorship, he had some goodhearted changes done such as vowing not to raise taxes and proposed new efforts to fight crime. He even wrote California’s capital punishment law and increased expenditure for the construction of new jails.
In George Deukmejian’s inaugural speech in 1987, he mentioned several things he wanted to be done in California, including the improvement of care and opportunities for their senior citizens and the implementation of the California Children’s Initiative to protect young people from drugs, disease, disability and criminal exploitation.
In 1988, George Deukmejian declared October 27, 1988 as the “Good Bear Day.” He entrusted the Assistance League of California, a nonprofit and nonpolitical organization, to provide teddy bears for the children from all over the Los Angeles area who were in traumatic and depressing situations.
According to him, the government can add to the number of peace officers and strengthen the new laws. Being tough on crime, he reminds citizens to respect the law, engage in crime fighting efforts in their neighborhood, and support responsible law enforcement. Public safety is his major objective, as well as the execution of criminals and lawbreakers.
After his period in the office, he joined an international law firm for nine years. He went into the public life once more by serving in committees in his hometown, one of which is a charter-reform committee in Long Beach.
Cited on numerous occasions for his work in the areas of both civic philanthropy and social reform, George Deukmejian received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the California State University in Long Beach for his support in education and state law.
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