Alfred E. Alquist (born August 2, 1908 in Memphis, Tennessee - died March 27, 2006 in Sacramento, California) was a California politician. August 2 is the 214th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (215th in leap years), with 151 days remaining. ... 1908 (MCMVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar). ... For other uses, see Memphis (disambiguation). ... March 27 is the 86th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (87th in leap years). ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... Nickname: River City Location of Sacramento in California County Sacramento Government  - Mayor Heather Fargo Area  - City  99. ... Official language(s) English Capital  Sacramento Largest city  Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ... The Politics series Politics Portal This box:      A politician is an individual who is a formally recognized and active member of a government, or a person who influences the way a society is governed through an understanding of political power and group dynamics. ...

The son of a Swedish immigrant who worked for the railroads, he was barely a teenager when he started carrying water to railroad work crews. He became a timekeeper, switchman, brakeman and conductor, before serving with the Army Air Forces during World War II. He was a yardmaster for the Southern Pacific Railroad when he and his first wife moved to San Jose in 1947. Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... The Southern Pacific Railroad (AAR reporting mark SP) was an American railroad. ...

Alquist was elected to the State Assembly in 1962, and four years later, the State Senate, where he served for 30 years. A forceful and savvy state legislator, he chaired the powerful Senate Finance Committee for 15 years. He also routinely chaired the two-house conference committee that wrote the final version of the state budget before it went to the Assembly and Senate floors. State legislatures are the lawmaking bodies of the 50 states in the United States of America. ...

He was perhaps best known for his co-authorship of the landmark 1974 law, a national model, which created the California Energy Commission. In the legislature, Alquist also helped to establish the Santa Clara County transit system, the state's earthquake safety programs, and the state Energy Commission. A pragmatic New Deal Democrat, he earned a reputation for helping the poor and representing the interests of labor. When term limits forced him to retire in 1996, he was the Legislature's ranking member. Santa Clara County is a county located in Californias San Francisco Bay Area. ... The New Deal was the name President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave to the series of programs between 1933–1938 with the goal of relief, recovery and reform of the United States economy during the Great Depression. ... The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States; the other being the Republican Party. ...

A state office building in downtown San Jose, California, which he had advocated to get built, is named for him. His wife, Elaine Alquist is currently a state senator who now represents much of the same district her husband did. Nickname: Capital of Silicon Valley Location of San Jose within Santa Clara County, California. ... A State Senator is a member of a state Senate, the upper legislative chamber in the government of a U.S. state. ...

External links

• Longtime state-Senate power Al Alquist dies at 97
• Al Alquist -- 34 years in state Legislature