Arthur Samish

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Arthur H. Samish (born August 9, 1897, East Los Angeles; died August 1974, San Francisco) was the most Influential and powerful individual lobbyist in the history of California, representing movie studios, racetracks, lawyers, Insurance companies, fishing, cigarette, liquor and brewing interests. Governor Earl Warren said of Samish that "On matters that affect his clients, Artie unquestionably has more power than the governor."

Arthur H. Samish was born in East Los Angeles in 1897 but grew up in San Francisco. His father, an Austrian immigrant, abandoned the family when Arthur was four years old. His mother devoted her life to raising Arthur. They experienced the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake when Arthur was eight. Their home was destroyed. After the seventh grade, Arthur quit school. He worked as a delivery boy, errand boy and grocery store clerk until, at about age sixteen, he became an office boy for a law firm. Later, he met the San Francisco tax collector, who gave Arthur a job. The tax office gave Arthur Samish the opportunity to meet the other important politicians of San Francisco, including the sheriff. His job in the tax office ended when it was discovered that he was not old enough to be a San Francisco voter, a condition required by law for employment. He secured a position as secretary of an association of saloon keepers and retail liquor outlets organized for political action. Samish collected contributions to fight prohibition.

Later, Samish moved to Sacramento where he met the private secretary of the Hiram Johnson, Governor of California. Through this connection Samish got a job with the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). There he met his future wife, Merced, daughter of Dan Sullivan, state printer and president of the California State Federation of Labor.

Samish became a page in the California State Assembly moving up to a clerical position before becoming the Engrossing and Enrolling Clerk for the legislature. Control over the movement of legislation was important for politicians and others who wanted to affect legislation. Samish learned the procedures of the legislative process so well he could hold up legislation on technicalities. As engrossing and enrolling clerk, Artie Samish prepared and corrected versions of any bill that had been modified during debate or reconciliation before final passage. If a bill that sarted in the California Assembly was modified in the California State Senate, it had to be sent back for rewrite. The amended or modified versions were checked in every detail, including punctuation and spelling. When a bill passed both houses, it was printed before delivery to the governor for signing. If the bill was vetoed, it had to go back to the legislature where a vote for overriding the veto could be held. If a bill passed and became law through signature by the governor or the overriding veto, it was delivered by the engrossing and enrolling clerk to the secretary of state for filing. Thus each step had to be verified or performed by the engrossing and enrolling clerk. Samish knew all the critical points where legislation could be expedited or stalled. Later, He got a position in the California State Division of Markets. This organization was set up to encourage creation of cooperatives in the marketing of agricultural products.

In time, Cigar-smoking Arthur Samish, 6 feet 2 inches tall and 300 pounds in weight, wielded more power on some issues than the Governor of California, holding power by distributing campaign funds, calling it his "select and elect" policy. There were two other elements to Samish's power. He could deliver a large bloc of votes of friends and relatives. The interest groups he worked for when he became a full time lobbyist gave Samish control over large funds, what are now called "slush funds," that he spent at his discretion.

In the late-1940's, Samish was interviewed in Collier's Weekly and shown in a photograph with a ventriloquist dummy, saying, "this is my legislature. How are you Mr. Legislature?" State Legislators were incensed. In 1949, legislation regulating lobbyists requiring disclosure passed the legislature and was signed by the governor and Samish was denounced by the Sacramento County grand jury. Samish was convicted of tax evasion and went to jail. He died in San Francisco in 1974.