Christopher of San Francisco

"Hard-muscled, hardheaded product of San Francisco's tough south-of-Market Street area, self educated, impetuous, and shrewd - This is George Christopher, mayor of the Golden Gate city! At the age of twenty, on the death of his father, George Christopher became the head and sole support of his family. As a fledgling businessman he clawed his way through the 'milk jungle' of California, pitted himself against its dairy barons and their powerful lobby in Sacramento. He ultimately battered down the barriers of the milk trust and was a millionaire at thirty-eight. The restless, exuberant young Greek-American then sought and found a new challenge in the political arena. George Christopher ran for city office for the first time against several veterans of the San Francisco political scene. No newspaper supported him and no political observer thought he had a chance, yet he won. And went on winning. In 1955 he swept into the mayor's office. Within hours longtime San Francisco politicos began to sense seismic disturbances. Though Christopher has made it clear to party bosses that he is his own man, he is the fastest rising star on the western political horizon. Like New York City's great mayor, Fiorello La Guardia, whom he strongly resembles in many important respects, George Christopher is hated by his enemies and idolized by his followers. He is hellbent for progress in the face of municipal inertia. His natural pioneer spirit is fitting for California"--Unedited summary from book cover