As a young, liberal, progressive politician squaring off against an entrenched conservative establishment, Los Angeles County Supervisor John Anson Ford transformed midcentury Los Angeles politics. The region was in the midst of rapid economic growth, and it could, he firmly believed, meet the expanding needs of its diverse population. In his memoir, Ford reveals the struggles of a democratic government in the throes of unprecedented, unforeseen change. He describes how he faced such issues as air pollution, flood control, water conservation, racial discrimination, crime, and juvenile delinquency, seeking to lead with efficiency, transparency, and pragmatism. As Adamson notes in his introduction, Ford's descriptions of efficient and pragmatic government in action are timely reminders that well-run government has the capacity to anchor well-being and underwrite economic development. In this way, Ford's memoir vividly captures the meanings of liberalism and progressivism at the dawn of the 1960s. This new edition includes a bibliography of the John Anson Ford Papers held at the Huntington Library.

John Anson Ford (1883-1983) served as a Los Angeles County Supervisor from 1934 to 1958.

"Thirty Explosive Years in Los Angeles County chronicles regional governance and politics in the tumultuous era from the Great Depression through the early years of the Cold War. A passionate political reformer who served on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Ford sought to modernize an archaic form of local government and to make it responsive to the outside forces that both drove and constrained its work. He was frequently the lone advocate for the less affluent, and his story speaks to the challenges that continue to roil American politics."—Tom Sitton, author of Grand Ventures: The Banning Family and the Shaping of Southern California