Running for Mayor

By the early 1940s, Clifford Clinton had become disenchanted with reform Mayor Fletcher Bowron, whom he had help sweep into office during the 1938 recall election that removed Mayor Frank Shaw.

Believing he had a duty to serve his country after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Clinton enlisted in the U.S. Army in February of 1942. He left Clifton's in the hands of his wife, Nelda, and Ransom Calicott, the vice president of the company. Mayor Bowron won reelection six months earlier without the support of Clinton, who believed Bowron didn't do enough to smash protected vice in Los Angeles.

After basic training, Clinton was sent to Camp Wallace near Houston where he ran the mess. He was then sent to Fort Benning, Ga., and promoted to acting food service officer. There, he improved the quality of the food and cut down on waste.

While stationed at Fort Benning, Clifford began to receive letters from Aldrich Blake, his political advisor. Blake continued to brief Clinton on Mayor Bowron, who would face another election in 1945. Blake's poll of potential voters revealed strong support for Clinton as a mayoral challenger.

Clinton initially refused. When liberal county Supervisor John Anson Ford announced he would challenge Boweon, Clinton reconsidered because he didn't believe Ford could win. Ford had lost to Mayor Shaw in 1937.

He joined the race and published a treatise of his plan for the city in a 14-page pamphlet, "The Clock Strikes Twelve: It's Time To Act." During the campaign, Clinton pushed for better leadership to deal with ongoing corruption, infrastructure, and racial
polarization.

On election night, Clinton came in a distant second, losing to Bowron. Instead of being discouraged, Clinton felt relieved that he had fulfilled his political responsibilities to the city.

The Founding of CIVIC

Clifford Clinton placed his hand on a Bible on Feb. 16, 1937, to swear an oath to root out public corruption as a member of the Los Angeles County grand jury.

Attorney A. Brigham Rose (left), Clifford, and Harry Ferguson
Photo: USC Special Collections

"It was a serious and rather awesome occasion and left me deeply impressed," he would later write in his memoirs. "When the citizens were represented by such a powerful body, serving each and every year, solely charged with protecting them from corruption and malfeasance in public office, why did so much exist?"

Gambling, payoffs on pinball and marble games, "one armed bandits," bookmaking, and prostitution may have been illegal, but these criminal activities went on unchecked in 1930s Los Angeles. Once seated on the 19-member grand jury, Clifford found three other members with a similar dedication to uncovering this illegal activity. This Minority Group included John Bogue, a Baptist minister; Harry L. Ferguson, a retired architect; and E.H. Kelly, a retired businessman.

Citizen Clinton Enters Politics

By publicizing waste and graft in the Los Angeles County Hospital's food budget in 1936, Clifford poked a beehive of municipal and county corruption. The report saved the county $120,000, and also drew the ire of city officials and the Los Angeles Times that called him a meddler.

Radio broadcasts began at Clifton's in 1936.
CC_Flickr: jschneid

"We were very confused by this strange attack, but when we inquired we were told 'you have stepped on a lot of toes, bigger than you realize,'" Clifford later wrote in his memoirs. "A new city and county election was near however, and the more we saw and heard, the more convinced we became that the city and county needed some replacements in the ranks of its officials."

In September of 1936, District Attorney Buron Fitts faced reelection. A year later, Mayor Frank Shaw would defend his seat against challenger and County Supervisor John Anson Ford, who had recruited Clifford to investigate food service at the county hospital.

Clifford would set his sights on both races. To defeat Fitts, Clifford backed Harlan Palmer, a county judge and publisher of the Hollywood Citizen-News. Time Magazine described Palmer as a "pious progressive from Minnesota."

Bombing of Harry Raymond

Clifford visits Harry Raymond after the bombing.
Photo: UCLA Special Collections

Private investigator Harry Raymond knew he was being watched.

By January of 1938, Los Angeles Police Capt. Earle Kynette and Lt. Roy Allen were spending more time at a small house in Raymond's Boyle Heights neighborhood. In September, Kynette rented a spy house down an alley across from 955 Orne St. A wiretap connected to telephone lines to monitor the investigator's conversations.

Raymond, a former chief of the San Diego and Venice police departments, had become a target of the LAPD's Metropolitan Special Investigation Unit (known as the "spy squad"). Raymond was the prime witness in a fraud trial stemming from Mayor Frank Shaw's 1933 election campaign. Raymond had uncovered evidence linking Shaw's administration to gambling and prostitution rings while working for Ralph Gray. His client was a campaign worker who was owed $2,900.

L.A. County Hospital Food Investigation

Los Angeles County Hospital. CC: Peggy Hooper.

At lunchtime on a day in October 1935, Supervisor John Anson Ford left his Broadway Street ad agency office and headed one block north to Clifton's Brookdale at 648 S. Broadway St. He walked into the dining room and introduced himself to the owner.

Ford, who had been in office for about a year, appealed to Clifford Clinton to help. The Los Angeles County Hospital, located in Boyle Heights, was part of Ford's district. Hospital administrators had complained to the supervisor about cost overruns and the quality of the food service at the hospital. Ford asked Clifford to survey the hospital's food service to address numerous patient and staff complaints about inedible and uneaten food. Clifford agreed to lead a committee.

1937 House Bombing

Shortly after midnight on Oct. 29, 1937, a thunderous explosion ripped through the kitchen floor of Clifford Clinton's Los Feliz home as his three children slept in second-floor bedrooms. A tin can pineapple-type bomb attached to a floor joist blew a large hole in the outside wall of the house. Luckily, no one was hurt.

Clifford Clinton: A Life of Service

Clifford Clinton operated Clifton's Cafeteria as a respite for the weary souls of Depression-era Los Angeles. It became known as the cafeteria of the Golden Rule: treat others as you would like to be treated.

Clifford extended his philosophy not only to customers (he called them "guests"), but to employees (called "associates"). He also felt a sense of responsibility to the community that supported his business. Clifford was my grandfather, and hopefully this blog will help tell the story of a man who had a lasting influence on the development of the city of Los Angeles.