Samuel William Yorty

ABOUT SAMUEL WILLIAM YORTY

Combative mayor of Los Angeles during the 1960s who took credit for the city's growth while denying blame for the Watts race riots of 1965. He was a Reform Republican who also served in the United States House of Representatives during the 1950s.

He oversaw the building of Los Angeles freeways and cultural institutions.

He responded to critics of his administration by accusing them of holding Communist sympathies, and he refused to back down from the urban renewal projects that state officials said did nothing to alleviate poverty.

He grew up in a working class neighborhood in Lincoln, Nebraska as the son of an Irish immigrant mother and a father of Dutch descent.

James Hahn also served as Mayor of Los Angeles, starting his term not long after a second bout of race riots in the city.