Abe Ruef
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| Abraham Rueff | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 2, 1864 San Francisco, California, United States |
| Died | February 29, 1936 San Francisco, California, United States |
| Charge(s) | Bribery |
| Penalty | 14 years |
Abraham Rueff (September 2, 1864 San Francisco, California - February 29, 1936 San Francisco, California), known as Abe Ruef, was an American lawyer and politician. He gained notoriety as the political boss behind the administration of Mayor Eugene Schmitz of San Francisco.
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[edit] Origins
He came from a French-Jewish family and studied at the University of California, Berkeley, majoring in the classical studies. At the age of eighteen, he graduated with the highest honors, then enrolled at Hastings College of Law in San Francisco.
[edit] Education and career
He was accepted to the California bar less than three years later, immediately after reaching the then minimum age of admittance: twenty-one. Although a Republican for a long time, in 1901 he was the thriving force behind the foundation of the new Union Labor Party. Then he chose violin player and conductor Eugene Schmitz to front for the party. Schmitz was elected Mayor, serving from 1902 to 1907. During the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, "nearly $750,000 of his real estate holdings were destroyed."[1]:195 Originally not called to be a member of the Committee of Fifty, he appeared on Thursday afternoon at Franklin Hall, then the Committee's headquarters, and invited himself. Since "there wasn't a desk in the hall for Ruef, he accepted an offer to share a corner of the Mayor's desk."[1]:196 He became chairman of the Subcommittee on Relocating the Chinese. "Ruef told the dozen men seated around him that it "is taken for granted from the first that the Chinese must not be allowed to return to the desirable area that Chinatown occupied."[1]:236 The subcommittee debated the question without arriving at a consensus as to where relocate them, and in the meanwhile the Chinese returned to Chinatown.
[edit] Indictment and conviction
On December 6, 1906, Ruef and Schmitz were arraigned in court. "As the indictments were read out by the clerk, Ruef made clear his disdain for the proceedings by standing with his back to the judge." During the period of his trial, Ruef occupied offices in The Columbus Tower, in north bay.[1]:253 In February 1907 Ruef pleaded "not guilty". On March 18, 1907, the Supervisors confessed before a grand jury to "receiving money from Ruef in connection with the Home Telephone, overhead trolley, prize fight monopoly, and gas rates deals.[1]:254 In exchange, "they were promised complete immunity and would not be forced to resign their offices. The grand jury then returned 65 indictments against Ruef for bribery of the supervisors."[1]:254 After this an agreement was reached between Ruef and the prosecution that Ruef confess and get immunity from most of the charges. On May 15, 1907, Ruef pleaded "guilty" and the next day began to confess before a grand jury, incriminating Schmitz. This led to Schmitz's conviction and loss of the Mayor's office on June 13, 1907. Ruef's trial finally ended on December 10, 1908, with a verdict of "guilty" and the maximum sentence for bribery - 14 years in San Quentin." He spent a year at the county jail awaiting his appeal. In December 1909, he was released on bond of $600,000."[1]:256
In November 1910 his conviction and sentence were upheld. On March 1, 1911, he entered San Quentin Penitentiary. In 1912 Ruef was brought as a witness to the new trial of ex-Mayor Schmitz, but refused to testify. Later in 1912 he wrote his memoirs which were published in the San Francisco Bulletin in installments almost daily over months, finishing at the point where the graft investigation began. On August 23, 1915, having served a little more than four and a half of his fourteen-year sentence, he was released. He was not allowed to return to the bar. " Before he went to prison he had been worth over a million dollars, when he died he was bankrupt."[1]:257
