George Pardee - Governorship

Governorship

Assuming the governorship on January 7, 1903, Pardee began an immediate program to eradicate San Francisco's bubonic plague outbreak. The plague had been present in the city since 1900, yet was institutionally denied by the previous administration of Henry Gage. As both a medicial physician and politician, Pardee realized the dire consequences both to the city's population and the state's economy, now under threats of a nationwide boycott. Pardee permitted state health officials and federal authorities of the Marine Hospital Service to stamp out the plague. By the end of 1904, the plague had been brought under control. Nearly 200 deaths were attributed to the outbreak.