New Jersey Political Career
Originally a teacher of history and government, Kean was elected, in 1967, as a Republican to the New Jersey General Assembly.
At the start of the Assembly session in 1972, Democratic leadership had wanted to name S. Howard Woodson of Trenton as Speaker, until Assemblyman David Friedland made a deal as one of four Democrats who voted to give the minority Republicans control of the General Assembly, electing Kean as Assembly Speaker. Woodson would have been the Assembly's first African American Speaker, and charges of racism were leveled by fellow Democrats against Friedland. In the next Assembly, in 1974, the Democrats united behind Woodson for Speaker; Kean then became the minority leader of the Assembly. In 1973, he briefly served as acting New Jersey Governor
During the 1976 presidential campaign, Kean served as Gerald Ford's campaign manager for the state of New Jersey.
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