Meg Whitman: The Historical Precedent?

About a week ago Meg Whitman '77 threw her hat into the ring for the California Gubernatorial race (info here.) And while the rest of the world may know her as the former Ebay CEO, we of course think of her first and foremost as a Princeton alum. But did you know that, if elected, Whitman wouldn't be the first California Governor somehow linked to Princeton?

That honor belongs to Princeton-born Robert Stockton, a Navy Commodore who in January 1847, during the Mexican-American War, appointed himself the first Military Governor of California. His tenure, however, was short lived, as in February of that same year he was ousted by the actual appointed (by the US government) Governor, General Stephen Kearny.

And while Stockton never actually attended Princeton University (he joined the Navy when he was 16), he was born in Princeton, he died in Princeton, and he's buried in the Princeton cemetery (there's also apparently a rest stop named after him on the New Jersey Turnpike.) So remember Robert Stockton, just in case Meg ends up winning and calling herself "the first Princeton Governor of California."

SKG