A Memoir of Discovery

California Governor Gavin Newsom's intimate and poignant account of identity, belonging, and the defining moments that inspired a life in politics

‘Go slow,’ his political elders advised him, but Gavin Newsom has never known such a speed. For Newsom, the California Dream is what lured his father’s family from Ireland, six generations ago. His great-great-grandfather, a cop, walked a beat in San Francisco, where almost 150 years later Newsom would be elected as mayor.

Newsom has never lived anywhere but California. His childhood was spent being tugged between two worlds: his mother worked three jobs in order to care for her children while his father, a close friend of the Getty family, brought Newsom into a world of wealth and connections. But the vantage point was valuable: he inherited his mother’s perseverance and his father’s reverence of California – not only its wildness, but its opportunity.

In Young Man in a Hurry, Newsom traces the forces that have defined his ambitions as a politician. As mayor of San Francisco, he made waves when he violated state law in order to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. He launched bold efforts to counter climate change, improve mental health care, and enhance gun safety. Elected as governor and entering office into immediate hyper-partisan headwinds from Washington, DC, Newsom has constantly and consistently stuck his neck out.

Here, he reflects on the long journey that ultimately shaped him into one of the most recognizable and accomplished elected officials in America.