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113-541: The museum begun in 1991 during the administration of California governor Pete Wilson . Eleven years later Governor Gray Davis made it a permanent museum under the California State Military Department, providing it permanent funding. On 13 July 2004, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger made it the State's official Military Museum. The museum highlights contributions of individuals and units from California in

226-504: A lasing medium consisting of metal rods. Many such rods would be placed around a warhead, each aimed at a different ICBM, thus destroying many ICBMs in a single attack. It would cost much less for the US to build another Excalibur than the Soviets would need to build enough new ICBMs to counter it. The idea was first based on satellites, but when it was pointed out that these could be attacked in space,

339-493: A three-strikes law and supported energy deregulation and term limits . He was also an advocate for California Proposition 187 , which established a state-run citizenship screening system with the intention of preventing illegal immigrants from using social services. Wilson won reelection in the 1994 gubernatorial election . He sought the Republican nomination in the 1996 United States presidential election but dropped out of

452-727: A 2:1 margin each time. During his three terms he restructured the San Diego City Council , reorganized the planning and civil service commissions, instituted campaign finance reform, and promoted the redevelopment of downtown San Diego . He also helped to keep Major League Baseball 's San Diego Padres in the city, helping to persuade local millionaire Ray Kroc to buy the team. The 1972 Republican National Convention had been scheduled to take place in San Diego in August 1972. However, in May 1972

565-470: A bill authorizing the possible use of the death penalty toward any individual who committed a murder amid a carjacking or killed a juror. Wilson said the law was the result of 4 years' worth of attempts on his part to toughen the laws against carjacking: "This bill sends an unmistakable message to gang bangers: If you take someone's life while committing a cowardly carjacking, you can expect to pay for your crime with your own life." Wilson also supported resuming

678-515: A bipartisan tax plan that would have increased taxes on the wealthiest Californians, boosted the corporate tax rate, and imposed a tax increase on telecommunication services by 2%. Wilson returned the budget bill to the legislature without his signature, revoking a prior commitment to vetoing the measure. On July 12, 1991, Wilson signed a bill mandating that parents neglecting paying for child support could warrant stiff fines and potential suspensions of business and professional licenses. The legislation

791-450: A child into the world is an awesome personal responsibility for both the mother and the father. The costs are simply too high for society to continue tolerating the promiscuity and irresponsibility that have produced generations of unwed teen mothers. It is monstrously unfair to the children; to their sad, ill-equipped teen mothers; and certainly to working taxpayers, who must support them at a cost to their own children. In his 1997 State of

904-509: A decade. Instead of attempting to protect against thousands of incoming missiles, GPALS sought to provide protection from up to two hundred nuclear missiles. GPALS was tasked to protect the United States from attacks coming from all different parts of the world. In 1993, the Clinton administration further shifted the focus to ground-based interceptor missiles and theater-scale systems, forming

1017-585: A fiscal conservative. In the weeks following incumbent governor of California George Deukmejian announcing that he was not running for a third term, Wilson considered a gubernatorial bid; by late January 1989, Wilson admitted to the decision being agonizing for him amid his consulting with others on a possible run. At the beginning of his second six-year term in the Senate, Wilson announced plans to run for Governor of California. On October 2, 1990, Wilson, away from Washington to campaign for California governor, became

1130-433: A five-year lifetime. Paternity for each child would also have to be established for the mother to begin receiving benefits. As governor, Wilson was closely associated with California Proposition 187 , a 1994 ballot initiative to establish a state-run citizenship screening system and prohibit illegal immigrants from using health care, public education, and other social services in the U.S. State of California. Voters passed

1243-537: A high-powered orbital chemical laser attack ICBMs, the Space Based Laser (SBL). New developments under Project Excalibur by Teller's "O-Group" at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) suggested that a single X-ray laser could shoot down dozens of missiles with a single shot. The groups began to meet in order to prepare their plans for the incoming president. The group met with Reagan several times during 1981 and 1982, apparently with little effect, while

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1356-419: A larger reduction of 15% that would be directed at recipient families with an able-bodied adult. The twin cuts would reduce California's standing as the 5th highest benefit granting state to the 12fth. By the end of his first term, Wilson allied with members of the state legislature that supported the continuation of recession-inspired cuts to welfare benefits. A bill imposing the continued reduction of benefits

1469-433: A leaked Philip Morris memo, the company's chief executive, Hamish Maxwell, said, "You will be pleased to know that Pete is still 'pro-tobacco.'" His move to revoke Proposition 99, a $ 114 million dollar voter-approved bill to tax cigarette companies to research and educate on the effects of tobacco, as well as shut down a highly effective anti-tobacco ad with footage of tobacco executives testifying to Congress that nicotine

1582-533: A longer school year. However, it was Wilson's uncompromising stance on reducing education spending that led to the budget impasse of 1992, leaving state workers without paychecks from July until September, when the California Supreme Court forced the Governor and the legislature to agree to terms that ended the sixty-three-day stand-off. On February 22, 1993, Wilson issued an executive order banning smoke in

1695-479: A majority of state buildings barring "buildings controlled by the courts, the Legislature or the state's two university systems". The order was set to take effect December 31. Wilson said secondhand smoke "threatens the health of non-smoking state employees" and charged workplace smoking with increasing the cost of cleaning, damaged furniture and carpets, and heightening the chances of starting fires. Despite this, in

1808-713: A member of the United States Senate. In 1982 , he defeated then-incumbent Governor Jerry Brown to become the United States senator from California. In the Senate, Wilson supported the Strategic Defense Initiative and the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 , while he opposed the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 . Wilson resigned from the Senate after winning the 1990 California gubernatorial election . As governor, Wilson signed

1921-426: A review of the various concepts. They put together an all-star panel including many of the inventors of the laser, including a Nobel laureate . Their initial report was presented in 1986, but was released to the public (in redacted form) in early 1987. The report considered all of the systems then under development and concluded none of them were anywhere near ready for deployment. Specifically, they noted that all of

2034-523: A satellite that successfully test-fired its cannon in orbit. In 1979, Teller contributed to a Hoover Institution publication where he claimed that the US would be facing an emboldened USSR due to their work on civil defense . Two years later at a conference in Italy, he made the same claims about their ambitions, now emboldened by new space-based weapons. According to popular opinion, shared by author Frances FitzGerald , no evidence validated that such research

2147-501: A short period and the warheads did not rise high enough for them to be easily tracked by a satellite above them. GPALS thus added a mobile ground-based missile and more low-orbit satellites known as Brilliant Eyes to feed the Pebbles. GPALS was approved by President George H.W. Bush in 1991. The system would cut the proposed costs of the SDI system from $ 53 billion to $ 41 billion over

2260-404: A single Senate race, and his 5.1 million votes was a record for the most won by a Republican candidate for Senator that wasn't broken until 2020, when John Cornyn of Texas topped it. On January 20, 1989, he presided over the inauguration of George H. W. Bush as President of the United States. He voted against Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 , Bush's tax increase, thus remaining

2373-399: A small, Virginia-based think tank called High Frontier to continue research on the missile shield. The Heritage Foundation provided High Frontier with research space, and Graham published a 1982 report entitled, "High Frontier: A New National Strategy" that examined in greater detail how the system would function. Since the late 1970s, another group had been pushing for the development of

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2486-688: A system consisting of hundreds of combat centers and satellites spanning the globe. The US held a significant advantage in advanced missile defense systems through decades of extensive research and testing. Several concepts, technologies and insights obtained were transferred to subsequent programs. Under SDIO's Innovative Sciences and Technology Office, investment was made in basic research at national laboratories, universities, and in industry. These programs have continued to be key sources of funding for research scientists in particle physics , supercomputing/ computation , advanced materials, and other critical science and engineering disciplines. In 1987,

2599-713: A system that would render nuclear weapons obsolete, and to end the doctrine of mutual assured destruction (MAD), which he described as a " suicide pact ". Elements of the program reemerged in 2019 under the Space Development Agency (SDA). The Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO) was set up in 1984 within the US Department of Defense to oversee development. Advanced weapon concepts, including lasers, particle-beam weapons , and ground and space-based missile systems were studied, along with sensor, command and control , and computer systems needed to control

2712-498: A third term. At the end of his time in office, Wilson left California with a $ 16 billion budget surplus (equivalent to $ 27.9 billion in 2023 ). He was succeeded by then- lieutenant governor Gray Davis as governor. A September 1998 Los Angeles Times poll found 55% of registered voters in California favored Wilson's job performance. On December 14, 1991, in an address to Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, Wilson criticized

2825-435: Is the only Republican to win a California gubernatorial, senatorial, or presidential election since 1994, in a unique 2003 recall election and then a re-election in 2006 . Since 1995 the following states have had similar ballot initiatives or laws passed: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma and Texas. Wilson led efforts to enact "tough on crime" measures and signed into law

2938-468: The Los Angeles Times , "I realized I couldn't be a criminal defense lawyer – because most of the people who do come to you are guilty." Wilson switched to a more conventional law practice and continued his activity in local politics, working for Barry Goldwater 's unsuccessful presidential campaign in 1964 . Wilson's liking for politics and managing the day-to-day details of the political process

3051-551: The American Physical Society concluded that the technologies were decades away from readiness, and at least another decade of research was required to know whether such a system was even possible. After the publication of the APS report, SDI's budget was cut. By the late 1980s, the effort had re-focused on the " Brilliant Pebbles " concept using small orbiting missiles, such as a lower cost conventional air-to-air missile . SDI

3164-729: The Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO) and closing BMDO was renamed by the George W. Bush administration as the Missile Defense Agency and focused on limited National Missile Defense . The Extended Range Interceptor (ERINT) program was part of SDI's Theater Missile Defense Program and was an extension of the Flexible Lightweight Agile Guided Experiment (FLAGE), which included developing hit-to-kill technology and demonstrating

3277-465: The Brilliant Pebbles concept. This was essentially the combination of the sensors on the garage satellites and the tracking stations. Advancements in sensors and microprocessors allowed this to be packaged in a small missile nose cone. Subsequent studies suggested that this approach would be cheaper, easier to launch and more resistant to counterattack, and in 1990 Brilliant Pebbles was selected as

3390-647: The Central Valley to support redress, Wilson co-sponsored the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 . The bill was signed into law by President Reagan. As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee , he called for early implementation of President Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative , a national ballistic missile defense system . Wilson also co-sponsored the Federal Intergovernmental Regulatory Relief Act requiring

3503-556: The Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987 (as well as to override President Reagan 's veto in March). In June 1984, Wilson voted in favor of legislation restricting federal highway funds for states that did not raise the minimum age for drinking to 21. In May 1985, Wilson underwent surgery for a ruptured appendix at Bethesda Naval Hospital, concurrently as fellow Republican Senator Bob Dole hoped to gather enough votes for

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3616-543: The Clinton Administration redirected the efforts towards theatre ballistic missiles and renamed the agency the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO). In 2019, elements, specifically the observation portions, of the program re-emerged with President Trump's signing of the National Defense Authorization Act . The program is managed by the Space Development Agency (SDA) as part of

3729-528: The Marshall Islands . For each test a Minuteman missile was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California carrying a single mock re-entry vehicle targeted for Kwajalein lagoon more than 4,000 miles (6,400 km) away. After test failures with the first three flight tests because of guidance and sensor problems, the DOD reported that the fourth and final test on June 10, 1984, was successful, intercepting

3842-560: The Model Cities Program in San Diego. In 1981, President Ronald Reagan appointed Pendleton to chair the United States Commission on Civil Rights , a position that he held from 1981 until his death in San Diego in 1988. In 1982, Wilson won the Republican primary in California to replace the retiring U.S. Senator S. I. Hayakawa . Wilson's Democratic opponent was the outgoing two-term Governor Jerry Brown . Wilson

3955-803: The Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, California . Two years later, Wilson became, to date, the most recent governor to speak at a California gubernatorial funeral, that of former Governor Pat Brown. For most of his time as governor, Wilson reduced per-capita infrastructure spending for California, much as he had done as the mayor of San Diego . Many construction projects – most notably highway expansion/improvement projects – were severely hindered or delayed, while other maintenance and construction projects were abandoned completely. Term limit laws passed by voters as Proposition 140, and championed by Wilson in 1990, prohibited Wilson from running for re-election to

4068-511: The Safeguard Program , all aimed at developing a system to defend against attacks by Soviet ICBMs. The programs proliferated because of the changing threat; the Soviets claimed to be producing missiles "like sausages", and ever-more missiles would be needed to defend against their fleet. Low-cost countermeasures such as radar decoys required additional interceptors. An early estimate suggested $ 20 spent on defense would be required for every $ 1

4181-527: The Soviet Union began in 1964–1965. Though classified at the time, a detailed study on a Soviet space-based laser system began no later than 1976 with the Polyus , a 1 MW Carbon dioxide laser -based orbital weapons platform prototype. Development was also started on the anti-satellite Kaskad in-orbit missile platform. A revolver cannon ( Rikhter R-23 ) was mounted on the 1974 Soviet Salyut 3 space station,

4294-672: The " Three Strikes " (25 years to life for repeat offenders) As a result of the Three Strikes Law, 4,431 offenders have been sentenced to 25 years to life for strings of crime. The law required the construction of new prisons, leading some to question the role in his stance of the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, a lobbying group of prison guards that gave $ 1.47 million (equivalent to $ 2.64 million in 2023 ) to Wilson's gubernatorial campaigns. On September 26, 1995, Wilson signed

4407-575: The 1980s the US Army began studies about the feasibility of kinetic hit-to-kill vehicles, i.e. interceptors that would destroy incoming ballistic missiles by colliding with them. The Homing Overlay Experiment (HOE) was the first such system tested by the Army, and the first successful hit-to-kill intercept of a mock ballistic missile warhead outside the Earth's atmosphere. HOE used a kinetic kill vehicle (KKV). The KKV

4520-765: The 29th mayor of San Diego from 1971 to 1983. Born in Lake Forest, Illinois , Wilson graduated from the UC Berkeley School of Law after serving in the United States Marine Corps . He established a legal practice in San Diego and campaigned for Republicans such as Richard Nixon and Barry Goldwater . Wilson won election to the California State Assembly in 1966 and became the mayor of San Diego in 1971. He held that office until 1983, when he became

4633-525: The April 1991 proposal, the Los Angeles Times wrote of Wilson, He has done what has been asked of him, but thought near-impossible for any Republican centrist: constructing a revenue and spending plan that will hurt almost everyone and help almost no one, but that will also – for the first time in a long time – put the state on a sounder fiscal footing. In July, the Senate voted 28 to 9 in favor of

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4746-550: The California Governor's race between George Deukmejian and Tom Bradley . Many of these votes came from heavily Republican areas. The Deukmejian voters likely also voted for Wilson for United States Senator. On October 19, 1983, Wilson voted in favor of a bill establishing Martin Luther King Jr. Day . The legislation was signed into law by President Reagan the following month. In January 1988, Wilson voted in favor of

4859-515: The California Republican Party which he led. The leaked memo was in response to worries over Wilson's rejection of direct campaign donations. Maxwell claimed to have been told by Wilson over a phone call that this was to "protect Hamish and himself," assuring that it was not due to a lack of support.</ref> In late 1993, Wilson traveled to Asia to endorse Californian goods and investment opportunities abroad. Wilson's six-day tour

4972-444: The California energy crisis caused by companies such as Enron, Wilson authored an article titled "What California Must Do" that blamed Gray Davis for not building enough power plants. Wilson defended his record of power plant construction and claimed that between 1985 and 1998, 23 plants were certified and 18 were built in California. Despite a campaign promise to the people of California not to do so, Wilson also unsuccessfully ran for

5085-601: The DOD never disclosed to Congress the enhancements made to the target vessel. HOE technology was later expanded into the Exoatmospheric Reentry-vehicle Interception System program. Developed by Lockheed as part of the ground-based interceptor portion of SDI, the Exoatmospheric Reentry-vehicle Interceptor Subsystem (ERIS) began in 1985, with at least two tests occurring in the early 1990s. This system

5198-612: The Democratic leaders of the state legislature for their opposition to his budget-balancing plan and "spent most of his hour at the Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles railing against the state's entitlement programs – including education and Medi-Cal, but especially Aid to Families with Dependent Children and other welfare programs". On January 8, 1993, Wilson submitted the 1993 spending plan, advocating an immediate cut in welfare grants by 4.2% that would be followed 6 months later by

5311-768: The Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base in Orange County and the National Guard Armory in San Diego . To honor Californians who have laid down their lives in the Global War on Terrorism , the California State Military Museum built a "Global War on Terrorism Wall of Honor". Constructed of black granite, this memorial is located in the entrance of the museum. The names of the service members who have died September 11, 2001 , in

5424-623: The Marine Corps upon his graduation. After graduating from Yale, Wilson served for three years in the United States Marine Corps as an infantry officer, eventually becoming a platoon commander. Upon completion of his Marine Corps service, Wilson earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law in June 1962. In 1962, while working as an Advance Man for

5537-688: The Minuteman RV with a closing speed of about 3.8 mi/s (6.1 km/s) at an altitude of more than 100 mi (160 km). Although the fourth test was described as a success, the New York Times in August 1993 reported that the HOE4 test was rigged to increase the likelihood of success. At the urging of Senator David Pryor , the General Accounting Office investigated the claims and concluded that though steps were taken to make it easier for

5650-448: The Reagan administration's 1986 budget. The surgery was expected to keep Wilson hospitalized for days, but Wilson returned to Capitol Hill via an ambulance to cast a vote in favor of the budget on May 10. After voting, Wilson stated he made the decision to forgo further bed rest as he believed the vote was possibly the most important of his career. Convinced by Japanese-American farmers in

5763-616: The Republican National Committee voted to move the convention to Miami because of a scandal involving a donation to the event by ITT Corporation , as well as concerns about the proposed venue (the San Diego Sports Arena ) and the adequacy of hotel space. Wilson proclaimed the week of the convention to be America's Finest City Week, which became an annual event and gave rise to San Diego's unofficial nickname. In 1972, Wilson recruited Clarence M. Pendleton Jr. to head

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5876-508: The Republican gubernatorial candidate Richard M. Nixon , Wilson got to know Herb Klein , one of Nixon's top aides. Klein suggested that Wilson might do well in Southern California politics, so in 1963, Wilson moved to San Diego. After passing the bar exam on his fourth attempt, Wilson began his practice as a criminal defense attorney in San Diego , but he found such work to be low-paying and personally repugnant. He later commented to

5989-459: The Republican nomination for Governor of California to succeed two-term Republican governor George Deukmejian, who chose not to seek a third term in 1990. In the general election, he defeated Democratic former San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein , who would go on to be elected to Wilson's former U.S. Senate seat two years later . Wilson was sworn in as governor on January 7, 1991. As governor, Wilson oversaw economic recovery in California, just as

6102-517: The Republican nomination for President in the 1996 election , making formal announcements on both coasts. Wilson announced first on August 28, 1995, in New York City, at Battery Park , with the Statue of Liberty as a backdrop. He completed a cross-country tour. In April of 1995, he had surgery to remove a benign nodule on his vocal cords. When Wilson did not lighten his speaking schedule, it resulted in

6215-456: The Republican nominee in the general election. Later that month, a Los Angeles Times poll found 23% of Californians believed Wilson should seek the presidency, including 30% of state voters identifying as Republican. On September 29, 1995, Wilson told supporters in Sacramento that he was dropping out of the Republican primary, citing he lacked the "necessary campaign funds to take this message to

6328-538: The Soviet ICBMs upon launch. This boost phase intercept rendered MIRV impotent; a successful attack would destroy all of the warheads. Unfortunately, the operational cost of such a system was so large that the US Air Force rejected the concepts. Development was cancelled in 1963. During this period, the entire topic of BMD became increasingly controversial. Early deployment plans were met with little interest, but by

6441-470: The Soviets spent on offense. The addition of MIRV in the late 1960s further moved the balance in favor of offensive systems. This massively skewed cost-exchange ratio prompted observers to propose that an arms race was inevitable. President Dwight D. Eisenhower asked ARPA to consider alternative concepts. Their Project Defender studied many approaches before concentrating on Project BAMBI . BAMBI used satellites carrying interceptors that would attack

6554-447: The Soviets were devoting serious thought to both explosive and non-explosive nuclear power sources for lasers. On March 23, 1983, Reagan announced SDI in a nationally televised speech, stating "I call upon the scientific community in this country, those who gave us nuclear weapons, to turn their great talents to the cause of mankind and world peace, to give us the means of rendering these nuclear weapons impotent and obsolete." In 1984,

6667-457: The State address, Wilson criticized welfare recipients and charged the program with creating conditions producing out-of-wedlock births, the lack of paternal involvement in the lives of children, and the lifelong ramifications to children caused by the father not being of presence. Under Wilson's welfare overhaul package, mothers would have to go to work after two years and a year would pass before they could return to welfare, which would only have

6780-630: The Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO) was established to oversee the program, which was headed by Lt. General James Alan Abrahamson USAF, a past Director of the Space Shuttle program . In addition to original Heritage ideas, other concepts were considered. Notable among these were particle-beam weapons , updated versions of nuclear shaped charges , and various plasma weapons . SDIO invested in computer systems, component miniaturization, and sensors. Initially,

6893-657: The US military, and its various military operations and wars. The museum in 2011, through a collaborated effort with the California Department of Veteran Affairs and the United States Department of Veterans Affairs , represented by guest curator Natalia Visante, created themed exhibitions showcasing various military units. In addition to its main location in Sacramento, the museum has five satellite museums located at Camp Roberts in southern Monterey County, Camp San Luis Obispo , Fresno Air National Guard Base ,

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7006-413: The United States and the large Hispanic population in California. Opponents believed the law was discriminatory against immigrants of Hispanic origin; supporters generally insisted that their concerns were economic: that the state could not afford to provide social services for so many who entered the state illegally or overstayed their visas. Wilson himself would state that the policy was "about supporting

7119-431: The administration would usher in welfare reform: We will demand that all citizens meet the test of common decency, respecting the rights of others, and we will demand that those who can, pull their own weight and meet the test of personal responsibility. We will make clear that welfare is to be a safety net, not a hammock — and absolutely not a permanent way of life. We will correct our laws to make clear that bringing

7232-565: The attack on the Pentagon , as well as casualties of the Afghanistan and Iraq Campaigns are listed chronologically. The memorial includes their rank, branch of service, and age. Currently, the annual wreath laying ceremony has ended, due to the museum's closure. The Major General Walter P. Story Memorial Library is one of the finest collections of military history writings in the western United States . With over 10,000 volumes and growing rapidly,

7345-615: The baseline model for SDS Phase 1. While SDIO pursued SDS, the Warsaw Pact was rapidly disintegrating, culminating in the destruction of the Berlin Wall in 1989. One of the many reports on SDS considered these events and suggested that a massive defense against a Soviet launch would become unnecessary. However, short and medium range missile technology would likely proliferate as the Soviet Union disintegrated and sold off its hardware. One of

7458-399: The buildup of new offensive weaponry like the B-1 Lancer and MX missile continued. However, in early 1983, the Joint Chiefs of Staff met with the president and outlined the reasons why they might consider shifting some of the funding from the offensive side to new defensive systems. According to a 1983 US Interagency Intelligence Assessment, good evidence indicated that in the late 1960s

7571-429: The city or its surrounding areas. The A-35 was the only Soviet ABM system allowed under the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty . In development since the 1960s and in operation from 1971 until the 1990s, it featured the nuclear-tipped A350 exoatmospheric interceptor missile. George Shultz , Reagan's secretary of state , suggested that a 1967 lecture by physicist Edward Teller was an important precursor to SDI. In

7684-400: The concept moved to a "pop-up" concept, with the device launched from a submarine off the northern Soviet coast. However, on March 26, 1983, the first test (known as the Cabra event ), was performed in an underground shaft and resulted in marginally positive readings possibly caused by a faulty detector. Since a nuclear explosion was used as the power source, the detector was destroyed during

7797-400: The core ideas behind Global Protection Against Limited Strikes (GPALS) was that the Soviet Union would not always be the aggressor and the United States would not always be the target. Instead of a heavy defense aimed at ICBMs, this report suggested realigning GPALS deployment. Against novel threats the Brilliant Pebbles would have limited utility, largely because the missiles fired for only

7910-474: The death penalty in California, after a 25-year moratorium, and he signed the death warrant for the execution of child-murderer Robert Alton Harris . Harris was executed in 1992. A total of five people were executed during his administration (the first 2 in the gas chamber , the latter 3 by lethal injection ). Wilson supported deregulation of the energy industry in California during his administration due to heavy lobbying efforts by Enron . Nevertheless, during

8023-432: The fall of 1979, at Reagan's request, Lieutenant General Daniel O. Graham , the former head of the DIA , briefed Reagan on an updated BAMBI he called High Frontier, a missile shield composed of multi-layered ground- and space-based weapons that could track, intercept, and destroy ballistic missiles, theoretically enabled by emerging technologies. It was designed to replace the MAD doctrine. In September 1981, Graham formed

8136-456: The federal government to reimburse states for the cost of new federal mandates. A fiscal conservative , he was named the Senate's "Watchdog of the Treasury" for each of his eight years in the nation's capital. In 1988, Wilson won the race for the United States Senate against his Democratic opponent, Leo T. McCarthy . In that election, he became the first person to get more than 5 million votes in

8249-437: The flight time was so short that it would leave little time to forward information through command and control networks to missile batteries. Bell Labs pointed out that although longer-range missiles flew much faster, their longer flight times would ease the timing issue and their high altitudes would ease long-range radar detection. This led to a series of projects including Nike Zeus , Nike-X , Sentinel and ultimately

8362-605: The guidance accuracy of a small, agile, radar-homing vehicle. FLAGE scored a direct hit against a MGM-52 Lance missile in flight, at White Sands Missile Range in 1987. ERINT was a prototype missile similar to the FLAGE, but it used a new solid-propellant rocket motor that allowed it to fly faster and higher than FLAGE. ERINT was later chosen as the MIM-104 Patriot (Patriot Advanced Capability-3, PAC-3) missile. Given concerns about previous programs' nuclear-tipped interceptors, in

8475-451: The interceptor to find its target (including some of those alleged by the New York Times ), the available data indicated that the interceptor had been successfully guided by its onboard infrared sensors in the collision, and not by an onboard radar guidance system as alleged. Per the GAO report, the net effect of the DOD enhancements increased the infrared signature of the target vessel by 110% over

8588-511: The late 1960s, public meetings on the Sentinel system were met by thousands of angry protesters. After thirty years of effort, only one such system was built; a single base of the original Safeguard system became operational in April 1975, but was closed in February 1976. A Soviet military A-35 anti-ballistic missile system was deployed around Moscow to intercept enemy ballistic missiles targeting

8701-501: The lecture, Teller talked about the idea of defending against nuclear missiles using nuclear weapons , principally the W65 and W71 , with the latter an enhanced thermal/X-ray device used on the Spartan missile in 1975. Held at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), the 1967 lecture was attended by Reagan shortly after he became governor of California. Development of laser weapons in

8814-606: The library is one of the state's hidden educational and historical treasures. Topics range from general military history to very specific and one-of-a-kind documents, such as original unit rosters of early California Militia units. As of March 2014, the California State Military Museum was closed amid disputes between the non-profit foundation operating it and the California Military Department which oversees its operation. This conflict, in addition to state of California budget constraints, forced indefinite closure of

8927-549: The most reckless and irresponsible acts in the history of modern statecraft.” Through declassified intelligence material, the wider implications and effects of the program revealed that due to the potential neutralization of its arsenal and resulting loss of a balancing power factor, SDI was a cause of grave concern for the Soviet Union and its successor state Russia. Following the Cold War when nuclear arsenals were shrinking, political support for SDI collapsed. SDI ended in 1993, when

9040-489: The museum. 38°34′53″N 121°30′17″W  /  38.58139°N 121.50472°W  / 38.58139; -121.50472 Pete Wilson Peter Barton Wilson (born August 23, 1933) is an American attorney and politician who served as a United States senator from California from 1983 to 1991 and as the 36th governor of California from 1991 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party , he also served as

9153-464: The new National Defense Space Architecture (NDSA). CIA Director Mike Pompeo called for additional funding to achieve a full-fledged "Strategic Defense Initiative for our time, the SDI II" though it is unclear what this had to do with SDA. The US Army considered the issue of ballistic missile defense (BMD) after World War II . Studies suggested that attacking a V-2 rocket would be difficult because

9266-425: The occasional cracking of his voice. It ended up keeping him from announcing – or even talking – for months. His campaign ended on September 30, 1995 A September 6, 1995, UC Irvine poll showed equal support for Wilson and incumbent President Bill Clinton among Orange County voters. The same poll indicated Wilson as trailing his former Senate colleague Bob Dole by a 20-point margin. Dole would become

9379-566: The only sitting senator from either party to not vote on the nomination of David Souter for Associate Justice on the United States Supreme Court. He had previously endorsed Souter for confirmation. Wilson voted in favor of the Robert Bork Supreme Court nomination . On January 7, 1991, he resigned from the Senate upon his inauguration as California's governor and appointed John Seymour as his successor. Wilson won

9492-545: The people who came here the right way". Opponents of Proposition 187 cited its passage as the cause of long-term negative effects for the California Republican Party statewide. Noting a rapid increase in the Latino participation in California elections, some analysts cite Wilson and the Republican Party's embrace of Proposition 187 as a cause of the failure of the party to win statewide elections. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger

9605-490: The people who need to hear it". He became the first candidate to exit the Republican primary. Strategic Defense Initiative The Strategic Defense Initiative ( SDI ), derisively nicknamed the Star Wars program , was a proposed missile defense system intended to protect the United States from attack by ballistic nuclear missiles . The program was announced in 1983, by President Ronald Reagan . Reagan called for

9718-698: The private, non-sectarian preparatory middle school John Burroughs (grades 7–9) in Ladue , and then St. Louis Country Day School , an exclusive private high school, where he won an award in his senior year for combined scholarship, athletics, and citizenship. In the fall of 1951, Pete Wilson enrolled at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut , where he received a United States Navy Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) scholarship, majored in English, and earned his Bachelor of Arts degree. In his junior year he elected to join

9831-512: The program focused on large-scale systems designed to defeat a massive Soviet offensive strike. For this mission, SDIO concentrated almost entirely on "high tech" solutions like lasers. Graham's proposal was repeatedly rejected by members of the Heritage group as well as within SDIO; when asked about it in 1985, Abrahamson suggested that the concept was underdeveloped and was not considered. By 1986, many of

9944-549: The promising ideas were failing. Teller's X-ray laser, run under Project Excalibur , failed several key tests in 1986 and was targeted to the anti-satellite role. The particle beam concept was demonstrated to basically not work, as was the case with several other concepts. Only the Space-Based Laser seemed to have any hope of developing in the short term, but it was growing in size due to its fuel consumption. The American Physical Society (APS) had been asked by SDIO to provide

10057-458: The proposed law as a referendum in November 1994; it was the first time that a state had passed legislation related to immigration, customarily an issue for federal policies and programs. The law was challenged in a legal suit and found unconstitutional by a federal court in 1998 and never went into effect. Passage of Proposition 187 reflected state residents' concerns about illegal immigration into

10170-486: The race before the primaries began. Wilson retired from public office after serving two terms as governor. Since leaving office, he has worked for several businesses and has been affiliated with several other organizations. He is a distinguished visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution . As of to date, Wilson's 1988 re-election is the last time Republicans won a Senate election in California. Peter Barton Wilson

10283-465: The race to campaign for Wilson. Reagan quipped that the last thing he wanted to see was both of his home state's U.S. Senate seats falling into Democrats' hands, especially to be occupied by the man who succeeded him as governor. Despite exit polls indicating a narrow Brown victory, Wilson edged him out to win the election. A major contributing factor may also have been a late influx of the Armenian vote in

10396-461: The realistic missile signature initially proposed for the HOE program, but nonetheless the GAO concluded the enhancements to the target vessel were reasonable given the objectives of the program and the geopolitical consequences of its failure. Further, the report concluded that the DOD's subsequent statements before Congress about the HOE program "fairly characterize[d]" the success of HOE4, but confirmed that

10509-482: The residents of those neighborhoods, was aimed at easing "homeowners' fear of noise from ground-level trains running along a proposed rail route that parallels Chandler and Victory boulevards". Less than a year into his first term as governor, Wilson vetoed AB 101, a bill written to prohibit employment discrimination based on sexual orientation in the state. Wilson feared that the bill would increase lawsuits and make California less competitive economically. The veto

10622-497: The rest of the country was recovering from an economic slump. Inheriting the state's worst economy since the Great Depression , Wilson insisted on strict budget discipline and sought to rehabilitate the state's environment for investment and new job creation. During his term, market-based , unsubsidized health coverage was made available for employees of small businesses. Despite his belief in fiscal conservatism, Wilson raised

10735-410: The sales tax to reduce the state deficit, including imposing a new sales tax on newspapers and a sales tax on "snack" foods. He also raised car license fees and college tuition; by 1991, tuition fees at the University of California rose by 40%, while they rose by 24% at California State University . Additionally, he raised the income tax in the top bracket temporarily. However, by 1993, the snack tax

10848-492: The systems could be deployed as an anti-missile system until the next century. Faced with this report and accompanying negative press, SDIO changed direction. Beginning in late 1986, Abrahamson proposed that SDI would be based on the system he had previously dismissed, a version of High Frontier now named the "Strategic Defense System, Phase I Architecture". The name implied that the concept would be replaced by more advanced systems in future phases. Strategic Defense System (SDS)

10961-514: The systems had to improve their energy output by at least 100 times, and in some cases by as much as a million. In other cases, like Excalibur, they dismissed the concept entirely. Their summary stated simply: We estimate that all existing candidates for directed energy weapons (DEWs) require two or more orders of magnitude, (powers of 10) improvements in power output and beam quality before they may be seriously considered for application in ballistic missile defense systems. They concluded that none of

11074-490: Was also marked by his insistence on creating export-oriented jobs. Wilson was re-elected to a second gubernatorial term in 1994, gaining 55% of the vote in his race against Democratic State Treasurer Kathleen Brown , daughter of former California Governor Pat Brown . According to one study, Wilson exploited anti-immigrant sentiment to win re-election. Wilson spoke at the funeral services for former First Lady Pat Nixon in 1993 and former President Richard M. Nixon in 1994 at

11187-539: Was born on August 23, 1933, in Lake Forest, Illinois, a suburb north of Chicago, at the height of the Great Depression . His parents were James Boone Wilson and Margaret (Callaghan) Wilson. His father sold college fraternity jewelry to work his way through University of Illinois, and later became a successful advertising executive. The Wilson family settled in St. Louis, Missouri , when Pete was in elementary school. He then attended

11300-547: Was carried out. Instead, Teller was promoting his latest weapon, the X-ray laser that was finding only limited funding, his speech in Italy was a new attempt to synthsize a missile gap . In 1979, Reagan visited the NORAD command base, Cheyenne Mountain Complex , where he was introduced to the extensive tracking and detection systems extending throughout the world and into space; however, he

11413-537: Was derisively nicknamed the Star Wars program, and criticized for threatening to destabilize the MAD-approach, and to re-ignite "an offensive arms race ". In a 1986 speech, Senator Joe Biden claimed “'Star Wars' represents a fundamental assault on the concepts, alliances and arms-control agreements that have buttressed American security for several decades, and the president’s continued adherence to it constitutes one of

11526-505: Was equipped with an infrared seeker, guidance electronics and a propulsion system. Once in space, the KKV could extend a folded structure similar to an umbrella skeleton of 13 ft (4 m) diameter to enhance its effective cross section. This device was intended to destroy an ICBM reentry vehicle on collision. Four test launches were conducted in 1983 and 1984 at Kwajalein Missile Range in

11639-439: Was expected to be close, with Brown holding a slim lead in most of the polls leading up to Election Day. Wilson hammered away at Brown's appointment of California Chief Justice Rose Bird , using this to portray himself as tougher on crime than Brown was. Brown's late entry into the 1980 Democratic presidential primary, after promising not to run, was also an issue. President Ronald Reagan made a number of visits to California late in

11752-648: Was growing. He put in long hours for the Goldwater campaign, earning the friendship of local Republican boosters so necessary for a political career, and in 1966, at the age of thirty-three, he ran for, and won a seat in the California State Assembly, succeeding Clair Burgener . Wilson was re-elected to the Assembly in 1968 and 1970, and in 1971 was elected mayor of San Diego . Wilson served three terms as mayor of San Diego , from 1971 to 1983, winning election by

11865-451: Was intended to address a rising cause of poverty among children and women in the state at a time when Californians collectively owed $ 2 billion (equivalent to $ 3.99 billion in 2023 ) per year in unpaid child support. On July 24, 1991, Wilson signed a bill requiring mass transit rail lines to be built underground in the event construction take place in the residential neighborhoods of North Hollywood and Van Nuys. The bill, requested by

11978-415: Was known as a fiscal conservative who supported the property-tax limiting Proposition 13 , although Wilson had opposed the measure while mayor of San Diego . However, Brown ran on his gubernatorial record of building the largest state budget surpluses in California history. Both Wilson and Brown were moderate-to-liberal on social issues, including support for abortion rights and environmentalism. The election

12091-666: Was met with protests in San Francisco that included demonstrations during Wilson's subsequent public appearances and speeches. Wilson was the driving force behind the 1996 legislation that deregulated the state's energy market, which was the first energy utilities deregulation in the U.S. and aggressively pushed by companies such as Enron . Wilson also enacted education reforms aimed at creating statewide curriculum standards, reducing class size and replacing social promotion with early remedial education. Wilson promoted standardized testing of all students, increased teacher training, and

12204-667: Was never deployed, but its technology was used in the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system and the Ground-Based Interceptor currently deployed as part of the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system. An early SDI focus was an X-ray laser powered by nuclear explosions . Nuclear explosions give off a burst of X-rays, which the Excalibur concept intended to focus using

12317-460: Was not addictive (which also a prompted defamation lawsuit against it), was claimed to be illegal and caused multiple lawsuits, and was criticized as being influenced by the tobacco lobby. While he claimed to take no funding personally in response to allegations of being pro-tobacco, he collected over $ 100,000 from a New York fund-raising dinner organized by Phillip Morris. While Phillip Morris didn't directly fund his campaign, they were major funders of

12430-473: Was passed by 2 committees of the Republican-majority assembly. H. D. Palmer maintained Wilson's priorities rested in other issues and though admitting to an improving in revenues, disclosed that "the governor does not believe that the first call on those revenues should go to double-digit cost-of-living increases for welfare recipients." Wilson's second inaugural address featured a proclamation that

12543-444: Was repealed by the Democratic state legislature and the sales tax increase expired. On April 26, 1991, Wilson proposed an increase in sales tax by 1 1/4 cents and state taxes by $ 6.7 billion (equivalent to $ 13.4 billion in 2023 ) as part of plan to reduce the state's budget deficit. The revenue gap had increased by $ 5 billion (equivalent to $ 9.97 billion in 2023 ) in the four months of his governorship. In response to

12656-457: Was struck by their comments that while they could track the attack down to the individual targets, they could not stop it. Reagan felt that in the event of an attack, this would place the president in a terrible position, having to choose between immediate counterattack or absorbing the attack while maintaining offensive dominance. Shultz suggested that this feeling of helplessness, coupled with Teller's defensive ideas combined to motivate SDI. In

12769-519: Was the low-earth orbit (LEO) Smart Rocks concept with an added layer of ground-based missiles sited in the US. These missiles were intended to attack warheads that the Smart Rocks missed. In order to track them below the radar horizon , SDS added more LEO satellites that would feed tracking information to both the space-based "garages" as well as the ground-based missiles. Later ground-based systems trace derived from this concept. LLNL then introduced

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