Walter Frederick Brown (born July 28, 1926) is an American politician and former presidential candidate of the Socialist Party USA (2004). Brown became a socialist in 1948 but served as Democratic member of the Oregon State Senate from 1975 to 1987. Brown also served as a Socialist Party of Oregon candidate for the U.S. Congress (3rd Congressional District) in 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2004 and has been the Pacific Green Party candidate for two statewide offices. Family background Brown was born in Los Angeles, California, to Walter Andrew Brown (August 11, 1897 – November 10, 1978), Attorney at Law (with prior employment as an auto mechanic, truck driver, and claims adjuster), and Emily Anna (née Weber; October 30, 1897 – February 25, 1978), an elementary school teacher. His ancestry includes English, German, and French. Career as an attorney In June 1944, during WWll, Brown volunteered for active duty in the U.S. Navy at age 17. He served in the Pacific and China on the USS Carter Hall (LSD-3). After his honorable discharge in June 1946, and while in the inactive U.S. Navy Reserve, he attended the University of Southern California (USC) on the G.I. Bill, earning a B.A. in Law, cum laude (1949), and a Juris Doctor (J.D.) (1952). While at USC he was a Rhodes Scholar nominee. He was also elected to Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi. In 1952, Brown was recalled to active duty during the Korean War. He was commissioned as an officer. While in the Navy he served as an attorney for disabled Navy personnel; an instructor at the U.S. Naval Justice School in Newport, Rhode Island; Legal Officer at Great Lakes (Illinois), Boston, and Subic Bay, Philippines; Special Prosecutor in Vietnam; an appellate attorney in Washington, D.C.; and as a general court-martial judge in San Diego serving in the Judge Advocate General Corps (JAG). He retired in 1970 as a Commander, with 26 years of service. Brown also continued his education: Harvard Law School (Constitutional Law (1958)); Boston University (International Relations M.A. (1961)); The Judge Advocate General's School University of Virginia, (Master of Laws degree in Military Law (1965)); University of Oregon (Library Science M.L.S. (1975)). Upon Brown's retirement from the Navy he was hired as an associate professor at the Northwestern School of Law of Lewis and Clark College, teaching from 1970 to 1980. From 1975 to 1987 he also served in