language. After three months in Minnesota, he was sent to Japan, where he spent the final year of his U.S. Army service. Warren was discharged from the Army in November 1946. He then enrolled as an undergraduate student at the University of California, Berkeley. After graduating, he went to law school at Hastings College of Law in San Francisco. Career in government and law As a student in the Bay Area, Warren developed an interest in politics. He joined the San Francisco Young Democrats, serving as its chairman at one time, and helped to organize the California Democratic Council. After law school, Warren was admitted to the bar and joined a San Francisco law firm that represented labor unions. After some time there, he moved to Los Angeles, where he went to work for a larger law firm. In Los Angeles, he decided to focus his attention on his legal work and stayed out of politics for several years. He became engaged in electoral politics in 1961 after Democratic political operative Dick Tuck, who knew Warren from his political activity in San Francisco, encouraged him to become a candidate for a Republican-held California State Assembly seat in a Los Angeles County district. California State Assembly In 1962, Warren ran for office in the 56th Assembly District, first winning the Democratic primary and then defeating incumbent Chet Wolfrum in the general election, becoming the only Democrat to beat an incumbent in that year's California legislative election. He was to serve 14 years in the California State Assembly, from 1963 through 1977. The district he represented included the areas of Hollywood and Wilshire; after redistricting it was renumbered, becoming the 46th Assembly District. In the Assembly, Warren became known as a strong proponent of environmental initiatives, but environment was not among his main interests at first. As the representative of an urban area, his initial legislative focus areas included fair housing, other civil rights matters, and transportation. Air quality was also a concern for his district, where smog was a problem. Early in his legislative career, he was the Assembly's representative to the Governor's Advisory Commission on the Status of Women. That experience led to his becoming author of several bills aimed at ensuring pay equity between men and women performing the same jobs. Four years of effort led to the successful enactment of one of his bills, AB 22. He initiated