Reagan, Nixon Eulogies Read at Jarvis Rite
President Reagan and former President Richard M. Nixon and several of his conservative supporters today eulogized tax crusader Howard Jarvis, who died Tuesday night at the age of 83.
“Taxes must have gotten high in heaven, because God has called back the greatest tax-cutter of them all,” said Republican state Sen. William Campbell, a longtime friend of the Proposition 13 author.
About 300 people attended memorial services for Jarvis, including Proposition 13 co-author Paul Gann, at Forest Lawn Memorial Park.
Many of those present, including Campbell, were political and economic conservatives who backed Jarvis’ 1978 ballot measure, which slashed billions of dollars in state property taxes and thrust Jarvis into the national spotlight.
Bruce Herschensohn, television commentator and former candidate for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate, read messages from Reagan and Nixon.
“Howard’s tireless battle to cut the tax burden for California had repercussions across the entire nation,” Reagan wrote.
“Like all pioneers, he was brash, iconoclastic, gutsy and tough,” Nixon said.
Get the L.A. Times Politics newsletter
Deeply reported insights into legislation, politics and policy from Sacramento, Washington and beyond. In your inbox three times per week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
