Dianne Feinstein woke up on the morning of November 27, 1978, relative unknown. The then 45-year-old president of San Francisco’s board of supervisors was a well-known local figure, but far from the position of power and influence he would hold for decades.
Then gunfire rang out at San Francisco City Hall, an eruption of violence that left Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk dead.
“It was one of the hardest moments, if not the hardest moment, of my life,” Feinstein, who died Thursday night at age 90, told SFGate in a 2008 interview marking the 30th anniversary of the assassination by former Supervisor Dan White .
On that fateful day, Feinstein had returned to work following a three-week absence. In his absence, White has submitted his resignation from the board, citing low pay that he says requires him to work secondhand and prevents him from properly serving his constituents.
However, White later changed his mind, writing to Moscone that he wanted to remain on the board. His request was denied and the mayor stated he would not reappoint White.
Moscone had planned to announce on November 27 that White’s former role would be filled by someone else, but he never got the chance. White went to City Hall armed with two guns, confronted Moscone before fatally shooting him.
Dianne Feinstein died Thursday night at the age of 90.AP
At the same time, Feinstein tried to track down White and explain Moscone’s decision, not knowing what had just happened.
“I saw him come in. I said, ‘Dan, can I talk to you?'” he said in 2008. “And he walked by, and I heard the door close, and I heard a shot and smelled cordite, and I came out of my office. “
White had just killed Milk, the first openly gay man to hold public office in the Golden State, in the Supervisor’s shared office space before fleeing.
“I found Harvey on his stomach,” Feinstein said. “I tried to get a pulse and put my finger through the bullet hole. He is clearly dead.”
“It was a devastating moment,” he added. “For San Francisco, it was a shameful day.”
“I found Harvey on his stomach,” Feinstein said. “I tried to get a pulse and put my finger through the bullet hole. He is clearly dead.” RELATED NEWSPAPERS
At a press conference that had been called to announce White’s replacement, Feinstein instead announced that Milk and Moscone had been killed, and named White, whom she once considered a friend and mentee, as a suspect.
“I still believe that if I could have been there for those three weeks, I could have stopped it,” he said. “Now, who knows? Who knows?”
After Moscone’s death, Feinstein was named acting mayor of San Francisco. He was later twice elected mayor in his own right, a position he held for a decade during which he charted a center-left course for the City by the Bay.
After failing to run for governor in 1990, Feinstein was elected California’s first female US senator in 1992, a position she held until her death.
But he never forgot that day in 1978, telling SFGate that the assassination had “helped shape who I am and what I believe.”
“If I could undo that time, even today, I would undo it in a second,” he said. “In a nanosecond.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
