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Did the governor request federal troops for the Watts riots?
Executive summary
Contemporary reporting and multiple historical accounts agree that state — not federal — forces quelled the 1965 Watts unrest: California’s National Guard (eventually many thousands of guardsmen) were mobilized after state officials authorized them, with Lieutenant Governor Glenn Anderson playing the early role in calling them in while Governor Pat (Edmund) Brown returned from travel and later convened a commission [1] [2] [3]. Available sources in this set do not describe the California governor requesting federal troops for Watts; they consistently cite state National Guard mobilization and state-level actions [2] [1] [3].
1. How the troops arrived: state National Guard, not federal army
Contemporaneous histories and later retrospectives repeatedly report that it was the California National Guard — not U.S. Army units — that were mobilized to restore order in Watts, with figures reported around roughly 14,000 guardsmen patrolling the affected area during the disturbance [2] [1] [3]. Those accounts trace the decision through state authorities: Lieutenant Governor Glenn Anderson called in the Guard when the situation intensified and state executive authority led the deployment while Governor Pat Brown returned and later initiated the governor’s commission on the riots [4] [1].
2. Why people ask whether federal troops were requested
Questions about “federal troops” often arise because large-scale deployments and dramatic imagery — urban streets patrolled by armed uniformed soldiers — can blur distinctions between state Guard forces and federal active-duty forces. Modern reporting about recent federal deployments and legal fights over sending federal troops to U.S. cities (2025-era coverage) shows why readers may conflate federal and state roles; the contemporary debate over Pentagon-directed “quick reaction” Guard units trained for civil unrest underscores that confusion [5] [6]. But for Watts in 1965, the sources in this packet point to state-level Guard action, not a federal ground invasion [2] [3].
3. Who made the call, according to the record
Multiple historical summaries and archival materials emphasize that decision-making was exercised under California’s executive authority: the lieutenant governor is explicitly credited with calling in the Guard during the peak of unrest, and Governor Brown (Edmund “Pat” Brown) later formed the McCone Commission to investigate causes and response [4] [7] [1]. Some sources note controversy about the timing — critics said Lieutenant Governor Glenn Anderson delayed — but they do not say Brown requested federal troops [8] [4].
4. Scale and nature of the force deployed
Sources quantify the state response: reporting across encyclopedias, museums, and media histories cites figures near 14,000 National Guard troops patrolling a multi‑dozen‑mile curfew zone and assisting local police during the six-day disturbance [2] [3] [9]. The troop presence and curfew created the visual and functional impression of a militarized response, but the documentation identifies these forces as the California National Guard operating under state authority [2] [3].
5. Federal involvement — what the sources say and don’t say
Available sources in this collection do not describe active-duty federal military units being sent into Watts at the governor’s request, nor do they report a formal request from Governor Brown to the President for federal Army forces during those days [2] [1] [3]. If you are asking about any federal role beyond later federal attention (e.g., federal investigations, commissions, or policy reactions), the current set of sources focuses on the state mobilization and the governor’s subsequent commissioning of an inquiry into causes [7] [1]. For claims that Governor Brown requested federal troops, available sources do not mention such a request.
6. Alternate cases and modern parallels to watch for
The file of sources includes later episodes where governors did request federal help (for instance, the 1992 L.A. unrest saw requests for federal tactical officers) and current-era friction over deploying federal forces to U.S. cities, which may contribute to retrospective misreading of 1965 events [10] [11] [5]. Be cautious: coverage of more recent federal deployments and policy memos (2025 reporting) can create analogies that prompt readers to retroject federal involvement into 1965, but the cited histories treat Watts as a state-Guard response [10] [6].
Limitations and final note
Primary-source governor’s records and the McCone Commission archives would be the definitive source to confirm any formal communications with the federal government; those archival materials are noted in the finding aid but the items in this collection emphasize state National Guard action and the governor’s commission rather than any federal troop request [7] [1]. If you want, I can locate and summarize specific passages from the McCone Commission report or archived gubernatorial correspondence in the supplied sources to look for any mention of federal requests.