page_title: Gray Davis
section_title: Relations with Mexico
hierarchical_section_title: Gray Davis / First term / Relations with Mexico
context_page_description: Joseph Graham "Gray" Davis Jr. is a retired American attorney and Democratic Party politician who served as the 37th Governor of California from 1999 to 2003. In 2003, only a few months into his second term, Davis was recalled and removed from office, the second state governor successfully recalled in U.S. history. Prior to serving as governor, Davis was chief of staff to Governor Jerry Brown, a California State Assemblyman, California State Controller and the 44th Lieutenant Governor of California. Davis holds a B.A. in history from Stanford University and a J.D. from Columbia Law School. He was awarded a Bronze Star for his service as a Captain in the Vietnam War.
  During his time as governor, Davis made education his top priority and California spent eight billion dollars more than was required under Proposition 98 during his first term. Under Davis, California standardized test scores increased for five straight years. Davis signed the nation's first state law requiring automakers to limit auto emissions. Davis supported laws to ban assault weapons and is also credited with improving relations between California and Mexico.
context_section_description: Early in 1999, Davis sought to improve relations with Mexico. Davis believed that California under Pete Wilson had left millions of dollars of potential trade revenues "on the table." Davis said he wanted California to have relations with Mexico that were more like Texas under then-Governor George W. Bush. Controversy over the California-Mexico border and California Proposition 187 had strained the relationship between the two parties. Davis met with Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo to improve relations with California's southern neighbor and major trading partner within Davis' first 30 days in office. Davis later met with President Vicente Fox and participated in his inauguration. The Governor met with Mexican presidents eight times. Under the Davis administration, California and Baja California signed a "Memorandum of Understanding" expanding cooperation in several policy areas. Under Davis, Mexico became California's leading export market for the first time in history and California's trade with Mexico surpassed all of Mexico's trade with Latin America, Europe and Asia combined. Because of the growth in the California economy, Davis opened and expanded trade offices around the world, including in Mexico. But most of these offices were eliminated in the 2003 California budget due to difficult fiscal times.
caption: Davis sought to improve relations with Mexican President Vicente Fox.
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