Hiram Johnson, the senior US Senator from California, died on August 6, 1945. On August 14, 1945, Governor Earl Warren appointed Knowland to fill Johnson's seat. Warren first offered the Senate seat to Joseph R. Knowland, who declined Warren's offer: "I lost the Senate Seat in 1914, I have the responsibility of the "Oakland Tribune", Bring my boy, Billy home." Still serving overseas, Knowland learned of his new job from an article in "Stars and Stripes"; Knowland's wife Helen tried to telephone him with the news, but she couldn't get past the military censors, who said it was not essential government business.