April 8th, 1983: Steve Jobs visited the Lisa offices on Bandley Drive with former California Governor Jerry Brown. I had just arrived with a full day of work scheduled but dropped everything when Steve asked me to brief Brown on the Lisa and give him a tour.
Al Mandel and I spent about an hour with Jerry in the Lisa "Sneak Room" (a well-designed multimedia executive briefing facility), demonstrating features and encouraging him to try the system himself. As I recall, we even disassembled a Lisa to show him the hardware architecture. He feigned interest, but his mind was elsewhere (as often happened during his governorship).
After the presentation, I took Brown on a guided tour of the Lisa facilities, visiting engineering, documentation, marketing, and other departments. I had previously escorted other celebrities through the offices, and Apple employees typically remained unfazed—we were celebrities ourselves. However, the reaction to Jerry Brown was unprecedented. People seemed nervous, even concerned. While Jerry spoke with an engineer, a colleague pulled me aside, pointed at Jerry with a look of anguish, and stared at me intently. Unsure of his concern, I replied nonchalantly, "Yeah... that's Jerry Brown." After 10–15 minutes, Jerry lost interest. I walked him out, and we parted ways—though I remained puzzled by the staff's reaction.
Returning to the Bandley lobby, I discovered the source of the confusion. The Apple rumor mill, always active, had circulated that morning (unbeknownst to me, as I’d been occupied with the governor) that Apple would announce a new CEO that day. Jerry’s arrival at the Lisa offices nearly triggered a Wall Street panic reminiscent of Black Monday. Many believed Jerry would become Apple’s new CEO.
In hindsight, this scenario was plausible for Apple at the time.
The rumor mill proved correct: later that day, John Sculley was announced as Apple’s new CEO. But that’s another story.