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George Wallace
George Wallace | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Official portrait, 1962 | |
| 45th Governor of Alabama | |
| In office January 17, 1983 – January 19, 1987 | |
| Lieutenant | Bill Baxley |
| Preceded by | Fob James |
| Succeeded by | H. Guy Hunt |
| In office January 18, 1971 – January 15, 1979[a] | |
| Lieutenant | Jere Beasley |
| Preceded by | Albert Brewer |
| Succeeded by | Fob James |
| In office January 14, 1963 – January 16, 1967 | |
| Lieutenant | James Allen |
| Preceded by | John Patterson |
| Succeeded by | Lurleen Wallace |
| First Gentleman of Alabama | |
| In role January 16, 1967 – May 7, 1968 | |
| Governor | Lurleen Wallace |
| Preceded by | Lurleen Wallace (as First Lady) |
| Succeeded by | Martha Farmer Brewer (as First Lady) |
| Member of the Alabama House of Representatives from Barbour County | |
| In office January 3, 1946 – January 3, 1955 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | George Corley Wallace Jr. August 25, 1919 Clio, Alabama, U.S. |
| Died | September 13, 1998 (aged 79) Montgomery, Alabama, U.S. |
| Resting place | Greenwood Cemetery |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Other political affiliations | American Independent (1968) |
| Spouses |
|
| Children | 4 |
| Education | University of Alabama (LLB) |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Branch/service | United States Army |
| Years of service | 1942–1945 |
| Rank | Staff sergeant |
| Unit | United States Army Air Forces |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
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George Corley Wallace Jr. (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) was the 45th governor of Alabama, serving from 1963 to 1967, again from 1971 to 1979, and finally from 1983 to 1987. He is remembered for his staunch segregationist and populist views, however, in the late 1970s, Wallace moderated his views on race, renouncing his support for segregation. [1][2][3] During Wallace's tenure as governor of Alabama, he promoted "industrial development, low taxes, and trade schools."[4] Wallace unsuccessfully sought the United States presidency as a Democratic Party candidate three times, and once as an American Independent Party candidate, carrying five states in the 1968 election. Wallace opposed desegregation and supported the policies of "Jim Crow" during the Civil Rights Movement, declaring in his very controversial 1963 inaugural address that he stood for "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever".[5]
Born in Clio, Alabama, Wallace attended the University of Alabama School of Law, and served in the United States Army Air Force during World War II. After the war, he won election to the Alabama House of Representatives, and served as a state judge. Wallace first sought the Democratic nomination in the 1958 Alabama gubernatorial election. Initially a moderate on racial issues, Wallace adopted a hard-line segregationist stance after losing the 1958 nomination. Wallace ran for governor again in 1962, and won the race. Seeking to stop the racial integration of the University of Alabama, Wallace earned national notoriety by standing in front of the entrance of the University of Alabama, blocking the path of black students.[5] Wallace left office when his first term expired in 1967 due to term limits. His wife, Lurleen, won the next election and succeeded him, with him as the de facto governor.[4] Lurleen died of cancer in May 1968, ending Wallace's period of influence; her doctor had informed him of the cancer's diagnosis in 1961, but Wallace had not told his wife.
Wallace challenged sitting president Lyndon B. Johnson in the 1964 Democratic presidential primaries, but Johnson prevailed in the race. In the 1968 presidential election, Wallace ran a third-party campaign in an attempt to force a contingent election in the United States House of Representatives, thereby enhancing the political clout of segregationist Southern leaders. Wallace won five Southern states but failed to force a contingent election. As of the 2024 election,[update] he remains the most recent third-party candidate to receive pledged electoral college votes from any state.
Wallace won election to the governorship again in 1970, and ran in the 1972 Democratic presidential primaries, having moderated his stance on segregation. His campaign effectively ended when he was shot in Maryland by Arthur Bremer, and Wallace remained paralyzed below the waist for the rest of his life. Wallace won re-election as governor in 1974, and he once again unsuccessfully sought the Democratic presidential nomination in the 1976 Democratic presidential primaries. In the late 1970s, Wallace announced that he became a born-again Christian, and moderated his views on race, renouncing his past support for segregation. Wallace left office in 1979, but re-entered politics and won election to a fourth, and final, term as governor in 1982. Wallace is the third[6] longest-serving governor in U.S. history, having served 5,848 days in office.[7]
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- ^ "George C. Wallace". Encyclopædia Britannica. August 25, 2012. Retrieved August 25, 2012.
- ^ Newfield, Jack (July 19, 1971). "A Populist Manifesto: The Making of a New Majority". New York. pp. 39–46. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
- ^ Lesher, Stephan (1994). George Wallace: American Populist. Addison Wesley. p. 409. ISBN 978-0-201-62210-2.
- ^ a b Eskew, Glenn T. (September 8, 2008). "George C. Wallace (1963–1967, 1971–1979, 1983–1987)". Encyclopedia of Alabama.
- ^ a b "George Wallace, Segregation Symbol, Dies at 79". The New York Times. September 14, 1998.
- ^ "The Top 50 Longest Serving Governors in US History (Updated)". May 29, 2017.
- ^ Ostermeier, Eric (May 29, 2017). "The Top 50 Longest Serving Governors in US History (Updated)". Smart Politics. University of Minnesota. Archived from the original on March 1, 2021. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
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