George Wallace

George Wallace
Louis Fabian Bachrach Jr. · Public domain · source
Name	George Wallace
Caption	George Wallace in 1968
Order	45th Governor of Alabama
Term start	January 14, 1963
Term end	January 16, 1967
Lieutenant	James B. Allen
Predecessor	John Malcolm Patterson
Successor	Lurleen Wallace
Order2	49th Governor of Alabama
Term start2	January 18, 1971
Term end2	January 15, 1979
Lieutenant2	Jere Beasley
Predecessor2	Albert Brewer
Successor2	Fob James
Order3	43rd Governor of Alabama
Term start3	January 17, 1983
Term end3	January 19, 1987
Lieutenant3	Bill Baxley
Predecessor3	Fob James
Successor3	H. Guy Hunt
Birth name	George Corley Wallace Jr.
Birth date	25 August 1919
Birth place	Clio, Alabama, U.S.
Death date	13 September 1998
Death place	Montgomery, Alabama, U.S.
Party	Democratic (until 1968, 1970–1987), American Independent Party (1968–1970)
Spouse	Lurleen Wallace (m. 1943; died 1968), Cornelia Wallace (m. 1971; div. 1978), Lisa Taylor (m. 1981; div. 1987)
Education	University of Alabama (LLB)
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Army Air Forces
Serviceyears	1942–1945
Rank	Staff sergeant
Unit	58th Bombardment Wing
Battles	World War II

George Wallace. George Corley Wallace Jr. was an American politician who served as the 45th, 49th, and 43rd Governor of Alabama and is a central, polarizing figure in the history of the American Civil Rights Movement. A staunch segregationist who later renounced his views, his political career, marked by the infamous "Stand in the Schoolhouse Door" and four third-party presidential campaigns, profoundly shaped national debates on States' rights, racial equality, and the political realignment of the Southern United States.

Early Life and Political Beginnings

George Wallace was born in Clio, Alabama, in 1919. He attended the University of Alabama School of Law and served as a Staff sergeant in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. His early political career was that of a Southern Democrat and a relative moderate on racial issues. He served as an assistant state attorney general and was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives in 1946. In 1953, he was elected as a circuit judge, earning a reputation for fairness. His first run for governor in 1958 ended in defeat to John Malcolm Patterson, who was openly endorsed by the Ku Klux Klan. Wallace famously vowed after this loss that he would "never be out-niggered again," signaling a decisive turn toward racially divisive populist politics to secure electoral victory.

"Segregation Forever" and the Stand in the Schoolhouse Door

Elected governor in 1962, Wallace inaugurated his term with a defiant pledge in his inaugural address: "Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever." This rhetoric set the stage for his most notorious act of defiance against the federal government. On June 11, 1963, he personally blocked the entrance to Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama in an attempt to prevent the enrollment of two African American students, Vivian Malone and James Hood. This theatrical "Stand in the Schoolhouse Door" was a direct challenge to the desegregation orders of the Kennedy administration and the authority of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. He ultimately stepped aside after being confronted by federalized Alabama National Guard troops under the command of Deputy Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach, acting on orders from President John F. Kennedy. The event was a pivotal moment that galvanized national support for the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Presidential Campaigns and National Influence

Capitalizing on his national notoriety, Wallace sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 1964, performing strongly in several primaries in Wisconsin, Indiana, and Maryland. In 1968, he launched a full-scale third-party campaign for president under the banner of the American Independent Party. His platform centered on "law and order", States' rights, and opposition to busing and federally mandated desegregation, appealing to white working-class voters in the North and South who felt alienated by the Great Society and the growing counterculture. He won five Southern states and 46 electoral votes, one of the most successful third-party performances in U.S. history. His 1972 campaign was cut short on May 15 when he was shot five times by Arthur Bremer at a campaign rally in Laurel, Maryland, leaving him permanently paralyzed from the waist down.

Later Political Career and Public Apology

Despite his paralysis, Wallace was elected governor again in 1974. During this third term, he began a dramatic public transformation, and eventual renunciation, of his segregationist past. He appointed a record number of African Americans to state positions and cabinet-level jobs. In a dramatic 1976 interview with Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show, he stated he had been wrong about segregation. In 1979, he publicly asked for forgiveness from black civil rights leaders at the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church in Montgomery, the former pulpit of Martin Luther King Jr.. He was elected to a final term as governor in 1982 with substantial support from black voters, having campaigned on a platform of economic development and racial reconciliation.

Legacy and Impact on Civil Rights

George Wallace's legacy is profoundly complex and contested. For over a decade, he was the national symbol of massive resistance to racial integration and the civil rights movement, his rhetoric and actions emboldening white supremacists and contributing to a climate of racial violence. Politically, his successful national campaigns demonstrated the potency of a " and "Southern strategy|"white backlash" strategy, which influenced the Republican Party's subsequent "Southern strategy" to win over Democratic strongholds in the South. His later public repentance, while viewed by some as sincere, is also seen by critics as a political calculation. Historians debate whether his career ultimately highlights the deep, enduring tensions in American democracy between States' rights and federal authority, and between populist demagoguery and the slow, painful progress toward Racial justice.