1952 - 1972 Desegregation Heats Up Politics In The South
Throughout his political career, George Wallace would oscillate between the attitudes liberalism, paternal segregation and more extreme white supremacist views. In his effort to gain the governorship, Wallace consciously took a hard-line on the issue of segregation and voting rights in order to appease the growing sentiment of racial fear and hatred. In an interview with John Kennedy, Jr. for George magazine (October/November 1995) Wallace conceded, "Anyone who was running on a platform of integration back then would have been defeated in Alabama. I'm quite sure I would have been defeated if I had supported it." The question remains: Was Governor George Wallace merely reflecting the popular attitudes of the time?
1954...
Wallace manages gubernatorial campaign for "Big Jim" Folsom. Folsom is elected.
Feb. 3, 1956...
The federal court in Birmingham orders that the University of Alabama admit their first black student, Autherine Lucy. Lucy is harassed on campus and later suspended and expelled by the University's trustees.
1958...
Wallace loses gubernatorial race to John Patterson after Patterson takes a hard-line against integration and the NAACP. After his defeat, Wallace vows that he's "not goin' to be out-nigguhed again.
Note: This quote from biographer Marshall Frady and has been widely repeated in articles about the out-spoken governor; however, when questioned, Mr. Wallace denied ever using such language.
1959...
"The Fighting Little Judge" gains popularity when he defies the U.S. Civil Rights Commission and a federal court order demanding he produce voting records. Wallace proclaims "This attempt to have a second Sherman's March to the Sea has been stopped in the Cradle of the Confederacy."
1962...
In his second campaign for Governor, Wallace promises, "As your Governor, I shall refuse to abide by any illegal federal court order even to the point of standing at the schoolhouse door in person...And if your Governor and your officials stand as we will stand, there will be millions of Americans who will say, 'This is Alabama's finest hour.'"
Jan. 14, 1963...
Wallace is sworn in as Governor of Alabama and ends his infamous inaugural address with the bold statement "I say segregation now...segregation tomorrow...segregation forever."
1963...
With the impeding implementation of federal court-ordered integration of Alabama schools, U.S. Attorney General, Robert Kennedy, arrives in Montgomery to challenge the Governor's stance on segregation. Their conversation ends without resolution.
June 11, 1963...
Wallace stands against federal intervention at the doors of the University of Alabama barring the entrance of black students.
Mar. 7, 1965...
A march from Selma to the state capitol in Montgomery is organized by King and the SCLC. Under orders from Gov. Wallace, state troopers and civilian vigilantes waylaid the marchers on the road to Montgomery with toxic tear gas and billy clubs.
Mar. 13, 1965...
Wallace travels to the White House to meet with Pres. Johnson to discuss Wallace's stance on black voting rights in Alabama.
1966...
Wallace attempts to over-turn the state law that prohibited a Governor from succeeding himself. Lurleen Wallace runs for Governor and wins, becoming the nation's third woman Governor.
1968...
After a prolonged illness, Lurleen Wallace dies of cancer. Wallace runs for President on the American Independent ticket, receiving 13% of the popular vote.
1970...
Wallace is elected Governor for the second time. In his inaugural address, he states that "Alabama belongs to us all -- black and white, young and old, rich and poor alike." -- a speech which signals his conscious effort to change his political stance.
1971...
Wallace marries Cornelia Ellis Snively, the niece of "Big Jim Folsom."
1972...
Wallace campaigns for the Democratic Party Presidential nomination.
May 15, 1972...
While campaigning in Laurel, Md., Wallace is shot by Arthur Bremer in an assassination attempt. He survives, but is partially paralyzed and is unable to walk for the rest of his life.
1972 - 1988 Wallace'S Dramatic Turn-Around
On May 15, 1972 while campaigning for president, Wallace was shot five times by Arthur Bremer, a self-proclaimed assassin who had also stalked Richard Nixon and George McGovern. With severe damage to his spinal cord, Wallace was rendered partially paralyzed, unable to walk and in constant pain. His political martyrdom seemed to create a "halo-effect" around the once "untouchable" leader. During his hospital interment, he was visited by Ted Kennedy, Ethel Kennedy (the widow of Robert Kennedy,) African-American Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, Richard Nixon, Hubert Humphrey, and George McGovern. Elvis Presley, a long-time admirer of Wallace, called and offered to avenge his friend's tragedy.
Despite his handicap and the enduring pain he suffered from his injuries, George Wallace made a remarkable come-back. In 1974, he made a concerted effort to amend the harm he had sponsored against African-Americans. Over the following ten years, he would serve two more terms as Alabama's Governor (1974 and 1982,) and would campaign for the Democratic Presidential nomination in 1976. Admitting defeat in the primaries, he threw his support to fellow-Southerner, Jimmy Carter, telling an ABC newsman, "I had to do things -- say things to get elected in Alabama, that made it impossible for me to ever be President." By the end of his political career, George Wallace was once again, and perhaps most truly, "a man of the people," reflecting their short-comings, their suffering and their capacity for perseverance.
1974...
Wallace is re-elected as Governor of Alabama.
1974...
Wallace visits the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, the church where Martin Luther King kindled the Civil Rights movement years before -- in an emotional gesture of sincere reconciliation.
1974...
Wallace, along side Reverend Ralph Abernathy, Martin Luther King Jr.'s successor, received honorary degrees from the all-black Alabama State University.
1976...
Wallace mounts another Presidential campaign, but throws his support to fellow-Southerner Jimmy Carter prior to the Democratic Convention.
1982...
Wallace makes an appearance at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and once again, apologizes for his behavior toward blacks.
1982...
Wallace is elected for a fourth term as Governor (his 5th including Lurleen's term in office,) receiving a significant percentage of the black vote for the first time in his career
March 1985...
On the 20th anniversary of the Selma-to-Montgomery march, Wallace welcomes leaders Coretta Scott King and Jesse Jackson to his capitol office. "Wallace is a man whose attitude has changed," says Jackson after their meeting.
April 1986...
Wallace completes his final term as Governor and retires from public life saying "I have climbed my last political mountain."
1988...
At the advent of his own Presidential campaign, Jesse Jackson visits Wallace. The two leaders hold hands and pray.
|
