69-405: 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. During Wallace's tenure as governor of Alabama, he promoted "industrial development, low taxes, and trade schools ." Wallace unsuccessfully sought
138-425: A Milwaukee, Wisconsin speech on September 17, 1964, that the office-holding supporters of a civil rights bill would politically " bite the dust " by 1966 and 1968. The Encyclopædia Britannica characterized him not so much as a segregationist but more as a "populist" who pandered to the white majority of Alabama voters. It notes that his failed attempt at presidential politics created lessons that later influenced
207-557: A community college system that has now spread throughout the state, preparing many students to complete four-year degrees at Auburn University , University of Alabama at Birmingham , or the University of Alabama . Wallace Community College ( Dothan ), is named for his father. Wallace Community College Selma ( Selma ), and Wallace State Community College ( Hanceville ) are named for him. Lurleen B. Wallace Community College in Andalusia
276-490: 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 , 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
345-466: A courtroom." On the other hand, Wallace issued injunctions to prevent the removal of segregation signs in rail terminals, becoming the first Southern judge to do so. Similarly, during efforts by civil rights organizations to expand voter registration of blacks, Wallace blocked federal efforts to review Barbour County voting lists. He was cited for criminal contempt of court in 1959. As judge, Wallace granted probation to some blacks, which may have cost him
414-583: A federal court in Birmingham , the four children were allowed to enter on September 9, becoming the first to integrate a primary or secondary school in Alabama. Wallace desperately wanted to preserve segregation. In his own words: "The President [John F. Kennedy] wants us to surrender this state to Martin Luther King and his group of pro-Communists who have instituted these demonstrations." Wallace predicted, during
483-523: A fervent Louisiana segregationist and anti-Semite; Kent Courtney, a John Bircher; and "a representative sent by Willis Carto , head of the Liberty Lobby and publisher of the anti-Semitic magazine American Mercury . " Wallace ran for president in the 1968 election as the American Independent Party candidate, with Curtis LeMay as his candidate for vice president. Wallace hoped to force
552-536: A governor serving two consecutive terms can run again after waiting out the next term. The constitution had no set date for the commencement of a governor's term until 1901, when it was set at the first Monday after the second Tuesday in the January following an election. However, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled in 1911 that a governor's term ends at midnight at the end of Monday, and the next governor's term begins
621-527: A life of farming when food prices were high. When his father died in 1937, his mother had to sell their farmland to pay existing mortgages . Wallace was raised as a Methodist . From age ten, Wallace was fascinated with politics. In 1935, he won a contest to serve as a page in the Alabama Senate , and confidently predicted that he would one day be governor. Wallace became a regionally successful boxer in high school, then went directly to law school in 1937 at
690-755: A professor of history at Emory University in Atlanta , added: "George Wallace laid the foundation for the dominance of the Republican Party in American society through the manipulation of racial and social issues in the 1960s and 1970s. He was the master teacher, and Richard Nixon and the Republican leadership that followed were his students." Wallace considered Happy Chandler , the former baseball commissioner , two-term former governor of Kentucky and former Senator from Kentucky , as his running mate in his 1968 campaign as
759-433: A reputation for fairness regardless of the race of the plaintiff. It was common practice at the time for judges in the area to refer to black lawyers by their first names, while their white colleagues were addressed formally as "Mister"; black lawyer J. L. Chestnut later said that "Judge George Wallace was the most liberal judge that I had ever practiced law in front of. He was the first judge in Alabama to call me 'Mister' in
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#1732854551161828-504: A separate and inferior race. In a 1963 letter to a social studies teacher, Wallace stated they were inclined to criminality – especially "atrocious acts ... such as rape, assault and murder" – because of a high incidence of venereal disease. Desegregation, he wrote, would lead to "intermarriage ... and eventually our race will be deteriated [sic] to that of the mongrel complexity." In 1938, at age 19, Wallace contributed to his grandfather's successful campaign for probate judge. Late in 1945, he
897-639: A third of the vote running against three Johnson-designated surrogates. Wallace was known for stirring crowds with his oratory. The Huntsville Times interviewed Bill Jones, Wallace's first press secretary, who recounted "a particularly fiery speech in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1964 that scared even Wallace, [where he] angrily shouted to a crowd of 1,000 people that 'little Pinkos' were 'running around outside' protesting his visit, and continued, after thunderous applause, saying, 'When you and I start marching and demonstrating and carrying signs, we will close every highway in
966-626: A third-party candidate; as one of Wallace's aides put it, "We have all the nuts in the country; we could get some decent people–-you working one side of the street and he working the other side." Wallace invited Chandler, but when the press published the prospect, Wallace's supporters objected; Chandler had supported the hiring of Jackie Robinson by the Brooklyn Dodgers . Wallace retracted the invitation, and (after considering Kentucky Fried Chicken founder Colonel Harland Sanders ) chose former Air Force General Curtis LeMay of California . LeMay
1035-437: A thousand times after 1963 – that he was a segregationist, not a racist." A reporter covering state politics in 1961 observed that, while other Alabama politicians conversed primarily about women and Alabama football, for Wallace "it was race – race, race, race – and every time that I was closeted alone with him, that's all we talked about." Wallace's preoccupation with race was based on his belief that black Americans comprised
1104-704: Is charged with enforcing state laws. There have officially been 54 governors of the state of Alabama; this official numbering skips acting and military governors. The first governor, William Wyatt Bibb , served as the only governor of the Alabama Territory . Five people have served as acting governor, bringing the total number of people serving as governor to 59, spread over 63 distinct terms. Four governors have served multiple non-consecutive terms: Bibb Graves , Jim Folsom , and Fob James each served two, and George Wallace served three non-consecutive periods. Officially, these non-consecutive terms are numbered only with
1173-558: Is named for Wallace's first wife, Lurleen Burns Wallace . The University of South Alabama , a new state university in Mobile, was chartered in 1963 during Wallace's first year in office as governor. On November 15–20, 1963, in Dallas , Wallace announced his intention to oppose the incumbent president, John F. Kennedy, for the 1964 Democratic presidential nomination. Days later, also in Dallas, Kennedy
1242-530: Is no longer free, American, or honest. But you, Mr. Governor, have demonstrated not only by the overwhelming victories in the recent elections in your own state of Alabama, but also in the showing which you have made in states long dominated by cheap demagogues and selfish radicals that there is still in America love for freedom, hard common sense, and at least some hope for the preservation of our constitutional liberties. In 1964, Alabama Republicans stood to benefit from
1311-525: 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
1380-453: The House of Representatives to decide the election with one vote per state if he could obtain sufficient electoral votes to make him a power broker. Wallace hoped that Southern states could use their clout to end federal efforts at desegregation . His platform contained generous increases for beneficiaries of Social Security and Medicare . Wallace's foreign policy positions set him apart from
1449-605: The Jefferson Davis Hotel in Montgomery with Alabama Republican leader James D. Martin , who had narrowly lost the U.S. Senate election in 1962 to J. Lister Hill . Wallace and his aides sought to determine if Barry M. Goldwater , the forthcoming Republican presidential nominee who as a senator from Arizona had voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964 on libertarian and constitutional grounds, would advocate repeal of
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#17328545511611518-882: The President of the United States before it became a state; he became the first state governor. Alabama was admitted to the Union on December 14, 1819. It seceded from the Union on January 11, 1861, and was a founding member of the Confederate States of America on February 4, 1861. Following the end of the American Civil War , Alabama during Reconstruction was part of the Third Military District , which exerted some control over governor appointments and elections. Alabama
1587-645: The Southern Democrats who were dissatisfied with the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act that were signed earlier in the decade by President Lyndon B. Johnson . However, some Democrats feared Wallace's appeal to organized blue-collar workers would damage Humphrey in Northern states such as Ohio, New Jersey and Michigan. Wallace ran a " law and order " campaign similar to Nixon's, further worrying Republicans. In Wallace's 1998 obituary, The Huntsville Times political editor John Anderson summarized
1656-572: The University of Alabama School of Law in Tuscaloosa . He was a member of the Delta Chi fraternity. It was at the University of Alabama that he crossed paths with future political adversary Frank Minis Johnson Jr. , who would go on to become a prominent liberal federal judge. Wallace also knew Chauncey Sparks , who became a conservative governor. These men had an effect on his personal politics reflecting
1725-539: 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
1794-528: The general election on November 8, 1966 . She was inaugurated in January 1967, but on May 7, 1968, she died in office of cancer at the age of 41, amid her husband's ongoing second presidential campaign. On her death, she was succeeded by Lieutenant Governor Albert Brewer , who had run without Republican opposition amid the Wallace–Martin races. George Wallace's influence in state government thus subsided until his next bid for election in his own right in 1970. He
1863-648: The racial integration of the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. In a vain attempt to halt the enrollment of black students Vivian Malone and James Hood , Governor Wallace stood in front of Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama on June 11, 1963. This became known as the " Stand in the Schoolhouse Door ". In September 1963, Wallace attempted to stop four black students from enrolling in four separate elementary schools in Huntsville . After intervention by
1932-524: The 1948 general election, having rallied behind Governor Strom Thurmond of South Carolina. In his 1963 inaugural speech as governor, Wallace excused his failure to walk out of the 1948 convention on political grounds. In 1952, he became the Circuit Judge of the Third Judicial Circuit in Alabama. Here he became known as "the fighting little judge", a nod to his past boxing association. He gained
2001-536: The 1958 gubernatorial election. In 1958, Wallace ran in the Democratic primary for governor. Since the 1901 constitution's effective disfranchisement of Black Alabamians, the Democratic Party had been virtually the only party in Alabama. For all intents and purposes, the Democratic primary, which was a political crossroads for Wallace, was the only real contest at the state level. State Representative George C. Hawkins of Gadsden ran, but Wallace's main opponent
2070-441: 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. 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
2139-510: The South. Wallace said, "There's not a dime's worth of difference between the Republicans and Democrats", a campaign slogan that he had first perfected when Lurleen Wallace defeated James D. Martin. Governor of Alabama The governor of Alabama is the head of government of the U.S. state of Alabama . The governor is the head of the executive branch of Alabama's state government and
George Wallace - Misplaced Pages Continue
2208-547: The U.S. House, Martin already had his eyes on Wallace's own position as governor. Term limits in the Alabama Constitution prevented Wallace from seeking a second term in 1966. Therefore, Wallace offered his wife, Lurleen Wallace , as a surrogate candidate for governor. In the Democratic primary, she defeated two former governors, Jim Folsom and John M. Patterson , Attorney General Richmond Flowers Sr. , and former U.S. Representative Carl Elliott . Largely through
2277-581: 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". Born in Clio, Alabama , Wallace attended
2346-582: The Vietnam War, he first said that America could win in Vietnam without them. However, he alarmed the audience by further commenting, "we [Americans] have a phobia about nuclear weapons. I think there may be times when it would be most efficient to use nuclear weapons." The "politically tone-deaf" LeMay became a drag on Wallace's candidacy for the remainder of the campaign. In 1968, Wallace pledged that "If some anarchist lies down in front of my automobile, it will be
2415-404: The company threatened to dismiss him if he took a leave of absence to run for vice president. To keep LeMay on the ticket, Wallace backer and Texas oil tycoon H. L. Hunt set up a million-dollar fund to reimburse LeMay for any income lost in the campaign. Campaign aides tried to persuade LeMay to avoid questions relating to nuclear weapons, but when asked if he thought their use was necessary to win
2484-618: The country.' The audience leaped to its feet and headed for the exit", Jones said, "It shook Wallace. He quickly moved to calm them down." At graduation exercises in the spring of 1964 at Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina , Wallace received an honorary doctorate. At the commencement, Bob Jones Jr. , read the following citation as a tribute to Wallace: Men who have fought for truth and righteousness have always been slandered, maligned, and misrepresented. The American press in its attacks upon Governor Wallace has demonstrated that it
2553-480: The de facto governor. 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
2622-440: The desegregation guidelines and had sponsored a U.S. House amendment to forbid the placement of students and teachers on the basis of racial quotas. He predicted that Wallace's legislation would propel the issuance of a court order compelling immediate and total desegregation in all public schools. He also compared the new Alabama law to "another two-and-a-half-minute stand in the schoolhouse door". Lurleen Wallace defeated Martin in
2691-569: The floor." In the 1962 Democratic primary, Wallace finished first, ahead of State Senator Ryan DeGraffenried Sr. , and taking 35 percent of the vote. In the runoff, Wallace won the nomination with 55 percent of the vote. As no Republican filed to run, this all but assured Wallace of becoming the next governor. He won a crushing victory in the November general election , taking 96 percent of the vote. As noted above, Democratic dominance had been achieved by disenfranchising most blacks and many poor whites in
2760-510: The former United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare . Wallace claimed that the law would thwart the national government from intervening in schools. Critics denounced Wallace's "political trickery" and expressed alarm at the potential forfeiture of federal funds. Republican gubernatorial candidate James D. Martin accused the Democrats of "playing politics with your children" and "neglecting academic excellence". Martin also opposed
2829-460: The greatest people that have ever trod this Earth, I draw the line in the dust and toss the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny, and I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever. This sentence had been written by Wallace's new speechwriter, Ku Klux Klan leader Asa Earl Carter . In 1963, President John F. Kennedy 's administration ordered the U.S. Army's 2nd Infantry Division from Fort Benning, Georgia to be prepared to enforce
George Wallace - Misplaced Pages Continue
2898-487: The ideologies of both leaders later during his time in office. He received a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1942. Early in 1943, Wallace was accepted for pilot training by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF). Soon afterwards Wallace contracted life-threatening spinal meningitis , but prompt medical attention with sulfa drugs saved his life. Left with partial hearing loss and permanent nerve damage, he
2967-488: The impact from the 1968 campaign: "His startling appeal to millions of alienated white voters was not lost on Richard Nixon and other Republican strategists. First Nixon, then Ronald Reagan , and finally George Herbert Walker Bush successfully adopted toned-down versions of Wallace's anti-busing, anti-federal government platform to pry low- and middle-income whites from the Democratic New Deal coalition." Dan Carter,
3036-413: The last automobile he will ever lie down in front of" and asserted that the only four letter words that hippies did not know were "w-o-r-k" and "s-o-a-p." Responding to criticism of the former comment, Wallace later elaborated that he meant such a protester would be punished under the law, not run over. This type of rhetoric became famous. He accused Humphrey and Nixon of wanting to radically desegregate
3105-455: 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 longest-serving governor in U.S. history , having served 5,848 days in office. George Corley Wallace Jr.
3174-439: The law, particularly the public accommodations and equal employment sections. Bill Jones indicated that Wallace agreed with Goldwater's anti-communist stance but opposed the Republican's proposal to make Social Security a voluntary program. Jones stressed that Wallace had sacrificed his own presidential aspirations that year to allow a direct Republican challenge to President Johnson. It was later disclosed that Wallace proposed at
3243-601: The lieutenant governor are elected at the same time but not on the same ticket. Alabama was a strongly Democratic state before the Civil War, electing only candidates from the Democratic-Republican and Democratic parties. It had two Republican governors following Reconstruction, but after the Democratic Party re-established control, 112 years passed before voters chose another Republican. List of longest-serving governors of U.S. states This list contains
3312-435: The meeting with Martin to switch parties if he could be named as Goldwater's running-mate, a designation later given to U.S. Representative William E. Miller of New York . Goldwater reportedly rejected the overture because he considered Wallace to be a racist. The unpledged electors in Alabama included the future U.S. senator, James Allen , then the lieutenant governor , and the subsequent Governor Albert Brewer , then
3381-432: The next day, regardless of if they were sworn in on Monday. The office of lieutenant governor was created in 1868, abolished in 1875, and recreated in 1901. According to the current constitution, should the governor be out of the state for more than 20 days, the lieutenant governor becomes acting governor , and if the office of governor becomes vacant the lieutenant governor ascends to the governorship. The governor and
3450-430: The number of their first term. William D. Jelks also served non-consecutive terms, but his first term was in an acting capacity. The longest-serving governor was George Wallace , who served 16 years over four terms. The shortest term for a non-acting governor was that of Hugh McVay , who served four and a half months after replacing the resigning Clement Comer Clay . Lurleen Wallace , the first wife of George Wallace,
3519-534: The other candidates in the field. "If the Vietnam War was not winnable within 90 days of his taking office, Wallace pledged an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops ... Wallace described foreign aid as money 'poured down a rat hole' and demanded that European and Asian allies pay more for their defense." Richard Nixon feared that Wallace might split the conservative vote and allow the Democratic nominee, Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey , to prevail. He mostly attracted
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#17328545511613588-566: The populist candidacies of Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan . Jack Newfield wrote in 1971 that Wallace "recently has been sounding like William Jennings Bryan as he attacked concentrated wealth in his speeches". The principal achievement of Wallace's first term was an innovation in Alabama industrial development that several other states later copied: he was the first Southern governor to travel to corporate headquarters in northern states to offer tax abatements and other incentives to companies willing to locate plants in Alabama. He also initiated
3657-478: The state House Speaker. National Democrats balked over Johnson's exclusion from the ballot, but most supported the unpledged slate, which competed directly with the Republican electors. As The Tuscaloosa News explained, loyalist electors would have offered a clearer choice to voters than did the unpledged slate. The 1964 Republican electors were the first since Reconstruction to prevail in Alabama. The Goldwater-Miller slate received 479,085 votes (69.5 percent) to
3726-400: The state for decades, which lasted until years after federal civil rights legislation was passed in 1964 and 1965. Wallace took the oath of office on January 14, 1963, standing on the gold star marking the spot where, nearly 102 years earlier, Jefferson Davis was sworn in as provisional president of the Confederate States of America . In his inaugural speech , Wallace said: In the name of
3795-484: The unintended consequences of two developments: (1) Governor Wallace vacating the race for the Democratic presidential nomination against President Johnson, and (2) the designation of unpledged Democratic electors in Alabama, in effect removing President Johnson from the general election ballot. Prior to the 1964 Republican National Convention in San Francisco , Wallace and his aides Bill Jones and Seymore Trammell met in
3864-549: The unpledged electors' 209,848 (30.5 percent). The Republican tide also brought to victory five Republican members of the United States House of Representatives , including William Louis Dickinson , who held the Montgomery-based district seat until 1993, and James D. Martin, the Gadsden oil products dealer who defeated then State Senator George C. Hawkins for the U.S. House seat formerly held by Carl Elliott . Hardly yet sworn into
3933-436: The wake of his defeat, Wallace adopted a hard-line segregationist stance and used this stance to court the white vote in the next gubernatorial election in 1962. When a supporter asked why he started using racist messages, Wallace replied, "You know, I tried to talk about good roads and good schools and all these things that have been part of my career, and nobody listened. And then I began talking about niggers, and they stomped
4002-516: The work of Wallace's supporters, the Alabama restriction on gubernatorial succession was later modified to allow two consecutive terms. Wallace defended his wife's proxy candidacy. He felt somewhat vindicated when Republicans in Idaho denied renomination in 1966 to Governor Robert E. Smylie , author of the article entitled "Why I Feel Sorry for Lurleen Wallace". In his memoirs, Wallace recounts his wife's ability to "charm crowds" and cast-off invective: "I
4071-573: Was Attorney General of Alabama John M. Patterson , who ran with the support of the Ku Klux Klan , an organization Wallace had spoken out against. Despite being endorsed by the NAACP , Wallace lost the nomination by over 34,400 votes. After the election, aide Seymore Trammell recalled Wallace saying, "Seymore, you know why I lost that governor's race? ... I was outniggered by John Patterson. And I'll tell you here and now, I will never be outniggered again." In
4140-567: Was assassinated , and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson succeeded him as president. Building upon his notoriety after the University of Alabama controversy, Wallace entered the Democratic primaries in 1964 on the advice of a public relations expert from Wisconsin. Wallace campaigned strongly by expressing his opposition to integration and a tough approach on crime. In Democratic primaries in Wisconsin, Indiana, and Maryland, Wallace garnered at least
4209-544: Was "first gentleman" for less than a year and a half. Planning for Wallace's 1968 presidential campaign began with a strategy session on the evening of the March 1967 inauguration of Lurleen Wallace. The meeting featured prominent white supremacists and anti-Semites, including: Asa Carter; William Simmons of the White Citizens' Council ; Dallas County Sheriff Jim Clark ; former Mississippi governor Ross Barnett ; Leander Perez ,
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#17328545511614278-585: Was appointed as one of the assistant attorneys general of Alabama, and, in May 1946, he won his first election as a member to the Alabama House of Representatives . At the time, he was considered a moderate on racial issues. As a delegate to the 1948 Democratic National Convention , he did not join the Dixiecrat walkout at the convention, despite his opposition to U.S. President Harry S. Truman 's proposed civil rights program. Wallace considered it an infringement on states' rights . The Dixiecrats carried Alabama in
4347-448: Was born in Clio, Alabama , to George Corley Wallace Sr. and Mozelle Smith. Since his parents disliked the designation "Junior", he was called "George C.", to distinguish him from his father, George Corley Sr., and paternal grandfather, the physician George Oscar Wallace, who was called "Doc Wallace". He had two younger brothers, Gerald and Jack, and a younger sister named Marianne. During World War I , Wallace's father left college to pursue
4416-545: Was commanded by General Curtis LeMay , who was his running mate in the 1968 presidential race .) While some may argue that Wallace did not espouse racist views, most sources support the conclusion that he was motivated by racist ideology. For instance, one source on Wallace's career as a judge reports: "every black attorney who argued a case in Wallace's ... courtroom was struck by his fairness .... But no one who knew Wallace well ever took seriously his earnest profession – uttered
4485-554: Was considered instrumental in the establishment in 1947 of the United States Air Force and an expert in military affairs. His four-star military rank, experience at Strategic Air Command and presence advising President Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis were considered foreign-policy assets to the Wallace campaign. By 1968, LeMay had retired and was serving as chairman of the board of an electronics company, but
4554-445: Was immensely proud of her, and it didn't hurt a bit to take a back seat to her in vote-getting ability." Wallace rebuffed critics who claimed that he had "dragooned" his wife into the race. "She loved every minute of being governor the same way ... that Mrs. (Margaret) Smith loves being senator." During the 1966 campaign, George Wallace signed state legislation to nullify desegregation guidelines between Alabama cities and counties and
4623-562: Was instead trained as a flight engineer . During 1945, as a member of a B-29 crew with 468th Bombardment Group , stationed in the Mariana Islands as part of the Twentieth Air Force , Wallace took part in air raids on Japan and reached the rank of staff sergeant . In mid-1945, Wallace received an early discharge on medical grounds, due to "severe anxiety", and a 10% disability pension for "psychoneurosis". (The Twentieth Air Force
4692-512: Was readmitted to the Union on July 14, 1868. The first Alabama Constitution , ratified in 1819, provided that a governor be elected every two years, limited to serve no more than 4 out of every 6 years. This limit remained in place until the constitution of 1868, which simply allowed governors to serve terms of two years. The current constitution of 1901 increased terms to four years, but prohibited governors from succeeding themselves. An amendment in 1968 allowed governors to succeed themselves once;
4761-427: Was the first woman to serve as governor of Alabama, and the third woman to serve as governor of any state. The current governor is Republican Kay Ivey , who took office on April 10, 2017 following Robert J. Bentley 's resignation amidst a corruption scandal. She is the second female governor of Alabama. Alabama Territory was formed on March 3, 1817, from Mississippi Territory . It had only one governor appointed by
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