Wallace, George Corley

▪ 1999

      U.S. politician (b. Aug. 25, 1919, Clio, Ala.—d. Sept. 13, 1998, Montgomery, Ala.), was a four-term Democratic governor of Alabama and a persistent presidential contender, notorious for his outspoken support of racial segregation. After earning (1942) a law degree from the University of Alabama and serving in World War II, Wallace was elected (1947) to the Alabama state legislature, where he served two terms. In 1958 he ran for governor but lost to his opponent, John Patterson, an extreme segregationist who had the official support of the Ku Klux Klan. Vowing never to be "out-segged" again, Wallace conducted his 1962 gubernatorial campaign with populist tirades against big government and blatant opposition to racial integration; he won in a landslide victory. In his 1963 inaugural speech, written by Klansman Asa Carter, Wallace proclaimed: "Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever!" Later that year he attempted to make good his promise, as he barred the door to two black students trying to enroll at the University of Alabama. In 1968 Wallace ran for president as a candidate of the American Independent Party. With thinly veiled racist allusions and an anti-Washington platform, he snared 13% of the popular vote and five states. Wallace's 1972 bid for the Democratic presidential nomination was cut short on May 15, 1972, in Laurel, Md., when he was shot point blank by a would-be assassin, an action that paralyzed and confined him to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. He made one last unsuccessful attempt for the presidency in 1976. Wallace held his post as governor until 1978. By 1980, however, he had reversed his stance on segregation and even made public apologies for his former views. In 1982 he won an unprecedented fourth term as governor—-a term he won with the support of black voters. Wallace retired from politics when his term ended in 1987.

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