Wallace, George C. 1919-

GOVERNOR OF ALABAMA, 1963-1967

From Moderate to Segregationist.

George C. Wallace, a moderate even progressive politician on most issues, attracted national notoriety in the 1960s because of his defiance of federal orders to desegregate public education in Alabama. Wallace was a political protege of populist Alabama governor "Big Jim" Folsom and established a liberal voting record in the Alabama legislature during the 1950s. In 1958 he lost a runoff in the Democratic gubernatorial primary to Alabama Attorney General John Patterson, who campaigned with a strident segregationist message. Wallace, who was considered the moderate in that race, vowed that he would never again be beaten because he appeared to be less of a racist than his opponent. In 1962 he ran for governor again and won on a militant segregationist platform; at his inauguration he vowed to uphold "segregation now—segregation tomorrow—and segregation...

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