Wallace, George Corley

Wallace, George Corley (b. 25 Aug. 1919, d. 13 Sept 1998). Governor of Alabama 1963–7, 1971–9, 1983–7 Born in Clio into a farming family, he graduated from the University of Alabama Law School (1942) and, after military service, became a state attorney. In 1947 he was elected an Alabama State Congressman and then a District Justice (1953–8). When first elected Governor of Alabama in 1962 he resisted the desegregation of state schools and universities. In his 1963 inaugural speech, he famously declared that he stood for ‘segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever’. Unable to run for a second consecutive period in office, he was succeeded in the Governor's office by his wife, Lurleen. He stood in the presidential campaign of 1968 as leader of the newly established American Independent Party. His main support was in the south, and he polled over ten million votes. In 1972 he sought the Democratic Party's presidential nomination, but his campaign ended when an assassination attempt left him paralysed. He stood again unsuccessfully in 1976, by which time he was becoming reconciled to civil rights for African Americans. For the 1982 election as governor he publicly recanted his opposition to desegregation, polled a substantial number of Black votes, and was re-elected. He retired from politics in 1987 through ill health.