George Wallace was a racist Alabama governor who hated the Civil Rights Movement and hated African-Americans. As a young boy Wallace was a boxer who was nicknamed “The Fighting Little Judge”. He won two Alabama golden gloves in 1936 and 1937 which foreshadowed his tenacious and confrontational style as a politician in his future. George would grow up to serve as governor, and while governor he would try his hardest to stop the growing rights of the African-American people. Alabama Government Terms: Wallace served as the 45th governor of Alabama. Wallace served from 1963-1967, 1971-1979, and 1983-1987. He served a total of twelve years in office and a total of four terms. Wallace unsuccessfully ran for governor in 1958 but lost to John Patterson because he appeared less racist than him. After that defeat he vowed to never again lose an election by appearing to be less racist than his opponent. George was governor during that hardest and most violent time during the civil rights movement. He was the main person who tried to stop the civil rights movement. Inaugural Speech: George Wallace gave an Inaugural Speech in Alabama in 1963, after his election of being governor of Alabama. Wallace at this time in 1963 was very well known as a segregationist. During Wallace's first campaign he was a member of the Alabama House of Representatives. He was know as a moderate racist. George Wallace's speech was most famous because of something he said which was “Segregation now, Segregation tomorrow, Segregation forever.” He later apologized in life for being racist and being a segregationist. 1972 Assassination Attempt: In 1972 George Wallace was shot and was nearly killed. He ended up in a wheelchair. He was shot 5 times at a political rally for his presidential run. George Wallace was shot by a man with the name Arthur Bremer. As Wallace was shot 5 times one of the shots wound up near his spinal cord which caused him to be paralyzed and be in a wheelchair the rest of his life. This assassination attempt took Wallace out of the 1972 presidential race. Racism and Hatred for Civil Rights Movement: George Wallace almost derailed the Civil Rights Movement during his run for presidency. George Wallace a four term governor for Alabama who realized the white resistance against segregation and civil rights ignited the public agreement during the 1960s and 1970s. But although he later reversed his philosophy in the 1980s. While he began his political career as a liberal "underdog" candidate with moderate views on racial issues, the Democrat embraced the opposite position after losing his first run to try to be for governor in 1958. Wallace for President: In 1972 George Wallace ran for candidate in 1972. His slogan during this presidential run was, “Send them a message”. “Them”, in this statement standed for the African-Americans living in the United States. In 1968 When George Wallace when he ran for president George Wallace and he won 13% of the popular vote and he won the electoral vote. After a good start, George Wallace’s presidential run was nearly destroyed after nearly being killed after being shot 5 times. He ended up in a wheelchair for the remainder of his life because he was shot near the spinal cord and he was paralyzed. Current Implication: In June 1963, Alabama governor George Wallace stood in the schoolhouse door at the University of Alabama to prevent two African-American students from going to class. He was defying the federal government's laws to integrate all schools. Fifty-Two years later there is another clash between the federal government and the state of Alabama. This time it is over same-sex marriage, and it's going to put national Republicans in a very awkward position. There’s no more confusion about that now than there was when the Supreme Court told Alabama it had to admit African-American students to its university.
4 Comments
Kendall Coleman
5/26/2015 11:16:22 pm
From your article I learned a lot of information. I did not know that George Wallace was shot 5 times and became paralyzed. I also did not know that he ran for president in 1972, and I didn't know that his presidential run was destroyed when he was shot and nearly killed. In this article, I liked the things that I learned about George Wallace. I definitely learned more than the two things that I listed.
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Anabel Ramirez
5/27/2015 03:29:19 am
I have learned a lot in this article, for example, how Wallace was nearly assassinated by Arthur Bremer. I also did not know until I read this that Wallace lost an election for governor because he was more racist than his opponent. From this article, I liked how so many years were included to give more facts of how Wallace impacted the Civil Rights Movement.
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Miles Miller
5/27/2015 03:53:56 am
I did not know one fact before I read this article. Personally I am not shocked that he was never elected as president. I was shocked that he survived five different gunshots. Very good factual article.
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Joseph Gatien
5/27/2015 04:44:13 am
Before reading this article I knew very little on George Wallace. It was interesting to know that he survived being shot five times after an assassination attempt. Also I didn't know he lost his campaign for being more of a racist. I liked that there was a lot of information on the effects his racism had on his career.
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