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Everything Is Pickrick
How could a man who never attended college, who believed in states rights, segregation, private property, and "Americanism," who would run for public office three times and lose, and then who would run for governorlose the electionbut become governor anyway? Lester Maddox was an anomaly as governor (1967-1971). Born in Atlanta in 1915, Maddox worked several jobs before opening the famous Pickrick Restaurant in 1947. Starting slowly, it became a huge success seating over 400 people. When President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act, Maddox closed his restaurant rather than integrate it. This is the story of a man who vowed to chase away Martin Luther King, Jr. from the state, who was notorious for carrying a pick axe handle, who supported George Wallace for president, and who was a life-long thorn in the side of Jimmy Carter. In 1966 Maddox ran for Governor and won the democratic nomination over Ellis Arnall, Jimmy Carter, Garland T. Byrd, James Gray, and Hoke OKelley. Maddox defeated an overconfident Arnall in a runoff two weeks later. He then ran against Howard "Bo" Callaway, the republican candidate, for the top executive office in the state. While Callaway had more popular votes, a third candidateEllis Arnall, a write-in candidategathered enough votes to keep either Maddox or Callaway from getting a majority, sending the final vote to the General Assembly, where Maddox was elected governor. Many expected the Maddox administration to be a complete catastrophe. But in Bob Shorts revealing biography, it is shown howcontrary to expectationin the words of Bill Shipp, "he made excellent judicial appointments, instituted the most far-reaching prison reforms ever tried in Georgia, brought black officials into the government for the first time and generally showed himself to be a compassionate governor with a certain amount of wisdom concealed below that zany veneer."
304 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 1, 2018
This biography got off to a great start by depicting Maddox's hardscrabble upbringing and innate sense of entrepreneurship. We get a pretty good sense of his business savvy and civic interests through folksy columns that he wrote as restaurant ads in the Saturday newspaper.
Like most prominent whites in Georgia at the time, Maddox was a segregationist. But he was more vocal about it than most, ultimately shutting down his famous Pickrick restaurant rather than integrating.
Maddox became a frequent loser in political contests, losing by increasingly narrow margins for increasingly larger stakes with each successive election. He lost races for Atlanta mayor, then lieutenant governor, then for governor. But because his opponent Bo Callaway didn't exceed 50 percent of the vote, the Georgia General Assembly was within its legal rights to select Maddox as governor. Democrats controlled the General Assembly, and even though they were squeamish about selecting an outsider like Maddox, he was a Democrat, so they picked him.
This is about where the biography seems to be missing some key information. We are presented with a series of activities, accomplishments, and amusing quips by Maddox as governor. By most accounts, Maddox performed better in office than almost anybody, white or black, had expected. Maddox hired African Americans to key positions, which his predecessors had never done. He exposed corruption and tossed corrupt bureaucrats and board members from office. He improved conditions in the state prison system, and remained unusually accessible to the general public.
It seems that Maddox campaigned as an ideologue but governed as a pragmatist. However, the biography never really gives us a great sense of why. Was it because Maddox changed after being inaugurated? Or was his practical business streak ultimately the more dominant component of his personality than his segregationist viewpoint? Or was he so desperate to prove to the political establishment and newspapers that he wasn't the crackpot they had always depicted him to be that he went out of his way to focus on governance rather than race? We never get an answer to those questions.
Governors of Georgia could not succeed themselves in office at the time. So Maddox ran for lieutenant governor next, and it was the first and only race he won outright. Jimmy Carter was elected governor, and they tussled throughout Carter's administration. Maddox said Carter was the most dishonest political animal he had ever met. Although the biography made a big deal of their rivalry, the reasons for it could have been explained a lot better. Maddox's opposition to Carter's reorganization plan for state government had a hurried feel to it, as if they author assumed we were all there at the time and familiar with the reasons for their disagreement.
Maddox's support for George Wallace was tacked on in subsequent chapters, rather than being presented chronologically. This is odd, and made the sequence of events confusing. Also, from the book, it definitely seems like Wallace betrayed Maddox (by endorsing Jimmy Carter for president), but we are never told why Wallace did that or what Wallace had to say about it.
The back of the book loses coherence and needed better editing. A softball interview of Maddox appears at the end, with some answers that could have been interspersed with early text where it would have fit better. It ends with the text of Maddox's major speeches.
Nevertheless, this is an enjoyable read, no so much because of how it was written, but because of Maddox's entertaining quotes and humorous anecdotes throughout the book.
Like most prominent whites in Georgia at the time, Maddox was a segregationist. But he was more vocal about it than most, ultimately shutting down his famous Pickrick restaurant rather than integrating.
Maddox became a frequent loser in political contests, losing by increasingly narrow margins for increasingly larger stakes with each successive election. He lost races for Atlanta mayor, then lieutenant governor, then for governor. But because his opponent Bo Callaway didn't exceed 50 percent of the vote, the Georgia General Assembly was within its legal rights to select Maddox as governor. Democrats controlled the General Assembly, and even though they were squeamish about selecting an outsider like Maddox, he was a Democrat, so they picked him.
This is about where the biography seems to be missing some key information. We are presented with a series of activities, accomplishments, and amusing quips by Maddox as governor. By most accounts, Maddox performed better in office than almost anybody, white or black, had expected. Maddox hired African Americans to key positions, which his predecessors had never done. He exposed corruption and tossed corrupt bureaucrats and board members from office. He improved conditions in the state prison system, and remained unusually accessible to the general public.
It seems that Maddox campaigned as an ideologue but governed as a pragmatist. However, the biography never really gives us a great sense of why. Was it because Maddox changed after being inaugurated? Or was his practical business streak ultimately the more dominant component of his personality than his segregationist viewpoint? Or was he so desperate to prove to the political establishment and newspapers that he wasn't the crackpot they had always depicted him to be that he went out of his way to focus on governance rather than race? We never get an answer to those questions.
Governors of Georgia could not succeed themselves in office at the time. So Maddox ran for lieutenant governor next, and it was the first and only race he won outright. Jimmy Carter was elected governor, and they tussled throughout Carter's administration. Maddox said Carter was the most dishonest political animal he had ever met. Although the biography made a big deal of their rivalry, the reasons for it could have been explained a lot better. Maddox's opposition to Carter's reorganization plan for state government had a hurried feel to it, as if they author assumed we were all there at the time and familiar with the reasons for their disagreement.
Maddox's support for George Wallace was tacked on in subsequent chapters, rather than being presented chronologically. This is odd, and made the sequence of events confusing. Also, from the book, it definitely seems like Wallace betrayed Maddox (by endorsing Jimmy Carter for president), but we are never told why Wallace did that or what Wallace had to say about it.
The back of the book loses coherence and needed better editing. A softball interview of Maddox appears at the end, with some answers that could have been interspersed with early text where it would have fit better. It ends with the text of Maddox's major speeches.
Nevertheless, this is an enjoyable read, no so much because of how it was written, but because of Maddox's entertaining quotes and humorous anecdotes throughout the book.
August 16, 2021
AN EXCELLENT READ ABOUT ONE OF GEORGIA'S MOST FAMOUS CITIZENS. I WAS WORKING AT THE GEORGIA STATE CAPITOL WHEN LESTER MADDOX WAS ELECTED GOVERNOR AND WAS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES THE NIGHT THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY VOTED HIM IN OVER " BO" CALLAWAY. I SAW MR. MADDOX MANY TIMES IN THE CAPITOL AND WAS VERY IMPRESSED WITH THE WAY HE MANAGED THE STATE. HE APPOINTED MANY OF THE PEOPLE THAT MANAGED THE STATE OFFICES VERY WELL FOR MANY YEARS AFTER HE LEFT PUBLIC OFFICE. BEING A THORN IN JIMMY CARTER'S SIDE WOULD BE CONSIDERED A GOOD THING !!!
December 27, 2016
I loved this book. Growing up in Atlanta in the 1960's and 1970's, I got to know Lester Maddox while growing up and he went to the same church we did. As governor, he welcomed all citizens of all ages and races to come to the governor's mansion to ask him for what they needed help with. He changed the corruption and abuses in the Georgia prison system at the request of a prison escapee who begged him for help. He did a lot for blacks despite being called a racist. There was more to him than anyone realized. One appealing thing is how he stopped working several times in order to care for his wife and their kids at times when his wife was sick. He was a sweet and faithful man.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews