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George Wallace: American Populist
A full-scale biography of the complex life and times of George Wallace, from rural poverty under Roosevelt to national prominence in the age of segregation
Alabama Governor George Wallace captured the national spotlight in fiery opposition to civil rights as one of the last great demagogues of the Jim Crow South. That image, however, has overshadowed his other and more lasting significance--as spokesman for a tide of working-class resentment and general opposition to big, intrusive government that persists to this day. As historian Alan Brinkley wrote in the New York Times, Wallace emerges in this biography as "the first of a new breed of protest politicians, the first to articulate themes that have no inherent racial content and that have now become a staple of American politics, having shaped every national campaign from Richard Nixon's in 1968 to Bill Clinton's and Ross Perot's in 1992." George Wallace explores the origins of Wallace's racism, his relentless dedication to his own political advancement, the influence of his public life on the nation, and his role as the embodiment of the dark side of our nation's politics--for America made George Wallace, not the other way around.
"A terrific read. George Wallace is both a serious book about American politics and a good old-fashioned yarn."-- Washington Post
Alabama Governor George Wallace captured the national spotlight in fiery opposition to civil rights as one of the last great demagogues of the Jim Crow South. That image, however, has overshadowed his other and more lasting significance--as spokesman for a tide of working-class resentment and general opposition to big, intrusive government that persists to this day. As historian Alan Brinkley wrote in the New York Times, Wallace emerges in this biography as "the first of a new breed of protest politicians, the first to articulate themes that have no inherent racial content and that have now become a staple of American politics, having shaped every national campaign from Richard Nixon's in 1968 to Bill Clinton's and Ross Perot's in 1992." George Wallace explores the origins of Wallace's racism, his relentless dedication to his own political advancement, the influence of his public life on the nation, and his role as the embodiment of the dark side of our nation's politics--for America made George Wallace, not the other way around.
"A terrific read. George Wallace is both a serious book about American politics and a good old-fashioned yarn."-- Washington Post
624 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
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November 1, 2019
"For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world, but lose his soul?" Mark 8:36
As I read this book on Gov. George Wallace's life --- segregationist; populist; last third party candidate to win votes in the Electoral College within the last 50 years; successful --- and one of the nation's longest serving --- state governors --- this verse kept crossing my mind. It struck me how much of Wallace's story could have been truly inspiring, yet will be marred, probably perpetually, by his acts on reaching those heights to which he aspired and achieved.
Growing up in grinding poverty, Wallace had to work very hard, any way he could just to get an education and build even a modest future. And this he did --- his pugnacity, initiative, cunning, and work ethic really shine throughout, achieving a college education and building a law career, as well as family with his new bride, Lurleen.
Coming in the midst of this important point in his life, there was World War 2. Perhaps because of my own background as a naval aviator, I found parts of Wallace's service both admirable and puzzling. Because of his education, he was selected for an Army Air Force commission and flight training, and likely would have become a bomber pilot --- but asked to drop it because he could not stand the program's demanding disciplinary regimen. I just found it hard to believe --- that one would turn such an opportunity down just because of something like that --- the opportunity to become a pilot! Instead, he was reassigned for training as a B29 flight engineer, only to be nearly stricken dead with meningitis. A lesser man might well have used this as an excuse to gain a medical deferment from further military service given how much it debilitated Wallace, yet he recovered and continued on to service honorably and bravely, winning the Air Medal.
On discharge, Wallace set out to build a political career, achieving election as a local state judge, and using this as a springboard for his gubernatorial ambitions. In comparison with the standards of the Jim Crow South, as a judge, George Wallace was an evenhanded judge ---- showing little or no bias for one race or the other, and, as a practical man, Wallace seemed to have no ideological racist leanings. Yet, his ambition ran to greater heights --- and with Alabama in the 1950s effectively being a one party state under the Democratic Party with black citizens disenfranchised as a voting bloc --- this was the framework within which Wallace or any other candidate had to work.
In his first attempt at getting elected governor of Alabama, his opponent cast him as a racial moderate. Had Wallace accepted his lot, perhaps stayed as a voice of moderation and reason, he might have done the right thing --- and lived out his days in honorable obscurity. Yet, in his next effort, Wallace took on the persona for which he will always be remembered --- as the fiery segregationist --- and this worked. He was elected to his first term as governor, and then proceeded to do battle with the Federal Government and Federal judges against their mandates and rulings for Alabama to begin desegregation of its schools as well as overturning Alabama's various other Jim Crow laws.
If people likely remember George Wallace at all, it's the memorable scene in the movie "Forrest Gump" showing him personally blocking the entrance of the University of Alabama to prevent black students from registering in accordance with a Federal court order, for classes there. This really was a potentially dangerous confrontation -- one that involved state authorities potentially openly defying with defiance and force Federal marshals and other authorities sent to manage the crisis -- one that could have resulted in growing and escalating violence or even insurrection throughout much of the South. As I read this account of the brinksmanship here, I developed a new esteem for the role of Robert Kennedy in his role as the Attorney-General at management of this in handling Wallace, and de-escalating things --- yet keeping the ball moving forward towards desegregation. In him, Wallace found a clever, calm opponent who ultimately let Wallace get away with making a show of resistance while merely enrolling the students elsewhere at a different building on the campus
Like a lot of Wallace's segregationist efforts, they made great show, inflamed the support of his base of Southern whites -- but ultimately did nothing to thwart the progress of the Civil Rights Movement. Having said that, this came at a price, and I don't think, until I read this book as well as others on the Civil Rights Era, how much violence there was. No, it wasn't a full shooting war, but there were a lot more casualties and deaths from the struggle than likely most in my generation and younger ones really appreciate. And I think that Wallace bears some blame for that. Did he create the racism leading to the worst abuses in places like Selma and Montgomery? No, but he did little either to discourage it and nothing to fight it.
One would think that such a man with the tide of history seemingly so much against him would have run his course and faded into the ignominious obscurity that would overtake his contemporaries such as Orval Faubus and Lester Maddox. But George Wallace was very charismatic as well as doggedly clever in pointing his own critics blatant hypocrisies --- via speaking tours and interviews -- such as their demanding desegregated schools--- yet putting their own children in private schools without a single colored child or teacher; drawing attention to their own communities use of redlining to keep blacks from living in their residential areas; the new media critics who decried the South's laws, yet had never in their history had a black journalist on their own staffs.
Wallace began to build a national following over time, and, with presidential aspirations, began to become competitive for this. However, faced with term limits as Governor, Wallace had his wife, Lurleen run. Despite having little education, Lurleen actually did do creditably as both a candidate and as governor. In this bio, she really emerges as a good person, faithful as a wife and a mother to their children, and even willing to help her husband by assuming a role for which she never aspired. She would later die of breast cancer during her term, and her last days as well as the grief of George Wallace and her family during this time was truly moving.
I won't go into to too much more detail on the rest. Suffice to say, that Wallace did surprisingly gain most of the Deep South's electoral votes in the 1968 election, and, had he gained a few more, might even thrown the election into a tie requiring a break via the House of Representatives. He did this by turning the down the racial bit, and by drawing attention to the increasing reach, abuses of power, and incompetence of a growing Federal Government that more and more Americans were becoming apprehensive about. Then seeking reelection as Governor in 1970, Wallace went right back to his racial appeals --- very vile and nasty.
In 1972, Wallace again attempted to become President, this time via nomination as the Democratic candidate -- only for this to ended by an assassination attempt that left him paralyzed from the waist down for the rest of his life. Yet, not given to introspection in the past, this does seem to have been a turning point in this man's life. Wallace does seem to have moderated his racial views -- so much so that he actually became the instrument by which Alabama healed of its racist past, its state offices achieved racial balance, and state programs served all Alabama citizens equally. In his subsequent elections, Wallace -- the man who once cried out in his inaugural address "Segregation yesterday, segregation today, segregation forever" -- received the endorsement of such black groups as the state NAACP because of his support of social programs and help and interest in the progress of Alabama's black population.
Yet, Wallace's racist past will always likely be what most who remember him at all, remember him for. Towards the end of his life, Wallace seemed to seek conciliation and forgiveness for this, and, to their credit, many of the civil rights leaders who opposed him reconciled and did forgive. While I've not had a high opinion of Rev. Jesse jackson in the past, the account of the meeting between Jackson and Wallace, now old and broken and contrite, was touching, particularly the graciousness and compassion that Jackson displayed during it.
So I think that this is a very good biography. While the author, Stephen Lesher, clearly is no fan of George Wallace, he does a great job at keeping objective in giving us the facts of his subject's life -- showing all the flaws, but all showing the man's strengths as well as the underlying events driving his political rise.
As I read this book on Gov. George Wallace's life --- segregationist; populist; last third party candidate to win votes in the Electoral College within the last 50 years; successful --- and one of the nation's longest serving --- state governors --- this verse kept crossing my mind. It struck me how much of Wallace's story could have been truly inspiring, yet will be marred, probably perpetually, by his acts on reaching those heights to which he aspired and achieved.
Growing up in grinding poverty, Wallace had to work very hard, any way he could just to get an education and build even a modest future. And this he did --- his pugnacity, initiative, cunning, and work ethic really shine throughout, achieving a college education and building a law career, as well as family with his new bride, Lurleen.
Coming in the midst of this important point in his life, there was World War 2. Perhaps because of my own background as a naval aviator, I found parts of Wallace's service both admirable and puzzling. Because of his education, he was selected for an Army Air Force commission and flight training, and likely would have become a bomber pilot --- but asked to drop it because he could not stand the program's demanding disciplinary regimen. I just found it hard to believe --- that one would turn such an opportunity down just because of something like that --- the opportunity to become a pilot! Instead, he was reassigned for training as a B29 flight engineer, only to be nearly stricken dead with meningitis. A lesser man might well have used this as an excuse to gain a medical deferment from further military service given how much it debilitated Wallace, yet he recovered and continued on to service honorably and bravely, winning the Air Medal.
On discharge, Wallace set out to build a political career, achieving election as a local state judge, and using this as a springboard for his gubernatorial ambitions. In comparison with the standards of the Jim Crow South, as a judge, George Wallace was an evenhanded judge ---- showing little or no bias for one race or the other, and, as a practical man, Wallace seemed to have no ideological racist leanings. Yet, his ambition ran to greater heights --- and with Alabama in the 1950s effectively being a one party state under the Democratic Party with black citizens disenfranchised as a voting bloc --- this was the framework within which Wallace or any other candidate had to work.
In his first attempt at getting elected governor of Alabama, his opponent cast him as a racial moderate. Had Wallace accepted his lot, perhaps stayed as a voice of moderation and reason, he might have done the right thing --- and lived out his days in honorable obscurity. Yet, in his next effort, Wallace took on the persona for which he will always be remembered --- as the fiery segregationist --- and this worked. He was elected to his first term as governor, and then proceeded to do battle with the Federal Government and Federal judges against their mandates and rulings for Alabama to begin desegregation of its schools as well as overturning Alabama's various other Jim Crow laws.
If people likely remember George Wallace at all, it's the memorable scene in the movie "Forrest Gump" showing him personally blocking the entrance of the University of Alabama to prevent black students from registering in accordance with a Federal court order, for classes there. This really was a potentially dangerous confrontation -- one that involved state authorities potentially openly defying with defiance and force Federal marshals and other authorities sent to manage the crisis -- one that could have resulted in growing and escalating violence or even insurrection throughout much of the South. As I read this account of the brinksmanship here, I developed a new esteem for the role of Robert Kennedy in his role as the Attorney-General at management of this in handling Wallace, and de-escalating things --- yet keeping the ball moving forward towards desegregation. In him, Wallace found a clever, calm opponent who ultimately let Wallace get away with making a show of resistance while merely enrolling the students elsewhere at a different building on the campus
Like a lot of Wallace's segregationist efforts, they made great show, inflamed the support of his base of Southern whites -- but ultimately did nothing to thwart the progress of the Civil Rights Movement. Having said that, this came at a price, and I don't think, until I read this book as well as others on the Civil Rights Era, how much violence there was. No, it wasn't a full shooting war, but there were a lot more casualties and deaths from the struggle than likely most in my generation and younger ones really appreciate. And I think that Wallace bears some blame for that. Did he create the racism leading to the worst abuses in places like Selma and Montgomery? No, but he did little either to discourage it and nothing to fight it.
One would think that such a man with the tide of history seemingly so much against him would have run his course and faded into the ignominious obscurity that would overtake his contemporaries such as Orval Faubus and Lester Maddox. But George Wallace was very charismatic as well as doggedly clever in pointing his own critics blatant hypocrisies --- via speaking tours and interviews -- such as their demanding desegregated schools--- yet putting their own children in private schools without a single colored child or teacher; drawing attention to their own communities use of redlining to keep blacks from living in their residential areas; the new media critics who decried the South's laws, yet had never in their history had a black journalist on their own staffs.
Wallace began to build a national following over time, and, with presidential aspirations, began to become competitive for this. However, faced with term limits as Governor, Wallace had his wife, Lurleen run. Despite having little education, Lurleen actually did do creditably as both a candidate and as governor. In this bio, she really emerges as a good person, faithful as a wife and a mother to their children, and even willing to help her husband by assuming a role for which she never aspired. She would later die of breast cancer during her term, and her last days as well as the grief of George Wallace and her family during this time was truly moving.
I won't go into to too much more detail on the rest. Suffice to say, that Wallace did surprisingly gain most of the Deep South's electoral votes in the 1968 election, and, had he gained a few more, might even thrown the election into a tie requiring a break via the House of Representatives. He did this by turning the down the racial bit, and by drawing attention to the increasing reach, abuses of power, and incompetence of a growing Federal Government that more and more Americans were becoming apprehensive about. Then seeking reelection as Governor in 1970, Wallace went right back to his racial appeals --- very vile and nasty.
In 1972, Wallace again attempted to become President, this time via nomination as the Democratic candidate -- only for this to ended by an assassination attempt that left him paralyzed from the waist down for the rest of his life. Yet, not given to introspection in the past, this does seem to have been a turning point in this man's life. Wallace does seem to have moderated his racial views -- so much so that he actually became the instrument by which Alabama healed of its racist past, its state offices achieved racial balance, and state programs served all Alabama citizens equally. In his subsequent elections, Wallace -- the man who once cried out in his inaugural address "Segregation yesterday, segregation today, segregation forever" -- received the endorsement of such black groups as the state NAACP because of his support of social programs and help and interest in the progress of Alabama's black population.
Yet, Wallace's racist past will always likely be what most who remember him at all, remember him for. Towards the end of his life, Wallace seemed to seek conciliation and forgiveness for this, and, to their credit, many of the civil rights leaders who opposed him reconciled and did forgive. While I've not had a high opinion of Rev. Jesse jackson in the past, the account of the meeting between Jackson and Wallace, now old and broken and contrite, was touching, particularly the graciousness and compassion that Jackson displayed during it.
So I think that this is a very good biography. While the author, Stephen Lesher, clearly is no fan of George Wallace, he does a great job at keeping objective in giving us the facts of his subject's life -- showing all the flaws, but all showing the man's strengths as well as the underlying events driving his political rise.
July 23, 2016
George C. Wallace came up the hard way. He was desperately poor and 'scrambled for any job that literally might earn him a few pennies. At the same time, everything he did was with an eye to-ward future political power. Even as a youth, when one job required traveling all around the county inoculating dogs for rabies, he was making friends and winning potential votes. Many remembered him years later and voted for him in droves. In some ways he was quite progressive. As a first-term legislator he sponsored and ramrodded a bill to provide low cost vocational post-secondary education for blacks and whites (separate of course) and many of the issues he favored were populist in nature.
In WW II he enrolled as a cadet to learn to |fly but wound up as a flight engineer on a B- 9 flying several missions over Japan toward the end of the war. Most flights were routine but they had several close calls with engine fires and other mechanical difficulties. Finally he had enough and refused to get in an airplane. His colonel, who could have had him court-martialed, instead sent him to the base hospital where he was diagnosed with battle-fatigue. Forever after he was white-knuckled on every campaign flight.
Stephan Lesher’s biography of Wallace brings Wallace and his role in American politics very readably to light. Wallace will be forever recalled as the man who enshrined racism as a political stratagem. Clearly everything he did, every hand he shook, every statement he made, was intended to get him elected to office. The man lived politics, and during the sixties attacking civil rights was good politics in Alabama.
Wallace argued then and later in 1930 that to take any other approach was political suicide. “It was not any of my making. . . .It was political suicide to offer any moderate approach. . . Alabamians are gullible for that kind of thing. . . .Give the people something to dislike and hate, create a straw man for them to fight, they’d rather be against something than for something. As long as our people are of that frame of mind and like their politics with that brand, then we’re going to have people to take advantage of that kind of situation.” And he did with a vengeance.
It also clear from this biography, that Wallace’s residential campaigns tapped a deeper malaise in the electorate as the votes he garnered during his presidential campaigns reveal. Many of his issues were used successfully in successive campaign by both Republicans and Democrats: prohibition of school busing for integration, school prayer by constitutional amendment, tax reductions for the middle class (to be paid for by taxing church-owned property, and law and order, to name few. In fact, Kevin Phillips considered Wallace as “the first national tax-revolt leader [and] the man also in the vanguard of so many other populist causes.” Lesher reiterates that no president was elected between 1963 and 1992 “without clearly embracing and articulating. ... the Wallace issues. . . .George Wallace’s wish to be rehabilitated by history may or may not be realized - but history already has substantiated his idea of history.”
In WW II he enrolled as a cadet to learn to |fly but wound up as a flight engineer on a B- 9 flying several missions over Japan toward the end of the war. Most flights were routine but they had several close calls with engine fires and other mechanical difficulties. Finally he had enough and refused to get in an airplane. His colonel, who could have had him court-martialed, instead sent him to the base hospital where he was diagnosed with battle-fatigue. Forever after he was white-knuckled on every campaign flight.
Stephan Lesher’s biography of Wallace brings Wallace and his role in American politics very readably to light. Wallace will be forever recalled as the man who enshrined racism as a political stratagem. Clearly everything he did, every hand he shook, every statement he made, was intended to get him elected to office. The man lived politics, and during the sixties attacking civil rights was good politics in Alabama.
Wallace argued then and later in 1930 that to take any other approach was political suicide. “It was not any of my making. . . .It was political suicide to offer any moderate approach. . . Alabamians are gullible for that kind of thing. . . .Give the people something to dislike and hate, create a straw man for them to fight, they’d rather be against something than for something. As long as our people are of that frame of mind and like their politics with that brand, then we’re going to have people to take advantage of that kind of situation.” And he did with a vengeance.
It also clear from this biography, that Wallace’s residential campaigns tapped a deeper malaise in the electorate as the votes he garnered during his presidential campaigns reveal. Many of his issues were used successfully in successive campaign by both Republicans and Democrats: prohibition of school busing for integration, school prayer by constitutional amendment, tax reductions for the middle class (to be paid for by taxing church-owned property, and law and order, to name few. In fact, Kevin Phillips considered Wallace as “the first national tax-revolt leader [and] the man also in the vanguard of so many other populist causes.” Lesher reiterates that no president was elected between 1963 and 1992 “without clearly embracing and articulating. ... the Wallace issues. . . .George Wallace’s wish to be rehabilitated by history may or may not be realized - but history already has substantiated his idea of history.”
July 13, 2016
An eye-opening bio about Wallace. I still don't love him, but I can consider whether he was more of a racist or an opportunist. This book also makes clearer how someone like Donald Trump can have appeal.
September 5, 2016
Lesher was a longtime journalist who covered Alabama Governor George Wallace extensively throughout the latter's career. Therefore, he was uniquely suited to write about him. One of his principal sources was none other than Wallace himself. Lesher admits that he did pay Wallace for his cooperation; despite this fact, Lesher's treatment of him is unfailingly fair, seeking to showcase both Wallace's positive and negative personality traits and political moves.
Wallace grew up dirt-poor in 1920s Clio, Alabama. He was always fascinated by power and by politics, the latter being what he would use to get the former. Wallace was, many times throughout his life, a contradiction. In WWII, he tried to get out of active duty (and he was deathly sick for awhile with meningitis), yet once he went to the Pacific theater he served as bravely as possible and most definitely put his life on the line just like so many thousands of other GIs did.
Obviously, no book about Wallace would be anywhere near complete without discussing his strong stance against integration throughout the 1950s and 1960s up to 1971. Lesher shows how Wallace, while displaying racist tendencies like many of his fellow Alabamians of that time period, frequently tried to assist blacks in court cases that came before him (he was a Circuit Court Judge prior to becoming Governor). Wallace, growing up with nothing, sympathized with others - of both races - who were equally impoverished. Yet this is the same man who physically stood in the doorway of the Registrar's Office at the University of Alabama and blocked two black students attempting to enroll there in 1963, provoking a confrontation with the federal government, and further exacerbating already taut nerves during the Civil Rights movement.
While Lesher is not sympathetic to Wallace (except for the physical pain caused him by the 1972 assassination attempt by Arthur Bremer in Maryland while Wallace was campaigning in that state's Democratic primary - he was left paralyzed and racked with pain for the remainder of his life), he does not seem to take Wallace to task much for, ultimately, being all about himself. He wanted to be Governor of Alabama only to further his own presidential ambitions. Indeed, until the assassination attempt, he was frequently traveling out of state to campaign or give speeches. Even after the shooting, he still ran for president again in 1976. Wallace, after the segregation battle, was largely uninterested in state concerns and issues, instead focusing on his own career.
This selfishness spilled over into his personal life as well. While Lesher does not directly come out and say so, Wallace ignored his first wife Lurleen, and his children. He pushed Lurleen to run for governor in 1966 (at the time, the Alabama constitution did not allow a governor to immediately succeed himself) only so he could still have a platform to run for president in 1968. I came away wondering just how upset he really was when she died of cancer in 1968. He did not quit his presidential campaign that year.
Wallace had two more marriages, each of which were unhappy and led to divorce. While he had an inner circle of advisers, one wonders if he truly felt that they were his friends. The only people that he allowed into that inner circle were people whose goal matched his: make his president. Wallace seemed to vacillate between knowing that he could probably never become president due to his segregationist past and actually believing that he could somehow gain the 1972 Democratic nomination. And to show how shrewd he was, he ran as an Independent in 1968, but then figured his chances in 1972 were better if he ran as a Democrat (that was his party affiliation).
Lesher gives generous credit to Wallace for unwittingly providing the winning platform for several successive presidents: Nixon, Carter, Reagan, and Bush. Lesher says he did this by tapping into peoples' financial fears and their concerns about "law and order." As this boom came out in 1994, Lesher makes several references to the 1992 presidential campaign. But some of what Wallace stood for and espoused (limited federal government, tax the rich, concerns about blacks taking jobs away from white) are eerily familiar in this election year. Lesher writes that many of Wallace's supporters were not racists, and supported him more on economic principles and support of state's rights than on race, but nonetheless that racist element was very much there. Sadly, 2016 seems to be repeating many of these issues. Wallace did have an interesting, and I think accurate, quote concerning racism and segregation. Campaigning in Indiana in 1964, he said this when talking about integrating schools in the North: "Y'all talk a good game - but when it comes down to the fact, you don't do much." (Page 290).
Lesher concludes by discussing the 1972 shooting and it aftermath. He explains in detail what happened at the 1972 Democratic National Convention, and how the shooting caused party leaders to treat Wallace in a different light. Unfortunately, he skims over the remainder of Wallace's career, and does not talk about why Wallace chose not to run for governor again in 1986, although it is highly likely because of his declining physical health. But this may have been by design by Lesher, as Wallace's career and ambitions were effectively ended when those five bullets tore into him.
Grade: B+
Wallace grew up dirt-poor in 1920s Clio, Alabama. He was always fascinated by power and by politics, the latter being what he would use to get the former. Wallace was, many times throughout his life, a contradiction. In WWII, he tried to get out of active duty (and he was deathly sick for awhile with meningitis), yet once he went to the Pacific theater he served as bravely as possible and most definitely put his life on the line just like so many thousands of other GIs did.
Obviously, no book about Wallace would be anywhere near complete without discussing his strong stance against integration throughout the 1950s and 1960s up to 1971. Lesher shows how Wallace, while displaying racist tendencies like many of his fellow Alabamians of that time period, frequently tried to assist blacks in court cases that came before him (he was a Circuit Court Judge prior to becoming Governor). Wallace, growing up with nothing, sympathized with others - of both races - who were equally impoverished. Yet this is the same man who physically stood in the doorway of the Registrar's Office at the University of Alabama and blocked two black students attempting to enroll there in 1963, provoking a confrontation with the federal government, and further exacerbating already taut nerves during the Civil Rights movement.
While Lesher is not sympathetic to Wallace (except for the physical pain caused him by the 1972 assassination attempt by Arthur Bremer in Maryland while Wallace was campaigning in that state's Democratic primary - he was left paralyzed and racked with pain for the remainder of his life), he does not seem to take Wallace to task much for, ultimately, being all about himself. He wanted to be Governor of Alabama only to further his own presidential ambitions. Indeed, until the assassination attempt, he was frequently traveling out of state to campaign or give speeches. Even after the shooting, he still ran for president again in 1976. Wallace, after the segregation battle, was largely uninterested in state concerns and issues, instead focusing on his own career.
This selfishness spilled over into his personal life as well. While Lesher does not directly come out and say so, Wallace ignored his first wife Lurleen, and his children. He pushed Lurleen to run for governor in 1966 (at the time, the Alabama constitution did not allow a governor to immediately succeed himself) only so he could still have a platform to run for president in 1968. I came away wondering just how upset he really was when she died of cancer in 1968. He did not quit his presidential campaign that year.
Wallace had two more marriages, each of which were unhappy and led to divorce. While he had an inner circle of advisers, one wonders if he truly felt that they were his friends. The only people that he allowed into that inner circle were people whose goal matched his: make his president. Wallace seemed to vacillate between knowing that he could probably never become president due to his segregationist past and actually believing that he could somehow gain the 1972 Democratic nomination. And to show how shrewd he was, he ran as an Independent in 1968, but then figured his chances in 1972 were better if he ran as a Democrat (that was his party affiliation).
Lesher gives generous credit to Wallace for unwittingly providing the winning platform for several successive presidents: Nixon, Carter, Reagan, and Bush. Lesher says he did this by tapping into peoples' financial fears and their concerns about "law and order." As this boom came out in 1994, Lesher makes several references to the 1992 presidential campaign. But some of what Wallace stood for and espoused (limited federal government, tax the rich, concerns about blacks taking jobs away from white) are eerily familiar in this election year. Lesher writes that many of Wallace's supporters were not racists, and supported him more on economic principles and support of state's rights than on race, but nonetheless that racist element was very much there. Sadly, 2016 seems to be repeating many of these issues. Wallace did have an interesting, and I think accurate, quote concerning racism and segregation. Campaigning in Indiana in 1964, he said this when talking about integrating schools in the North: "Y'all talk a good game - but when it comes down to the fact, you don't do much." (Page 290).
Lesher concludes by discussing the 1972 shooting and it aftermath. He explains in detail what happened at the 1972 Democratic National Convention, and how the shooting caused party leaders to treat Wallace in a different light. Unfortunately, he skims over the remainder of Wallace's career, and does not talk about why Wallace chose not to run for governor again in 1986, although it is highly likely because of his declining physical health. But this may have been by design by Lesher, as Wallace's career and ambitions were effectively ended when those five bullets tore into him.
Grade: B+
July 8, 2025
"Sweet home Alabama
Lord, I'm comin' home to you
In Birmingham, they love the governor
(Boo, boo, boo!)"
– Lynyrd Skynyrd
A thorough biography of Alabama governor, segregationist icon, and populist presidential candidate George Wallace. A native son of the heartland of the old Confederacy, he is best know for his defiant stand in the schoolhouse door to prevent the integration of the University of Alabama; his speech declaring "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever;" and his third party campaign in the 1968 presidential election. Throughout his lengthy career in state and federal politics he fought for the working man, defended the southern way of life, and inveighed against the creeping authoritarianism of the federal government.
Above all, George Wallace was a politician, not an ideologue. For example, the stand in the schoolhouse door was not a spontaneous act of defiance but rather political theater choreographed through negotiations between Governor Wallace and the Kennedy DOJ. In many ways, the pugnacious Alabamian was similar to Donald Trump: Wallace was politically incorrect, anti-establishment, right-wing, and the very mention of his name caused liberal elites to froth at the mouth with deranged fury. Managing to transcend regional Dixieland politics, he found a receptive audience nationwide. Both national parties feared him – Kennedy and LBJ despised him and he made Nixon's enemies list. Wallace was the great white hope for the far right, but was less than totally committed to segregation. Author Stephan Lesher (a liberal, Jewish journalist) has an irritating tendency to praise the 'civil rights movement' and declare his conviction that racial egalitarianism equals 'progress' that is 'inevitable,' and supports Wallace's later life move in this direction.
Lord, I'm comin' home to you
In Birmingham, they love the governor
(Boo, boo, boo!)"
– Lynyrd Skynyrd
A thorough biography of Alabama governor, segregationist icon, and populist presidential candidate George Wallace. A native son of the heartland of the old Confederacy, he is best know for his defiant stand in the schoolhouse door to prevent the integration of the University of Alabama; his speech declaring "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever;" and his third party campaign in the 1968 presidential election. Throughout his lengthy career in state and federal politics he fought for the working man, defended the southern way of life, and inveighed against the creeping authoritarianism of the federal government.
Above all, George Wallace was a politician, not an ideologue. For example, the stand in the schoolhouse door was not a spontaneous act of defiance but rather political theater choreographed through negotiations between Governor Wallace and the Kennedy DOJ. In many ways, the pugnacious Alabamian was similar to Donald Trump: Wallace was politically incorrect, anti-establishment, right-wing, and the very mention of his name caused liberal elites to froth at the mouth with deranged fury. Managing to transcend regional Dixieland politics, he found a receptive audience nationwide. Both national parties feared him – Kennedy and LBJ despised him and he made Nixon's enemies list. Wallace was the great white hope for the far right, but was less than totally committed to segregation. Author Stephan Lesher (a liberal, Jewish journalist) has an irritating tendency to praise the 'civil rights movement' and declare his conviction that racial egalitarianism equals 'progress' that is 'inevitable,' and supports Wallace's later life move in this direction.
February 23, 2019
Stephan Lesher’s George Wallace: American Populist is a semi-authorized biography of the notorious Alabama Governor, presidential spoiler and King of Civil Rights backlash; Lesher interviewed Wallace and received his cooperation, if not his formal endorsement for his project. Which may explain why Lesher, for all his thorough research and breezy writing style, seems compelled to soft-pedal Wallace’s ideology and message. Throughout the book Lesher, if not exactly apologizing for Wallace, certainly finds ways to mitigate him: he claims that Wallace’s insistence that he’d never be “out-n-ggered again” following his first gubernatorial defeat was an apocryphal quote; he insists Wallace was a largely progressive governor who feigned bigotry to gain votes (as if that’s an excuse); he invents an incident where Northern college students intolerantly heckle Wallace (mangling an appearance by Wallace at Harvard that was politely received into something more sinister); he constantly points up the less-than-enlightened attitudes of Kennedy, Johnson and other liberal Democrats towards the Civil Rights Movement to make Wallace seem more appealing (Dan Carter does the same, but to provide a broader context for the era’s racism rather than trying to exculpate Wallace); he claims, dubious, Wallace often used segregationist rhetoric to achieve worthy ends; he virtually ignores Wallace's immense graft and corruption while in office; and, though he admits Wallace’s culpability in events like Selma’s Bloody Sunday, he consistently frames them as less important to his overall legacy than his political cleverness. For Wallace, Lesher argues, was indeed a towering figure in American politics, finding ways to refine crude Dixie racism into appeals to small government, hatred of bureaucrats, eggheads, the press and “law and order” through his presidential campaigns and public statements like a deranged alchemist. That Wallace achieved this is, sadly, beyond doubt; that it’s something to laud him for, as Lesher seems to think, is another matter entirely.
July 11, 2007
Memorable book that was required reading as part of my undergraduate Southern Politics class. George Wallace is a tremendously interesting figure who deserves more credit for the tremendous influence he has had on our country's current political landscape. What I learned from this book are two things that Mr. Wallace himself learned well, it is impossible to be out-segged in the South, and there are rednecks everywhere.
February 11, 2016
Lesher has written an excellent biography on one of the most interesting and important characters of the 1960s. Despite the disgust that Wallace's career produces in most, the author manages to treat his subject with compassion and respect, while always showing the harm of Wallace's actions. Neither a hatchet job nor a hagiography, "George Wallace: American Populist" makes good on it's title by illuminated the man while proving that Wallace was driven by a real sense of (usually white) populism.
The book has some flaws. Perhaps by necessity, Lersher relies on an older Wallace's personal recollection of his early day. This results in many anecdotes feeling like the "just so stories" of a supremely talented communicator (which Wallace obviously was), instead of actually history. Later on, Lesher sets out to prove how the insurgent affected national politics. He does alright job, but a thorough research into the policies and politicking of Richard Nixon and his fellow would-be-presidents in the Democratic party is missing. In his defense, the impact of Wallace on national politics could and should fill a whole book.
The book has some flaws. Perhaps by necessity, Lersher relies on an older Wallace's personal recollection of his early day. This results in many anecdotes feeling like the "just so stories" of a supremely talented communicator (which Wallace obviously was), instead of actually history. Later on, Lesher sets out to prove how the insurgent affected national politics. He does alright job, but a thorough research into the policies and politicking of Richard Nixon and his fellow would-be-presidents in the Democratic party is missing. In his defense, the impact of Wallace on national politics could and should fill a whole book.
January 24, 2018
I have mixed feelings about this book. I felt like the author went too far in trying to give Wallace the benefit of the doubt. But I did appreciate seeing some of how the American political parties were during Wallace's heyday, compared to now. Many of the issues he was strongly for, such as funding education and mental health facilities and taxing the rich, are widely considered on the liberal side of the spectrum now. It wasn't that long ago that Wallace was able to be a conservative populist, advocating for things that would actually help the little guy, while also being (extremely) conservative and racist on social issues.
I picked this one up because of the parallels Lawrence O'Donnell drew between Wallace and Donald Trump in his book about the 1968 presidential election, Playing with Fire. I can see some similarities, although I think it would be a mistake to take the comparison too far. Perhaps one of the lessons is that populism can lead to surprising wins if a politician (or outsider) can tap into it in just the right way.
I picked this one up because of the parallels Lawrence O'Donnell drew between Wallace and Donald Trump in his book about the 1968 presidential election, Playing with Fire. I can see some similarities, although I think it would be a mistake to take the comparison too far. Perhaps one of the lessons is that populism can lead to surprising wins if a politician (or outsider) can tap into it in just the right way.
November 25, 2012
Engrossing portrait of a figure more complex than prevailing impressions make clear. The author argues that Wallace defined an audience, and a pitch to that audience, that have figured in every campaign since 1968. Though GW was an avowed segregationist as Governor of Alabama, his national appeal rested less on racism or segregation than an assault on the federal government and the perceived intrusion of elites in local affairs, as well as the pressure of the powerful upon the "little guy." Should be required reading for anyone interested in modern American politics.
August 29, 2017
This was one of the most enlightening political biographies I have ever read, as George Wallace's rise to national prominence almost perfectly mirrors that of Donald Trump. At times, you would be forgiven for thinking you're reading a recap of the 2016 election.
Moreover, Wallace's story is interesting in his own right, not because GW is an especially interesting character like Churchill or Teddy Roosevelt, but because he so remarkably uninteresting as a private individual. He was totally and completely a political animal dedicated to his own power and ambition. He was a man who would argue the Earth is flat if it garnered him an extra vote, and in that way he is a remarkably insightful figure to study.
If you're interested in Southern politics or political history, this book is worth a read.
Moreover, Wallace's story is interesting in his own right, not because GW is an especially interesting character like Churchill or Teddy Roosevelt, but because he so remarkably uninteresting as a private individual. He was totally and completely a political animal dedicated to his own power and ambition. He was a man who would argue the Earth is flat if it garnered him an extra vote, and in that way he is a remarkably insightful figure to study.
If you're interested in Southern politics or political history, this book is worth a read.
February 25, 2023
George Wallace, like any good politicians, was a voice for his constituents. He was the Southern tradition embodied, with all its honor, pride, and fears. To really understand Wallace, you have to understand the Civil War and Reconstruction, because in many ways, he was fighting the same fight. Wallace, without question, was one of the most influential politicians in the second half of the 20th century. The lesson I learned from this book is the importance of lifting the fog that surrounds controversial figures to get to the truth of the matter.
March 16, 2023
Great book. It is well researched and very objective. You get all the good and bad of George Wallace. In the way Wallace appealed to people, in many ways, you could substitute the name Trump; but mostly just the bad side. Among all his warts and foibles, Wallace seemed genuinely to be for the little man and against federal encroachment. It is almost all overshadowed by his use of race however.
August 3, 2019
If you’re wanting a political history of George Wallace, this is a fantastic book. However, I was hoping for more personal history. I felt there was too little of that when Lesher discussed Wallace’s life from about 1962 - 1972. I would ultimately give it 3.5 stars.
October 5, 2014
As an Alabamian, I felt I had to read this book, but it suffered by comparison with Nelson Mandela's biography which I had read shortly before. Certainly not uplifting. The racist attitudes and demagoguery made this a difficult book to read, much less stomach.
September 22, 2011
Excellent biography of a multi-faceted man.
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