George C. Wallace Essay -- essays research papers

George Wallace The 1960's were characterized as an era full of turmoil. During this era, one of the most controversial topics was the fight over civil rights. One of the key political figures against civil rights movement and pro-segregation was George Wallace. Wallace represented the racist southern view. Many Americans were segregationist, but Wallace was adamant about the topic. Many established political figures were assassinated, during the 1960's. Martin Luther King, JFK, and RFK were all positive visionaries caused controversy throughout that decade. George Wallace was against the modern government, pro-middle class, and against civil rights. Wallace and many other visionaries were cut down to early in life. Wallace was not killed by the assassin's bullet but his political career was changed. The attempt on Wallace's life left him a broken man in a wheelchair. People remembered the George Wallace who smoked his cigar and denounced the State Department as communist. Wallace was a feared polit ician who lived in a state full of beatings and problems. Racism was the norm and Wallace took full advantage of this ploy to gain political attention. George Corley Wallace was born on August 25, 1919. While attending Barber County High School, he was involved with boxing and football. George even won the state Golden Gloves bantamweight championship not once but twice. Wallace then attended the University of Alabama Law School; this was the same year his father died. Wallace was strapped for cash, so he worked his way through college by boxing professionally, waiting on tables, and driving a taxi. He received his degree in 1942 from the University. After receiving a medical discharge from the U.S. Air Force, he returned to Alabama. In 1946, Wallace got a job as an assistant to the attorney general for the state of Alabama. Wallace polled to become state representative of Barbour County. During his jaunt as a state representative, he had a number of highlights. They included bills that issued in the industrial era that attracted hundreds of new industries. He was also involved with the GI and Dependents Scholarships Act that provides widows and children access to trade schools and colleges. Wallace entered the governor's race in 1958. Patterson ran on the Ku Klux Klan ticket; Wallace refused it. The NAACP endorsed Wallace for governor. Wallace lost the g... ...o say, "I'm sorry." The leaders accepted his change in heart but they could never fully forgive him. Former Governor George C. Wallace of Alabama, who built his political career on segregation, died September 13, 1998 at Jackson Hospital in Montgomery. He was 79 and had been in declining health since being shot in his 1972 presidential campaign. Wallace, a Democrat who was a longtime champion of states' rights, dominated his own state for almost a generation. He also became the only Alabamian ever sworn in for four terms as governor, winning elections in 1962, 1970, 1974, and 1982. He retired at the end of his last term in January 1987. George Wallace was a man of his era who grew up under racist conditions. After the assassination attempt Wallace was a changed man. Later in his life, he admitted that he was wrong for being a segregationist. He has always said that he was not a racist, but he was for segregation. This visionary was responsible for the Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act, and Civil Rights Movement. Although he did not want them, his actions dictated the results of these Acts and changes. His dreams died, but they established rights for all minorities.