Of the california ballot in next years general election. George wallace made his first run in National Politics in 1964 where he enters a few key primaries and does well there. His first Major National run comes in 1968. Where he has set himself up through these public appearances that he makes during the desegregation of aids and during the standin schoolhouse. He sets himself up to be his voice and standing against all of these changes that the federal government is making. He takes what hes been making and he broadens it for a national audience. And thats a debate that really resonates with a lot of pop feeling their concerns have not been heard and feeling they are living in a know, the federal government is moving too fast with their decisions and feel like their voices arent being heard. So George Wallace, in 1968, sets himself up as a very successful candidate for president. He wins five southern states, and receives over 10 million votes. So he really speaks to a minority that a lot of politicians doesnt realize was out there, that was willing to vote. And so he runs again in 1972, and makes a good showing. But unfortunately what happens in may 15th, 1972, hes speaking at a Campaign Stop in laurel, maryland, when a man named arthur rimer fires five shots and paralyzes governor wallace. The items that you see here were actually the items that George Wallace was carrying in the in his pockets on the day he was shot. And what is really remarkable about these is, you know, it really humanizes wallace because these are items that we would have in our pockets or purses, you know, today. It is so simple. Hes always carrying around a pack of cinnamon gum, has his chapstick, and his book of matches from one of the hotels hes picked up. What happens after the shooting in wallaces political career is that, you know, he has this moment where hes in constant pain, hes coming to the realization that hes never going to walk again, but he still is very interested in running and campaigning. So he makes one more president ial run in 1976, which is very short lived and very unsuccessful, and a lot of the reason of that is because people have questions about whether hes physically capable of serving as president. And then after the 76 Campaign Ends in defeat, he moved back to alabama and starts making a run for governor again. And because hes in constant pain, and because hes dealing with the realities of his life now, he becomes reflective on all of the political events that had happened before that. And so in the 1970s, you start seeing him calling up, you know, the africanamericans he feels like hes wronged and asking for, you know, forgiveness. And you see him in his last Gubernatorial Campaign in 1982 making a very emotional reach out to the africanamerican community, asking for forgiveness and asking for a chance to redeem his political career. George wallace lived for several more years after he retired from politics, but he was in constant pain and had very poor physical health. He finally died in 1998. You know, alabama and really the nation is still trying to come to terms with the legacy of George Wallace, because you know, as a national politician, even though George Wallace was never elected, his president ial campaigns are really influential and they changed, you know, the conservative movement, and they changed the way that future politicians phrased certain debates. So you see after wallace a greater focus on especially republican candidates talking about federal government and federal abuse of power and the fear that the federal government has gotten too large and are making large changes. You know, and they couch it in language that is very similar to what governor wallace is using. Its still a debate thats going on today in National Politics. But in the state itself, you know, were dealt with the two wallaces. We have the wallace that, you know, supported improvements to public education. We have technical colleges all across the state that bear the names of George Wallace and marlene wallace, who educated generations of students. You know, and so that stands to his legacy as someone that was interested in the needs of alabamas people. But were also still dealing with that very painful legacy of segregationist rhetoric. And i think one of the most wonderful examples of that is actually some of the speeches that George Wallaces family have made recently. So what youre looking at now is a speech that was given by Peggy Wallace kennedy in montgomery, alabama. This is a speech that was given in 2015, the day after the bloody sunday, 50th anniversary celebration was held in selma. Shes speaking to a group of congressmen coming down with john lewis to speak with her. I think one of the most powerful parts of this speech is the moment where she directly addresses congressman john lewis. And she says, you know, she talks about this moment in march 2009 where they walk across the bridge together and they hold hands. And she realizes this is such a wonderful gift that shes been given to be able to have this moment with john lewis, where they have moved beyond the pains of the past and theyre looking towards the alabama of the future. And in the final line of her speech, she says but today as George Wallaces daughter and as a person of my own, i want to do for you what my father should have done and recognize you for your humanity and for your dignity as a child of god, as a person of good will and character, and as a fellow alabaman. And say welcome home. Our Contender Series continues on saturday at 8 00 p. M. Eastern. Learn about george mcgovn who was the president ial candidate in 1972. And sunday night it is a look at the life and legacy of texas businessman ross per row who hahn as an independent dand kate in 1992 and 1996 president ial election. American history tv tells through historic locations. This month American History tv is on prime time. Our features include lectures in history, visits to College Campuses across the country to hear lectures, american artifacts looks at the treasures. Real america revealing the 20th century through ar chi value news. The civil war where you hear about the people that shaped the krifrlg war. And the presidency focuses on u. S. President s and first ladies. Learn about their legacies. All this month in prime time and every weekend on American History tv on cspan 3. When George Wallace was governor of alabama during the 1960s, he fiercely supported segregation in his state. Famously standing in the schoolhouse door to prevent the enrollment of black students at the university of alabama. Governor wallace later retracted these views and he apologized for his segregationist policies. In this program, historians dan carter, glenn eskew and angela lewis discuss the life and legacy of George Wallace. They look at whether political concerns or racism motivated him to oppose integration. This event took place at the Birmingham Public Library in birmingham, alabama. Its about 90 minutes. In birmingham, they loved the governor. This line from Lynyrd Skynyrds 1974 Home Sweet Home alabama may be one of the most debated lines from one of the most debated songs in american music. George wallace was so taken with the song when he first heard it that he planned to issue a special gubernatorial citation to lynyrd skynyrd. But then one of the governors aides suggest he listen more closely to the line that follows in birmingham they love the governor. The next line anybody remember . Boo, boo, boo. Sung by a group of female africanamerican backup singers. Including, by the way, the great mary clayton who originated the role of the acid queen in the whos tommy. That has nothing to do with what were talking about tonight. I just think thats a cool fact. So ronny and the boys never got their citation from the governor. We have chosen this line as the title for our program tonight because it is like the legacy of George Wallace debated, parsed, and still relevant in the 21st century america. We are fortunate to have three respected and accomplished scholars with us tonight to explore the role of George Wallace in birmingham civil rights struggle and the legacy of wallace in our politics and culture today. Our first speaker will be dan t. Carter. He has served as professor and visiting scholar at emory university, university of maryland, university of wisconsin, londons westminster university, cambridge university, university of genoa and the university of south carolina. His book, scottsboro won the bancroft prize and the smith book award. He is the author of the highly regarded biography the politics of rage George Wallace, the origins of the new conservatism and the transformation of american politics. Our second speaker will be dr. Glenn eskew. He is professor of history at Georgia State university. Birmingham native. He is author of the book but for birmingham the local and National Movements in the civil rights struggle, which received the Frances Butler simkins prize at the Southern Historical association, and he is author of the forthcoming book Johnny Mercer southern songwriter for the world. For the past several years, dr. Eskew has served as lecturer and faculty director for annual neh funded summer teacher workshops on teaching the history of the Civil Rights Movement. Our final speaker this evening will be dr. Angela k. Lewis, professor of Political Science in the department of government at the university of alabama at birmingham. She is author of the new book conservatism in the black community, to the right and misunderstood. And awards will be forthcoming. Also a native of birmingham, dr. Lewis is a regular political analyst for cox radio and alabama public radio and works with the organization alabama citizens for constitutional reform. Please join me in welcoming dr. Dan carter. Thank you very much, jim. Im sure most of you here are aware of what an extraordinary resource and the rare one is the Birmingham Public Library and the archives here. Unfortunately, libraries across the country are losing the kind of resources to local history and for national history, and were fortunate to have such an extraordinary facility here in birmingham. I hope youre proud of it. You should be. When i sat down to write a biography of George Wallace, i was taken with the words of the english biographer james basel as he wrote to his friend samuel johnson. Mens hearts are concealed, he said, but their actions are open to scrutiny. I still believe that. We can never know with certainty the inner thoughts, the feelings of individuals, but i do think we can infer motivation from action. And so id like to talk briefly about the role of George Wallace and the events that stretched from january of 1963 through the 16th street bombing. What George Wallace did and why he acted as he did. I hope these brief reflections will tell us something about him and about the larger story of that critical year in the history of birmingham and the history of our nation. As all of us well know, George Wallace began the year in 1963 with his inaugural address in which he promised segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever. And at the same time, reaffirmed his Campaign Commitment to stand in the schoolhouse door to resist federally mandated integration. Wallace was no novice when it came to managing the media as he began his governorship. But he was most focused on his forthcoming confrontation to the Kennedy Administration over his promise to stand in the schoolhouse door. This was an event that he could control, and he did so with extraordinary skill. In part, because it was always, for governor wallace, a political chess match that gave him a kind of distance, i think, emotionally from what was going on. Privately, he concluded that it would be a mistake to let events slip out of control and lead to a repeat of the riots and bloodshed of ole miss the previous fall. And so he used his close contacts with the klan and other violent groups to persuade them to fall back and let him take the lead. But to use a cliche, he kept his cards close to his chest. Only his very closest advisers knew his plans. And publicly, he kept a frustrated robert and john kennedy guessing about what he might do, even hinting at times that he would support armed resistance to desegregation. Nevertheless, while the negotiations were stilted and frustrating to the president and attorney general Robert Kennedy, whatever wallace and his close supporters said privately, they were scrupulously polite in public comments. Meeting with attorney general kennedy in may of 1963, ive heard the tape of that meeting, and it was contentious, often angry, intense, but as soon as they stepped outside for a press conference, the governor was the very soul of graciousness, explaining how he had welcomed the attorney general to alabama, the hospitality state, and he was always welcome back. For George Wallace, it was great fun. Like a highlevel poker game in which he ultimately held the high cards as he carefully choreographed the upcoming confrontation. Governor wallace did not anticipate and, in fact, was initially surprised by the boycott and demonstrations that rocked birmingham beginning that april. He was even more surprised by their growing intensity in a worldwide publicity they engendered. And birmingham was quite different to stand in the schoolhouse door. Not least because governor wallace was never the ringmaster. Martin luther king, greg shuttlesworth, wyatt t. Walker, james bell and other black activists set the agenda, and Alabama State and Birmingham City officials could only react. That does not mean that the governor was aloof from events. He, in fact, followed those very closely. He was personally and almost daily contact with mayor art hanes and his later successor, disputed successor, the slightly more moderate. And his constantly issued statements were hardly marked by public respect. When the socalled childrens crusade began, thousands of young black birmingham youth poured into the streets. The governor went before the legislature in a special address, after repeating his promise to stand in the schoolhouse door, the bulk of his remarks interrupted 21 times by ovation, three times by standing ovations, the bulk of his remarks were devoted to bitter attacks upon the birmingham demonstrators who he described at various points as agitators, integrators, integrationists, communists who were intent on destroying the freedom and liberty of americans everywhere. Make no mistake, he told the cheering lawmakers, it was the communists who were in charge. Everyone knew the demonstrations were communistinspired and communistled. If any deaths occurred, he said through a standing ovation, he would urge Jefferson County grand jury to indict the demonstration leaders for murder. Equally critical was the governors unqualified support for outgoing mayor hanes who had called the white businessmen involved in negotiating with the demonstrators a bunch of quisling, gutless traitors and publicly expressed his agreement with the mayors assessment and added the socalled biracial negotiating group of appeasers have no business meeting with mobsters like Martin Luther king, let alone presuming to negotiate any kind of settlement. And of course there was carter who he also supported without equivocation. The same bull connor he told ahead of time there was going to be a bombing at the gaston motel where Martin Luther king was staying responded, let them blow him up. He was not, he said, pardon my language, going to protect that nigger s. O. B. , and he didnt use the abbreviation for s. O. B. Governor wallace used every possible opportunity to support the most recalcitrant forces in birmingham. The dramatic contrast in how governor wallace dealt with the Kennedy Administration, in his words and actions towards the demonstrations, its not really that hard to explain. Part of its simply a matter of quite different politics of the two situations. For the most part, he was, as i said the ringmaster of the confrontation of the kennedys and knew the last thing that the president , his brother wanted was a repeat of ole miss. That gave him all the leverage he needed to lay out what became ultimately the stand in the schoolhouse door, but as i said he had no control over events in birmingham. As he confronted thousands of young people willing to put their bodies on the line. Now, he continued in talking about the demonstrations, he continued the same reverence in the months leading up to the 16th street bombing, i think urging violence, supporting groups which attempted to prevent the integration of birmingham schools, and publicly, and i do mean publicly, embracing some of the most repellant individuals in the bestiary of violent southern resistance, including neonazis, who he specifically made a point of supporting. And i cant help but keep thinking of his comments just four days before the bombing when he told a reporter, this society is coming apart at the seams. What this country needs is a few firstclass funerals. Or his private commen