(1919 – 1998) Fiery segregationist politician. Losing the Alabama governorship to a racist contender in 1958, Wallace became a vehement segregationist who would be elected in 1962, 1970, 1974 and 1982, with his wife Lurleen becoming an interregnum governor in 1966.

Wallace began his first term promising “Segregation now! Segregation tomorrow! Segregation forever!” He tried to bar blacks from the University of Alabama and faced Martin Luther King, Jr. in the state capital. Wallace unsuccessfully attempted to parlay his fame into the Democratic presidential nomination in 1964; as candidate of the American Independent Party in 1968 he received 10 million votes (13.5 percent of the popular total), underscoring growing racial concerns outside the South. In 1972 he reemerged as a Democratic “regional” law and order contender, again showing strength in the Northeast and Midwest as well as the South; this campaign was cut short by an assassination attempt that left him paralyzed. Thereafter, he stayed with his Alabama power base, gradually developing a more inclusive development platform that even attracted black votes before his 1987 retirement.