George C. Wallace Speeches

George Corley Wallace was born on August 25, 1919, in Clio, Alabama, the eldest child of George C. Wallace, Sr. and Mozelle (Smith) Wallace. George Wallace, Sr. was a farmer, and his earnings were sometimes meager. Consequently, George Jr. often worked at odd jobs to supplement the family's income. Following his graduation from Barbour County High School in 1937, Wallace enrolled at the University of Alabama to study law. After the death of his father in November 1937, he had to work several jobs in order to remain in school. In 1942, he graduated from the University of Alabama with a degree in law, but was unable to find a position in his field. He eventually, accepted a job driving a dump truck for the State Highway Department in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. During his tenure as a truck driver, he met his future wife, Lurleen Burns, whom he married on May 23, 1943. Four children were born of the union -- two sons and two daughters.

During World War II, Wallace served in the U.S. Air Force, as a member of a B-29 bomber crew. He survived several bombing raids over Japan and was discharged in December 1945, with the rank of Flight Sergeant. Following his discharge, he returned to his family in Mobile, Alabama.

Wallace embarked on his political career in 1946, when Alabama Governor, Chauncey Sparks, hired him as an assistant attorney general. In 1947, he was elected to the Alabama State Legislature, where he served from 1947 until 1952, when he was elected Third Judicial Circuit Judge. Known as "The Fighting Little Judge", he gained notoriety for his strong stand against desegregation and his criticisms of the federal government.

In 1958, Wallace made an unsuccessful bid for governor of Alabama, but in 1962, he won the gubernatorial race by the largest margin in Alabama history. At his inauguration, he delivered his now famous "Segregation Now, Segregation Forever" address, in which he promised to resist any attempt to desegregate Alabama schools. And in June 1963, he personally blocked the entrance at the University of Alabama in an attempt to prevent African American students from enrolling.

Under Alabama law (at that time) Wallace could not succeed himself as governor, so in 1966, his wife, Lurleen, ran and was elected. Unfortunately, Mrs. Wallace died of cancer on May 7, 1968, before completing her term of office. Wallace was subsequently elected governor of Alabama in 1970 and again in 1974.

In 1964, Wallace entered the United States presidential primaries but ultimately withdrew from the race declaring that his main goal, which was making the public aware of the growing power of the federal government, had been achieved. In 1968 he ran for the presidency of the United States as an independent candidate, and polled 9.9 million votes in a losing effort. In 1972, he ran for the Democratic nomination for president, and while campaigning at a Laurel, Maryland shopping center, he was shot by Arthur Herman Bremer, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down.

Wallace remarried twice after the death of his first wife, Lurleen. In 1971, he married Cornelia Ellis Sniveley, from whom he was divorced in 1978. Shortly thereafter he married Lisa Taylor, a union which also ended in divorce. At this writing, Wallace resides in Montgomery, Alabama.