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October 12, 2005:
Upon Lurleen Wallace’s death in May of 1968,
Lt. Governor Albert Brewer moved up to Governor. Brewer was no
novice to state government. He came to the Legislature from Morgan
County at a very early age and rose quickly to become Speaker of
the House during his second term. He won the 1966 Lt. Governor’s
race against two State Senators, Neil Metcalf and John Tyson,
without a runoff. Brewer was smart and articulate with a charming
smile and winning personality. He had lots of friends in the
Legislature and seemed to have very few enemies. Brewer also had a
good grasp of state government. He smoothly took the reigns of
state government and began to make improvements. His popularity
and relationships with his fellow legislators gave his programs
easy sailing. Brewer became a working Governor.
People throughout the state took notice of
Brewer’s effectiveness as Governor. He showed signs of being the
progressive New South Governor editorialists in the state yearned
for. Wallace’s race baiting had given Alabama an image problem and
other southern states were attracting the new technology
industries. Terry Sanford in North Carolina brought the Tar Heel
State up the economic ladder with his progressive approach. Other
southern states had also elected Governors with less race rhetoric
and more substantive economic and educational programs. Brewer fit
that mold.
Soon after Lurleen’s death in 1968 Wallace
made his first foray into national politics running as a third
party candidate for President. He was absent from the state most
of the year focusing on his Presidential race. Wallace ran well
capturing the popular votes of Alabama and several other Deep
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COLUMNIST
Steve
Flowers
states as the segregationist,
anti-Civil Rights candidate. Wallace became obsessed with
being a national candidate. After the 1968 race and well
into 1969 he traveled the country making speeches.
Wallace and Brewer had been allies.
Brewer was Wallace’s choice for Speaker of the House in 1962
and Lt. Governor in 1966 and they appeared to still be on
good terms. Wallace and Brewer met in late 1969 to discuss
the 1970 Governor’s race. Brewer left the meeting saying
that Wallace had given his word that he was not interested
in running for Governor in 1970. Nobody but Wallace and
Brewer will know for sure what was said or promised that
day, but soon after Brewer committed to the 1970 Governor’s
race and began running a serious campaign while Wallace
appeared to sit on the sideline. It was not until early 1970
that Wallace changed his mind. Thus the epic battle was on
that many political observers point to as the greatest
Governor’s race of this century.
Brewer hit Wallace with what I think
was one of the best messages ever used: “Alabama needs a
full-time Governor.” Most Alabamians agreed with Wallace’s
anti-government segregationist appeal but also knew he had
done very little hands on governing because he was away from
the state campaigning all the time. Brewer’s full-time
Governor billboards were all over the state on all
interstates and even on two lane roads. Brewer built a
coalition never put together since. It was made up of higher
income whites and black voters. The blacks in Alabama voted
for the first time four years earlier in 1966. By this time
the black vote had grown to 25% of the total vote and was
solidly in Brewer’s corner.
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Brewer rode this coalition to finish first in the Primary.
Wallace was second but a runoff was necessary because of a large vote received
by Dothan businessman Charles Woods. The four week Primary runoff battle became
fierce and legendary. Wallace’s political life was on the line so he pulled out
all the stops. Wallace worked at a feverish pitch making eighteen to twenty
speeches a day begging Alabamians to put him back in the Governor’s office
saying, “You elect me Governor and I will be a full-time Governor.” He knew
Brewer hurt him on that issue so he promised never to run for President again.
Then he played the race card in the most openly racist ads ever shown on
television. The ads showed results of boxes in Black Belt towns like Tuskegee
and Selma where Brewer received 400 votes to Wallace’s 10. Then the ad would
boldly say, “Do you want the black block vote electing your Governor?”
It worked for Wallace. People came to the polls like never
before. He came from behind and pulled out a victory over Brewer. Wallace’s
political life had been revived. He was on a plane to Wisconsin the next day
running for President. A crazed gunman shot him in a Maryland suburban parking
lot in 1972. Brewer began a law practice in Montgomery and took the narrow
defeat with grace and gentlemanly elegance always greeting people with his
magnificent winning smile.
See you next week.
Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His
column appears weekly in 60 Alabama newspapers. Steve served 16 years in the
state legislature. He may be reached at
www.steveflowers.us.
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