October 02, 2014
Old Fob James had an unusual political personality. When he was out of the Governor’s office he showed a tremendous yearning to get back. The proof is he sought the office in 1986 and lost in the Democratic primary and lost again in 1990 in the primary. However, he came back and won in 1994 as a Republican. However, once he got the job he acted as if he did not want it.
As mentioned a few weeks earlier, Fob set a new standard for alienating his friends and supporters during his first term from 1978-1982. If you were his friend or supporter he refused to even see you. He seemed a little detached during his first term. However, if you think he fumbled his first term, “you ain’t seen nothin’ yet,” because the second term was a nightmare.Read more
September 25, 2014
When Guy Hunt won the Governor’s race over Bill Baxley in 1986 it was well publicized that he was a part-time Primitive Baptist preacher. He was also billed as a part-time Amway salesman. These common man vocations appealed to the average Alabama voter. It was Hunt’s calling as a Baptist preacher that resonated warmly with his constituency. Alabamians are very religious and very Baptist.
Hunt had done surprisingly well as governor for four years and turned back Paul Hubbert’s Democratic challenge for his reelection to a second term in 1990. He worked hard to have an agenda and get some of it accomplished. He had a reasonable expectation of accomplishment.Read more
September 18, 2014
When Guy Hunt took office as the first Republican governor in January of 1987 not much was expected of him. After all, he had been elected only because of the backlash resulting from the handpicking of Bill Baxley over Charlie Graddick by the Democratic Party leadership. Very few people voted for Hunt because they thought he was the better choice or that his credentials rendered him more qualified.
Hunt was a simple man, a rural hard shell Baptist preacher. However, the Republican leadership realized they had been given a golden opportunity so they seized the moment and surrounded Hunt with good people. Most Alabamians warmed to him. He worked hard to get to know the legislature and put together a legislative majority comprised of Republicans and conservative Democrats. He had an uncomplicated agenda and worked to get his programs passed.Read more
September 11, 2014
The 1986 Governor’s race will be remembered as one of Alabama’s most amazing political stories. In 1978 Fob James sent the Three B’s, Brewer, Beasley and Baxley packing. Brewer and Beasley had been permanently exiled to Buck’s Pocket, the mythical destination for defeated Alabama gubernatorial candidates. However, Bill Baxley resurrected his political career by bouncing back to be elected lt. governor in 1982, while George Wallace was winning his fifth and final term as governor. Another player arrived on the state political scene. Charlie Graddick was elected as a fiery tough lock ‘em up and throw away the key attorney general. Graddick had previously been a tough prosecuting district attorney in Mobile.
When Wallace bowed out from seeking reelection in 1986 it appeared the race was between Bill Baxley, the lt. governor, and Charlie Graddick, the attorney general. It also appeared there was a clear ideological divide. The moderates and liberals in Alabama were for Baxley and the arch conservatives were for Graddick. Baxley had the solid support of black voters, labor, and progressives. Graddick had the hard core conservatives, including most of the Republican voters in Alabama.Read more
September 04, 2014
As George Wallace presumably faded into the sunset, Fob James took the reigns of Alabama state government in January of 1979. Fob’s inauguration was a somewhat strange event as Alabamians were used to a Wallace being sworn in as governor every fourth January since 1963. It had been 20 years since someone other than George or Lurleen Wallace had taken the oath on the steps of the Capitol where Jefferson Davis had been sworn in as President of the Confederacy.
Fob’s quixotic journey and inauguration seemed out of place. It was as his slogan said, “a new beginning.” Alabamians were eager to find out what their new leader had on tap for Alabama. It reminds me of a movie made in the early 1970’s called “The Candidate.” Robert Redford starred as an unknown candidate that an expert political handler elected to a California senate seat. The candidate, Redford, came completely out of the blue. His greatest assets were he was unknown, inexperienced, and had no baggage. At the conclusion of the movie Redford wins but then looks at the genius campaign guru who had elected him and says, “What do I do now?”Read more
August 28, 2014
The 1978 Governor’s race between the three heavyweights, former Governor Albert Brewer, Attorney General Bill Baxley, and Lt. Governor Jere Beasley, was expected to be titanic. All three men had last names beginning with the letter “B.” The press coined the phrase “the three B’s.” The Republicans were relegated to insignificance on the gubernatorial stage. The winner of the Democratic Primary would be governor.
Meanwhile, over in east Alabama, a little known former Auburn halfback named Fob James strolled into the governor’s race. Fob’s entry evoked very little interest, only curiosity as to why he would want to enter the fray against three well known major players. Fob was exposed as a card carrying Republican whose only political experience had been as a member of the Lee County Republican executive committee, but even a political novice like Fob knew he could not win as a Republican so he qualified to run as a Democrat along with the three B’s.
Fob had become very wealthy by starting a successful barbell company in Opelika. When Fob signed up to run for governor, the press wrote him off as a rich gadfly who simply chose politics, rather than golf, as his pastime. Little did they know the fact he was rich and had a lot of time on his hands could spell trouble for the average political opponent who had to worry about fundraising and feeding their family while running a fulltime campaign.Read more
August 21, 2014
Albert Brewer began the writing of George Wallace’s political obituary by beating him in the first primary in 1970. However, Wallace arose from the grave by playing his ever present race card. He trumped Brewer with the race issue in the primary runoff and came from behind to win, thus, resurrecting his political career. Wallace would be governor again for a third time.
Brewer had mortally wounded Wallace with his slogan, “Alabama needs a fulltime governor.” It was a stake through the heart to the Wallace segregationist armor. Alabamians loved Wallace for fighting integration but they also knew he had not been working fulltime as their governor. Instead, he had been using the title to campaign for president although he was as about as likely to succeed as Don Quixote tilting at windmills. Brewer offered Alabamians the opportunity to have a fulltime, hands on, progressive governor.Read more
August 14, 2014
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 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 politics. 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.Read more
August 07, 2014
After Ryan De Graffenreid’s plane crash and death in February of 1966 the Governor’s race was wide open. De Graffenreid would have been governor in a cakewalk but it was now a new ballgame with less than ten weeks until the May election. George Wallace mulled it over for a few weeks, then the amazing story of his wife Lurleen Wallace running for governor came to fruition. George would be her number one advisor.
The idea of George Wallace running his wife, Lurleen, in his place had been tossed out by a few of his cronies as a joke. They never thought of it while De Graffenreid was alive and running. Lurleen would not have run if De Graffenreid had not tragically died but a real vacuum existed after that fateful February night and the Wallace name was magic. After a few weeks the idea grew on Wallace. He made calls to every county in the state and began to realize that dog might hunt.Read more
July 31, 2014
If race was a major issue in 1958, being the racist candidate in 1962 was the only way to be elected governor. With this issue in hand and Wallace’s love for campaigning and remembering names, he would have beaten anybody that year.
Big Jim was really no match for Wallace because Big Jim had always been soft on the race issue. He was a true progressive liberal who would not succumb to racial demagoging, but Big Jim had succumbed to alcohol. Leading up to the Governor’s race in 1962, while Wallace had been campaigning 12-16 hours a day, 7 days a week for four years, Big Jim sat home. Wallace would have won even if Big Jim had not embarrassed himself on live TV the night before the election.
A secondary story developed during the 1962 campaign. A star was born. Ryan De Graffenreid was a smart, handsome, articulate, Tuscaloosa State Senator and lawyer. His family had been a prominent Tuscaloosa political family for generations but young Ryan De Graffenreid truly had the makings of an Alabama governor. However, when he entered the 1962 Governor’s race the pundits wrote him off as an also ran. They said it was a Folsom versus Wallace race, but De Graffenreid had charisma and captivated all the silk stocking voters who would be Republicans today. He was quietly moving up in popularity leading up to the May Democratic Primary.