Introduction
- Introduction
While researching my book, george wallace: an enigma, i found that characterization, and the book's subtitle, Alabama's Most Divisive Governor, uncannily true. The man loved the thrill of the chase and the power that winning afforded him, but he proved uninterested in material things. In the governor's mansion, he lived well. However, in private life, he lived very frugally. My last visits with him found him in simple quarters with plain furniture in his kitchen. When I rode in his van to go to lunch, we didn't eat at a fancy restaurant, but at a barbecue spot. This was not what one might expect from a man who was formerly Alabama's highest ranking official, or a man who ran for president.
George Wallace proved to be Alabama's most divisive governor. People loved him or abhorred him. On one hand, he could fill a hall with supporters; on the other, he could push people's buttons. And he did both while sitting in a wheelchair, holding his side to suppress the constant pain from the attempted assassination.
To evaluate such an enigmatic, controversial individual in an objective manner requires a special type of expertise. The essays that follow demonstrate the intense research and thought, the in-depth study that Wallace scholars have dedicated to understanding the enigma that was his life and career. Each was presented as part of a [End Page 167] roundtable, "Revisiting George Wallace Fifty Years Later: Reassessing George Wallace's Role in Shaping Modern Politics in the South and the Nation," featured at the Southern Historical Association's 84th Annual Meeting, held in Birmingham in 2018. These essays by Blake Scott Ball, Marcus M. Witcher, Charles Kenneth Roberts, and Jeff Frederick bring to life that consummate politician's legacy, clearly illustrating what happened in the past and what those events mean for the future. Drawing on comparisons to other politicians, on issues related to the ongoing Civil Rights Movement, and by noting the gradual evolution of fairer policies, the essays show how disagreements were overcome, leading to a reconstruction of the political landscape, and unveiling similarities between Wallace and his contemporaries. A reading of these writings will enlighten people seeking to understand history and how the past affects the present. [End Page 168]
mary s. palmer teaches English at Faulkner University in Mobile full-time and serves as a member of the adjunct faculty at Huntingdon College. She has published fourteen books in different genres, has had two plays produced, and she won the 2016 Hackney Literary Award for her short story, "The Concrete Block Wall." She is currently completing a book about Mobile's legendary Boyington Oak, which dates back to 1834.
