River Region Magazine

Standing in the Light of Legends

Life always includes tragedy, trials and triumph. Surviving those peaks and valleys is often challenging, but to do so in the public eye, and at a young age, is even more trying. Such is the life of George Wallace Jr., who has witnessed firsthand some of history’s most significant moments. As the son of two governors and a former public official himself, he reflects on his years as a blessed life. Now, 60 years old, he has chronicled the journey he and his family have traveled in a new book, Governor George Wallace: The Man You Never Knew by the Man Who Knew Him Best, His Son George Wallace Jr.

I never intended to write a book,” this favorite son says, “but I began to jot down recollections and would share them with family and friends. Then I realized I had to write a book to dispel inaccurate perceptions. I discovered there was a lot that people didn’t know about my father and his soul.” George Wallace Jr. also speaks candidly of the joy and pain his family experienced from their very public life; those two emotions have been “my constant companions to this day.” “Some people have the luxury of anonymity, but we didn’t.”

Few Alabamians know where this young man found solace. “I often retreated to music. It’s what I enjoy most.” His mother Gov. Lurleen Burns Wallace served about 16 months as Alabama’s governor until her untimely death. Her son was only 16 years old at the time. “She had so much charisma, and was so gracious,” George recalls. “My mother’s love affair with the people of Alabama was genuine, endearing and enduring.” Her death at 41, after waging such a courageous battle with cancer, was the inspiration for a cancer clinic at UAB that is named in her honor, he says; it is now ranked among the best in the country. In her final months, she would travel to Houston for treatment and she yearned for Alabamians to have better facilities closer to home.

George is grateful that his mother nurtured his love for music. He began playing guitar at 11, and had his own band by age 13. A year later, he was performing publicly — often at his father’s political rallies. “Music and politics would move within me in a parallel dimension causing a dichotomy in thought, action and reflection that at times caused the strongest of struggles,” he writes. The Early Years In the early 1940s, a young Lurleen was working in a five-and-dime store. She had graduated high school at age 15. About that time, a confident law school graduate entered the little store where she worked in Tuscaloosa. Within a few months, she married George Wallace.

Gov. Wallace’s tenacious spirit was evident at a young age; he served as captain of the boxing team at the University of Alabama — weighing a mere 110 pounds. His “uncanny ability to bob and weave and keep his opponent guessing” in the boxing ring were also traits his son noticed later in politics. Gov. Wallace was the oldest of four children, growing up in rural Barbour County. He was just 16 when his father died. It was the post-Depression era in the South. His son explains, “the rules by which they lived were: Life is hard, make every day count and fight for what you believe.”

After earning his law degree, “George C” returned to the Clayton area. Before long he was elected circuit judge, and began serving in the Alabama Legislature at the young age of 27. George Jr. recollects growing up in the small town. While it was a segregated society, like much of the country, he recalls “as a young boy walking around with my father in downtown Clayton... he treated everyone, black and white alike, with the utmost respect and that made an impression on me.” In 1958, he became a gubernatorial candidate and lost to Gov. John Patterson because he was perceived as too moderate on segregation. His son’s book explains: He saw segregation was paramount in people’s minds at that time, and subsequently he took the hard line on the issue — it was a political decision. In the 1958 race, “George C” would talk about education, economic development, roads and other quality-of-life issues, but the crowds hardly responded. But with the issue of segregation, they’d stomp their feet. “That was the burning social issue at the time,” George Jr. says. “While there can be no legitimate reason for having a segregated society, it was the custom and social structure that prevailed at that time in the South and generally throughout the nation.”

His father decided to run for governor again in 1962 and the family moved to Montgomery when George Jr. was just in the 4th grade. His father won the 1962 race. Under the Capitol Dome While he became known for his “segregation speech” and stand in the schoolhouse door, Gov. Wallace opposed federal encroachment more than anything, his son explains. In a speech, the governor said, “My friends, the federal judiciary in this country is out of control. They have more power over your life and the lives of your family and property than all the legislatures and Congress put together.” He shared the Founding Fathers’ concern about an “all too powerful central government,” the book cites. Fifty years ago, he was raising important constitutional issues that a lot of conservatives are still expressing today. During his terms in office, the governor’s efforts led to the creation of the two-year college system, free textbooks, teacher pay raises, and the expansion of the state docks to improve economic development.

But state law at the time prohibited him from seeking a second term in 1966. The First Lady announced her candidacy for governor, and her son disputes the misconceptions that Gov. Wallace coerced his wife into running as a surrogate. “She had come to know a self-assurance, and had realized talents within herself she hoped to use for the benefit of the people of Alabama,” George Jr. explains. “What a dramatic change in her life from being First Lady to being governor.” She defeated nine men without a runoff. But misfortune would strike in a matter of months. One night, George’s father went to his son’s room to tell him his mother would not live through the night. “The emotions of despair, sadness, helplessness coupled with uncontrollable weeping swept over me and took my breath away.” The father held his 16-year-old son as he wept. The mother of four children, Lurleen Wallace died in May 1968.

As the lieutenant governor assumed the top job, former Gov. George Wallace was making national headlines. He had tossed his hat in the ring for president in 1964, but was gearing up for a serious run as a third-party candidate in 1968. “Millions of Americans were feeling deep discontent with both national parties,” his son says. By 1972, he was a serious contender as a Democratic candidate, until Arthur Bremer changed the course of history with five shots to the governor’s abdomen and chest. On the day he was shot, Gov. Wallace was leading in popular votes and delegate counts in the Democratic primaries.

Critically wounded, he spent almost a month in the hospital, his son recalls. “The bullets seeking to take his life possibly gave to him more than they took,” George Jr. muses. “The changes in his personal life and the struggles he endured actually gave him strength, insight and led him to a place in time, and a place in heart and mind that was his own road to Damascus.” After the shooting, “He was a changed man inside and out, and he lived his life now as the man he really was and had, I believe, longed to be for so long,” his son recalls. Nonetheless, he lived the rest of his life in a wheelchair and in chronic pain.

Music: The Universal Language George Wallace Jr. continued his pursuit of a musical career. A couple years after graduating from Sidney Lanier High School in 1970, he signed a record deal with MGM Records. Then he hit the road, doing two tours with Hank Williams Jr. “Hank and I immediately felt a kinship and bond that was forged from being sons of legendary fathers,” as well as namesakes of these fathers, he says. The comparisons would be inevitable, he adds, “for Hank as a musician, and for me as I entered politics, because our fathers had made such a huge impact and lasting impression.” Over the years, George Wallace Jr. performed with Willie Nelson, Tanya Tucker, Mel Tillis, Marshall Tucker Band, and many other artists. He has written dozens of songs, including “Missing You” which became a No. 1 hit in several markets. “Music was a comfort and solace to me when I needed it most,” he acknowledges. “It’s a universal language.”

After earning a B.A. in history from Huntingdon College, he completed post-graduate studies at AUM. Before long, he entered politics himself. George Wallace Jr. served two terms as State Treasurer (1987-1995), and two terms as a Public Service Commissioner (1998-2006). “I was so moved by my parents’ populist message and their desire to help those who are the least among us. I saw the impact that message had on people who looked to my family for help,” he says. In 1983, George Wallace Jr.’s father returned as Alabama’s governor for a fourth term. But three years earlier, he experienced a significant turn-point in his life. After years of anguish and regret, he sought forgiveness. One evening, former Gov. Wallace and an aide went unannounced to the Baptist church across from the capitol. “His pilgrimage to Dr. King’s church in 1979 was for him a sacred one,” his son recalls. From his wheelchair, the former governor told those present, “I have learned what suffering means. In a way that was impossible before, I think I can understand something of the pain black people have come to endure. I know I have contributed to that pain, and I can only ask your forgiveness.” “I don’t know if he could even imagine the profound redemptive and reconciliation, and forgiveness overtures that would ultimately follow when… he said, ‘I was wrong.’ From that point forward, the affection, understanding and forgiveness he received from the black community helped restore his soul,” George Jr. says. A proud son adds, “It would take years of suffering, reflection and his very public apology for the world to know him as he truly was.” “The words duty and faith have a special significance for me,” George Jr. says. When his father was sworn into office for the last time in 1983, his son introduced the governor before his inaugural address. That day, George Jr. spoke of his father’s “two overriding values in his life: His unending faith in the Lord, and his unswerving faith in the people of Alabama.” “He was a man of deep faith before the shooting, but his clarity and call was to preach the Gospel after that.” The governor wrote personal letters to his would-be assassin, telling him he forgave him and witnessing to him about the saving grace of Jesus Christ. When George Jr. questioned the act of forgiveness, his father replied, “If I can’t forgive him, how can Christ forgive me?”

George and his three sisters grew up in Methodist churches in Clayton and Montgomery. “Personally, my greatest victory is my faith in the Lord,” he says. Nowadays George Wallace Jr. is currently traveling frequently, discussing his book, and is working on a new music CD. He and his wife Elizabeth live in Shelby County; she is a gifted portrait and landscape artist. George serves on the board of directors for VOCAL, assisting crime victims, and he has been on the board of trustees for many years for the Lyman Ward Military Academy in Camp Hill. He has earned a Second Degree in Taekwondo, a hobby he began in 1983. “I have had many cracked ribs and bruises to show for it, but it’s been a wonderful experience,” he notes.

In 2009, his eldest son Corey died at the age of 25. “Corey was a talented and wonderful young man,” George says. “His death has left a hole in my soul.” George’s younger son, Robby, is the general manager at Tallapoosa Lakes Golf Course and a very accomplished golfer. “Soon he will be getting his PGA card to teach golf, and he’s a great guitar player. We are so proud of him.” “In many ways, the Montgomery area will always be home to me. There are some great people there. I have traveled all over the world and some of the finest and most hospitable people you’ll meet are in the River Region,” George adds. “And I’m excited about the revitalization going on downtown. I’ve been to some Biscuits games and have become a big fan.”

Being the namesake of one of the most controversial political figures of the 20th century and growing up under the public’s watchful eye certainly leaves an indelible mark on one’s life. “I remember one night Hank [Williams Jr.] making the statement that it was hard standing in the shadow of a very famous man,” George says. “I remember thinking about that for a minute, and saying that I rather think of it as standing in their light also.”