Terri Sewell commemorates the 59th Anniversary of the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church
Thursday was the 59th anniversary of the bombing of the 16 Street Baptist Church in Birmingham that killed four little girls during the height of the Civil Rights Movement. Congresswoman Terri Sewell spoke on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives to commemorate this tragic incident of domestic terrorism. On September 15, 1963, white supremacists detonated nineteen sticks of dynamite under the church, killing Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Morris Wesley. “Four precious Little Girls—Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Morris Wesley—who died in the sacred walls of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama fifty-nine years ago,” Sewell said. “On September 15, 1963, as the Four Little Girls were getting dressed in the bathroom of the church basement, preparing to sing in the choir, nineteen sticks of dynamite placed under the church detonated. They totally exploded, causing the interior walls to actually fall in.” “The crowd of about 200 people who gathered for the 11:00 a.m. service, they evacuated the church,” Sewell continued. “But the church was filled with smoke, and underneath the debris laid Four Little Girls. Along with the little girls who lost their lives, dozens of others were injured that day, including Sarah Collins Rudolph, the younger sister of Addie Mae Collins, who was in the basement with her sister and the other girls preparing for church that day.” The senseless violence led to more protest marches and eventually the passage of civil rights legislation. “Due to the violently racist nature of the attack, thousands of African Americans protested across the State of Alabama, and in response, George Wallace called the police to break up the demonstrations,” Sewell said. “The violent clashes between the protesters and police resulted in massive arrests and the tragic loss of two more lives, two little boys that died that day, Johnny Robinson and Virgil Ware. The two boys, one sixteen and the other thirteen, were killed within hours of the church bombing.” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. described the bombing as one of the most vicious, tragic crimes ever perpetrated against humanity, “Although we will never replace the lives lost or injuries suffered, the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 proved that their sacrifices were not in vain,” Sewell said. “Today, as we reflect on our painful history, we are reminded that every gain in the battle for Civil Rights has come at a high cost, paid by those who sacrificed everything for a vision and a dream bigger than themselves.” “As a direct beneficiary of the legacy of the Four Little Girls, I was honored that the very first bill that I passed in this body posthumously bestowed upon them the Congressional Gold Medal to ensure that this nation will never forget their sacrifice,” Sewell said. The story of the 4 Little Girls was made into a Spike Lee documentary in 1997 by the same name. Terri Sewell represents Alabama’s Seventh Congressional District. To connect with the author of this story, or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
Hearing on voting machine lawsuit is today
A judge will hear a motion to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the use of vote counting machines today in Montgomery at 9:00 a.m. The lawsuit was originally brought by Republican primary candidate Lindy Blanchard and State Rep. Tommy Hanes. The candidates had originally sought to bar the use of the vote tabulation machines in the May 24 Republican primary. Both Hanes and Blanchard lost in the primary. Hanes, the incumbent, lost to challenger Republican Mike Kirkland 3,707 48.4% to 3,950 51.6%. Kirkland is unopposed in the general election. Blanchard finished second to incumbent Gov. Kay Ivey, but the popular incumbent received 54.8% of the vote in the primary, besting Blanchard and seven other primary opponents combined to avoid a Republican primary runoff. No incumbent governor in Alabama has lost their party primary since George C. Wallace beat incumbent Gov. Albert Brewer in the 1970 Democratic primary. Three incumbents have lost general elections. Failing to block the machine tabulation of both the primary and primary runoff votes, the lawsuit is now just challenging the use and accuracy of the machines in general. Blanchard has left the lawsuit, which is being supported by My Pillow founder and CEO Mike Lindell. Former Gov. Don Siegelman has taken Blanchard’s place in the lawsuit. Siegelman, the last Democratic governor in Alabama history, maintains that he actually won the 2002 general election to then-Congressman Bob Riley. The Republican Party has won the last five gubernatorial elections, and incumbent Gov. Kay Ivey is expected to win re-election on November 8. The Alabama chapter of the ultra-MAGA group Focus On America (FOA) is continuing to support the lawsuit. Supporters and members of the group are being asked to attend Tuesday’s hearing to show support. Signs will not be allowed in the courtroom. Secretary of State John H. Merrill has maintained that the vote counting machines, which do not connect to the internet, are both safe and accurate. Merrill said in a statement after meeting with Lindell, “Every Alabamian should be proud that Alabama was recognized as the gold standard for election administration for the first time in our state’s history by the Concerned Women for American Legislative Action Committee. We will continue to work with those like Mr. Lindell and other concerned citizens to provide complete transparency.” Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall has filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit citing a lack of grounds. If the motion to dismiss is denied, the case could move forward to the trial stage in the coming weeks. Merrill maintains that replacing the vote tabulation machines with hand counts by poll workers, like Russia and some countries still use, will slow the vote counting down and add an opportunity for potential fraud as well as mistakes by the human vote counters. To connect with the author of this story, or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
Steve Flowers: Legendary Alabamians
The longer I continue to write about Alabama politics, the more I realize that Alabama really is a “Big Front Porch” – a saying made famous by our legendary Alabama storyteller, Kathryn Tucker Wyndham. I have been involved in the world of Alabama politics for 60 years. I have been writing this column for over 18 years, and that is longer than I served in the legislature. I am sometimes asked whether I liked being in the Alabama political arena or writing about it better. The answer is easy. Writing is better. It is more fun to be able to throw stones than to have stones thrown at you. I am also asked at social or political events around the state what are some of my favorite political memories. Indeed, I have been blessed to have met and known some of Alabama’s best-known political and literary figures, and some of them well. I began paging in the Alabama Legislature at age 12 and met Governor George Wallace when he was in his first term as governor. Ironically, 20 years later, I was elected to the legislature, and Wallace was again governor for his fourth and final term. My legislative district included Pike, Barbour, and Dale Counties, so I represented Wallace in his home county of Barbour. Wallace loved the fact that I was now his representative. He would have me visit with him often in the governor’s office, and he would tell me political stories and maxims. He told me a lot of inside stories about the Civil Rights era, as well as pre-Civil Rights, some of which I have shared with you and some I will share later. One of my favorite friends in Alabama politics was the late Senator Howell Heflin. Heflin was a very straight-laced gentleman. His daddy was a Methodist minister. He was truly a great man and one of the wittiest and best storytellers I ever knew. He was a real Alabama hero and legend. He was a decorated World War II veteran, one of Alabama’s best lawyers, Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, and our U.S. Senator for 18 years. Most people who knew him well in Alabama and Washington simply referred to him as “Judge.” I wrote a glowing column about “Judge.” He appreciated the column. It really was like a eulogy. He liked to call me “Tree,” a nickname I acquired in college. After the column came out, he started getting calls from all over the state. He called to thank me. I told him, “Judge, I’m in about 60 papers, and about 30-40 of the papers send me copies of the paper, and why don’t I gather those up and bring them to you and read what title they gave to your column.” He said, “Would you do that, Tree?” I said, “Yes, I would enjoy a visit.” He had retired from the Senate and was back home in Tuscumbia. I drove to Tuscumbia for the day. Got there for breakfast and stayed all day. We perused the papers I had brought him, and I headed home. Ole Judge died a few weeks later, and I traveled back up to the Shoals for his funeral. I was proud when the preacher used some excerpts from my column for Judge’s eulogy. There was a throng of people at Judge’s funeral, including quite a few famous and powerful members of the U.S. Senate. I do not think that the Florence airport had ever seen that many private jets. I had already had my goodbye with Judge, and the line was very long to greet “Mrs. Mikie,” Judge’s wife, and Tom, his son. Judge’s wife was from a prominent North Alabama family, the Carmichaels. Thus he had coined her nickname “Mikie.” As I was leaving, I heard someone shout my name, “Tree, wait.” It was Tom Heflin, the only child of Judge and Mikie. Tom is a lawyer and a fraternity brother of mine from the University of Alabama. He said, “I want to tell you something. When we went into daddy’s bedroom the other morning and found him passed away, beside his bed was a large desk, and on the desk were all the papers you brought him the other day. He had read them just before he went to bed.” It made me feel very good. It is one of the most rewarding memories of my column writing days. I will continue with more stories next week. Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers. He served 16 years in the state legislature. Steve may be reached at www.steveflowers.us.
Steve Flowers: Jim Oakley
A legend in Alabama newspaper, educational, and political lore, Jim Oakley of Centreville, turned 87 last month. Jim is known statewide as the legendary owner, publisher, and editor of the Centreville Press newspaper. However, he has also been intertwined with Alabama politics for over six decades. If you only counted Jim Oakley, Jr.’s service to his city, Centreville, and his county, Bibb, he would be an icon. In addition, when you add his 33 years as an assistant dean and head of placement services at the University of Alabama, it qualifies him in my book and, in a good many Alabamian’s minds, as one of our state’s institutional legends. Jim Oakley grew up in the newspaper business. Around 1915, his grandfather bought two local papers and combined them into the Centreville Press. His father, Jim Oakley, Sr., eventually took over the paper, having been groomed for the job. Jim, Jr. always planned to follow his father. He went to the University of Alabama and, of course, majored in journalism. He met and married his wife, Shirley Ann Naramore of Prattville, at the University, and after graduation, he came back home to Centreville to run the family newspaper. Governor George Wallace appointed Oakley to the Alabama Commission of Higher Education (ACHE), where he served as chairman for 14 years. It was in this role when Kay Ivey was hired as executive director of ACHE. The person Kay Ivey looked to for help in her first campaign for state Treasurer was Jim Oakley. He has been her go-to person for Bibb County for all her campaigns for Treasurer, Lieutenant Governor, and Governor, including this last race this year. Jim sold the Centreville Press in 1985 but continued to write his marvelous column. Less than two months later, Joab Thomas, President of the University of Alabama and a longtime friend, called to ask Jim what he was planning on doing. Oakley replied, “I thought I would take up fishing.” Thomas told him he had been thinking that if he could find someone who had worked in the real world and really knew the newspaper business to come and teach students, it would be an asset to the journalism department. That began a career at the University of Alabama that would last 33 years. He started off teaching journalism, then became the Director of Freshman Orientation of all University of Alabama students, and culminated with being Head of Placement Services for the College of Communications. He helped hundreds of Alabama graduates find their first jobs in communications, TV, radio, digital, and print media. Many are famous, and most point to Jim Oakley as their mentor. The post where he had the most impact was as Director of Freshman Orientation. He greeted and made to feel at home thousands of freshman students. He welcomed each and every one of them as though he was their grandfather. He amazingly remembered them all by name and where they were from, and their parents’ names. I will never forget the day I first met Jim. I knew who he was. He was legendary. He knew me from the legislature. I was taking my younger daughter to register and move into the famous Tutwiler dormitory. There was Jim waiting in the parking lot, greeting every student. He gave me a warm handshake and hugged Allyson, and made her feel at home. He looked after her like a grandfather for the next four years. Another young lady from Enterprise named Katie Boyd arrived that same day to move into Tutwiler. Jim took her under his wing the same way; she has just been elected as our next U.S. Senator. The first person she sought in Bibb County when she began her race was Jim Oakley. There are a thousand more stories like those of Katie and Allyson. Jim loved and cared for each of them like they were his own. He has three children of his own, Mike, Bill, and Melanie Kay. His oldest son, Mike Oakley, is the Mayor of Centreville, as was his grandfather Jim Oakley, Sr. For over 60 years now, all candidates for major statewide offices have come to Bibb County to kiss the ring of Jim Oakley and cultivate his friendship and support. Oakley has been friends and confidantes to every governor, including George Wallace and Kay Ivey. He has been close friends with many of our U.S. Senators, especially Jim Allen and Richard Shelby. He has mentored and helped almost every state representative and state senator who have represented Bibb County over the years. His current Bibb County Senator, April Weaver, is one of his favorites. Jim Oakley has a lot of friends in Alabama. See you next week. Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers. He served 16 years in the state legislature. Steve may be reached at www.steveflowers.us.
Steve Flowers: Big Jim Folsom’s show in 1962 governor’s race
The 1962 Governor’s Race was between George Wallace, James “Big Jim” Folsom, and newcomer Ryan DeGraffenreid, a state senator from Tuscaloosa. Television had become the new medium. Therefore, Wallace, Folsom, and DeGraffenreid had all bought 30-minute, live television shows the night before the election. George Wallace came on first at 7:00 p.m. He did pretty well, not great, but he did not hurt himself. Ryan DeGraffenreid came on at 7:30 p.m. He was magnificent. He helped himself immensely. He was telegenic and took to television like a duck to water. He was a hit and picked up some votes. Big Jim came on last at 8:00 p.m. That was probably too late for Big Jim. They had him sitting on a sofa that was too small for him. His knees jutted up almost to his chest. Television advisors will tell you to look squarely into the camera. Obviously, the last thing Big Jim had been told before he went on the air was to look right into the camera. He hunkered down like he was staring a hole in the viewer the way he stared at the camera. Unfortunately, the advisor had forgotten to tell Big Jim to comb his hair. He had a wayward strand of hair hanging right down in his face. His first words portended what was to come. His speech was slurred, and he was clearly drunk. After his opening statement of about four minutes, even though I was only 11, I could tell Big Jim seemed impaired. I walked back to my mama’s bedroom door where she was reading, and I said, “Mama, you need to come in the living room and see Big Jim on TV. I believe he is drunk.” She walked in, glanced at him, and assured me that was just Big Jim’s personality. She said he was putting on a show for the television audience. I think she was taking up for him because she was for him. So, I settled back in for the remainder of the show. Big Jim had several children, so they were going to have him introduce his children one by one. Little Jim came out first, and he did pretty well with him, “This is my little boy, Jim.” Although he did tousle his hair pretty badly. The second son, Jack, came out, and Big Jim said, “This is my boy…” He stammered around, trying to think of his name. Finally, he blurted out, “Boy, what is your name?” The television folks dropped the idea of trying to introduce the rest of Big Jim’s family after that. They let him start talking again. He was weaving back and forth. The long strand of hair was hanging right over his nose. He was now pontificating on the virtues of progressivism, free textbooks, and Farm-to-Market roads. I called mama in again to view the spectacle. She stood there for a full two minutes with her mouth open and finally said, “Son, I believe you’re right. Big Jim is drunk.” He finished by getting mad at George Wallace and calling him a cuckoo bird for trying to steal his platform. He waved his arms wildly for three solid minutes on statewide television, mimicking a cuckoo bird. Folks around the state had heard tales and rumors about Big Jim’s drinking for years. They had dismissed it as political talk. However, seeing Big Jim live and drunk on statewide television was an eye-opener. He never recovered. He failed to make the runoff the next day. Wallace led the ticket, and DeGraffenreid edged Big Jim out of the runoff. Wallace beat DeGraffenreid in the runoff. Later, Big Jim said Wallace’s people drugged him. This story is not likely. Big Jim had pretty much succumbed to alcohol by this time in his life. The night Big Jim came on television drunk was the end of his political career, but it was a heck of a show. Some old-time political observers contend Big Jim would have won that 1962 race had he not come on television drunk the night before the election. I disagree. George Wallace was going to win that year because he had captured the race issue and exploited and demagogued it to get to the governor’s office, which he aspired to more than life itself. Big Jim would have finished second, but Wallace would have pounded Big Jim in the runoff. Big Jim was soft on the race issue. He was a true progressive. See you next week. Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers. He served 16 years in the state legislature. Steve may be reached at www.steveflowers.us.
Steve Flowers: 1962 governor’s race
It is hard to believe it has been 60 years since George Wallace’s first victorious race for governor. Let’s go down memory lane and reminisce about the 1962 governor’s race and Wallace’s classic inaugural victory. The 1962 governor’s race really began in 1958. The governor’s chair and the race for it was the big show in Alabama politics in that era. Being a U.S. Senator was secondary in Alabama politics. Governor is still probably the most important and glamorous political position, but it certainly was at that time. Television had not come into its own. Most Alabamians did not own a TV. There were no southern major league baseball teams to follow, such as the Atlanta Braves, who were still in Milwaukee at that time. The closest team was the St. Louis Cardinals, and they were miles away and not really in the south. The Grand Ole Opry was only on the radio on Saturday night. So, southerners had to include politics as a prime source of entertainment. That is why we had such colorful political characters. They were really our entertainers and, in some cases, real clowns. Thus, we had more entertaining politicians than the rest of the country. We had a legacy of Jimmy Davis and Huey Long in Louisiana, Bilbo in Mississippi, the Talmadges in Georgia, and the most colorful of all time was our very own 6’9” Big Jim Folsom. Big Jim was the most uninhibited, gregarious, fun-loving of them all. He traveled the state with his country band, the “Strawberry Pickers.” Alabamians thought Big Jim’s barefoot musical antics and down-home soaking the rich speeches spiced with country humor were better than the circus coming to town. Big Jim was first elected governor in 1946. He upset the Big Mules of Birmingham and the Big Planters of the Black Belt to become the first people’s governor in 50 years. All twelve Governors before him had been picked in the closed-door board rooms of Birmingham and had been well-heeled Big Mules or Big Planters and had gone out and given dull speeches and simply bought the election with corporate and large agricultural money. Big Jim went directly to the country people all over the state, and most people in Alabama at that time were rural or lived in small towns. He convinced them that he was their friend. He won their hearts. He became the youngest and most progressive Alabama Governor in history. He was the little man’s big friend. However, the governor could not succeed himself. It was one four year-term, and you were out. So Big Jim left after four years, 1946-1950. A quaint aristocrat named Gordon Persons became governor from 1950-1954, but Big Jim came storming back to win a landslide victory in 1954. He won without a runoff, despite the fact that most of the State’s big daily newspapers endorsed other people and predicted he would lose. He became only the second person to be elected to two terms. Bibb Graves had done it earlier in the century. Big Jim served his second term from 1954-1958, then waited out another four years and was running for his third term in 1962. He was legendary by this time and had almost unanimous name identification as simply “Big Jim,” but he was up against another populist and maybe even better politician, George Wallace. George Wallace had run his first race for governor in 1958 and lost to John Patterson. Patterson had beaten Wallace for two reasons. First was sympathy for Patterson resulting from his daddy’s assassination at the hands of the Phenix City mafia, but primarily because Patterson was the most ardent racist and segregationist. Patterson was the candidate of the Klan, and race was the issue in 1958. Wallace was considered the moderate, but Wallace woke up the day after the defeat and swore he would never be out-segged again. After George Wallace’s loss to John Patterson in 1958, Wallace worked tirelessly for the next four years, 1958-1962, while Patterson served his only term as governor. Wallace made sure he was the racist segregationist candidate in 1962. Race was the only issue in the 1962 Governor’s race. Wallace rode the race issue to his first victory as governor, defeating Big Jim Folsom and State Senator Ryan DeGraffenreid of Tuscaloosa. That 1962 race had an interesting, entertaining, and historical twist to it that I will share with you next week. Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers. He served 16 years in the state legislature. Steve may be reached at www.steveflowers.us.
Steve Flowers: Bill Baxley
The 1970 Governor’s Race between George Wallace and Albert Brewer overshadowed every other political race in the state that year. However, one of Alabama’s legendary political figures burst on the scene in 1970, when Bill Baxley was elected Attorney General of Alabama. The Attorney General’s race was below the radar screen of the titanic war waged by Brewer and Wallace. Bill Baxley’s victory was a major upset. Baxley was a 28-year-old district attorney from the Wiregrass. He beat a veteran Attorney General MacDonald Gallion in a close race. Baxley became the youngest Attorney General in the nation when he was sworn in at the January Inauguration. He had just turned 29. His historic rise at such a young age made him fodder for national publications like Time Magazine, who featured him as one of the brightest rising stars in the nation. His brilliance gave new meaning to the word prodigy. It was not immediately apparent to the voters of Alabama that they had elected a true progressive liberal as their Attorney General. They soon did when Baxley began aggressively attacking the Big Mules in Birmingham and throughout the state and consistently fought for the downtrodden in the state. He sued every Big Mule in sight, including U.S. Steel, for pollution and other environmental concerns during his 20-year career in state politics. Baxley never deviated or backed down from his progressive Democratic ideology, even when it might have been politically expedient to do so. He could not be bought. He was his own man and a true Alabama political statesman. When Baxley won the 1970 Attorney General’s race over MacDonald Gallion, he openly and unashamedly courted liberals, labor, and blacks to win the race. He did not do it for expediency, but because his heart was in it. Baxley was a true progressive Southern Democrat. He openly courted, embraced, and built an overt friendship with labor leaders and black leaders such as Joe Reed. Baxley was certainly a contrast to our race-baiting Governor George Wallace. Ironically, Wallace loved Baxley. Deep down, Wallace was a hardcore progressive who had lived through the Depression. He cut his teeth as a New Deal Democrat. Baxley forged a political career with epic historical milestones in Alabama politics. He was elected Attorney General in 1970 and again in 1974. He ran second for Governor in 1978 when Fob James came out of the blue to upset the “Three B’s” – Bill Baxley, Albert Brewer, and Jere Beasley in the governor’s race. Bill Baxley came back in 1982 and was elected Lt. Governor. He served closely with George Wallace, who was serving his fourth and final term as Governor. They had a special friendship and spoke on the phone constantly. I think Wallace admired Baxley for being true to his principles. He also respected Baxley’s understanding of some of the golden rules of politics, and that is “your word is your bond” and also “you dance with the ones who brung you.” Bill Baxley was the Democratic nominee for governor in 1986. He was upset by Guy Hunt, who became the first Republican governor since Reconstruction that year. Bill Baxley left politics after that race and did what he really loved. He became one of the most prominent trial lawyers in Alabama. He loves the practice of law. He was born for it. For the last 36 years, he has been one of Alabama’s top lawyers and probably one of the most expensive. Baxley now resides in Birmingham and takes prominent cases all over the state. Baxley was born and raised in Dothan. His daddy, Keener Baxley, was a well-respected Circuit Judge in Dothan. The Baxley’s were a prominent family and among the earliest settlers of Houston County. Young Bill Baxley grew up loving the law, politics, and baseball. He grew up in his Daddy’s courtroom in Dothan and learned to love the law. There was never any doubt in his mind that he would be a lawyer by profession because he probably was not going to be a major league baseball player, which was every young boy’s dream at that time. He was always brilliant academically and was gifted with a photographic memory. He skipped a grade in school and finished high school at age 15. He entered the University of Alabama at age 16. He graduated from college at age 19 and the University of Alabama Law School at age 22. After law school, he returned to Dothan to practice law. He was elected District Attorney for Houston and Henry Counties at the ripe old age of 25. Three years later, he was elected Attorney General of Alabama. The rest is history. Bill Baxley has a place in Alabama history. It is hard to believe that young Bill Baxley turns 81 this month. See you next week. Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers. He served 16 years in the state legislature. Steve may be reached at www.steveflowers.us.
Will Sellers: Saint Hannah and her sinner son
The summer of 1974 in Washington DC was a political bullfight; there was one bull, but a host of matadors, picadors, and spectators galore just waiting to watch President Richard Nixon in his last gasps of political power. Congressional hearings, articles of impeachment, and an administration completely insular and unstable were all coming to a simultaneous head. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger metaphorically described this as the highest pinnacles of success descending into the deepest valleys of distress. Over the course of the prior few years, President Nixon had won the largest landslide election victory to that point in history, successfully concluded American involvement in Vietnam, and achieved the monumental foreign policy objectives of detente with the USSR, stability in the Middle East, and rapprochement with China. But in August 1974, all these achievements were forgotten, and with an atmosphere of political intrigue thick with smiling hatred, the bull in the ring faced the final cut. Almost everyone had deserted him as key members of his staff faced indictment, trials, and prison. The Supreme Court unanimously ruled he had to provide tape-recorded conversations to prosecutors, the House Judiciary Committee passed the first article of impeachment for obstruction of justice, and a group of key legislators informed him that he didn’t have the votes in the Senate to avoid removal from office. Nixon even called Alabama Governor George Wallace to enlist his support, but Wallace refused to intervene on his behalf with members of the Alabama congressional delegation and other Boll Weevil Democrats. After the call with Wallace, Nixon turned to Chief of Staff Alexander Haig and said, “Well, Al, there goes the presidency.” And so the true “man in the arena” faced the final curtain all alone. The day before, on national television, Nixon announced his intention to resign, and now, on the morning of August 9, in an impromptu moment, Nixon addressed the White House staff for the last time as president. In what has been described as rambling, unprepared, and certainly unscripted remarks, Nixon, perhaps for the only time, opened his soul and summed up his life’s work. These off-the-cuff remarks were recorded, and for history’s sake, transcribed for all of see. In the midst of a rambling apology, Nixon reflected on his youth and his parents and then, out of the blue and with no context, said: “Nobody will ever write a book, probably, about my mother. Well, I guess all of you would say this about your mother – my mother was a saint. And, I think of her, two boys dying of tuberculosis, nursing four others in order that she could take care of my older brother for three years in Arizona and seeing each of them die, and when they died, it was like one of her own. Yes, she will have no books written about her. But she was a saint.” An old saying, perhaps, said to comfort women of a different age and justify their sacrifices states: “The hand that rocks the cradle, rules the world.” So, Nixon’s mother, Hannah Milhous, at least for five-and-a-half years, ruled the world. No book has ever been written about her, but the life of Hannah Nixon and the impact she had on her son and his consequential role in American politics and international affairs is worth consideration. Hannah Milhous was born in 1885 in Butlerville, Indiana, into a devout Quaker family of farmers. She was one of nine children; seven girls and two boys. Her father, Franklin, was an orchardist, who, seeing brighter days ahead, moved his entire family to California in 1897 to establish a tree nursery and orange grove with other Quakers in Whittier, California. While a “birthright” Quaker, Hannah’s branch of the faith expressed itself in a more evangelical bent, and at the age of 18, she had a religious experience that made her very devout and committed. Hannah was intelligent, and after completing high school, she attended Whittier College, where, by all accounts, she made good grades and was on the path to becoming a teacher. No stranger to hard work, she helped her mother with various household tasks, assisted with her father’s farm, and stayed up late each night studying. Her life would be forever changed when, at a Quaker Valentine’s Day party, she met Frank Nixon. They feel in love and married four months later. Hannah’s family never really approved of Frank and thought she had married beneath her. The fact that she married before finishing college was also a sore spot with Hannah’s family, who never seemed to warm up to Frank. But Hannah truly loved her husband, and, having completed her sophomore year of college, seemed ready to start her own family. Within a year of their marriage, Harold Nixon was born, followed by Richard in 1913. She had five sons in all, named after the early English kings; Richard, for the Richard the Lion-Hearted. By all accounts, Frank was uncouth, argumentative, and a tough father. Upon his marriage to Hannah, he converted to the Quaker faith but never truly left his Methodist roots. Hannah was the complete opposite – quiet and inclined to see both sides of an issue. She was also compassionate, and one area of disagreement with Frank was Hannah’s willingness to help the destitute. Frank wanted someone to work before receiving assistance, but Hannah would never turn away a tramp from the door and ran the household like a charitable operation. Even when the family had enough money to employ a “hired girl,” Hannah insisted that the servant eat with them at the table. Hannah was religious and committed to her faith, but she was also had a deep sense of privacy and was not a show-off when it came to piety. At night, she went into her closet to say her prayers. As was true of most Quakers, neither she nor Frank smoked, drank, or cursed, and she expected that her children would accept these same restraints. Hannah’s influence was so
Steve Flowers: TV still drives the vote
After the 1960 John F. Kennedy vs. Richard Nixon classic presidential contest, television became the medium for political campaigns. TV became the new campaign strategy in Alabama in 1962. George Wallace, Big Jim Folsom, and Ryan DeGraffenried used TV that year for the first time. Unfortunately for Big Jim Folsom, his use of TV was the demise of his storied political career. His appearance on a live 30-minute paid television show was one of the most colorful stories in Alabama politics. He came on TV drunk as Cooter Brown. That’s a story for another day. Wallace and Folsom were used to campaigning one-on-one and asking folks for their vote. They stumped and had rallies in every county and hamlet in the state. However, in the end, they succumbed to the politics of TV. It has not changed but has become more pronounced over the last 60 years. This 2022 campaign for our open senate seat is nothing more than a TV show. TV has become such an integral part of getting elected to a U.S. Senate Seat that it appears that what you do now is just raise money or, if you have a lot of your own money, spend your own money and buy and design effective TV ads. The day of actually campaigning appears to be over. The only candidate who made an effort to campaign in every county, shake hands and meet folks was Katie Britt. By the way, she is the only real Alabamian in the race. Katie Britt’s grassroots campaign organization is what propelled her to an incredible commanding lead heading into the June 21 runoff. It looked for a while in our U.S. Senate race that a real outsider, Mike Durant, would be in the June 21 runoff with Katie Britt. However, the original frontrunner, Mo Brooks, clawed back to claim second place. As a lifelong follower of Alabama politics, I long for and yearn for the day when state candidates actually get out and met and talked with Alabamians one on one. Not to sound too provincial or old-fashioned, I believe that a person who wants to be Alabama’s U. S. Senator ought to really know Alabama and the people of the state. They ought to at least know what’s important to folks in our state, from Mobile to Scottsboro and Dothan to Tuscaloosa. They ought to know the intricacies and nuances of places and what industries and federal dollars mean to their locales. They need to know how important military dollars are to Huntsville, Montgomery, and the Wiregrass and also how much agriculture means to rural Alabama. In short, they should know some folks in Alabama if they are going to be their U.S. Senator. With Katie Britt in the runoff, she has truly campaigned and not just been a phantom TV candidate who flew in from New Hampshire or Colorado and tried to buy our Senate Seat and run as a celebrity POW hero. If we want to elect someone to our U.S. Senate Seat who is a celebrity and knows nothing about how to be a U.S. Senator for Alabama, then we have some folks that are qualified and are real celebrities and real Alabamians. We have two who come to mind who are a lot more famous and would be better. They are real Alabamians. Allow me to suggest Lionel Richie and Randy Owen. Lionel Ritchie was born and raised in Tuskegee and spent the first 25 to 30 years of his life in Macon County before he became world-famous. Randy Owen, the legendary lead singer, and founder of the band Alabama has never left his home in Alabama. He is Alabama-born and bred. He still lives in DeKalb County, where he was born. He walks his land and takes care of his prized black angus cattle every day. These two guys are real, sure enough Alabama celebrities and would make a lot better Senator for Alabama than some semi-Alabamian. See you next week. Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers. He served 16 years in the state legislature. Steve may be reached at www.steveflowers.us.
Steve Flowers: We miss Shorty Price
The governor’s races of bygone years were a lot more fun and colorful than today. We would have 10 to 15 candidates. There would be three or four favorites, but we would have ten others that would make an effort to crisscross the state and have fun and cut up a little bit to garner publicity. The “also rans” could not afford the expensive country music stars from Nashville like the George Wallace, Big Jim Folsom, and Jimmy Faulkner frontrunners could to draw a crowd. This year’s gubernatorial race has not been interesting because a popular incumbent governor was running for reelection. However, Kay Ivey did attract eight opponents. However, only two, Lindy Blanchard and Tim James, really mounted a campaign. The six others seem to not do anything, and nobody really knew who they were. The six no-name candidates were Stacy Lee George, Dean Young, Dean Odle, Donald Trent Jones, Dave Thomas, and Lew Burdette. When Burdette qualified, he looked like he had the potential to be a viable candidate, but he seemed to never get out of the gate. If he was running a getting acquainted race, it was unsuccessful. He would probably have as much name identification as a baseball player from the 1960s, who had the same name. As a boy, I had a baseball card of Lou Burdette, who was a pretty good pitcher for the old Milwaukee Braves. Donald Trent Jones probably was hoping that folks would think he was the golf course developer for our famous state links. Dave Thomas was maybe hoping that voters would think he was the Wendy’s hamburgers founder. Today, what we need in the “also ran” category or what I call “run for the fun of it” candidates is another Shorty Price. Most of you do not remember Shorty Price. Ole Shorty was the King of run for the fun of it candidates. He ran for governor every time and really didn’t care how many votes he got. He just ran for the fun of it, and boy was he fun to watch and visit with. He brought new meaning to the word colorful. Shorty was a native of Barbour County, which by the way, is George Wallace’s home county. In fact, Wallace and Shorty grew up together as contemporaries around Clio. Shorty would campaign vehemently and viciously against George Wallace, his nemesis, probably because he was jealous of Wallace’s success as a politician. By the way, Barbour County is called the “Home of Governors” because it has had more governors than any other county in our state’s history. Shorty was maybe the most colorful political clown to ever appear on the Alabama political stage. He not only ran for governor every time, he also ran for numerous offices every time there was an election. That is how he would make his living. He would travel from town-to-town, mostly in southeast Alabama, and panhandle for contributions, and soon after collecting the few dollars that folks would give him, he would convert his campaign contributions into a purchase of a Budweiser beer. In fact, one of his campaign slogans was “Smoke Tampa Nugget cigars, drink Budweiser beer, and vote for Shorty Price.” In one of Shorty’s campaigns for governor, his campaign speech contained this line, “If elected governor, I will reduce the governor’s tenure from four years to two years. If you can’t steal enough to last you the rest of your life in two years, you ain’t got enough sense to have the office in the first place.” Shorty would use recycled campaign signs to save money. He would just change the name of the office he was running for that year. Ole Shorty usually got about two percent of the vote and usually finished last. He was really kind of proud of his usual last-place finish. Indeed, one time the venerable political columnist Bob Ingram mistakenly stated that Shorty finished 13th out of 14th in a particular governor’s race. Shorty blasted Ingram and said, “That’s a blasphemous lie. I finished 14th out of 14.” As stated, Shorty hated George Wallace. One year he was one of many candidates running against Wallace. Shorty coined the slogan, “Shorty, Shorty, he’s our man. George Wallace belongs in a garbage can.” None of these six “also ran” gubernatorial candidates were nearly as good as Shorty. I bet if Shorty were still alive and running today, he would have beaten all six of them. I wish ole Shorty were alive and running in this governor’s race. This governor’s race would have been a lot more fun to watch. See you next week. Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers. He served 16 years in the state legislature. Steve may be reached at www.steveflowers.us.
George Wallace Jr.: 50th anniversary of George Wallace assassination attempt offers opportunity for reflection
Fifty years ago, on May 15, 1972, I was a student at the University of Alabama and in my Tuscaloosa apartment when a “Special Report” on the television announced that my father, Gov. George C. Wallace, had been shot and critically injured in an assassination attempt on his life. The frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination at the time, Dad had been campaigning in Maryland on the eve of that state’s primary. The Michigan primary was scheduled for the next day, as well, and polling predicted that my father would carry both states by wide margins. It was at a parking lot rally in Laurel, Maryland where Arthur Bremer, a troubled, 21-year-old busboy from Milwaukee, took five fateful shots and wounded my father in the chest and abdomen as he was shaking hands in the crowd. Dad later told me that he was immediately aware his injuries were serious, and when he hit the ground, he purposely turned his head, closed his eyes, and pretended to be dead in hopes that a possible second gunman would choose not to shoot. Despite the chaos surrounding him, he had felt a certain peace and finality come over him as he wrongly assumed his wounds would be fatal. A Secret Service agent had kneeled over him in a protective position, but his drawn gun was dangerously close to Dad’s head. “I wish you wouldn’t point that at me – I have been shot enough for one day,” he told the agent. Bremer’s flurry of gunfire had also resulted in Secret Service agent Nick Zarvos being shot in the neck, Alabama State Trooper E.C. Dothard, a member of the gubernatorial security detail, receiving a graze to the stomach, and Dora Thompson, a campaign volunteer from Hyattsville, Maryland, suffering a knee wound after a bullet ricocheted off of the asphalt. A diary that Bremer kept for months stated his intention to “do something bold and dramatic” and indicated he had originally intended to assassinate President Richard Nixon. Stalking the president on his various travels, Bremer got close enough to take a shot at an economic summit in Ottawa, Canada, but the strong Secret Service presence surrounding the chief executive prompted him to change plans and target my father – the most likely future president – instead. Within minutes of receiving the news, state troopers arrived at my apartment door, whisked me to the airport, and placed me aboard a private jet along with Charlie Snider, the national chairman of the Wallace presidential campaign, press secretary Billy Joe Camp, and a handful of others. We soon arrived at Holy Cross Hospital, where my father had been taken by ambulance and was undergoing five hours of emergency surgery. The attending doctors told us that his already grave injuries were complicated by the fact that just prior to the rally, Dad and his traveling campaign staff had stopped at a Howard Johnson’s restaurant, where he ate his usual lunch of hamburger steak and fries doused in ketchup. The bullets had caused the undigested food to explode within his abdomen, and the lingering peritonitis blood infection and abscesses that followed would almost claim his life. When I walked into the recovery room, my father was still heavily sedated and many of the stitches on his chest and stomach were visible. He reached out with a look I had never seen – one of a man who had been to death’s door and was back among the living, reunited with his family. I have never forgotten that look. It soon became clear that the injuries had paralyzed my father from the waist down, and though we held hope that he would eventually regain use of his legs, those particular prayers were left unanswered. He remained hospitalized at Holy Cross for several weeks as he fought infections and held the continuing specter of death at bay. Once he regained strength, he received visits from notable leaders that included President Nixon, Senator George McGovern, Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, and Ethel Kennedy, whose husband, Robert Kennedy, had been killed while campaigning for the presidency in 1968. Cards, letters, telegrams, and flowers flowed into the hospital by the thousands. Upon his release, Dad flew to Miami on a military medical aircraft, which was provided by President Nixon, to appear at the 1972 Democratic National Convention, where McGovern, a committed liberal, would claim the nomination. My father’s forced absence from the campaign trail had allowed his competitor to secure the required delegates. During his convention remarks, Dad warned the Democrats that embracing the extreme left and its ultra-liberal agenda would cost the party the support of the rank-and-file, blue-collar, middle-class families that served as its foundation and doom it to lose the Deep South states in future elections. Like a clairvoyant with a crystal ball, all of the predictions he made those years ago have come true today. As my father spoke, a handful of liberal delegates tried to shout him down, and some marched around the convention hall wearing paper masks depicting Arthur Bremer, which Wallace supporters ripped from their faces. The vast majority, though, gave him a warm reception and appreciated the history of the moment. His mission complete, it was time to return to his beloved Alabama. My father would serve two more terms as governor and run for president a fourth time in 1976, though he lost the nomination to Jimmy Carter, a former Georgia governor who had once been a Wallace supporter. Retirement from public office in 1987 would offer him the opportunity for reflection in his later years, and his relationship with God grew significantly. One of the most enduring and revealing testaments to my father’s deepening faith came in an incredible letter of forgiveness he wrote with no fanfare or public announcement to his assailant, Arthur Bremer, in 1995. A copy of the missive was discovered tucked away in Dad’s files years after it was written. “I love you and have forgiven you, and if you will ask Jesus Christ into your heart,
Alabama law awarding honorary degree to civil rights lawyer Fred Gray
A civil rights lawyer who once fought to desegregate the University of Alabama is now receiving an honorary degree from the school. Attorney Fred Gray of Tuskegee will be awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree during the law school’s graduation ceremony on Sunday afternoon, the university said in a statement. The commencement marks the 50th anniversary since three students became the first Black people to graduate from the law school. Gray, 91, once helped represent Vivian Malone Jones and James Hood in their attempt to desegregate the university, where they enrolled as the first Black students in 1963 after then-Gov. George C. Wallace staged his “stand in the schoolhouse door” against integration. Gray also represented Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Black seamstress Rosa Parks, whose arrest for refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white man prompted the Montgomery bus boycott. Later, he represented Black men who filed suit after the government let their illness go untreated in the infamous Tuskegee syphilis study. Currently, Gray is involved in a lawsuit seeking to remove a Confederate monument from a square at the center of mostly black Tuskegee. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
