Talk:Albert Brewer

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One term limit[edit]

This article suggests that, the Alabama Constitution previously limited a person to one-term as Governor. That's not entirely accurate, the person was limited to seeking 'reelection' as an incumbent after serving his/her first term (a one-term former governor OR a second, third, fouth term etc governor could seek reelection as an incumbent). Wallace (as a former governor) in 1970, could've been elected (and continously reelected afterward) regardless of the Constitionnal change. Making correct changes to article. GoodDay 19:27, 27 May 2007 (UTC) == The initial paragraph of the overall entry may be supported by the single source cited, but having been there and knowing both Wallace and Brewer at the time, it does not fit with what was generally understood to be true. There are a number of problems, most of them relatively minor.[reply]

Wallace was barred by the state constitution from running for a second consecutive term. The only two term governor under the 1901 Constitution to that date in non-consecutive terms was James E. "Big Jim" Folsom - an illustration of the difficulty. The discussion entry above on the one term limit is an incorrect reading on the Constitutional limit.

The constitution of 1901 stated; " After the first election under this Constitution, no one of said officers shall be eligible as his own successor; and the governor shall not be eligible to election or appointment to any office under this state, or to the senate of the United States, during his term, and within one year after the expiration thereof." The prohibition on consecutive terms was absolute. Without the amendment, Wallace would not have been eligible to run for re-election after 1970. Folsom wanted and sought a third term, but only until after he sat out the term of John Patterson. It was a flat prohiition on consecutive terms.

In the state's constitution article 116, "THE FIRST ELECTION"does not refer to a govenor's first election, rather it refers to the first election after adoption of the 1901 Constitution. Folsom, as noted, won two non-consecutive terms He was required to sit out the election after his second term ended. That roadblock to consecutive terms was changed in Amendment 282, which was approved by voters in the 1968 election.

As for "was a Wallace supporter," as Speaker of the House, Brewer had a working and political relationship with Wallace. Brewer wanted to run for governor in 1966 had held back because a prominent moderate, Ryan DeGraffenreid (sr), after being defeated by Wallace in 1966, was the leading candidate going into the primary. He appeared to have built an insurmountable lead before entries were closed. DeGraffenreid, however, died in a plane crash on the way to speak to a political gathering. Wallace had previously considered his wife becoming a surrogate candidacy, but Lurleen Wallace did not formally become a candidate until after DeGraffenreid's death opened the field. Brewer would have been an attractive candidate to Alabamians. He had close ties to Wallace and other politicians who still controlled the heavily black areas where slavery was most common. He was from argely white North Alabama. Wallace was reputed to have struck an informal agreement to support Brewer in 1970, if he would run for Lieutenant Governor.

Wallace and his wife learned in 1966 that she had a uterine cancer which had a low survival rate. The political campaign was thought to have delayed treatment. Detail of her illness, its nature and treatment were withheld with denials that she was seriously ill. The GOP nominated what it thought was a strong candidate, a Goldwater congressman, but his campaign was a flop and the Democrats dominated as usual. But during the fall campaign, Wallace had campaigned hard while his wife gritted her teeth and sat with dark circles under her eyes and other signs of illness. It was clear to anyone who saw her that she was gravely ill.

Contrary to many assertions, the Wallace's did not admit the illness was serious, even after her cancer returned in sometime in early to mid 1968. Any meaningful information was withheld. No one knows whether she had full or partial remission. But she spent the last half of 1967 and until May of 1968 dying, succumbing at 41. Through this period, Brewer was a Wallace ally. He did serve as acting governor, but the shuttle was done to maintain the Potemkin village that allowed her husband to legally do the Governor's work. The Wallace campaign for President never slackened. By the fall election season, Wallace was reported involved with a woman he had met on the campaign, modeling in local commercials as a "Dodge Girl." Brewer took office quietly and generally impressed many with his demeanor. Wallace's conduct during is wife's illness was considered deeply cynical even by friends who knew the couple.

Wallace's decision to run against Brewer in 1970 and his subsequent campaign destroyed the relationship. The assertion that Brewer "courted" newly-registered black voters is far too strong. Brewer's courting primarily consisted of not engaging in racist rhetoric or even of rejectionist rhetoric. His approach was accepting and giving respect to black voters. It was no secret that he wanted to build a coalition - no Alabama candidate could win without one, even before the 1960s re-enfranchisement of black voters. Wallace reversed himself late in his campaign and openly pleaded for black votes to join a coalition to defeat a Republican candidate. Viewing Brewer through today's prism, and Alabama apologists, encourages a belief that Wallace was responding to something overt in the first primary. In fact, although Brewer, with 42 percent of the vote, led Wallace by just one percent, a third candidate, Charles Woods had just under 15 percent with a change message. Vote analysis of the period indicated that while Brewer did win most black votes, Wallace had won well under half of the white votes cast. The probability of Wood's votes going to Brewer exceeded the needed 8-7 split. Wallace's campaign realized that they could not win taking away a substantial number of white voters from Brewer. he did that by openly playing on Race, but the ugliest part of the campaign was conducted by Wallace surrogates in both the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazi groups. Klan-Supported candidates won the major offices. Wallace sent a senior aide to a secret Klan meeting to express his thanks. Jere Beasley went himself. Senator Jim Allen sent a telegram expressing his thanks to the Klan.

True, Nixon supported Brewer, but his interest was in undermining Democratic support among whites.

historian Dan Carter has dealt with with this extensively. http://www.emory.edu/EMORY_MAGAZINE/spring96/wallace.html —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jmc9595 (talk • contribs) 23:56, 8 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Wallace's 1970 campaign[edit]

The article suggested Wallace's campaign tactics are a matter of dispute. They are not. Wallace called Brewer "sissy britches;" his campaign workers slurred Brewer's wife and children; supporters circulated literature playing on the sexual fears of white voters and Wallace was quoted using the n-word at two different points on the day of the 1970 run-off.--Idols of Mud (talk) 20:34, 29 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

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