Democratic Presidential Primaries of 1964
On November 15–20, 1963, in Dallas, Texas, Wallace announced his intention to oppose the then-35th U.S. President, John F. Kennedy, for the Democratic nomination for President. Days later, Kennedy was dead of an assassin's bullet, and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson moved into the presidency.
Building upon his newfound public image after the University of Alabama controversy, Wallace entered the Democratic primaries on the advice of a public relations expert from Wisconsin. Wallace campaigned strongly by expressing his opposition on integration and a tough approach to crime. In Democratic primaries in Wisconsin, Indiana, and Maryland, Wallace garnered at least a third of the vote running against three Johnson-designated surrogates.
Wallace was known for stirring crowds with his oratory. The Huntsville Times interviewed Bill Jones, Wallace's first press secretary, who recounted "a particularly fiery speech in Cincinnati in 1964 that scared even Wallace." "Wallace angrily shouted to a crowd of 1000 that 'little pinkos' were 'running around outside' protesting his visit, and continued, after thunderous applause, Wallace said, "When you and I start marching and demonstrating and carrying signs, we will close every highway in the country." The audience leapt to its feet "and headed for the exit." Jones said, "It shook Wallace. He quickly moved to calm them down."
At graduation exercises in the spring of 1964 at Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina, Wallace received an honorary doctorate. At the commencement, Bob Jones, Jr., read the following citation as a tribute to Wallace:
| “ | Men who have fought for truth and righteousness have always been slandered, maligned, and misrepresented. The American press in its attacks upon Governor Wallace has demonstrated that it is no longer free, American, or honest. But you, Mr. Governor, have demonstrated not only by the overwhelming victories in the recent elections in your own state of Alabama but also in the showing which you have made in states long dominated by cheap demagogues and selfish radicals that there is still in America love for freedom, hard common sense, and at least some hope for the preservation of our constitutional liberties. | ” |
Read more about this topic: George Wallace
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