Steve Flowers on George Wallace Part Nine
My first term was 1982 and Governor Wallace was serving his last term. He treated us legislators like kings. It didn't matter who was in his office, if you were a member of the legislature and you...
View ArticleSteve Flowers on George Wallace Part Ten
Nobody will ever be governor of Alabama four or five times again. Wallace was in a class by himself when it came to politicians...
View ArticleSteve Flowers on Sam Rayburn
The legendary speaker of the U.S. House Mr. Sam Rayburn coined a famous phrase he used often in appointing young congressmen when they'd arrive on Capitol Hill - "If you want to get along, you have to...
View ArticleSteve Flowers on 4th Congresional District
The traditional 4th Congressional District, which stretches across North Alabama just below the Tennessee Valley, has produced some of Alabama's most legendary and powerful congressmen...
View ArticleSteve Flowers on the 2018 Governor's Race
Our 2018 election is right upon us; historically in Alabama, we've voted more heavily in our governor's race year than for president. That's probably because we're more interested in the local sheriff...
View ArticleSteve Flowers on Mobile 1st Congressional District
The Mobile First Congressional District has had quite a legacy over the last century. Alabama's first district has always been primarily made up in Mobile County...
View ArticleSteve Flowers on Congressman Carl Elliott
Some of you folks in Northwest Alabama, around Jasper, may remember Carl Elliott; he was one of our most progressive Democratic Congressmen...
View ArticleSteve Flowers on Harry Truman
Many of ya'll have heard of the famous story surrounding Harry Truman; ya'll have heard of the mistaken newspaper headline "Dewey defeats Truman" - that's when the Chicago Daily Tribune incorrectly...
View ArticleSteve Flowers on Friends and Neighbors Politics
There's a proven theory by political scholars that's prevailed in Southern political history for decades - it's simply called "friends and neighbors politics"...
View ArticleSteve Flowers on Governor's Race ABCs
When talk turns to politics in Alabama, it usually leads to the governor's race. It doesn't matter of the governor's race is four years away. In Alabama politics, the governor's office is a brass ring...
View ArticleSteve Flowers on 1958 Governor's Race
As the 1958 governor's race dawned, the shadow of Big Jim Folsom loomed over the scene even though Big Jim couldn't be on the ballot - the Alabama Constitution prohibited a governor from succeeding...
View ArticleSteve Flowers on 1962 Governor's Race
Being a U.S. Senator was secondary in Alabama politics; governor is still probably the most important, glamorous political position today, but it certainly was [in 1962]...
View ArticleSteve Flowers on the 1966 Governor's Race
A special session of the legislature can be called by the governor, if he deems a dire emergency in the state government. This provision of the constitution gives the governor an inherent advantage in...
View ArticleSteve Flowers on the 1966 Governor's Race Part Two
The 1966 governor's race had two stories: the Ryan Degraffenried story and the Lurleen Wallce story...
View ArticleSteve Flowers on the 1966 Governor's Race Part Three
Ryan Degraffenried was going to win the governor's race, but of course, he died in a plane crash while campaigning; after Degraffenried's plane crash and death in February of 1966, the governor's race...
View ArticleSteve Flowers on the 1970 Governor's Race Part Two
In late 1969, Brewer and Wallace met to discuss the governor's race. Brewer left that meeting and said Wallace had given his word that he wasn't interested in running for governor in 1970; soon...
View ArticleSteve Flowers on the 1978 Governor's Race Part One
The 1978 governor's race between the three heavy weights - former Governor Albert Brewer, Attorney General Bill Baxley and Lieutenant Governor Jere Beasley - was expected to be titanic. All three men...
View ArticleSteve Flowers on the 1978 Governor's Race Part Two
It was an amazing story - the three Bs - Bill Baxley, Jere Beasley and Albert Brewer had been planning to run for governor for 20 years...
View ArticleSteve Flowers on the 2018 Primary Election and Bucks Pocket
Historically in Alabama, we've voted more heavily in our governor's race year than our presidential year. That's probably because we're more interested in the local sheriff and probate judge races,...
View ArticleSteve Flowers on the 1982 Governor's Race
Fob James took the reigns of Alabama state governor January of 1979. His inauguration was a somewhat strange event, as Alabamians were used to a Wallace being sworn in as governor every fourth January...
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