Lester Maddox
Lester Garfield Maddox, Sr. | |||
---|---|---|---|
| |||
Former Governor of Georgia From: January 11, 1967 – January 12, 1971 | |||
Lieutenant | George T. Smith | ||
Predecessor | Carl Sanders | ||
Successor | Jimmy Carter | ||
7th Lieutenant Governor of Georgia From: January 12, 1971 – January 14, 1975 | |||
Predecessor | George T. Smith | ||
Successor | Zell Miller | ||
Information | |||
Party | Democrat | ||
Spouse(s) | Hattie Virginia Cox | ||
Religion | Southern Baptist |

Lester Garfield Maddox, Sr. (September 30, 1915 – June 25, 2003), was the 75th Governor of the U.S. state of Georgia for the single term from January 11, 1967, to January 12, 1971. A lifelong Democrat, he championed segregation, and like contemporary liberals, advocated the threat and use of violence to achieve political ends.[2] He later served on the same ticket with Jimmy Carter's as Lieutenant Governor.
Maddox was a restaurant owner who famously kept a baseball bat in an umbrella stand at the door of his business to chase away Blacks who tried to enter. The publicity he received for these actions in 1964 qualified him for and got him elected Democrat governor of Georgia two years later in 1966. In 1968, between the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King and nomination of Vice President Hubert Humphrey who did not run in any primary or caucus election, Maddox tossed his hat into the ring as a Democrat presidential candidate,[3] and received glowing MSM national attention.
After Humphrey's nomination, Maddox supported Alabama Democrat former Governor George Wallace as the nominee of the former American Independent Party. Maddox's refusal to support Humphrey cost him to support among some Georgia Democrats, particularly in his native city of Atlanta, and paved the way for the election of Jimmy Carter in 1970. Maddox stepped down to become Lieutenant Governor. Maddox ran for president against Carter, whom he personally disliked, in 1976 as the nominee of the American Independent Party.
See also
References
- ↑ https://twitter.com/BeschlossDC/status/1278395843322789889
- ↑ http://www.nga.org/portal/site/nga/menuitem.29fab9fb4add37305ddcbeeb501010a0/?vgnextoid=34f8224971c81010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD&vgnextchannel=e449a0ca9e3f1010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD
- ↑ https://sites.google.com/site/maddoxfamilywebsite/maddox-famous/gov-lester-maddox