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Early in his career, Godwin was a special agent of the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]].<ref name=findagrave>Mills Edwin Godwin Jr. (1914-1999) - Find A Grave Memorial, accessed October 12, 2021.</ref>

Early in his career, Godwin was a special agent of the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]].<ref name=findagrave>Mills Edwin Godwin Jr. (1914-1999) - Find A Grave Memorial, accessed October 12, 2021.</ref>

==Political career==

==Political career==

Godwin was a state representative from 1948 to 1952, a state senator from 1952 and 1962, and the state lieutenant governor from 1962 to 1966, when he began his term as a Democratic governor.<ref name=findagrave/> As a state senator, Godwin supported the "massive resistance" to school [[Segregation|desegregation], which challenged the [[United States Supreme Court]]'s ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]'' opinion, issued on May 17, 1954. In time, he like other Byrd Democrats concluded that resistance to racial integration was unsustainable. Godwin defended his support of ''massive resistance" to allow time for racial relations to heal.<ref>THE LEGACY OF MILLS GODWIN - The Washington Post, accessed October 12, 2021.</ref>

Godwin was a state representative from 1948 to 1952, a state senator from 1952 and 1962, and the state lieutenant governor from 1962 to 1966, when he began his term as a Democratic governor.<ref name=findagrave/> As a state senator, Godwin supported the "massive resistance" to school [[Segregation|desegregation], which challenged the [[United States Supreme Court]]'s ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]'' opinion, issued on May 17, 1954. In time, he like other Byrd Democrats concluded that resistance to racial integration was unsustainable. Godwin defended his support of ''massive resistance" to allow time for racial relations to heal.<ref>THE LEGACY OF MILLS GODWIN - The Washington Post, accessed October 12, 2021.</ref>

In 1964, Lieutenant Governor Godwin endorsed [[U.S. President]] [[Lyndon B. Johson in the race against Republican U.S. Senator [[Barry Goldwater]] of [[Arizona]]. Johnson had signed into law the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]], which Goldwater had opposed at the time.  In the 1965 gubernatorial race, Godwin was unopposed in the party [[primary]]. In the fall he defeated the Republican Linwood Holton, for whom later President [[Richard Nixon]] had campaigned, and William J. Story, Jr., the nominee of the former Conservative Party of Virginia.

In 1964, Lieutenant Governor Godwin endorsed [[U.S. President]] [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] in the race against Republican U.S. Senator [[Barry Goldwater]] of [[Arizona]]. Johnson had signed into law the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]], which Goldwater had opposed at the time.  In the 1965 gubernatorial race, Godwin was unopposed in the party [[primary]]. In the fall he defeated the Republican Linwood Holton, for whom later President [[Richard Nixon]] had campaigned, and William J. Story, Jr., the nominee of the former Conservative Party of Virginia.

As he ran for governor against Linwood Holton, Godwin reached out to [[African Americans]]he 1965 gubernatorial race, Godwin reached out to [[African American]] voters during the 1964 presidential campaign by campaigning for President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]], who had led the movement for enactment of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964|Civil Rights Act]] of that year.

As he ran for governor against Linwood Holton, Godwin reached out to [[African Americans]]he 1965 gubernatorial race, Godwin reached out to [[African American]] voters during the 1964 presidential campaign by campaigning for President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]], who had led the movement for enactment of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964|Civil Rights Act]] of that year.