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→Political career
==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. 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.
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.