Part 2 of “The Watergate Story.” You know, someday they’ll make a TV miniseries out of this blog series. I want Lauren Graham to play me. Or maybe Johnny Depp?
I thought I would dig a little deeper into the Democratic candidates for the 1972 presidential nomination; I’ve heard their names all my life, but really, I don’t know much about them.
Except this one.
George Wallace was a four-time Democratic governor of Alabama. He also ran for President four times, in 1964, 1972, and 1976 as a Democrat. In 1968, he ran for the American Independent Party.
The American Independent Party platform is linked below. It goes on about states’ rights and how the federal government shouldn’t intervene in voting rights, school districting, or gerrymandering. Wallace liked that, bringing his own brand of “folksy wisdom” and “uncontrollable insults of entire groups of people” to the party. He had heavy support among blue-collar and rural white America.
I know. I see it too.
His campaign in 1968 was remarkably similar to Richard Nixon’s, who was running on “law and order” platform. Republicans were afraid that he would split the conservative vote with their candidate and allow the Democratic nominee, Hubert Humphrey, to win. Also, white supremacist groups (Nazis and Klansmen) came out to endorse him for President. Yes, he was a Democrat. Wallace didn’t seek out those endorsements–but he didn’t disavow them either.
It was a different time.
Incidentally, the quote: “Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.” And the one about standing in the schoolhouse door to keep black students out? Yeah, that was Wallace. Running on a segregationist platform in 1968.
So, fast forward to 1972. Wallace is still freaking out about African-Americans at the University of Alabama. He still hates voter registration and school desegregation and getting rid of gerrymandering. So he runs for President again, in that atmosphere of “the President is vulnerable” that we talked about last time. He’s one of eleven candidates.
How does Wallace stand out? Well, he ditched the overt racism in favor of dog whistles (covert racism) and a more general backlash-to-everything approach. And, in that great American tradition? It was working out for him.
He won Florida, where he carried every county. Tennessee and North Carolina. And then, while at a campaign stop in Laurel, Maryland, he was shot five times by Arthur Bremer. Wallace was left paralyzed, with a bullet lodged in his spinal column, for the rest of his life. Although he remained on the ticket, he stopped campaigning, though he did speak at the Democratic convention in July 1972.
Bremer didn’t have a political motive. He just wanted to be famous.
After being shot, Wallace won Maryland and Michigan, and Alabama, and some of the Texas delegates. He carried a bunch of counties in New Mexico. He ended up with 23.48% of the popular vote; the candidate with the most votes, Hubert Humphrey, had 25.77%. And George McGovern, the nominee, had 25.34% of the votes.
Reminder, kids: your vote counts.
So, what’s the Nixon connection? Well…
After Wallace was shot, a reading of Bremer’s diary revealed that Nixon had nearly been his target. And Nixon reacted by…
Giving Secret Service protection to more of the candidates. He sent agents to Shirley Chisholm and Wilbur Mills, who were running but had not qualified for protection. And he also provided protection to Senator Ted Kennedy, because his brothers had both been assassinated.
A good political move? Definitely. Nixon would have been the loser if another Democratic politician had been shot. But also, this had the effect of protecting dissent.
Which is what America is.
Sources and Further Reading:
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=29570
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/daily/sept98/wallace.htm
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