Lester Maddox
Encyclopedia
Lester Garfield Maddox was an American
politician who was the 75th Governor of the U.S. state
of Georgia
from 1967 to 1971.
A popular and populist
governor, Maddox came to prominence as a staunch segregationist
and maintained, to his death, that he never had any regrets.
campus to open up the Pickrick Restaurant.
Maddox made the Pickrick a family affair, with his wife and children working side-by-side with him. The restaurant became known for its simple, inexpensive Southern cuisine, including its specialty, skillet-fried chicken
. It soon became a thriving business. The restaurant also provided Maddox with his first political forum: the restaurant became well known in Atlanta for large newspaper advertisements that featured cartoon chickens. Following the Brown v. Board of Education
decision of 1954, these restaurant ads began more and more to feature the cartoon chickens commenting on the political questions of the day. However, Maddox's refusal to adjust to changes following the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
manifested itself when he filed a lawsuit to continue his segregationist policies. Maddox said that he would close his restaurant rather than serve black people. An initial group of black demonstrators came to the restaurant but did not enter when Maddox informed them that he had a large number of black employees. In April 1964, more African-Americans attempted to enter the restaurant. Maddox confronted the group, brandishing a handgun. Maddox provides the following account of the events:
Unable to win his case, he became a martyr to segregationist advocates by selling the restaurant to employees rather than agreeing to serve black customers.
The building was purchased by Georgia Tech in 1965 and was used for many years as the placement center, and was later known as the Ajax building. It was demolished on May 14 and 15, 2009.
, who sought a more moderate racial approach, then lost to Ivan Allen, Jr. four years later, with the two politicians splitting the white vote. Allen's ability to garner virtually all the black votes proved to be the difference.
In 1962, Maddox ran for Lieutenant Governor of Georgia
against Peter Zack Geer
, a candidate who shared his opponent's views on segregation and states' rights
. In an effort to differentiate from each other, both candidates attempted to paint the other as an extremist. Geer won the race, but Maddox gained valuable recognition across the state.
nomination for Governor of Georgia in 1966, his principal opponent for the nomination was former governor Ellis Arnall
. That election was still in the era of Democratic Party dominance in Georgia, when winning the Democratic primary was tantamount to election
. Since there was no Republican primary at the time, and there were a great many voters who identified with the Republicans, the Republicans voted in the Democratic primary and chose the candidate who they thought would lose against their candidate, Howard Callaway. In the primary election, Arnall won a plurality of the popular vote, but was denied the required majority. Lester Maddox, the candidate in second place, then ran in a run-off against Ellis Arnall. State Senator Jimmy Carter
came in third. Again, the Republicans voted in the Democratic primary runoff. Arnall barely campaigned in the run-off election, and the result was a victory for Maddox.
Stunned, Arnall announced a write-in candidacy for the general election, insisting that Georgians must have the option of a moderate Democrat besides party-nominee Maddox and the Republican candidate. In that contest, Republican
nominee Howard "Bo" Callaway
, the first Republican member of the United States House of Representatives elected from Georgia since the close of Reconstruction, won a plurality, and Maddox finished second. (Some people unhappy with both major nominees took the "Go Bo" of Callaway's campaign and expanded it to "Go Bo, and take Lester with you".) Under the election rules then in effect, the state legislature was required to select a governor from the two candidates with the highest number of votes. With the legislature overwhelmingly dominated by Democrats, all of whom had been required to sign a Democratic loyalty oath which required them to support Democrats only, Maddox became Governor, serving from 1967 to 1971.
, he denied the slain civil rights leader the honor of lying in state in the Georgia state capitol after being provided reports from undercover agents in the Atlanta Police Department that there was a planned storming of the state capitol by participants in the crowd of mourners. As a precaution, Maddox stationed 64 officers in riot gear in groups of eight at each of the entrances to the capitol. Also, he endorsed George Wallace
, the pro-segregation American Independent Party
candidate in the 1968 presidential election
.
His often self-deprecating humor and off-the-cuff manner stood in contrast to the fiery rhetoric of other Southern politicians such as George Wallace
and Strom Thurmond
: when asked what could be done to improve the abysmal conditions in Georgia prisons, Maddox replied that what was really needed was a better class of prisoner. Maddox's chief of staff was Zell Miller
, who went on to serve two terms as governor in the 1990s.
Maddox received the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from Bob Jones University
in 1969.
In 1968, a small Atlanta repertory company produced a play entitled Red, White and Maddox. The play ridiculed Maddox and imagined him winning the 1972 U.S. presidential election, then starting a war with the Soviet Union
. The show came to Broadway and ran 41 performances at the Cort Theatre before closing.
from running for a second consecutive term, necessitating a 1970 run for Lieutenant Governor of Georgia
. Although Maddox was elected as a Democratic candidate at the same time as Jimmy Carter
's election as Governor as a Democratic candidate, the two were not running mate
s; in Georgia, particularly in that era of Democratic dominance, the winners of the primary elections went on to easy victories in the general elections without campaigning together as an official ticket or as running mates. Carter and Maddox found little common ground during their four years of service, often publicly feuding with each other.
Shortly after that election, Maddox appeared as a guest on The Dick Cavett Show
on December 18, 1970. During a commercial break, fellow guest and former football player Jim Brown
asked Maddox if he had "any trouble with the white bigots because of all the things you did for blacks." On the air, Cavett substituted the word "admirers" in place of "bigots", enraging Maddox. After demanding an apology from Cavett and not getting it, Maddox walked off the show.
Maddox ran again for governor in 1974 but lost in the Democratic primary to George Busbee
. Maddox called the campaign against Busbee "the worst thing I have ever been involved in." Busbee then handily defeated Republican Ronnie Thompson
, who had hoped to have faced Maddox in the fall campaign. Thompson called Maddox "a counterfeit conservative" and challenged the outgoing lieutenant governor to a debate. Maddox's former chief of staff Zell Miller
was successful in his own bid to succeed Maddox as lieutenant governor.
, Maddox ran against him as the nominee of the staunch segregationist American Independent Party
, saying that his former rival was "the most dishonest man I ever met." Maddox and running mate William Dyke of Wisconsin received 170,274 votes in the election, less than 1 percent of the vote.
and Sears on guitar
.
On September 25, 1977, Maddox suffered a heart attack, but recovered and attended a number of appreciation dinners from Georgia Democrats that reduced his debts. In an attempt to raise further money, Maddox auctioned off memorabilia the following year from his days as a restaurateur and a politician. Included in this collection were autographed ax handles. The auction brought only $1,392, but Maddox refused to declare bankruptcy, saying, "I'd rather die."
Maddox began a real estate company, but never again experienced the financial success he had enjoyed with the "Pickrick." When he was diagnosed with cancer
in 1983, Maddox traveled to the Bahamas for experimental treatment. Two years later, the facility where he received his treatment was closed due to fears of contamination by AIDS
. He never contracted the latter disease, and made a successful recovery from his cancer.
Larry McDonald
aboard, a special election was held to fill his seat in Congress. Lester Maddox stated his intention to run for the seat if McDonald's wife, Kathy McDonald, did not.
But Kathy McDonald decided to run, and Maddox stayed out of the race; however, she lost to Democrat George "Buddy" Darden
.
for the remainder of his life. In 1992 and 1996, Maddox crossed party lines and endorsed unsuccessful populist Republican Patrick J. Buchanan for the presidency. His last public speech was in Atlanta in 2001 at the annual national conference of the Council of Conservative Citizens
. This group, of which he was a charter member, is considered by the Southern Poverty Law Center
(SPLC), NAACP, League of United Latin American Citizens
, and Anti-Defamation League
to be a racist
or white supremacist group.
and prostate cancer
.
(former Georgia House Speaker) said of Maddox: "He had a reputation as a segregationist, but he told us he was not a segregationist, but that you should be able to associate with whoever you wanted. He went on to do more for African Americans than any governor of Georgia up until that time."
The Interstate Highway 75 bridge over the Chattahoochee River
at the southeastern boundary of Cobb County, GA, is named the Lester and Virginia Maddox Bridge.
Maddox's name also appears in the opening lines of Randy Newman
's song "Rednecks
", in allusion to his appearance on The Dick Cavett Show
:
According to an interviewer from the alternative newspaper Creative Loafing
, "What offends [Maddox] most is Newman's crude reference to the Jewish man." It should be noted, however, that Newman's lines are from the point of view
of an unreliable narrator
: specifically, a self-proclaimed "redneck" who assumes, incorrectly, that Cavett is Jewish.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
politician who was the 75th Governor of the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
from 1967 to 1971.
A popular and populist
Populism
Populism can be defined as an ideology, political philosophy, or type of discourse. Generally, a common theme compares "the people" against "the elite", and urges social and political system changes. It can also be defined as a rhetorical style employed by members of various political or social...
governor, Maddox came to prominence as a staunch segregationist
Racial segregation
Racial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...
and maintained, to his death, that he never had any regrets.
Childhood
Maddox was the second of seven children born to Georgia steelworker Dean Garfield Maddox and his wife Flonnie Castleberry Maddox. At an early age, Maddox left school to help support the family by working various jobs, but eventually received his high school degree by taking correspondence courses.Restaurant owner
In 1944, Maddox, along with his wife, the former Virginia Cox, used $400 they had saved to open up a combination grocery store/restaurant, called Lester's Grill. Building on that success, the couple then bought property on Hemphill Avenue off the Georgia TechGeorgia Institute of Technology
The Georgia Institute of Technology is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States...
campus to open up the Pickrick Restaurant.
Maddox made the Pickrick a family affair, with his wife and children working side-by-side with him. The restaurant became known for its simple, inexpensive Southern cuisine, including its specialty, skillet-fried chicken
Fried chicken
Fried chicken is a dish consisting of chicken pieces usually from broiler chickens which have been floured or battered and then pan fried, deep fried, or pressure fried. The breading adds a crisp coating or crust to the exterior...
. It soon became a thriving business. The restaurant also provided Maddox with his first political forum: the restaurant became well known in Atlanta for large newspaper advertisements that featured cartoon chickens. Following the Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 , was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional. The decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896 which...
decision of 1954, these restaurant ads began more and more to feature the cartoon chickens commenting on the political questions of the day. However, Maddox's refusal to adjust to changes following the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a landmark piece of legislation in the United States that outlawed major forms of discrimination against African Americans and women, including racial segregation...
manifested itself when he filed a lawsuit to continue his segregationist policies. Maddox said that he would close his restaurant rather than serve black people. An initial group of black demonstrators came to the restaurant but did not enter when Maddox informed them that he had a large number of black employees. In April 1964, more African-Americans attempted to enter the restaurant. Maddox confronted the group, brandishing a handgun. Maddox provides the following account of the events:
Mostly customers, with only a few employees, voluntarily removed the twelve Pickrick Drumsticks (pick handles) from the nail kegs on each side of the large dining room fireplace. They had been forewarned by the arrival of Atlanta's news media of an impending attempted invasion of our restaurant by the racial demonstrators and once the demonstrators and agitators arrived, the customers and employees pulled the drumsticks from the kegs and went outside to defend against the threatened invasion.
Unable to win his case, he became a martyr to segregationist advocates by selling the restaurant to employees rather than agreeing to serve black customers.
The building was purchased by Georgia Tech in 1965 and was used for many years as the placement center, and was later known as the Ajax building. It was demolished on May 14 and 15, 2009.
Wife
Lester Maddox and his wife Virginia were married for sixty-one years. At Maddox's home, a prominent landmark was a sign he had made. The first half of the sign read: "Thanks be to God; He has given me my precious Virginia for 61 years as of May 9, '97." A second sign was added below it after his wife died shortly after. This sign read: "and God took her from me and carried her home 45 days later."Early campaigns
During his ownership of the Pickrick, he twice ran for mayor of Atlanta. In 1957, he lost to incumbent William B. HartsfieldWilliam B. Hartsfield
William Berry Hartsfield was an American politician. He was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and served as its 49th and 51st Mayor from 1937 to 1941 and again from 1942 to 1962, making him the longest-serving mayor in Atlanta history....
, who sought a more moderate racial approach, then lost to Ivan Allen, Jr. four years later, with the two politicians splitting the white vote. Allen's ability to garner virtually all the black votes proved to be the difference.
In 1962, Maddox ran for Lieutenant Governor of Georgia
Lieutenant Governor of Georgia
The Lieutenant Governor of Georgia is a constitutional officer of the state, elected to a 4-year term by popular vote. Unlike some states, the lieutenant governor is elected on a separate ticket from the state Governor....
against Peter Zack Geer
Peter Zack Geer
Peter Zack Geer was a Democratic politician from Georgia.Geer was born in Colquitt, Miller County, Georgia. He graduated from Mercer University Walter F. George School of Law in 1951 and was a prominent attorney...
, a candidate who shared his opponent's views on segregation and states' rights
States' rights
States' rights in U.S. politics refers to political powers reserved for the U.S. state governments rather than the federal government. It is often considered a loaded term because of its use in opposition to federally mandated racial desegregation...
. In an effort to differentiate from each other, both candidates attempted to paint the other as an extremist. Geer won the race, but Maddox gained valuable recognition across the state.
1966 election
When Maddox sought the Democratic PartyDemocratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
nomination for Governor of Georgia in 1966, his principal opponent for the nomination was former governor Ellis Arnall
Ellis Arnall
Ellis Gibbs Arnall was an American politician, a progressive Democrat who served as the 69th Governor of the U.S. state of Georgia from 1943 to 1947.-Education:...
. That election was still in the era of Democratic Party dominance in Georgia, when winning the Democratic primary was tantamount to election
Tantamount to election
"Tantamount to election" is a phrase to describe a situation in which one political party so dominates the demographics of a voting district, that the person winning the party nomination for a race will virtually be assured of winning the general election...
. Since there was no Republican primary at the time, and there were a great many voters who identified with the Republicans, the Republicans voted in the Democratic primary and chose the candidate who they thought would lose against their candidate, Howard Callaway. In the primary election, Arnall won a plurality of the popular vote, but was denied the required majority. Lester Maddox, the candidate in second place, then ran in a run-off against Ellis Arnall. State Senator Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
came in third. Again, the Republicans voted in the Democratic primary runoff. Arnall barely campaigned in the run-off election, and the result was a victory for Maddox.
Stunned, Arnall announced a write-in candidacy for the general election, insisting that Georgians must have the option of a moderate Democrat besides party-nominee Maddox and the Republican candidate. In that contest, Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
nominee Howard "Bo" Callaway
Howard Callaway
Howard Hollis "Bo" Callaway is a businessman and former politician from the state of Georgia.-Early life and education:Callaway was born in LaGrange, Georgia, west of Atlanta. His grandfather was Fuller Earle Callaway. He attended Georgia Tech and graduated from the United States Military Academy...
, the first Republican member of the United States House of Representatives elected from Georgia since the close of Reconstruction, won a plurality, and Maddox finished second. (Some people unhappy with both major nominees took the "Go Bo" of Callaway's campaign and expanded it to "Go Bo, and take Lester with you".) Under the election rules then in effect, the state legislature was required to select a governor from the two candidates with the highest number of votes. With the legislature overwhelmingly dominated by Democrats, all of whom had been required to sign a Democratic loyalty oath which required them to support Democrats only, Maddox became Governor, serving from 1967 to 1971.
Governor of Georgia
Maddox campaigned hard for states' rights and manifested anti-black sentiments while in office. Upon the death of Martin Luther King, Jr.Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the...
, he denied the slain civil rights leader the honor of lying in state in the Georgia state capitol after being provided reports from undercover agents in the Atlanta Police Department that there was a planned storming of the state capitol by participants in the crowd of mourners. As a precaution, Maddox stationed 64 officers in riot gear in groups of eight at each of the entrances to the capitol. Also, he endorsed George Wallace
George Wallace
George Corley Wallace, Jr. was the 45th Governor of Alabama, serving four terms: 1963–1967, 1971–1979 and 1983–1987. "The most influential loser" in 20th-century U.S. politics, according to biographers Dan T. Carter and Stephan Lesher, he ran for U.S...
, the pro-segregation American Independent Party
American Independent Party
The American Independent Party is a right-wing political party of the United States that was established in 1967 by Bill and Eileen Shearer. In 1968, the American Independent Party nominated George C. Wallace as its presidential candidate and retired Air Force General Curtis E. LeMay as the vice...
candidate in the 1968 presidential election
United States presidential election, 1968
The United States presidential election of 1968 was the 46th quadrennial United States presidential election. Coming four years after Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson won in a historic landslide, it saw Johnson forced out of the race and Republican Richard Nixon elected...
.
His often self-deprecating humor and off-the-cuff manner stood in contrast to the fiery rhetoric of other Southern politicians such as George Wallace
George Wallace
George Corley Wallace, Jr. was the 45th Governor of Alabama, serving four terms: 1963–1967, 1971–1979 and 1983–1987. "The most influential loser" in 20th-century U.S. politics, according to biographers Dan T. Carter and Stephan Lesher, he ran for U.S...
and Strom Thurmond
Strom Thurmond
James Strom Thurmond was an American politician who served as a United States Senator. He also ran for the Presidency of the United States in 1948 as the segregationist States Rights Democratic Party candidate, receiving 2.4% of the popular vote and 39 electoral votes...
: when asked what could be done to improve the abysmal conditions in Georgia prisons, Maddox replied that what was really needed was a better class of prisoner. Maddox's chief of staff was Zell Miller
Zell Miller
Zell Bryan Miller is an American politician from the US state of Georgia. A Democrat, Miller served as Lieutenant Governor from 1975 to 1991, 79th Governor of Georgia from 1991 to 1999, and as United States Senator from 2000 to 2005....
, who went on to serve two terms as governor in the 1990s.
Maddox received the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from Bob Jones University
Bob Jones University
Bob Jones University is a private, for-profit, non-denominational Protestant university in Greenville, South Carolina.The university was founded in 1927 by Bob Jones, Sr. , an evangelist and contemporary of Billy Sunday...
in 1969.
In 1968, a small Atlanta repertory company produced a play entitled Red, White and Maddox. The play ridiculed Maddox and imagined him winning the 1972 U.S. presidential election, then starting a war with the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. The show came to Broadway and ran 41 performances at the Cort Theatre before closing.
Accomplishments in office
- Salary increases (in dollars) during four years as governor were more than for the two previous administrations combined.
- Percentage of salary increase for elementary and secondary teachers was a record breaker that was not reached again until seventeen years later.
- In higher education, the State Board of Regents received the highest budget increase of the latter half of the 20th century; and has been reported as likely the largest percentage increase for higher education of any state during the four fiscal years of the Maddox approved state budget appropriations.
- Dollars gained for new and expanded industry (during the Maddox Administration) equaled that of the seven previous three year terms from 1947 through 1966.
- According to a letter written by Maddox in 1999, Maddox "left the Office of Governor with a favorable poll rating of above 84% and won the Office of Lieutenant Governor in a landslide vote of over 73%, which remains the greatest percentage of votes for any governor or lieutenant governor against a Republican opponent in a Georgia General Election".
- Maddox was favorably influenced by Murray M. Silver, Esq., General Counsel of the Georgia Department of Labor, and Commissioner Sam Caldwell to hire blacks and to approve legislation affecting unemployment insurance of automobile workers within the state.
- He appointed more African Americans to state government positions than any other governor before him.
- Appointed the first African American to head a state department (the Board of Corrections).
- Named the first black GBIGeorgia Bureau of InvestigationThe Georgia Bureau of Investigation or GBI is an independent, U.S. state of Georgia agency that provides assistance to the state's criminal justice system in the areas of criminal investigations, forensic laboratory services and computerized criminal justice information.-Organization:The agency is...
agent. - Named the first black state trooper.
- Ordered state troopers to desist from using the word "niggerNiggerNigger is a noun in the English language, most notable for its usage in a pejorative context to refer to black people , and also as an informal slang term, among other contexts. It is a common ethnic slur...
" and "boyBoyA boy is a young male human , as contrasted to its female counterpart, girl, or an adult male, a man.The term "boy" is primarily used to indicate biological sex distinctions, cultural gender role distinctions or both...
", and to address African-Americans using "Mr." instead of by their first name. - He integrated the lines of farmer's markets throughout the state.
Lieutenant Governor of Georgia
Under the Georgia constitution of 1945, Maddox was prohibitedTerm limit
A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms a person may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method to curb the potential for monopoly, where a leader effectively becomes "president for...
from running for a second consecutive term, necessitating a 1970 run for Lieutenant Governor of Georgia
Lieutenant Governor of Georgia
The Lieutenant Governor of Georgia is a constitutional officer of the state, elected to a 4-year term by popular vote. Unlike some states, the lieutenant governor is elected on a separate ticket from the state Governor....
. Although Maddox was elected as a Democratic candidate at the same time as Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
's election as Governor as a Democratic candidate, the two were not running mate
Running mate
A running mate is a person running together with another person on a joint ticket during an election. The term is most often used in reference to the person in the subordinate position but can also properly be used when referring to both candidates, such as "Michael Dukakis and Lloyd Bentsen were...
s; in Georgia, particularly in that era of Democratic dominance, the winners of the primary elections went on to easy victories in the general elections without campaigning together as an official ticket or as running mates. Carter and Maddox found little common ground during their four years of service, often publicly feuding with each other.
Shortly after that election, Maddox appeared as a guest on The Dick Cavett Show
The Dick Cavett Show
The Dick Cavett Show has been the title of several talk shows hosted by Dick Cavett on various television networks, including:* ABC daytime ...
on December 18, 1970. During a commercial break, fellow guest and former football player Jim Brown
Jim Brown
James Nathaniel "Jim" Brown is an American former professional football player who has also made his mark as an actor. He is best known for his exceptional and record-setting nine-year career as a running back for the NFL Cleveland Browns from 1957 to 1965. In 2002, he was named by Sporting News...
asked Maddox if he had "any trouble with the white bigots because of all the things you did for blacks." On the air, Cavett substituted the word "admirers" in place of "bigots", enraging Maddox. After demanding an apology from Cavett and not getting it, Maddox walked off the show.
Maddox ran again for governor in 1974 but lost in the Democratic primary to George Busbee
George Busbee
George Dekle Busbee was an American politician who served as the 77th Governor of the U.S. state of Georgia from 1975 to 1983....
. Maddox called the campaign against Busbee "the worst thing I have ever been involved in." Busbee then handily defeated Republican Ronnie Thompson
Ronnie Thompson (Georgia politician)
Ronald John Thompson, known as Ronnie Thompson or Machine Gun Ronnie' Thompson , is a former Georgia Republican politician who was the first member of his party to have been elected mayor of Macon, the seat of Bibb County in central Georgia. Thompson served two controversial terms from 1967-1975...
, who had hoped to have faced Maddox in the fall campaign. Thompson called Maddox "a counterfeit conservative" and challenged the outgoing lieutenant governor to a debate. Maddox's former chief of staff Zell Miller
Zell Miller
Zell Bryan Miller is an American politician from the US state of Georgia. A Democrat, Miller served as Lieutenant Governor from 1975 to 1991, 79th Governor of Georgia from 1991 to 1999, and as United States Senator from 2000 to 2005....
was successful in his own bid to succeed Maddox as lieutenant governor.
1976 Presidential election
When Carter ran for President in 1976United States presidential election, 1976
The United States presidential election of 1976 followed the resignation of President Richard Nixon in the wake of the Watergate scandal. It pitted incumbent President Gerald Ford, the Republican candidate, against the relatively unknown former governor of Georgia, Jimmy Carter, the Democratic...
, Maddox ran against him as the nominee of the staunch segregationist American Independent Party
American Independent Party
The American Independent Party is a right-wing political party of the United States that was established in 1967 by Bill and Eileen Shearer. In 1968, the American Independent Party nominated George C. Wallace as its presidential candidate and retired Air Force General Curtis E. LeMay as the vice...
, saying that his former rival was "the most dishonest man I ever met." Maddox and running mate William Dyke of Wisconsin received 170,274 votes in the election, less than 1 percent of the vote.
Retirement
With his political career seemingly over and with massive debts stemming from his 1974 gubernatorial bid, Maddox began a short-lived nightclub comedy career in 1977 with an African-American, Bobby Lee Sears, who had worked as a busboy in his restaurant. Sears had served time in prison for a drug offense before Maddox, as Lieutenant Governor, was able to assist him in obtaining a pardon. Calling themselves "The Governor and the Dishwasher," the duo performed comedy bits built around musical numbers with Maddox on harmonicaHarmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
and Sears on guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
.
On September 25, 1977, Maddox suffered a heart attack, but recovered and attended a number of appreciation dinners from Georgia Democrats that reduced his debts. In an attempt to raise further money, Maddox auctioned off memorabilia the following year from his days as a restaurateur and a politician. Included in this collection were autographed ax handles. The auction brought only $1,392, but Maddox refused to declare bankruptcy, saying, "I'd rather die."
Maddox began a real estate company, but never again experienced the financial success he had enjoyed with the "Pickrick." When he was diagnosed with cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
in 1983, Maddox traveled to the Bahamas for experimental treatment. Two years later, the facility where he received his treatment was closed due to fears of contamination by AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
. He never contracted the latter disease, and made a successful recovery from his cancer.
1983 Congressional election
After Korean Air Lines Flight 007 was shot down in 1983, with U.S. RepresentativeUnited States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
Larry McDonald
Larry McDonald
Lawrence Patton McDonald, M.D. was an American politician and a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing the seventh congressional district of Georgia as a Democrat...
aboard, a special election was held to fill his seat in Congress. Lester Maddox stated his intention to run for the seat if McDonald's wife, Kathy McDonald, did not.
But Kathy McDonald decided to run, and Maddox stayed out of the race; however, she lost to Democrat George "Buddy" Darden
George Darden
George Washington "Buddy" Darden, III is an American politician and lawyer.-Early life:Darden was born in Hancock County, Georgia and graduated from Sparta High School in Sparta, Georgia in 1961. He earned his Bachelor of Arts at the University of Georgia in Athens in 1965 and his Juris Doctor...
.
1990s
Maddox made one final unsuccessful bid for governor in 1990, then underwent heart surgery the following year. He remained a visible figure in his home community of Cobb CountyCobb County, Georgia
Cobb County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. Its county seat and largest city is Marietta, which is located in the center of the county. The county was named for Thomas Willis Cobb, who in the early 19th century was a United States representative and senator from Georgia...
for the remainder of his life. In 1992 and 1996, Maddox crossed party lines and endorsed unsuccessful populist Republican Patrick J. Buchanan for the presidency. His last public speech was in Atlanta in 2001 at the annual national conference of the Council of Conservative Citizens
Council of Conservative Citizens
The Council of Conservative Citizens is an American political organization that supports a large variety of conservative and paleoconservative causes in addition to white nationalism, and white separatism...
. This group, of which he was a charter member, is considered by the Southern Poverty Law Center
Southern Poverty Law Center
The Southern Poverty Law Center is an American nonprofit civil rights organization noted for its legal victories against white supremacist groups; legal representation for victims of hate groups; monitoring of alleged hate groups, militias and extremist organizations; and educational programs that...
(SPLC), NAACP, League of United Latin American Citizens
League of United Latin American Citizens
The League of United Latin American Citizens was created to combat the discrimination that Hispanics face in the United States. Established February 17, 1929 in Corpus Christi, Texas, LULAC was a consolidation of smaller, like-minded civil rights groups already in existence...
, and Anti-Defamation League
Anti-Defamation League
The Anti-Defamation League is an international non-governmental organization based in the United States. Describing itself as "the nation's premier civil rights/human relations agency", the ADL states that it "fights anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, defends democratic ideals and protects...
to be a racist
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
or white supremacist group.
Death
On June 25, 2003, after a fall while recuperating from intestinal surgery in an Atlanta hospice, he died of complications from pneumoniaPneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
and prostate cancer
Prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. Most prostate cancers are slow growing; however, there are cases of aggressive prostate cancers. The cancer cells may metastasize from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly...
.
Legacy
After his death in 2003, Tom MurphyTom Murphy (Georgia)
Thomas Bailey "Tom" Murphy was an American politician from the U.S. state of Georgia. Murphy was the Speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives from 1973 till his defeat in the general election of 2002, making him the longest serving House Speaker of any U.S. state legislature...
(former Georgia House Speaker) said of Maddox: "He had a reputation as a segregationist, but he told us he was not a segregationist, but that you should be able to associate with whoever you wanted. He went on to do more for African Americans than any governor of Georgia up until that time."
The Interstate Highway 75 bridge over the Chattahoochee River
Chattahoochee River
The Chattahoochee River flows through or along the borders of the U.S. states of Georgia, Alabama, and Florida. It is a tributary of the Apalachicola River, a relatively short river formed by the confluence of the Chattahoochee and Flint Rivers and emptying into Apalachicola Bay in the Gulf of...
at the southeastern boundary of Cobb County, GA, is named the Lester and Virginia Maddox Bridge.
Maddox's name also appears in the opening lines of Randy Newman
Randy Newman
Randall Stuart "Randy" Newman is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist who is known for his mordant pop songs and for film scores....
's song "Rednecks
Rednecks (song)
"Rednecks" is a song by Randy Newman, the lead-off track on his 1974 album Good Old Boys.- Lyrics and interpretation :"Rednecks" is sung from the perspective of a Southern "redneck". In it he expresses his dismay at the way that the North looks down upon The South...
", in allusion to his appearance on The Dick Cavett Show
The Dick Cavett Show
The Dick Cavett Show has been the title of several talk shows hosted by Dick Cavett on various television networks, including:* ABC daytime ...
:
According to an interviewer from the alternative newspaper Creative Loafing
Creative Loafing
CL Inc. is the Tampa, Florida-based publisher of three city newsweeklies and their associated websites. Each of the papers focuses on local news, politics, arts and entertainment, and restaurants...
, "What offends [Maddox] most is Newman's crude reference to the Jewish man." It should be noted, however, that Newman's lines are from the point of view
Point of view (literature)
The narrative mode is the set of methods the author of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical story uses to convey the plot to the audience. Narration, the process of presenting the narrative, occurs because of the narrative mode...
of an unreliable narrator
Unreliable narrator
An unreliable narrator is a narrator, whether in literature, film, or theatre, whose credibility has been seriously compromised. The term was coined in 1961 by Wayne C. Booth in The Rhetoric of Fiction. This narrative mode is one that can be developed by an author for a number of reasons, usually...
: specifically, a self-proclaimed "redneck" who assumes, incorrectly, that Cavett is Jewish.
Further reading
- Bruce Galphin, The Riddle of Lester Maddox (Atlanta: Camelot, 1968).
- Brad Rice, "Lester Maddox and the Politics of Populism," in Georgia Governors in an Age of Change: From Ellis Arnall to George Busbee, ed. Harold P. Henderson and Gary L. Roberts (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1988).
- Bob Short, Everything Is Pickrick: The Life of Lester Maddox (Macon, Ga.: Mercer University Press, 1999).
External links
- Lester! from Creative Loafing, March 20, 1999 (with link to his personal rebuttal to the article)
- Entry in New Georgia Encyclopedia
- Oral History Interview with Governor Lester Maddox, March 7, 1986, Georgia's Political Heritage Program.
- Oral History Interview with Governor Lester Maddox, April 17, 1986, Georgia's Political Heritage Program.
- CNN article: Former Georgia Gov. Maddox Dies