Wallace for President Photo

Blue photograph of Wallace with red illustrated border that flows into illustration of eagle wings. Blue illustration of head of eagle  with blue text on white background above white text on blue background.

George Wallace was a governor of Alabama, prominent segregationist, and four-time candidate for president of the United States. Wallace unsuccessfully sought the democratic nomination three times, during his first, third, and fourth runs for president. During his second, and possibly most famous run for president, Wallace ran as an independent in the 1968 election against Richard Nixon and Hubert Humphrey. Wallace entered this presidential race aware of the fact that his chances for victory were low. Wallace’s intention was to disrupt the election by insuring no candidate received the required amount of electoral votes, thus forcing congress to choose the president. Wallace won five states, forty-six electoral votes, and nearly ten million people voted for him, but ultimately his plan failed and Richard Nixon won the election.  

Although ultimately unsuccessful, Wallace’s campaign highlighted the instability of American politics during this era. Using populace rhetoric, and inflammatory remarks like “I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever”, Wallace captured a not insignificant amount of the American electorate as a third-party candidate.