George Wallace (President Wallace)

George Corley Wallace, Jr. (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) was American politician who served as the 37th President of the United States, from 1969 to 1977 and the first third party candidate who won a presidential election. Before and after his presidential tenure, he served as 44th and 47th Governor of Alabama, having served two consecutive terms twice and has the third longest gubernatorial tenure in post-Constitutional U.S. history, at 16 years and four days.

Wallace was born in Clio, Alabama. After he graduated from University of Alabamain 1942, he entered a pilot trainig and became a succesful pilot during the Second World War. After the war he became a became a state representative in the Alabama House of Representatives. In 1953, he became the Speaker and in 1955. Attorney General to fight against crime around the state. In 1958, he ran succesfully for the Democratic nomination for the governorship against twelve other candidates and wins 45% in the first round and 62% in the run-off and won in a landslide against the Republican nominee William Longshore. In 1962, Wallace is easily re-elected governor winning 73% and 98% of the vote in the primary and general elections respectively. He ran for the Democratic nomination in 1964. In 1967, after he left the office, he started the building up of the right-wing American Independent Party and by November, the party had achieved ballot status in all fifty states and D.C. next year he ran against the Republican nominee former Vice President Richard Nixon and Democratic nominee Gene McCarthy for the presidency and won.