Notable Southern Democrats: George Wallace [View all]

George Corley Wallace Jr. (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) was an American politician and the 45th governor of Alabama, having served two nonconsecutive terms and two consecutive terms: 1963–1967, 1971–1979 and 1983–1987. After four runs for U.S. president (three as a Democrat and one on the American Independent Party ticket), he earned the title "the most influential loser" in 20th-century U.S. politics, according to biographers Dan T. Carter and Stephan Lesher.

A 1972 assassination attempt left Wallace paralyzed, and he used a wheelchair for the remainder of his life. He is remembered for his Southern populist and segregationist attitudes during the desegregation period. He eventually renounced segregationism but remained a populist.