Former Georgia Governor Lester Maddox near death

[conservativefromGa]

Family Friend says Maddox Gravely Ill

ATLANTA (AP) Former Gov. Lester Maddox, 87, one of the Old South's last segregation governors, was gravely ill at an Atlanta hospice Tuesday, said a family friend who wished to be unnamed.

Maddox has suffered numerous illnesses since leaving the public spotlight, including cancer, a stroke, kidney stones, two heart attacks and an intestinal blockage.

The Marietta Daily Journal reported in Tuesday's edition that Maddox suffered two cracked ribs at an assisted living home about 10 days ago, where he was recovering from intestinal surgery, and later developed pneumonia.

Maddox, a high school dropout born in a working-class section of Atlanta, gained national notoriety for chasing away several blacks from his Pickrick fried chicken restaurant in Atlanta in July 1964, the day after the Civil Rights Act was signed into law.

Though he had never held public office, Maddox won the Democratic nomination for governor in 1966. In the November general election, Maddox was out-polled by a Republican, but a write-in campaign assured that neither candidate had a majority. Election law at the time threw the election to the Democratic Legislature, which elected Maddox.

Despite fears of racial strife, Maddox steered a moderate course for four years. Barred from seeking a second term, he ran for and won the state's No. 2 post, lieutenant governor.

A comeback bid failed in 1974 and Maddox ran his final race in 1990, finishing last in a five-person race for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, drawing just 3 percent of the vote.

[My2Cents]

He's still living?

[B Knotts]

That was the same reaction I had. For some reason, I thought he had died many years ago.

[gov_bean_ counter]

He did have a heart attack a few years ago. Found out he had the gene for sicle cell.

[BillyBoy]

>> Though he had never held public office, Maddox won the Democratic nomination for governor in 1966. In the November general election, Maddox was out-polled by a Republican, but a write-in campaign assured that neither candidate had a majority. Election law at the time threw the election to the Democratic Legislature, which elected Maddox. <<

Betsa all the 'RAT pukes who scream that Bush was "selected for President by the Supreme Court" have no problems with how MADDOX ended up in office. Hell, Bush won no less than FIVE RECOUNTS and was CERTIFIED winner before the Supreme Court stepped in. I wonder how well Maddox THE LOSER was doing before the GA 'RAT machine took a stab at it.

Something also tells me that 'RAT pukes who scream about how "racist" the GOP is don't have anything to say about the segregationist, white-supremist garbage that Maddox unabashedly supported. Funny how it's okay for the 'RAT party to have "former" bigots in power.

Good riddance to old rubbish.

[rustbucket]

I was walking past his restaurant that summer and saw him turn away a carload of blacks. He had no ax handle in his hand and was just standing in the doorway of the restaurant. The carload of blacks drove back out onto the street. Maddox turned to somebody inside and said, "Did you see that?"

[anncoulteriscool]

When I was a kid a remember nmy parents taking me to the guvna's mansion and Maddox would ride his bicycle backwards for everyone entertainment.

[IronJack]

Wasn't he the governor who handed out axe handles to his state troopers during the race riots? Or am I thinking of Bull Conner?

[AnAmericanMother]

Geez, seems like I always wind up defending Lester.

He really, truly is a good man, and I wish him well. We went to the same doctor for many years, and I spent a good deal of time chatting with him in the waiting room.

He grew up in a time and place where segregation was taught to everybody. But within that framework (obviously mistaken and wrong) he was never hateful or mean. He is a stubborn man, and always found it hard to back down. But he always tried to be as fair as he knew how.

People who worked for him - black and white - loved him. His office door was always open to any citizen who had something he or she wanted to talk to the governor about, just walk in and tell him what was on your mind. He was also the first governor of Georgia to appoint a black person to statewide office (he said it was only fair), and he left office poorer than he went in - the ONLY governor who did not profit from his time in office.

So we could have done a lot worse. And as for machinations, the only reason Maddox got the nomination in the first place was all the Republicans who crossed over and voted in the Democratic primary, thinking he would be easier to beat. And you may or may not recall that his opponent was "Bo" Callaway, who later left a national Republican administration post under a cloud. (To the extent that the Army recalled all the commissions he had signed, including my husband's, and substituted commissions over the signature of the new Secretary of the Army.)

[My2Cents]

ROFL!....Good one.

[My2Cents]

...you were joking, weren't you?

[EggsAckley]

America's Rasputin?

[Scenic Sounds]

He's still living?

I'm with you. I hadn't heard anything about this guy in a long time, but he was a real character in his day.

[gov_bean_ counter]

Yes...

[Diverdogz]

I saw him at a shopping mall near Birmingham, Al back in 1976 when he was going to run for president as an independent. (We were shopping, and not there to see him, I should add.) As I recall, he and his small entourage stopped by a shoe store that had a little kiddie ride inside ...and he was riding it, smiling and waving.

I was 12 at the time, but my impression was that the guy was a complete nutcase.

[Only1choice____Freedom]

When Hosea's troops marched in Cumming Ga. many years ago I was part of the "Thin green line" of National Guardsmen keeping the David Dukes crowd and "Peace" marchers apart. Where I was assigned, Lester Maddox came up the rear. He didn't look good then. He didn't speak a word to anybody and he looked dazed waving his confederate flag around. He looked medicated. There were also several big guys helping him move about.

[Bahbah]

Thanks for the insight.

[My2Cents]

Didn't he used to chase blacks out of his chicken resturant with an axe-handle? Great guy.

[rabidralph]

I'm near Annapolis.

[joey'smom]

"Last night I saw Lester Maddox on tv...He may be a fool, but he's our fool..." to quote Randy Newman's song "Rednecks". Great song!