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.

[AnAmericanMother]

I think it far more likely that the ignorant think in black and white, when real life is actually shades of gray.

[Ben Chad]

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. Yeah, he came to a benefit bicycle race my fraternity at ga. state sponsered circa 1971 and road his bike backwards around the track.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

I have a sneaking suspicion that those who would go to great lengths coming up with excuses for ol' Brother Lester, and who are so willing to come up with so many different gradations of gray for him on segregation wouldn't give so much slack on any other issue for any current politician.

[AnAmericanMother]

Did you know Maddox?

Did you know J.B. Stoner?

If you didn't, and/or you can't tell the difference, at least have some respect for a man who's on his deathbed.

[yarddog]

When I was living in Georgia around 7 or 8 years ago I read an article about Maddox in the newspaper. I wish I could remember the name of the author but I bet you will know who he was.

This guy was an old time liberal newspaper man and one of Maddox's strongest opponents at the time he was in the news. I am not certain but I think he was also Jewish. Anyway he wrote a story praising Maddox and admitting he was one of Georgia's best Governors. He described a meeting he had with Maddox about creating a man-made lake (It may have been Lake Hartselle)and how he knew Maddox knew he was an opponent but did what he could to assist him anyway.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

It was Maddox's open defiance of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, however, that thrust him into the national spotlight. Not only did Maddox refuse to serve three black students in his restaurant, but he chased them out with a gun while his customers used ax handles. He contended that both his business and property were being threatened. The students sued Maddox, who was ordered to desegregate within twenty days. Rather than own an integrated restaurant, Maddox closed the Pickrick.

[snip]

On August 17, 1968, Maddox announced that he would seek the Democratic nomination for president, but withdrew before any ballots were cast. He resigned rather than compromise on the number of black delegates from Georgia. In 1970, Maddox once again gained national attention. While in Washington testifying against the strengthening of the Voting Rights Bill, Maddox passed out souvenir ax handles in the U.S. House of Representatives restaurant. This led to a confrontation between the governor and a black representative, Charles Diggs, Jr. While the governor made his point, many wondered whether he had simply harmed his own cause.

Ol' Lester reaffirmed his actions in 2000, unlike George Wallace, who was genuinely repentant.

And as for Stoner? He is a Bircher, Klukker, Stormfront freakshow.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

And as far as his deathbed is concerned, I don't really care or have respect for him, even there.

[yarddog]

You have no idea what you are talking about.

George Wallace started out as a liberal and was beaten by John Patterson who ran as a segregationist. Wallace saw how the wind was blowing and ran next time as a segregationist.

Patterson btw was the man credited with cleaning up Phenix City, Alabama after his Father was murdered by the hoods.

Wallace always was a liberal, just one who was willing to hide his leanings to be elected.

[sinkspur]

Did Maddox ever renounce his racist views, as George Wallace did?

It's hard for these blackguards to admit they were wrong about "negras" and publicly say so.

If Maddox did, I admire him for it.

If he didn't, all the excuses in the world won't work.

I pray he repents to God before he draws his last breath, but he'll go down in history as a racist.

[Riverman94610]

Believe me,I have met plenty of REAL racists,including a rather prominent member of the John Birch Society back in the mid-Sixties who used to sit me down in his basement den when I was a teenager and regale me with stories about how"the niggers"were going to rise up in his hometown of Pasadena and slaughter the white folks!
Then there the "white liberal"at University of Georgia who drove me to the airport in Atlanta one evening,drinking a fifth on the way down from Athens.He suddenly turned off the freeway and cruised down one of the black ghetto streets near downtown yelling racial epithets like"darky"and "jungle bunny".
Never trusted the liberals after that little episode.
Back to Maddox-in May,1972,he had a souvenir shop in Underground Atlanta and I was showing some black Zambian foreign students the sights.They had heard of Maddox and wanted to get his autograph!They went in there,Lester obliged them,and they were grinning ear to ear at their marvelous luc.
At the time I thought they were unclear on the concept!But isn't life full of ironies?

[foreverfree]

bump

[Clemenza]

Kirk and Win were beaten in '70

See if my history is right: Kirk was beaten by Condo Commie favorite Reubin Askew-O'Bannion, while Win Rockefeller was beaten by Dale "Do I hear an Ambulence?" Bumpers, Der Schlickmeister's political mentor.

[Clemenza]

Let's not forget that George Corley Wallace's political mentor was Jim Folsom, arguable the most liberal governor in Alabama's history.

[Clemenza]

Maddox always struck me as a (embarassing) walking regional stereotype, much like my Senator, Chuck "The Schmuck" Schumer. I never much cared for his politics and could not really relate to him. Nevertheless, I wish the best for him and his family as he nears the end of his life.

BTW: My father ate at the Pickrick while on a business trip to Atlanta. He said the food was wonderful.

[Sonny M]

Despite fears of racial strife, Maddox steered a moderate course for four years.

He's a dem, so that had to throw that line in there.

[Impy]

Not anyone.

FoxNews just said he died.

[AnAmericanMother]

God rest him, then.

[AnAmericanMother]

Oh, yes, he was embarassing, especially in his younger years. His philosophy was more or less that there was no such thing as BAD publicity. Plus I think if somebody wanted him to do something silly (like the bicycle stunt) he was happy to oblige them. He was one of the least self-conscious people you'd ever meet.

But he really is a bundle of contradictions, and there is much in the man to like.

[Impy]

How was Claude Kirk wacky?

[AnAmericanMother]

Lord, I remember my older relatives talking about that Phenix City mess. Wasn't Patterson's daddy gunned down on the street in broad daylight?

I was down there just the other day, looking something up at the courthouse. It's a very quiet little town now.