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Arthur Bremer released
Hearing the news of Arthur Bremer's release from prison, I was astounded to learn that he is only 57 years old. It seems so long ago when he was in the news, and yet he is several years younger than I.
If you were not around back in the sixties and seventies you might not recognize Bremer's name. He is the man who shot Alabama Governor George Wallace during the 1972 presidential campaign. Wallace survived the shooting, but was paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair for the remaining 26 years of his life.
Bremer's five gunshots effectively ended the national political career of this untrustworthy politician, who by 1972 expected the American public to be foolhardy enough to believe he had undergone a change of heart about segregation. After his swearing-in as Alabama's governor in 1962, Wallace gave a stemwinder of a speech that included the infamous words: "In the name of the greatest people that have ever trod this earth, I draw the line in the dust and toss the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny, and I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever."
The following year he made his infamous "stand in the schoolhouse door," a personal attempt to thwart the desegregation of the University of Alabama. That spring he said, regarding desegregation demonstrations, "The President (Kennedy) wants us to surrender this state to Martin Luther King and his group of pro-Communists who have instituted these demonstrations."
Wallace attempted to make himself Governor-for-Life, repealing the one-term limit of the Alabama constitution. And he nearly succeeded. The constitutional change did not pay off in time for him to stand for re-election in 1966, so he did the next best thing: put up his wife Lurleen as a surrogate. Damn if she didn't win, too. Lurleen died before her term expired and was replaced by her Lieutenant Governor, but sure as the sun rises in the east, old George ran for and won the office in 1970. He held the office for two consecutive terms, and after a four-year hiatus, won the seat again, serving a total of four terms (not even counting the Lurleen years), until 1987.
Of course, being Alabama's governor and head segregationist did not thwart Wallace's ambition to become President. He ran in the primaries in 1964, 1968, 1972 and 1976, changing party affiliations as necessary to suit his purposes.
We are expected to be so gullible as to believe that Wallace actually had a change of heart around the time his Presidential aspirations appeared to be sputtering, but it would be more likely to say that he knew a good expedient when he saw one. After all Wallace, endorsed by the NAACP, had lost the gubernatorial election to John Patterson, who had been endorsed by the Ku Kluxers. It was at that juncture that Wallace observed, "I was outniggered by John Patterson. And I'll tell you here and now, I will never be outniggered again."
"Never" and "forever" are pretty powerful words, and it is tempting to think that it was the 1958 NAACP endorsement that was the anomaly in Wallace's life, not the subsequent two decades of race-baiting. All told, it appears that, like LBJ, George Wallace was willing to go to any length to win an election.
According to WBAL radio:
Under the conditions of his release, Bremer must stay away from any local, state, federal or foreign elected officials and any current candidates. He would have to undergo a mental health evaluation and treatment if the state deemed that necessary.
Bremer also can't leave Maryland without written permission from the state Parole Commission. The conditions also said Bremer must submit to electronic monitoring, but Vernarelli said he did not know if such monitoring was in place.
... [But] Bremer's diary, found in a landfill in 1980, made it clear he was motivated to attempt to kill Wallace by a desire for attention, not a political agenda. He had also stalked President Nixon.
A pity, that last part. Political assassination attempts are powerful statements, when made by idealogues. John Wilkes Booth and Leon Czolgosz have their place in history as men who took a stand for their principles. On the other hand, Charles Guiteau, John Hinckley and Arthur Bremer--whose deeds were motivated by personal reasons--seem merely pathetic.