John Patterson obit

 

Former Alabama Gov. John Patterson dies at age 99

 He was not on the list.

Former Alabama Gov. John Patterson, a staunch segregationist who later expressed remorse for his efforts to oppose civil rights, has died at age 99.

Patterson died on Friday night at home, surrounded by family and friends, his daughter, Barbara Patterson Scholl, told the Associated Press. Funeral arrangements are pending, she said.

“I am sending my prayers to the family and loved ones of former Governor John Patterson as they mourn his passing,” Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said Saturday in a statement.

Patterson served one term as governor, 1959-1963, and also served as Alabama’s attorney general, 1955-1959. As attorney general, he led a cleanup of vice-ridden Phenix City, where his father, Albert Patterson, the Democratic nominee for attorney general, was murdered in 1954.

In both offices, John Patterson was the state’s leading defender of segregation, particularly in the public schools. In that way, he is widely regarded as the politician who paved the way for the segregation policies of George Wallace, who followed Patterson as governor.

In later years, Patterson would say that political expediency was behind his anti-integration stance, especially when running for governor in 1958 against a field of opponents that included Wallace. (He was the only gubernatorial candidate to ever defeat Wallace in Alabama.)

’'When I became governor, there were 14 of us running for governor that time and all 14 of us were outspoken for segregation in the public schools,’' Patterson told AL.com in 2009. ’'And if you had been perceived not to have been strong for that, you would not have won. I regret that, but there was not anything I could do about it but to live with it.’'

Patterson, at age 37, was one of the youngest elected governors in Alabama history. He campaigned with support from the Ku Klux Klan, combining segregationist rhetoric with a stance that advocated for states rights and a strong pushback to federal interference.

Patterson’s campaign slogan in 1958, ’'Nobody But the People,’' reflected his populist outlook and later became the title of a 2008 book about his life and political career, written by Warren Trest.

When the biography was published, Trest told AL.com he regarded Patterson as the head of a ’'a very strong, honest, progressive government’' that included improvements in education, old-age benefits, law enforcement and large-scale road construction. For those achievements, Trest said, he thought history would judge Patterson kindly.

Patterson was born on Sept. 27, 1921, in Goldville, a small town in Tallapoosa County. His parents, Albert and Agnes Patterson, were schoolteachers. His father later earned a law degree, set up an office in Phenix City and became involved in local and state politics. Albert Patterson would be a highly influential figure in his son’s life, prompting his decision to practice law and enter public service.

John Patterson served in the U.S. Army in the late 1930s and early 1940s. He attended the University of Alabama and earned a law degree there in 1949, returning to military service during the Korean War. Patterson joined his father’s law practice in the early 1950s.

 

Albert Patterson became the Democratic nominee for attorney general in 1954, vowing to clean up the gambling, corruption and mob control in Phenix City. When Patterson’s father was shot to death outside his Phenix City office in June 1954, his son replaced him as candidate for attorney general and won the general election.

A 1955 movie, “The Phenix City Story,” was based on these events, starring Richard Kiley as John Patterson and John McIntire as his father.

During his stint as attorney general, Patterson adopted his father’s quest to combat organized crime, but also became known for his opposition to civil rights. He opposed the NAACP’s efforts in Alabama, for example, and tried to prevent desegregation in the state after the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education.

As governor, Patterson succeeded Jim Folsom, who served two terms in that role, 1947-1951 and 1955-1959. In his later years, Patterson said he was cut from the same political cloth as Folsom, believing government should directly benefit the people. Although Patterson was considered progressive in some ways as governor, he continued to be an outspoken opponent of integration.

Patterson left office in 1963. At the time, per the Constitution of Alabama, he was barred from seeking a second consecutive term as governor. Patterson was succeeded by Wallace, who doubled down on segregationist rhetoric and tactics in the state.

After his tenure as governor, Patterson practiced law in Montgomery. He ran a second time for governor in 1966, but was defeated by Lurleen Wallace, George Wallace’s wife. Patterson also ran unsuccessfully for chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court in the 1970s. In 1984, Wallace appointed Patterson to the state Court of Criminal Appeals, a position he retained until retiring in 1997.

During his retirement, Patterson was a cattle farmer in Tallapoosa County. In January 2009, at age 87, Patterson told AL.com that he fully supported Barack Obama’s bid for the U.S. presidency and was happy to have a Black man in the White House.

’'I’m delighted that he got elected, and I want him to do what he said he was going to do,’' Patterson said. ’'I want to clean that White House out.’'