Alabama has only elected one woman as governor in the history of the state. Lurleen B. Wallace became the state’s 46^th governor in January 1967 after successfully campaigning for the office in 1966.

She succeeded her well-known husband George C. Wallace, who had completed his first term in the state’s highest office. As George prepared for his 1968 bid for president, Lurleen won the governor’s post and set about running the state. We will never know what path she would have followed in that office and the subsequent results for the state because she succumbed to cancer and passed away less than halfway through her term in office.

Although born and raised in the north-central portion of the state, Ms. Wallace does have a coastal connection. Her father, Henry Morgan Burns, worked as a crane operator in Mobile during the Second World War. Ms. Wallace was born in 1926, graduated from Tuscaloosa High School in 1942 and went to work in a local store, where she met the man she would marry, future Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace. The two were married in May 1943.

After WWII, Ms. Wallace served in a support role working to provide for she and her husband while he campaigned for public office. As a result, he won positions in the state legislature as well as a judgeship.

From 1945 through 1961, the couple had four children, all of whom benefitted from the constant care of their mother. Throughout those same years, Ms. Wallace was also very active in the various political campaigns orchestrated by her husband as he continuously sought higher office.

It was during George Wallace’s first term as Alabama’s governor that Lurleen first became ill with the cancer that would eventually take her life. She then became a candidate for governor as her husband prepared for his presidential push for 1968.

As a private person, her initial campaign focused on the leadership of George Wallace, who set the pace after speaking for Lurleen on numerous occasions. But as the campaign wore on, she began to take the lead role in events and political rallies as she toured the state.

In an article published in a January edition of the Baldwin Times, the future state leader was asked about the campaign. She did not hesitate when she maintained, “I’m excited, yes, but not frightened.” She continued by proclaiming, “If I run, I expect to win.”

Advertisements that began to fill the pages of Alabama newspapers by the spring of 1966 featured both she and the governor as one on the issues.

Echoing her original sentiment; her run for election was incredibly successful. In the May 3 Democratic primary, she easily won, besting all other candidates by a substantial margin. She garnered more than 480,000 votes to a little more than 172,000 for her closest competitor, Richmond Flowers.

She then turned her attention to the November general election, making her first official visit to Baldwin County representing Gov. George Wallace. She was on hand in May as Gulf Shores officially opened a new tourist information center.

Both the governor and Ms. Wallace returned to Baldwin County in October to speak at several venues, including the County Fair held in Robertsdale.

The general election held that November was a landslide victory for Ms. Wallace. She landed 63 percent of the votes cast with a total of 512,970. Her closest competitor could only muster half that number. Unfortunately for Wallace, the cancer she had already battled took its toll and soon took her life in May 1968. She left behind the legacy of becoming Alabama’s first female governor and an immeasurable amount of potential as she passed away at the young age of 41.