Hello and welcome to this day in esoteric political history from Radiotopia.

My name is Jody Avergan.

This day January 20th, 1967, Lurlene Wallace is just getting started as the first female

governor from the state of Alabama.

She had been inaugurated a few days earlier on the 16th.

She was Alabama's first female governor

and only the third female governor in this country's history.

But listeners, if you're thinking to yourself,

wait a minute, that last name, Wallace,

the late 60s, Alabama, this sounds

familiar, that's because she was in fact the wife of George Wallace, the fiercely segregationist

governor of Alabama, who was at this point in his political career leaving office because of term limits

and Lurlene's governorship was basically a very thinly disguised attempt to

continue having George Wallace as the de facto governor.

One of her, I said there, one of her, one of her campaign slogans was in fact, quote,

two governors, one cause.

So that shows you how much they were trying to hide what was really going on here so

here to discuss this fascinating election of Lurline Wallace her surrogate campaign

these questions of who has the real power in this moment and we should say how she died in office very shortly after being elected which is a big and tragic part of this story.

Here to do that as always are Nicole Hammer of Columbia and Kelly Carter Jackson of Wellesley.

Hello there.

Hello Jody.

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