George C. Wallace, Alabama’s longest-serving governor, held office for four terms between 1963 and 1987. He gained national attention in 1963 when he physically blocked Black students from entering the University of Alabama, a stance that defined his early career as a staunch segregationist. After surviving a 1972 assassination attempt that left him paralyzed, Wallace later renounced segregation and sought reconciliation, though his legacy continues to embody Alabama’s political contradictions. His career remains central to understanding both the state’s role in the civil rights era and its struggles with change.