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John M. Patterson was an American politician who served as Alabama's attorney general and governor in the 1950s. He was known for his anti-civil rights and pro-segregation stance, his involvement in the Phenix City scandal, and his affair with Tina Sawyer.
Jun 5, 2021 · John M. Patterson, a defiant segregationist who defeated and preceded George C. Wallace as the governor of Alabama as the South plunged into the violence and turmoil of the civil rights...
Jun 6, 2021 · John Patterson was a reformer who fought crime and corruption, but also a defender of racial segregation and white supremacy. He was the only person to beat George Wallace in an Alabama election, but also failed to protect the Freedom Riders from violence.
Jun 5, 2021 · John Patterson, an intractable segregationist Democrat of the 1950s and 1960s who served as Alabama’s attorney general and then governor and belatedly said he came to regret the stances...
- Ray Jenkins
- Phenix City
- Against The Movement
- Governor
- Later Years
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Patterson was born in Goldville in Tallapoosa County on Sept. 27, 1921, the oldest of four surviving children from a political family. An uncle, Lafayette Patterson, served in Congress and later in Franklin Roosevelt’s administration. His father, a World War I veteran wounded in France, served a single term in the Alabama Senate. Patterson enlisted...
Patterson won election with little effort. After taking office, the new attorney general supported efforts to wipe out crime in Phenix City and launched prosecutions of small loan operators for charging excessive interest rates. The corruption that led to his father's death did not end up dominating his administration. By the time Patterson was swo...
Patterson notched up some achievements in his four years in the governor’s mansion. He continued his fight against loan sharks and promoted school and highway construction. He also encouraged the development of the space program in Huntsville. But fights over civil rights dominated his term, and Patterson made no secret of where he stood. The gover...
Term limited in 1963, Patterson tried to return to the governor's mansion in 1966. He highlighted his segregationist stands in his campaign. In one ad, Patterson urged Alabamians to “vote for a man who successfully defended your constitutional rights from inside and outside encroachment.” But Patterson ran into the overwhelming popularity of Wallac...
John Patterson was a controversial politician who rose to power after his father's assassination in 1954. He fought organized crime, but also opposed civil rights activists and faced federal intervention during the Freedom Rides in 1961.
John Patterson was a television director who worked on drama series and films, including The Sopranos. He died of prostate cancer in 2005 and was a classmate of David Chase at Stanford University.
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Jun 5, 2021 · John Patterson, a staunch segregationist who later expressed remorse for his efforts to oppose civil rights, died on Friday night at home. He served as governor, attorney general and judge in Alabama, and was the state’s leading defender of segregation in the public schools.