George Wallace Biography: Wife, Age, Children, Height, Net Worth, Parents, Political Career, Assassination Attempt

George Corley Wallace Jr., popularly known as George Wallace, was an American politician and lawyer who served four terms as Governor of Alabama and became one of the most controversial figures in modern U.S. political history.

He gained national attention in the 1960s for his segregationist stance, most notably his 1963 attempt to block Black students from enrolling at the University of Alabama.

Over his career, he ran for president four times, survived a 1972 assassination attempt that left him permanently paralyzed, and later shifted his political position by renouncing his earlier segregationist views and seeking reconciliation with Black voters during his final term in office.

George Wallace Biography: Wife, Age, Children, Height, Net Worth, Parents, Political Career, Assassination Attempt
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Early Life and Education

George Corley Wallace Jr. was born on August 25, 1919, in Clio, Alabama, United States. He was raised in a rural household by his parents, George Corley Wallace Sr., a farmer, and Mozelle Smith Wallace, who grew up in a Methodist orphanage.

He grew up with three siblings during the economic hardship of the Great Depression:

• Gerald Oscar Wallace
• Jack Wildred Wallace Sr.
• Marianne Wallace

He won two state Golden Gloves boxing titles while attending Barbour County High School before enrolling at the University of Alabama School of Law in 1937.

He graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1942 and later volunteered for active military duty during World War II. He was of Caucasian background and was a lifelong Methodist.

Career

George Wallace began his career in the legal and public service sectors immediately following his medical discharge from the United States Army Air Forces in 1945, having served as a B-29 flight engineer on bombing missions over Japan.

He returned to his home state and secured an appointment as an assistant state attorney general in 1946, a position that quickly provided him with the institutional networking needed to launch a legislative campaign later that same year.

His early political drive proved highly effective when he won election to the Alabama House of Representatives as a freshman Democrat in 1946, where he initially earned a reputation as a relatively moderate, New Deal-style progressive who focused heavily on funding trade schools and local infrastructure.

The ambitious politician achieved massive regional and national prominence when he pivoted toward hardline segregationist rhetoric following a stinging defeat in the 1958 gubernatorial primary, a loss that convinced him that racial populism was the key to unlocking the Southern electorate.

He won the governorship in a landslide in 1962 and used his 1963 inaugural address to deliver his infamous proclamation advocating for permanent segregation, a stance that he physically demonstrated later that year by defying federal authorities at the University of Alabama.

His intense defiance transformed him into a powerful symbol of conservative white resistance, which enabled him to mount highly disruptive independent and third-party presidential campaigns in 1968 and 1972 that successfully captured millions of working-class votes across the United States.

He firmly solidified his long-term industry and historical standing through an unprecedented series of political returns that highlighted both his resilience and his capacity for strategic reinvention.

His momentum was tragically interrupted in May 1972 when an assassination attempt by Arthur Bremer left him bound to a wheelchair for the rest of his life, yet he successfully returned to the Alabama governor’s mansion for a third term from 1971 to 1979.

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, he underwent a public religious awakening and openly apologized to Civil Rights leaders for his past actions, a transformation that allowed him to build an unprecedented coalition of Black and white voters to win a historic fourth gubernatorial term in 1982.

His status as a foundational architect of modern American populism remains firmly established, and his career continues to be studied extensively by political historians analyzing the shifting dynamics of Southern voting blocks.

Social Media

• George Wallace does not have any verified social media accounts

Personal Life

George Wallace was born on August 25, 1919, and died on September 13, 1998, at the age of 79. He was married three times.

His first marriage was to Lurleen Burns on May 21, 1943; she later became governor before dying of cancer on May 6, 1968.

His second marriage was to Cornelia Ellis Snively, from January 4, 1971, until their divorce on January 4, 1978.

His final marriage was to Lisa Taylor, from September 9, 1981, until their divorce in 1987.

He had four children from his first marriage:

• Bobbi Jo Wallace (daughter)
• Peggy Sue Wallace (daughter)
• Janie Lee Wallace (daughter)
• George Corley Wallace III (son)

In his final years, he lived in Montgomery with severe chronic pain from gunshot wounds and died of cardiac arrest at Jackson Hospital.

Net Worth

George Wallace had an estimated net worth of $1.5 million at the time of his passing. The primary source of his financial wealth was accumulated through his lengthy career in public service, which included standard institutional salaries from his sixteen total years as Governor of Alabama and his earlier legislative tenures.