- Collection:
- Georgia Political Papers and Oral History Program
- Title:
- Oral history interview with Lester Maddox, 1992 October 1
- Creator:
- Maddox, Lester, 1915-2003
- Contributor to Resource:
- Steely, Mel
Hulsey, Eddie
University of West Georgia. Georgia Political Papers and Oral History Program - Publisher:
- Carrollton, Ga. : University of West Georgia Special Collections in association with the Digital Library of Georgia
- Date of Original:
- 1992-10-01
- Subject:
- Georgia's HOPE Scholarship Program
Georgia Lottery Corporation
Georgia State Patrol
Georgia--Politics and government--1865-1950
Georgia--Politics and government--1951-
Governors--Georgia--Interviews
Legislators--Georgia--Interviews
Elections--Georgia
Budget deficits--Georgia
Lotteries--Georgia
Feminism
Crime--Georgia - People:
- Maddox, Lester, 1915-2003
Maddox, Lester, 1915-2003--Interviews
Harris, Joe Frank
Miller, Zell, 1932-2018
Murphy, Thomas Bailey, 1924-2007
Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945
Wallace, George C. (George Corley), 1919-1998
Weltner, Charles Longstreet - Location:
- United States, Georgia, 32.75042, -83.50018
- Medium:
- oral histories (literary works)
sound recordings - Type:
- Sound
- Format:
- audio/mpeg
audio/ogg - Description:
- Lester Garfield Maddox was born on September 30, 1915 in Atlanta, Georgia. Maddox worked in various jobs before he became involved in politics. In 1947, Maddox opened the Pickrick Cafeteria on Hemphill Ave. While running the cafeteria he began to write political commentaries regarding various issues that were of importance to local white, working class Atlantans. This is the beginning of Maddox's involvement with politics. In 1957 Maddox ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Atlanta against William B. Hartsfield. He lost again in the 1961 campaign against Ivan Allen Jr.Maddox's stand against desegregating his Pickrick Cafeteria garnered him much support from white Georgians. In 1966 Maddox won the Democratic primary against Ellis Arnall. This put Maddox squarely against Republican Bo Calloway. Calloway won the popular vote, but Arnall as a write-in candidate denied the Republicans a majority vote. As was the law at the time, the Democratic legislature decided the election in favor of Maddox.; Maddox's term as governor was reasonably progressive. He appointed many African Americans to positions within the state, increased funding for the University System of Georgia, and made many prison reforms. Maddox ran unsuccessfully several more times for governor and once for president of the United States as an independent. He died in June 2003 after a long battle with cancer.; Interviewed by Mel Steely and Eddie Hulsey on October 1, 1992 at Maddox's home.; Maddox begins the interview by discussing his opinion of the 1992 Presidential election.He tells how he compared Bill Clinton to a chicken due to his "cackling and egg-laying."Maddox also tells of how he thinks Ross Perot is horrible due to not having firm convictions on gun control, abortion, or civil rights.He then tells of how he is a supporter of George H. W. Bush.Following this conversation, Maddox segues into a discussion about George Wallace.; Maddox discusses how he tried to convince Wallace to run as a Democrat instead of an independent during a two-hour meeting in Birmingham.He says that he made this argument because as an independent, Wallace would not receive any media coverage.Following this, Steely and Governor Maddox discuss Maddox's presidential votes where it is learned that his first vote was for Franklin D. Roosevelt and that he has voted Republican since Dwight D. Eisenhower.; After the discussion over presidential politics, the interview moves on to the 1990 Georgia gubernatorial election and Maddox's reasons for entering it.Maddox states that he decided to run in 1988 following the "massive borrowing" against credit by the Georgia legislature and the failure of Governor Joe Frank Harris to enact a sales tax that led to the loss of over $1 billion in revenue.It is also revealed that Maddox took five months to raise his first $1,000 for his campaign, ran his own campaign, and could not get any media time or speaking engagements.; Other topics discussed are Charles Weltner and the 1966 congressional election where Maddox claims Weltner dropped out of the race because he did not want to support Maddox's segregationist views or take an oath to vote for other Democrats.He also discusses Hugh Hardison and the Georgia State Patrol and how Post 9 would not write traffic tickets and instead served as a transport service for public figures.Maddox also briefly speaks about the denouncement of him by Zell Miller during his gubernatorial inaugural address and calls GovernorMiller a "pencil pusher."Finally, Maddox talks about increasing crime rates, a growing budget deficit, and how the HOPE Scholarship would run out of money if the lottery was approved.
- External Identifiers:
- Metadata URL:
- https://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/id:uwg_phc_maddox19921001
- Digital Object URL:
- https://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/uwg/phc/do:maddox19921001
- Language:
- eng
- Bibliographic Citation (Cite As):
- Cite as: [interview title], Georgia Political Papers and Oral History Program oral history interviews. Annie Belle Weaver Special Collections, Irvine Sullivan Ingram Library, University of West Georgia
- Extent:
- 1 interview (circa 82 mins.)
- Original Collection:
- Georgia Political Papers and Oral History Program oral history interviews. Annie Belle Weaver Special Collections, Irvine Sullivan Ingram Library, State University of West Georgia
- Holding Institution:
- University of West Georgia. Special Collections
- Rights:
-
