John Malcolm Patterson (27 September 1921-4 June 2021) was the Democratic Governor of Alabama from 19 January 1959 to 14 January 1963, succeeding Jim Folsom and preceding George Wallace.
Biography[]
John Malcolm Patterson was born in Goldville, Tallapoosa County, Alabama on 27 September 1921, the son of the attorney Albert Patterson. He served in the US Army in the North African, Italian, and Western European theaters of World War II and in the Korean War, after which he joined his father's law practice. His father was murdered by the Dixie Mafia after promising to eliminate crime in their stronghold of Phenix City during his 1954 run for Attorney General of Alabama, so John replaced his father on the ballot and won handily. While Patterson was known as an opponent of organized crime, he also opposed the Civil Rights movement, banning the NAACP's operations in Alabama after the NAACP failed to register as an out-of-state organization. Patterson ran for Governor in 1958 and was elected with the support of the Ku Klux Klan, and he expelled Black student activists who had participated in a sit-in at Alabama State University. He also supported increased funding for state infrastructure and backed John F. Kennedy in the 1960 presidential election, but a long-term extramarital affair ruined his popularity. He attempted a comeback in 1966, but he was defeated by George Wallace's wife Lurleen Wallace; he also lost in his bid for Alabama Chief Justice in 1972. Patterson became a professor at Troy State University, served on the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals from 1984 to 1997, and endorsed Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election, expressing remorse for his past support of segregation and stating his belief that opposing segregation would have effectively meant career suicide. He died in Goldville in 2021 at the age of 99.