When was wallace shot

In Laurel, the words proved prophetic, though the motivations for the attack might have been a bit of a surprise. As police and the press investigated the gunman, year-old Arthur Bremer from Milwaukee, it became clear that the assassination attempt had little to do with politics. In the weeks before the Laurel stop, he had seen the Governor's appearances in Wisconsin, Michigan and elsewhere.

But that would be unkind. It would be a tragedy if Wallace died…. If he lives, it would also be a tragedy for him to become a national hero elected to the presidency on sympathy votes.

As it turned out, George Wallace did survive the attack and he won the Democratic primary in Maryland. But the shooting paralyzed him from the waist down and effectively ended his quest for the White House.

Bremer, meanwhile, was sentenced to 53 years in prison and was put behind bars in Cumberland, Maryland. View the discussion thread. George Wallace addresses the crowd at his May 15, campaign stop in Laurel, Maryland.

Moments after this photo was taken he was shot by Arthur Bremer. Since the governor was out of the state for more than 20 days, the Alabama Constitution required him to take over in the interim. Beasley won a second term as Lieutenant Governor in but failed at his bid for governor.

Alabama State Trooper E. Dothard was among the security detail with Wallace on the day of the failed assassination attempt.

A bullet from Bremer's gun grazed Dothard's stomach and, though injured, he yelled "Take care of the Governor first! Seven months after the assassination attempt, Wallace named Dothard the director of the Alabama Department of Public Safety.

In , the Colonel E. Dothard Safety Education Museum was opened in Montgomery and includes a monument to law enforcement killed in the line of duty. Dothard died in December of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a hospital where he was being treated for terminal cancer. He was 58 years old.

Nicholas Zarvos. Nicholas Zarvos was a Secret Service agent assigned to Wallace in He was struck in the jaw by a bullet fired by would-be assassin Arthur Bremer. He underwent surgery to repair the damage to his vocal cords caused by the bullet, but spoke with a rasp the rest of his life.

Zarvos later returned to the Secret Service, retiring in the s and moving to Florida. In , Zarvos, along with three other Secret Service agents who were guarding Wallace on May 15, , received the Director's Award of Valor, the agency's highest honor. He died in at the age of Today, a photo signed by Zarvos on that day can be purchased on e-Bay. Dora Thompson, a Wallace campaign volunteer from Hyattsville, Maryland, was shot in the knee.

She was hospitalized for nine days, during which time she visited Wallace. Thompson later testified against Bremer. George McGovern.

George McGovern faced Sen. Hubert Humphrey and Wallace in the Democratic presidential primaries. After the assassination attempt on Wallace, McGovern requested — and received — additional security. McGovern also cancelled all campaign activities in the days after Wallace was shot.

He won the nomination but lost badly in the presidential race to Republican Richard Nixon. McGovern remained in the Senate until and made an unsuccessful run for the presidency in He went on to serve as an author and lecturer. McGovern died on Oct. Billy Grammer.

Grammer was quoted after the incident as saying, "I've said all along, if they wanted to do something like this, they do it under these circumstances. Grammer died on August 11, All rights reserved About Us. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local.

Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. Ad Choices. Skip to Main Content. In , he made another strong run as the candidate of the American Independent Party and managed to get on the ballot in all 50 states. On Election Day, he drew 10 million votes from across the country. In , Governor Wallace returned to the Democratic Party for his third presidential campaign and, under a slightly more moderate platform, was showing promising returns when Arthur Bremer shot him on May 15, After his recovery, he faded from national prominence and made a poor showing in his fourth and final presidential campaign in He contacted civil rights leaders he had so forcibly opposed in the past and asked their forgiveness.

During the next four years, the man who had promised segregation forever made more African American political appointments than any other figure in Alabama history. But for now, I must pass the rope and the pick to another climber and say climb on, climb on to higher heights. Then look back and wave at me. I, too, will still be climbing. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! After decades of environmental damage and legal wrangling, General Electric finally begins its government-mandated efforts to clean the Hudson River on May 15, One of America's largest and most prestigious corporations, GE had dumped harmful chemicals into the river for However, fighting and skirmishes between England and France had been going on in North America for years.

In the early s, French Sign up now to learn about This Day in History straight from your inbox.