Richmond Flowers Sr. | |
|---|---|
| Attorney General of Alabama | |
| In office 1963–1967 | |
| Governor | George C. Wallace |
| Preceded by | MacDonald Gallion |
| Succeeded by | MacDonald Gallion |
| Alabama State Senator from the35th district | |
| In office 1954–1958 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Richmond McDavid Flowers (1918-11-11)November 11, 1918 Dothan, Alabama, U.S. |
| Died | August 9, 2007(2007-08-09) (aged 88) |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Children | Richmond M. Flowers Jr. |
| Residence(s) | Dothan, Alabama |
| Alma mater | Auburn University University of Alabama Law School |
| Occupation | Attorney |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch/service | United States Army |
| Years of service | 1942–1946 |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
Richmond McDavid Flowers Sr. (November 11, 1918 – August 9, 2007) was theattorney general of the U.S. state of Alabama from 1963 to 1967, best known for his opposition to thenGovernorGeorge C. Wallace's policy ofracial segregation.[1] He also served in theAlabama Senate.
Flowers was born on November 11, 1918 (World War IArmistice Day) inDothan inHouston County in southeastern Alabama, to a locally prominent family, the youngest of four brothers.[2] After graduating fromDothan High School,[3] he attendedAuburn University inAuburn.[4]
Flowers entered theUniversity of Alabama School of Law inTuscaloosa in 1941, but interrupted his law school studies in 1942 when drafted into theUnited States Army.[5] He graduated fromOfficer Candidate School inCamp Barkeley, Texas.[6] He was assigned toFort Oglethorpe, thenFort McPherson, and then toManila andTokyo, where he was a hospital administrator assigned to General Headquarters,Far East Command during theoccupation of Japan.[7] He was honorably discharged in 1946.[8]
After being discharged from the military, Flowers returned to Dothan, where he worked for the Dothan Bank and Trust Company, which his family owned.[9] Flowers returned to the University of Alabama School of Law.[10] He later co-founded Flowers Insurance Agency.[11]
Flowers was elected to theAlabama State Senate in 1954 and became the floor leader, serving until 1958.[12] He was chosen as attorney general in the same election that George Wallace won the first of four non-consecutive terms as governor.
As an intraparty opponent of Wallace, Flowers was invited to speak at theYale Law School in the fall of 1965, a venue that had previously booed Wallace from that same stage. Instead of echoing the then-popular (in the North) criticisms of Wallace, Flowers began his speech with a lengthy, withering, and completely unexpected indictment of his hosts' poor manners for their refusal to have listened earlier to Wallace. In his ensuing remarks, Flowers discussed not only the importance ofcivil rights but the need for civil discourse and honoring the fundamental principles of theFirst Amendment.
During his tenure as attorney general, Flowers won two landmark voting rights cases,Baker v. Carr andReynolds v. Sims, before theUnited States Supreme Court. He also was instrumental in allowing women to serve on juries in Alabama.
In 1966, Flowers ran in the Democratic gubernatorial primary in an effort to succeed the term-limited George Wallace. He faced formerU.S. RepresentativeCarl Elliott ofJasper, two former governors,James Folsom andJohn Malcolm Patterson, andLurleen Burns Wallace, Wallace's first wife and his then-surrogate candidate. Flowers sought African American support in his campaign. He administered what may have been the death blow to his own campaign when he falsely suggested Lurleen Wallace had not graduated from high school and then said she had done nothing since except marry, work in a dime store, and be a housewife.[13] Mrs. Wallace easily won the Democratic nomination and then handily defeated theconservativeRepublican U.S. RepresentativeJames D. Martin ofGadsden and in doing so captured a majority of the black vote.[14]
Flowers prosecuted theKu Klux Klan and fought for school desegregation. He reported that crosses were burned in his yard, and bricks were thrown through his windows.[15]
In 1968, Flowers and two others were indicted on federal charges of a conspiracy toextort payments fromlife insurance companies that sought licenses to conduct business in Alabama.[16][17] The three were convicted the following year, and Flowers was sentenced to eight years in prison. He wasparoled in 1973 after serving 16 months. Flowers maintained that the prosecution was politically motivated by opponents of his anti-segregation stance, but the appeals courts affirmed the conviction.[16][17] The portion of theHobbs Act under which Flowers was convicted was later struck down as unconstitutionally vague.[18] PresidentJimmy Carter granted him a pardon in 1978,[16][17] after which Flowers' license to practice law was restored.[19]
Because of the trouble in Alabama, his sonRichmond Flowers Jr. declined an offer fromAlabama Crimson Tide football coachPaul W. Bryant to play football at Alabama. Flowers Jr. had been an athlete in Alabama but played college football at theUniversity of Tennessee atKnoxville and was instrumental, scoring the game–winning touchdown, in defeating Alabama and Coach Bryant during his senior season. At the time, his father watched from the stands inNeyland Stadium in handcuffs. Flowers Jr. was also a member of the University of Tennessee track team. He was a world-class hurdler and played in theNational Football League with theDallas Cowboys and theNew York Giants.
The third generation Richmond Flowers, III, is a former wide receiver atDuke University, who transferred to theUniversity of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He was drafted by theJacksonville Jaguars but was cut from the team. He also tried out with theToronto Argonauts of theCanadian Football League.[1] He now is an assistant coach for theWashington Commanders.
In his later years, Flowers taught criminal justice and U.S. history atWallace Community College in Dothan, formerly the George C. Wallace State Community College, named for the father of his longstanding political rival. He was a legal advisor to Flowers Hospital. A member of FirstUnited Methodist Church, he taught the men's Bible class for twenty-five years.
Flowers Jr. is the subject of a 1989CBS televisiondocudrama titledUnconquered, with screenplay byPat Conroy.[20]
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forAttorney General of Alabama 1962 | Succeeded by MacDonald Gallion |
| Legal offices | ||
| Preceded by | Attorney General of Alabama 1963–1967 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
