George Corley Wallace Jr. (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998), was a United States politician who was elected Governor of Alabama as a Democrat for four terms (1963-1967, 1971-1979 and 1983-1987) and ran for U.S. President four times, running as a Democrat in 1964, 1972, and 1976, and as the American Independent Party candidate in 1968. He is best known for his pro-segregation attitudes and as a symbol of bigotry during the American desegregation period, which he modified after the passage of the 1964 Civil Ri.