MacDonald Gallion (April 5, 1913 – August 11, 2007) served as the

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

for two non-consecutive terms from 1959 until 1963 and again from 1967 until 1971.

Life

Gallion was born in 1913 in Montgomery. He attended Lakeview Grammar School, Paul Hyne and Phillips High Schools in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

. He was a member of the

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

church. Gallion attended the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

from 1931 until 1937, when he received his law degree. He then began the practice of law. While a student, he was a member of the

Alpha Tau Omega Alpha Tau Omega (), commonly known as ATO, is an American social fraternity founded at the Virginia Military Institute in 1865 by Otis Allan Glazebrook. The fraternity has around 250 active and inactive chapters and colonies in the United Stat ...

fraternity. Gallion married his wife Velma Lee on July 10, 1942, in Oneonta. Together, they had a son and a daughter. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Gallion served in the

U.S. Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through comb ...

from 1942 until 1945. He rose to the rank of

1st Lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a s ...

and saw combat in the Central Pacific and was wounded at

Saipan Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States in the western Pa ...

. After the war, Gallion served as a

special counsel In the United States, a special counsel (formerly called special prosecutor or independent counsel) is a lawyer appointed to investigate, and potentially prosecute, a particular case of suspected wrongdoing for which a conflict of interest exist ...

for the State of Alabama in the

Phenix City Phenix City is a city in Lee and Russell counties in the U.S. state of Alabama, and the county seat of Russell County. As of the 2020 Census, the population of the city was 38,817. Phenix City lies immediately west across the Chattahoochee ...

trials. He served as the Chief Assistant Attorney General during the tenure of then-Attorney General John M. Patterson from 1955 to 1959. Gallion was a

Mason Mason may refer to: Occupations * Mason, brick mason, or bricklayer, a craftsman who lays bricks to construct brickwork, or who lays any combination of stones, bricks, cinder blocks, or similar pieces * Stone mason, a craftsman in the stone-cut ...

. He was also a member of the Loyal Order of Moose, Elks and Woodmen of the World. He died on August 11, 2007.

Attorney General of Alabama

Gallion was elected

in 1958 as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

for the 1959–1963 term of office. In-eligible to seek a second consecutive term in 1962, he opted to run for

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

but lost the Democratic primary to

George C. Wallace George Corley Wallace Jr. (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) was an American politician who served as the 45th governor of Alabama for four terms. A member of the Democratic Party, he is best remembered for his staunch segregationist and ...

. He successfully sought re-election to his old office of Attorney General four years later in 1966. Prior to the 1970 elections, the state legislature changed the law allowing statewide elected officials to serve a second consecutive term. In what was considered an upset, he lost re-nomination in 1970 to Bill Baxley, then the Houston County District Attorney.WALLACE second to Gov Brewer in primary vote
/ref> In the primary campaign, Baxley had successfully created a widely viewed public impression, whether accurate or not, that he himself would be a better ally of George Wallace. During his tenure as Attorney General, Gallion successfully led litigation that established Alabama's offshore oil and gas rights. This helped the state later establish what is now a multimillion-dollar trust fund.

References

External links

- Official State Biography
Ex-Attorney General Gallion dies at 94
from ''The Birmingham News'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Gallion, MacDonald 1913 births 2007 deaths Alabama Democrats Alabama Attorneys General Politicians from Montgomery, Alabama 20th-century American politicians Lawyers from Montgomery, Alabama 20th-century American lawyers United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II United States Marine Corps officers