Albert Brewer
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Albert Preston Brewer (October 26, 1928 – January 2, 2017) was an American politician who was the 47th
governor of Alabama 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 r ...
from 1968 to 1971.


Early life

Albert Preston Brewer was born on October 26, 1928, in
Bethel Springs, Tennessee Bethel Springs is a town in McNairy County, Tennessee. The population was 998 at the 2020 census. History Bethel Springs was platted in 1860, when the railroad was extended to that point. A post office called Bethel Springs has been in operation s ...
, United States, to Daniel A. Brewer, a farmer, and Clara Albert Brewer. While Albert was a child, the family moved to Decatur so his father could take a job with the
Tennessee Valley Authority The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolina ...
. Brewer stayed there and attended local schools until he left for 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 ...
in 1946 to study history and political science. He earned his law degree from the
University of Alabama School of Law The University of Alabama School of Law, (formerly known as the Hugh F. Culverhouse Jr. School of Law at The University of Alabama) located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama is a nationally ranked top-tier law school and the only public law school in the sta ...
in 1952 and returned to Decatur to practice law.


Legislative career


House of Representatives

In 1953, Brewer chaired the "Young Democrats" chapter for
Alabama's 8th congressional district Alabama's 8th congressional district, now obsolete, was established in 1877. Alabama currently has seven congressional districts represented in the United States House of Representatives. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Alabama was app ...
. In 1954, the incumbent legislator serving Morgan County in the
Alabama House of Representatives The Alabama State House of Representatives is the lower house of the Alabama Legislature, the state legislature of state of Alabama. The House is composed of 105 members representing an equal number of districts, with each constituency contai ...
announced his retirement. Local community leaders recruited Brewer to run. He won the Democratic primary and, facing no opposition in the general election, was seated the following year. He was reelected in 1958 and 1962. With the support of Governor-elect
George 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 was elected
Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...
at the opening of the 1963 legislative session on January 8 without opposition. The speakership also made him ''ex officio'' chairman of the House Rules Committee. Under Brewer's leadership, the House was generally supportive of Wallace's goals. During the session, a bill to increase education spending, coupled with new tax increases, was introduced and passed through the legislature. Brewer, wary of Wallace's campaign promises to block tax increases, met with the governor to ask when he would veto the bill and send it back to the legislature. Wallace stated that he did not intend to veto the bill to preserve his campaign pledge, instead saying that he would "just yell nigger" to avoid scrutiny. After this, Brewer began to have doubts about Wallace's merits. In 1964, Brewer and the future
U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...
James B. Allen, then the
lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...
, were among the unpledged presidential electors on the Alabama ballot. They lost to the
Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
slate committed to Barry M. Goldwater. No electors pledged to
U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...
Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
were permitted on the Alabama ballot. While national Democrats balked over Johnson's exclusion, most supported the unpledged slate, which competed directly with the Republican electors. As ''
The Tuscaloosa News The '' Tuscaloosa News '' is a daily newspaper serving Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States, and the surrounding area in west central Alabama. In 2012, Halifax Media Group acquired the ''Tuscaloosa News''. Prior to that, the paper's owner was Th ...
'' explained, loyalist electors would have offered a clearer choice to voters than did the unpledged slate.


Lieutenant Governor

In 1966 Brewer considered running for the office of governor, as incumbent Governor
George 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 ...
was constitutionally restricted from seeking another term. The governor's wife,
Lurleen Wallace Lurleen Burns Wallace (born Lurleen Brigham Burns; September 19, 1926 – May 7, 1968) was the List of Governors of Alabama, 46th governor of Alabama for 15 months from January 1967 until her death. She was the first wife of Alabama governor Georg ...
, entered the race and Brewer, convinced a gubernatorial candidacy would be futile, decided to run for the office of
lieutenant governor of Alabama The lieutenant governor of Alabama is the president and presiding officer of the Alabama Senate, elected to serve a four-year term. The office was created in 1868,1868 Const. art. V, § 1 abolished in 1875,1875 Const. art. V, § 1 and recreated in ...
. With a coalition of Wallace supporters, organized labor, and urbanites, he overwhelmingly defeated his opponent in the Democratic primary and faced no opposition in the general election. He was sworn in on January 16, 1967. Lurleen Wallace also won and was inaugurated that month. As lieutenant governor, he convinced the legislature to create an Education Study Commission. In early July 1967 Lurleen Wallace traveled to Texas for cancer treatment. State law stipulated that if the governor was out of state for 21 days, the lieutenant governor officially assumed their responsibilities as
acting governor An acting governor is a person who acts in the role of governor. In Commonwealth jurisdictions where the governor is a vice-regal position, the role of "acting governor" may be filled by a lieutenant governor (as in most Australian states) or an ...
. This went into effect at the beginning of July 24, and Brewer served as acting governor for about 15 hours, meeting with some state officials, signing extradition papers, and appointing 25 honorary colonels, before Wallace was flown back to Alabama.


Governor


Executive action

Though aware of Lurleen Wallace's affliction with cancer, Brewer was not familiar with the severity of her condition until shortly before she died. Wallace succumbed on May 7, 1968, and, as stipulated in the constitution, Brewer succeeded to the office of governor. Taking the oath before only his family and George Wallace, Brewer remained very guarded about his feelings and views early in his new tenure, and delayed moving into the governor's mansion until Wallace had found a new home for his family. Wallace's erstwhile legal counsel, Cecil Jackson, directed all executive cabinet members to offer their resignations to Brewer to allow him to build a team of his choosing. Brewer ended up retaining most of the cabinet, though he fired the public safety director and the director of the Department of Conservation after they refused to offer their resignations (and after the latter became involved in a physical altercation with another state employee). Fairly soon after taking office, Brewer and his new state finance director, Bob Ingram, uncovered the large extent to which the Wallace administration had favored supporters in conducting state business, including alleged kickbacks for road construction contracts and asking state troopers to funnel stranded motorists to preferred
tow truck A tow truck (also called a wrecker, a breakdown truck, recovery vehicle or a breakdown lorry) is a truck used to move disabled, improperly parked, impounded, or otherwise indisposed motor vehicles. This may involve recovering a vehicle damaged ...
services. Brewer was personally bothered by these improprieties but, wanting to seek election to his own gubernatorial term in 1970, felt it would be unwise to anger Wallace supporters by publicly exposing and denouncing these practices. As part of their attempt to quietly reform the executive branch, Brewer and Ingram tapped experienced public servants who they viewed as ethical, such as Tom Brassell, who was made assistant finance director. Despite this commitment to reform, he sometimes intervened in hiring and other state business to assist friends and dole out favors. On the whole, politicization in Brewer's administration was more muted than his predecessors', and civil servant morale improved during his tenure. Unlike his two predecessors, Brewer held weekly press conferences. At one such meeting in June 1968, Brewer called for the establishment of a state motor pool, saying he would create one by executive order and then ask for the legislature to affirm it. The motor pool system, which he hoped would limit inappropriate use of state vehicles for personal purposes, required all vehicles to be checked out and all fuel to be purchased from the state. He also had state insignia prominently affixed to all motor pool vehicles to increase their visibility as government property. All vehicles deemed unnecessary—totaling about 1,000—were requisitioned from various agencies and listed for sale, including the governor's limousine. In the end, the reforms only generated minor cost savings for the government. He also had excess copy machines sold, consolidated the state's computer systems, eliminated 12 senior assistant positions, and dispatched various staff the Wallaces' had loaned to the governor's office back to their agencies of origin to handle their official competencies. George Wallace was critical of some of the reforms, particularly the motor pool, complaining that they reflected a ''de facto'' rebuke of his late wife. While originally cautious about besmirching the Wallaces, the complaints annoyed Brewer and led him to abandon his earlier concerns. The governor also initiated an investigation into commissions collections by agents of the Alcohol Beverage Control Board. While the practiced had been ''de jure'' eliminated by law in 1963 supported by both Wallace and Brewer, many board agents were purportedly collecting commissions on distillery sales without authorization during the Wallaces' tenures. George Wallace denied any knowledge of the impropriety and Brewer affirmed his innocence, but Wallace still criticized Brewer for the publicity the scandal received. Brewer also took actions in accordance with his own socially conservative views which were popular among most Alabamians. After being informed by his wife that pornographic movies were being displayed in Bessemer, he authorized a series of state raids on theatres. He also initiated crackdowns on alcohol and narcotics abuse. Following a series of influence peddling scandals in the legislature, Brewer issued an executive order creating an ethics commission tasked with drafting a code of ethics for potential adoption by the legislature Among his suggested points were the prohibition of gifts for officials, a ban on officials working for and receiving compensation from entities they regulated, and establishing
conflict of interest A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates to situations i ...
disclosure rules. He offered funds from his office budget to support the commission's work. To promote economic development, Brewer pursued industrial recruitment, traveling to New York to speak with corporate executives and hosting various in-person meetings with company representatives. He created the Alabama Program Development Office to link federal grant applications with local government's development efforts. Following a series of major
fish kill The term fish kill, known also as fish die-off, refers to a localized die-off of fish populations which may also be associated with more generalized mortality of aquatic life.University of Florida. Gainesville, FL (2005) ''Plant Management in Fl ...
s on state rivers caused by dumping of chemicals, Brewer encouraged the state to take action against Geigy Chemical Company and create new anti-pollution laws.


Legislative action

In legislative and policy disputes, Brewer preferred negotiation and finding common ground rather than public spats or power plays with patronage, as George Wallace had. In anticipation of the first legislative session being convened while he was governor, he decided to focus on improving education, consolidating bureaucratic procedures, trimming unnecessary spending, and improving Alabama's national image. He investigated the state of education in Alabama, and found that overall the system was not improving relative to other states, despite efforts at reform during the Wallace administrations. He informed state education officials that he wanted to alter the state's strategy for responding to federal school desegregation orders; in contrast to Wallace's flagrant hostility and refusals, Brewer would "try to do it in a way that will let us do the most palatable thing for the people, the patrons of our system." Brewer believed that a
school choice School choice is a term for education options that allow students and families to select alternatives to public schools. The most common in the United States, by both the number of programs and by the number of participating students are scho ...
policy which permitted integrated schooling options could satisfy the federal government's demands and be accepted by most Alabamians, thus preserving popular support for his goal of improving the public education system. Many school choice proponents in the South had advocated for choice policies to deliberately stall integration and preserve segregated schools, and by that point many federal courts were dissatisfied with such proposals. Several weeks after Brewer communicated to President
Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
that he would engage the federal government in good faith on school segregation issues, the United States Attorney General sued in the
United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama The United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama (in case citations, M.D. Ala.) is a federal court in the Eleventh Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appeal ...
to replace school choice options. After the court ordered new measures be taken to further integration, Johnson ordered the schools integrate their faculty at a specific ratio and directed that some black schools be closed. The governor responded by engaging in similar rhetoric as segregationist, complaining of bureaucratic interference and social engineering. He also warned that under a more directed desegregation plan, most white parents would simply enroll their children in private schools. Despite this, he pledged to respect any court orders on racial matters. His request that Johnson reconsider his order was rejected. Meanwhile, the Education Study Commission released a report on education in Alabama which outlined numerous deficiencies including overcrowded schools, inadequate instructional materials, underqualified educators, and uncompetitive pay rates for teachers. The commission recommended that additional funding was needed to improve the situation. In 1969 he called the legislature into special session to consider 30 bills aimed at improving education. Despite resistance from some urban legislators who thought the package did more to improve rural areas, the proposals were passed, increasing education spending by $132 million, raising teacher salaries by over 20 percent over two years, making the state and local superintendent positions appointive, granting the Education Study Commission statutory status, and creating the Alabama Commission on Higher Education. At the beginning of the 1969 session, Brewer announced that he would push for new pollution control laws. With industrial groups heavily lobbying the legislature, only a weak bill was passed. More focused on education reform, Brewer decided against pushing for stronger regulations in a matter which would anger corporate interests and, in his view, earn him few additional votes in the 1970 election. More fish kills and serious mercury pollution in 1970 led for Brewer to appeal for federal assistance a commission a water quality survey and, as a lame duck, he briefly considered convening a special session to address inadequate pollution controls before ruling it unfeasible. His efforts during the 1969 session to strengthen consumer credit protections or schedule the legislature for annual sessions (instead of biannual) also failed. Despite this, Brewer's administration was able to obtain funding for a state
Medicaid Medicaid in the United States is a federal and state program that helps with healthcare costs for some people with limited income and resources. Medicaid also offers benefits not normally covered by Medicare, including nursing home care and pers ...
program, a state employee pay hike, new highway safety legislation, two anti-pornography measures, a meat inspection law, and a requirement that all workers contracted by the state for construction be guaranteed standard wages.


1970 gubernatorial campaign

Brewer supported Wallace's 1968 presidential campaign, soliciting donations and delivering speeches on his behalf. Within months of Brewer assuming office, Wallace assured him privately and stated publicly that he would not seek the governor's office in 1970. Around the
Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden and ...
holiday in 1968, Wallace confronted Brewer about the alcohol agents scandal, and told Brewer in a meeting at the governor's mansion, "If you keep talking about it, it's going to reflect on me and I may just have to run against you in 1970." Brewer countered, " u never have had a better friend than I've been to you and
our wife Our Wife may refer to: * Our Wife (1931 film) ''Our Wife'' is a 1931 American pre-Code Hal Roach comedy film starring Laurel and Hardy. It was directed by James W. Horne and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Plot Oliver is making plans to be ma ...
and you told me oyourself when she died." The two spoke infrequently after the meeting, and Brewer continued with his preparations to be elected as governor in his own right in 1970, and, mindful of the possibility of another Wallace candidacy, took increasingly bolder policy positions and actions. In that effort, he gained an important ally in U.S. President Richard M. Nixon, who had defeated Wallace in the 1968 presidential election and sought to neutralize Wallace as a potential adversary in
1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...
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Brewer's 1970 gubernatorial campaign, however, was revolutionary in many respects. Although earlier in his political career he was regarded as a segregationist but not a race-baiter, Brewer refused to engage in racist rhetoric and courted newly registered black voters. He hoped to build a
coalition A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...
of black people, educated middle-class whites, and working-class whites from northern Alabama, traditionally a more
liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...
part of the state. He unveiled a platform calling for more funding for education, an ethics commission and a commission to revise Alabama's 1901 state constitution, which had been deliberately framed to disenfranchise black people and poor whites. Brewer led Wallace in the Democratic primary but failed to win an outright majority. He then faced Wallace in a runoff. Running openly against the "black bloc" vote, Wallace slurred Brewer and his family. Wallace narrowly won the Democratic runoff and won the general election in a landslide. He was succeeded by Wallace on January 18, 1971, after 987 days in office.


Later life

After leaving office in 1970, Brewer joined a law firm in Montgomery. He considered challenging Wallace again in the 1974 gubernatorial election, hoping that the salience of racial politics would decline by that point, but decided against it as Wallace's popularity persisted unabated after a 1972 assassination attempt. When Wallace ran again in 1982, Brewer endorsed Republican
Emory Folmar Emory McCord Folmar (June 3, 1930 – November 11, 2011) was an American politician who served as the mayor of Montgomery, Alabama, from 1977 to 1999. Although the mayor's office is nonpartisan, Folmar was known to be a Republican. Backgr ...
in the general election. In 1987 he became a professor of law and government at
Samford University Samford University is a private Christian university in Homewood, Alabama. In 1841, the university was founded as Howard College by Baptists. Samford University describes itself as the 87th oldest institution of higher learning in the United Sta ...
's
Cumberland School of Law Cumberland School of Law is an American Bar Association, ABA accredited law school at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. It was founded in 1847 at Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee and is the 11th oldest law schoo ...
. Before his death, he taught a course on Professional Responsibility at the
Cumberland School of Law Cumberland School of Law is an American Bar Association, ABA accredited law school at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. It was founded in 1847 at Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee and is the 11th oldest law schoo ...
. He was also an active leader with th
Alabama Citizens for Constitutional Reform
since 2000. On January 2, 2017, Brewer died in Jackson Hospital,
Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Montgomery County. Named for the Irish soldier Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River, on the coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. In the 202 ...
, at 88.


Legacy

Albert P. Brewer High School Albert P. Brewer Area Vocational and High School is part of the Morgan County School System. The school is in the foot hills of the Appalachian Mountains near Florette, Alabama. The grounds are approximately 80 acres. Its mascot is the Patriot, a ...
in eastern Morgan County is named in honor of Brewer. The school opened in 1972. Historian Gordon E. Harvey wrote, "Brewer did more to improve education in Alabama than most of his predecessors and all but a few of his successors."


Notes


Works cited

* * *


External links


Albert Brewer's biography from Cumberland School of Law website
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Brewer, Albert 1928 births 2017 deaths Alabama lawyers Democratic Party governors of Alabama Lieutenant Governors of Alabama Democratic Party members of the Alabama House of Representatives People from McNairy County, Tennessee Samford University faculty Speakers of the Alabama House of Representatives University of Alabama alumni 20th-century American lawyers