man that histon’ ouglit to remember asrnthe greatest American pohtical figure ofrnthe latter half of the 20th centur’. Simpl’rnput, George Wallace was decadesrnahead of his time in identifying the conserrnati”e-populist agenda of the 1990’s,rnand he needed neither consultants norrnpollsters to tell him which way the politicalrnwinds were blowing.rnWallace’s demise occasioned the predictablernresponse from the political punditsrnand media talking heads. OnrnSeptember 17, [he Montgomery Advertiserrnpreached to its empfy choir: “No journeyrnis longer than the one from prejudicernto the acceptance that all humanrnbeings are created equal. But that is arniourne George Codey Wallace made inrnhis lifetime.”rnAnd perhaps he did. But GeorgernWallace will be remembered for morernthan his volte-face. At the peak of his politicalrncareer. Governor Wallace stoodrnfoursc|uare against the imposition on thernSouth of the Yankee ideolog’of egalitarianism.rnLike manv of the South’s greatestrnstatesmen before him, Wallacernunderstood that a Jacobin-inspired mechanicalrnequalit’ was contrar’ to naturernand to biblical teaching and could onh’rnbe enforced b’ an all-powerful centralrngoemment. The destruction of states’rnrights in the Soutii (and, by implication,rnelsewhere) was the first step toward underminingrnthe American people andrntheir institutions. Wallace rightly identifiedrnthe enemv and fought it aliantlyrnuntil the attempt on his life in 1972.rnThe media’s analysis of the evil half ofrnthe Wallace legacy focused largely on hisrn”stand in the schoolhouse door,” defyingrnfederal orders to integrate the Universifyrnof Alabama. His exocation of staternsoereignty on that occasion was thernproper response to a federal governmentrnlurching far beyond the bounds of its authorih’.rnMoreover, he had the great majorih-rnof Alabamians behind him. The’rnunderstood that this assault was designedrnto foment a social revolution that wouldrnusher in a brave new world governedrnb’ a set of ideas foreign to Alabama andrntiie South.rnIt is said that in 1981 Wallace becamerna boni-again Ghristian and repented ofrnhis sins in the presence of the ReerendrnBilly Graham. 1 presume the punditsrnmean racism and segregation, but Wallacernnever did hirn away from the mostrnimportant political stand he ever took—rndefending states’ rights. Though chameleon-rnlike on the politics of race as arnyoung, middle-aged, and old man, Wallacernnever wavered from the populist politicalrnagenda of which states’ rights wasrnthe heart and soul. He understood thatrnthe states were sovereign political societiesrnand that the federal leviathan wasrntheir sworn adversar)’. Wallace championedrnthe “littie man” against briefcasetotingrnbureaucrats and “poinfy-headedrnintellectuals” who grew fat and powerfulrnat the expense of the honest workingrnman, who was usuallv stigmatized as arn”redneck.”rnWallace’s states’ rights populismrnplayed well outside Alabama and thernSouth as well. He ran for president inrnboth 1968 and 1972, and in the latterrncampaign he had the Democratic-rnRepublican establishment shaking inrntheir Guccis. The day after he was shotrnby Arthur Bremer in Laurel, Maryland,rnhe won both the Michigan and MarylandrnDemocratic primaries. Though arnDemocrat, he will perhaps be rememberedrnbest tor his obserxation thatrn”There’s not a dime’s worth of differencernbetween the Democrats and the Republicans”rn—a remark that is truer today thanrnit was 30 years ago.rnAlabama loved Governor GeorgernCorle Wallace. To tiiose of us who witnessedrnhim in his prime, he was tiie epitomernof grit and courage in a day of politicalrnand social upheaval. His funeralrndrew tens of thousands of his fellow Alabamiansrnto Montgomerv’. As his coffin,rndraped w ith the red St. Andrew’s cross onrna field of white, descended the steps ofrnthe state eapitol, we could not help wonderingrnwhether we woidd ever see thernlikes of him again.rn-Michael HillrnEPICYCLES:rn• Don’t Cr)’ for Me, Czech Republic:rnOn September 25, the Times of Londonrnreported that Vaclav Havel — the physicallyrnand politically ailing president ofrnthe Czech Republic —will likely announcernhis resignation during his traditionalrnspeech to the nation on NewrnYear’s Day. In the meantime, Havel hasrnsuggested Ko possible replacements: PetrarnBuzko’a, whom the Times describesrnas a “Catholic theologian and a popularrnSocial Democratic politician,” andrnMadeleine Albright. That’s right—thernformer U.S. ambassador to the UnitedrnNations and current U.S. secretarv ofrnstate. A naturalized U.S. citizen ofrnCzech birth, Airs. Albright would be eligiblernto take up the presidency. ThernTimes suggests that her prospects arerngood, since the “secular Czechs wouldrnprobablv not be keen on a theologian asrnhead of state,” while Albright “speaksrngood, if accented, Czech, and won hugernapplause when she addressed the Czechrnparliament last year.” The Times fails,rnhowever, to mention Albright’s chiefrnqualification for replacing the atheist intellectualrnHavel: The religion-swapping,rncountry-hopping secretan’ of state is perhapsrnthe prime example of the NewrnWorld Order’s deracinated politicalrnelite. But don’t bet tlie paycheck on Albrightrnreturning to her mother country:rnAfter all, the Czech Republic’s armv is arnlittie smaller than she’s used to.rnOBITER DICTA: Scott P. Richert hasrntaken on the responsibilities of managingrneditor oiChronicles follovxing the departurernof Theodore Pappas. Air. Richertrnhas been with The Rockford Institute forrnthree years, first as assistant for externalrnactivities, then as assistant editor ofrnChronicles. Corresponding editor BillrnKauffinan and contributing editorrnKatharine Dalton Boyer (a former managingrneditor oiChronicles) will be assumingrnadditional duties.rnChronicles has a new feature thisrnmonth. Dictations, a column about thern(niis)use of words, can be found on p. H.rnWhether Dictations \ ill appear in futurernissues is up to our readers. Please let usrnknow what you think.rnThe University of Chicago Pressrnhas released The Complete Poems ofrnMichelangelo, translated bv John FrederickrnNims. Poems 105, 106, 259, andrn274 appeared in our Ma- 1997 issue.rnTwo poets grace our pages thisrnmonth. Robert Beum resides in Saskatoon,rnSaskatchewan. His poems andrnessays have appeared in the Sewanee Review,rnNational Review, Christian Century.rnPrairie Schooner, and the SouthwestrnReview, among others. His most recentrnbooks are Classic European Short Storiesrnand Modem British Essayists. Robert A.rnHall is a Marine Vietnam veteran whornlater sen-ed five terms in the MassachusettsrnState Senate. He is the president ofrnthe Graphic Arts Association of Philadelphiarnand resides in Oaklyn, New Jersey.rnChronicles Art Director Anna Mycek-rnWodecki has illustrated this month’s issue.rnShe has exhibited her work in Warsaw,rnParis, New York, and Rockford.rnDECEMBER 1998/grnrnrn