Bill Baxley
Encyclopedia
William Joseph Baxley II (born June 27, 1941) is an American Democratic
politician and attorney.
He was born in Dothan
, Alabama
and attended law school at the University of Alabama
, graduating in 1964. He served two terms as Attorney General of Alabama, from 1971–1979; at the age of 27, he was the youngest to hold that position in U.S. History. He served one term as the 24th Lieutenant Governor of Alabama, from 1983-1987. During his time in politics, Baxley aggressively prosecuted industrial polluters, strip miners, and corrupt elected officials. Baxley appointed the state's first African American assistant attorney general, Myron Thompson
, who later became a federal judge.
Baxley's tenure was noted for its racial unrest, and Baxley himself incurred the wrath of the Ku Klux Klan
when he reopened the case of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing
. In a letter, the Klan threatened him, compared him to JFK, and made him an "honorary nigger", but Baxley responded, on official state letterhead: "My response to your letter of February 19, 1976, is--kiss my ass."
, his 1977 prosecution of Robert Chambliss for the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing
in September 1963.
Baxley succeeded in convicting Chambliss with minimal evidence (as the FBI refused to relinquish tapes necessary to the case). The victory eased the minds of the parents of Addie Mae Collins, Carole Robertson, Cynthia Wesley and Denise McNair.
as governor of Alabama. Baxley lost the Democratic primary to political newcomer Fob James
, who went on to easily defeat Republican nominee Guy Hunt. Baxley's campaign leaned heavily on the fact that James had left the Democratic Party in the early 1970s, but then returned before the 1978 campaign. Baxley was endorsed by University of Alabama
football coach Bear Bryant
, who did not want to see James, a graduate of archrival Auburn University
, in the governor's mansion.
Perennial candidate Hunt and questions of Democratic party loyalty both reappeared in another Baxley campaign eight years later. In 1986, the Democratic primary for the gubernatorial race saw Alabama Attorney General Charles Graddick
in a runoff with Baxley, then the Lieutenant Governor. Graddick won by a few thousand votes, but Baxley appealed to the state Supreme Court, which ruled Graddick had violated primary regulations by encouraging Republicans to “cross over” and vote as Democrats. The court told the Democratic Party to hold another election or pick Baxley. The party picked Baxley.
Alabamians, used to a one-party state where the open-primary vote for the Democratic nomination was considered tantamount to election, were outraged and took out their frustrations by voting against Baxley and for H. Guy Hunt
, the GOP nominee. Hunt won the election by a large margin, giving Alabama its first Republican governor since Reconstruction.
with the firm of Baxley, Dillard, Dauphin, McKnight & James. He has five children: Louis, Robert, Richard, Evelyn, and Johnson. He is currently married to Marie (Prat) Baxley. His former wife, Lucy Baxley
, was the Lieutenant Governor of Alabama from 2003 to 2007. Baxley was a strong supporter of his ex-wife's campaign, giving political advice to her and contributed and raised over $250,000. Since 1962, Bill Baxley has served in the Alabama Army National Guard, beginning as an enlisted clerk and rising through the ranks to retire as Colonel on May 29, 2001 (though he turned down the position of General), JAG Corps.
In 1979, Baxley founded the firm known today as Baxley, Dillard, Dauphin, McKnight & James. He primarily represents large business corporations, yet continues to represent individuals of modest means. Those efforts have earned him the distinction of being selected as a Fellow in the International Academy of Trial Lawyers.
Baxley appeared in the Spike Lee documentary Four Little Girls.
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
politician and attorney.
He was born in Dothan
Dothan, Alabama
Dothan is a city located in the southeastern corner of the US state of Alabama, situated approximately west of the Georgia state line and north of Florida. It is the seat of Houston County, with portions extending into nearby Dale County and Henry County...
, Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
and attended law school at the University of Alabama
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....
, graduating in 1964. He served two terms as Attorney General of Alabama, from 1971–1979; at the age of 27, he was the youngest to hold that position in U.S. History. He served one term as the 24th Lieutenant Governor of Alabama, from 1983-1987. During his time in politics, Baxley aggressively prosecuted industrial polluters, strip miners, and corrupt elected officials. Baxley appointed the state's first African American assistant attorney general, Myron Thompson
Myron Herbert Thompson
Myron Herbert Thompson is a United States federal judge.Born in Tuskegee, Alabama, Thompson received a B.A. from Yale University in 1969 and a J.D. from Yale Law School in 1972. He was an Assistant Attorney General of Alabama from 1972 to 1974, and was then in private practice in Montgomery,...
, who later became a federal judge.
Baxley's tenure was noted for its racial unrest, and Baxley himself incurred the wrath of the Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
when he reopened the case of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing
16th Street Baptist Church bombing
The 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama was bombed on Sunday, September 15, 1963. The explosion at the African-American church, which killed four girls, marked a turning point in the U.S...
. In a letter, the Klan threatened him, compared him to JFK, and made him an "honorary nigger", but Baxley responded, on official state letterhead: "My response to your letter of February 19, 1976, is--kiss my ass."
Church Bombing Case
As attorney general, Baxley was made famous for his most prestigious case against the Ku Klux KlanKu Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
, his 1977 prosecution of Robert Chambliss for the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing
16th Street Baptist Church bombing
The 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama was bombed on Sunday, September 15, 1963. The explosion at the African-American church, which killed four girls, marked a turning point in the U.S...
in September 1963.
"We know who did it," Alabama Atty. Baxley said Wednesday as he confirmed that he has reopened the investigation of a church bombing that killed four young black girls in Birmingham in 1963. Baxley said in an interview with Birmingham radio station that the list of suspects had been narrowed down, but he declined to predict if or when arrests would be made. He said premature published reports about the investigation might have hurt. "There are some people in Jefferson County who ought to be pretty nervous right now," Baxley said in an earlier telephone interview.
The Sunday, Sept. 15, 1963, dynamite blast at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church occurred during the time of racial demonstrations led by the late Martin Luther King. Twenty-three other people in the church were hurt and debris was scattered for blocks. Baxley later confirmed that he had talked to Rowe, and he was cooperative, "But we were working on this thing long before that. We had a lot of stuff already. Rowe was just another person we interviewed." He said Rowe didn't give him a list of names as such, "but nine is too many."
Baxley succeeded in convicting Chambliss with minimal evidence (as the FBI refused to relinquish tapes necessary to the case). The victory eased the minds of the parents of Addie Mae Collins, Carole Robertson, Cynthia Wesley and Denise McNair.
Runs for Governor
In 1978, Baxley, then the sitting Attorney General, ran to succeed the term-limited George WallaceGeorge Wallace
George Corley Wallace, Jr. was the 45th Governor of Alabama, serving four terms: 1963–1967, 1971–1979 and 1983–1987. "The most influential loser" in 20th-century U.S. politics, according to biographers Dan T. Carter and Stephan Lesher, he ran for U.S...
as governor of Alabama. Baxley lost the Democratic primary to political newcomer Fob James
Fob James
Forrest Hood James, Jr., known as Fob James , is an American politician, a civil engineer, and an all-American half-back...
, who went on to easily defeat Republican nominee Guy Hunt. Baxley's campaign leaned heavily on the fact that James had left the Democratic Party in the early 1970s, but then returned before the 1978 campaign. Baxley was endorsed by University of Alabama
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....
football coach Bear Bryant
Bear Bryant
Paul William "Bear" Bryant was an American college football player and coach. He was best known as the longtime head coach of the University of Alabama football team. During his 25-year tenure as Alabama's head coach, he amassed six national championships and thirteen conference championships...
, who did not want to see James, a graduate of archrival Auburn University
Auburn University
Auburn University is a public university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 25,000 students and 1,200 faculty members, it is one of the largest universities in the state. Auburn was chartered on February 7, 1856, as the East Alabama Male College, a private liberal arts...
, in the governor's mansion.
Perennial candidate Hunt and questions of Democratic party loyalty both reappeared in another Baxley campaign eight years later. In 1986, the Democratic primary for the gubernatorial race saw Alabama Attorney General Charles Graddick
Charles Graddick
Charles Allen Graddick is Circuit Judge of the 13th Judicial Circuit of Alabama, United States.Graddick attended the all-male University Military School, the forerunner of UMS-Wright Preparatory School, graduating in 1963...
in a runoff with Baxley, then the Lieutenant Governor. Graddick won by a few thousand votes, but Baxley appealed to the state Supreme Court, which ruled Graddick had violated primary regulations by encouraging Republicans to “cross over” and vote as Democrats. The court told the Democratic Party to hold another election or pick Baxley. The party picked Baxley.
Alabamians, used to a one-party state where the open-primary vote for the Democratic nomination was considered tantamount to election, were outraged and took out their frustrations by voting against Baxley and for H. Guy Hunt
H. Guy Hunt
Harold Guy Hunt was an American politician who served as the 49th Governor of Alabama from 1987 to 1993. He was the first Republican to serve as governor of the state since Reconstruction.- Early life :...
, the GOP nominee. Hunt won the election by a large margin, giving Alabama its first Republican governor since Reconstruction.
Current Life
Baxley is presently an attorney in BirminghamBirmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
with the firm of Baxley, Dillard, Dauphin, McKnight & James. He has five children: Louis, Robert, Richard, Evelyn, and Johnson. He is currently married to Marie (Prat) Baxley. His former wife, Lucy Baxley
Lucy Baxley
Lucy Baxley served as the 28th Lieutenant Governor of Alabama, from 2003 to 2007 and was the Democratic candidate for Governor in 2006. Though Alabama has had a female governor, Baxley is the first woman to hold the state's office of lieutenant governor.-Personal:Baxley was born in 1937 near...
, was the Lieutenant Governor of Alabama from 2003 to 2007. Baxley was a strong supporter of his ex-wife's campaign, giving political advice to her and contributed and raised over $250,000. Since 1962, Bill Baxley has served in the Alabama Army National Guard, beginning as an enlisted clerk and rising through the ranks to retire as Colonel on May 29, 2001 (though he turned down the position of General), JAG Corps.
In 1979, Baxley founded the firm known today as Baxley, Dillard, Dauphin, McKnight & James. He primarily represents large business corporations, yet continues to represent individuals of modest means. Those efforts have earned him the distinction of being selected as a Fellow in the International Academy of Trial Lawyers.
Baxley appeared in the Spike Lee documentary Four Little Girls.
External links
- http://www.morelaw.com/lawyers/atty.asp?i=28062
- http://www.archives.state.al.us/conoff/baxley.html
- http://www.africanaonline.com/1977trial.htm
- http://www.useekufind.com/peace/trial.htm