Steve Flowers

Alabama has never had a more colorful governor than Big Jim Folsom. He also was a brilliant politician who understood the importance of name identification.

We are continuing this week with our summer series on Big Jim Folsom – Alabama’s most colorful governor. Those of us who grew up in and around Alabama politics have coined a descriptive term for a person who is obsessed with seeking political office constantly and tirelessly without reservation or concern for their physical, mental or financial welfare.

More than 155,000 students are served by Alabama’s community colleges. Sometimes overlooked and often unsung, Alabama’s community and technical colleges are on a roll.

It was 55 years ago in May 1968 that Alabama’s first female governor, Lurleen Wallace, passed away. Kay Ivey is Alabama’s second female governor. Lurleen Wallace was the first. Appropriately, Kay Ivey’s idol and impetus for striving to be governor was Lurleen Wallace. Kay’s first involvement in state politics was as a campaign worker for Governor Lurleen’s 1966 race for governor when Kay Ivey was a student at Auburn.

Our iconic Senior United States Senator, Richard Shelby, will walk out of the Senate chambers in Washington, D.C. next week (January 3) and come home to retirement in Tuscaloosa. History will reveal Senator Shelby as Alabama’s greatest U.S. Senator, especially when it comes to bringing home the bacon to the Heart of Dixie. To say Shelby is the greatest is saying a mouthful, because we have had some great ones. Shelby will rest along with the likes of John Bankhead, John Sparkman, Lister Hill, and Howell Heflin. He has served longer in the Senate than any Alabamian in state history – 36 years. He served eight years in Congress before beginning his senate tenure in 1986.

BY STEVE FLOWERS- ALABAMA POLITICAL REPORTER The governor’s chair and the race for it was the big show in Alabama politics in that era. Being a U.S.

The governor’s races of bygone years were a lot more fun and colorful than today. We would have 10 to 15 candidates. There would be three or four favorites, but we would have 10 others that would make an effort to crisscross the state and have fun and cut up a little bit to garner publicity. The “also rans” could not afford the expensive country music stars from Nashville like the George Wallace, Big Jim Folsom, Jimmy Faulkner frontrunners could to draw a crowd.