1971 GOV. LESTER MADDOX 17J windup WATCH, RARE & personal AUTOGRAPHED by Lester

Description

1971 LESTER MADDOX WRISTWATCH, RARE & MINT
PERSONALLY AUTOGRAPHED ON THE BOX
DESCRIPTION:
LESTER MADDOX "WRISTWATCH, RARE & MINT
Keeps excellent time
Lester Maddox, Georgia Governor and Segregationist, dies at age 87 on June 26, 2003
Note: the hands on the watch represent an ax handle, a chicken leg and Lester riding his bicycle backwards. These were all campain gimics that Lester used. Lester Maddox was a negitive force in the racial integration process in America.
This item was produced in 1971 for Lester's campaign
for reelection against Jimmy Carter. I purchased this watch from Lester in 1991 along with other items, and I will send a copy of the letter that came with the clock. There is a printed signature on the dial face, however this one also has
Lester's personal autograph
on the top of the watch box. Lester was a colorful, and very controversial figure in Amercan history.
The following is an o
utline of Lester’s political career.
Lester Garfield Maddox
(
September 30
,
1915
–
June 25
,
2003
) was an
American
segregationist
politician who was
Governor
of the
U.S. state
of
Georgia
from
1967
to
1971
.
Lester Maddox was born in
Atlanta, Georgia
. He dropped out of school and took a
correspondence course
, ultimately opening the segregated "Pickrick" restaurant. He armed his white customers with pick handles to use as weapons against any blacks that might seek service, and in later years sold pick handles as souvenirs.
When the
Civil Rights Act of 1964
, which required integration of
public facilities
, passed, he sold the restaurant rather than integrate it.
He entered politics, running twice for Mayor of Atlanta and once for Lieutenant Governor of Georgia, losing each time.
He ran as the
Democratic Party
nominee for
Governor of Georgia
in
1966
, and received fewer votes than
Republican
nominee
Howard Callaway
, but the large number of write-in votes prevented Callaway from attaining a majority. The election was decided by the state legislature, which was under Democratic party control, and so Maddox became Governor, serving from 1967 to 1971. His chief of staff was
Zell Miller
, who himself became Governor in 1991.
After his term as Governor, he became Lieutenant Governor while
Jimmy Carter
was Governor. Maddox ran again for governor in 1974 and lost: when Carter ran for President in 1976, Maddox ran against him as the nominee of the
American Independent Party
, but got few votes.
His political career over, he had a short-lived nightclub comedy career with a black man he had pardoned from jail while he was governor. They called themselves "The Governor and
the Dishwasher
."
Maddox was diagnosed with
cancer
in
1983
, and had intestinal surgery and later died of
pneumonia
in an
Atlanta
hospice
June 26, 2003
.
Michigan residents will need to add 6% sales tax