In the Wake of the Assassins
The Political Murder that Changed Alabama
The four shots that rang out in Phenix City, Alabama one June night in 1954 became headline news around the world. Crime had flourished in a sin town called the ‘poor man’s Las Vegas,’ but when attorney general Albert Patterson was assassinated on a public street, Phenix City’s mob days were numbered. John Patterson continued his father’s crusade against crime while pursuing his father’s killers. So launched a political career linked with John F. Kennedy and tainted by racial violence in the streets of Alabama.
When his father was murdered two weeks after being elected Alabama attorney general, John Patterson assumed the office and vowed to avenge his father’s death. But the mob eluded his efforts to bring them to justice and Patterson decided to seek the governor’s office in 1958 at a time when racial segregation was the prominent issue in the state. He became the first Southern governor to endorse John Kennedy for president in 1960 and worked hard for his election, only to clash with Kennedy in 1961 over Alabama’s tragic involvement in the abortive Bay of Pigs invasion. When Freedom Riders protesting segregation in bus stations were viciously attacked in Alabama in 1961, Patterson blamed the violence on the Freedom Riders themselves – a position that destroyed his friendship with Kennedy and would haunt him for the rest of his life.
Original music score by Craig McConnell.
“The bullet that killed John Patterson’s father, Albert Patterson, in 1954 inadvertently killed any chance for Alabama to weather the storms of the Civil Rights era. How that transpired is part of the tale Clem tells in his 86-minute film. Patterson’s son, John, determined to track
Courtney Haden, Birmingham Weekly, July 2007
down the killers ran or governor of Alabama in 1958 and outpolled a young aspirant named George Wallace by exploiting the race issue, and afterwards George Wallace, who had been relatively moderate on race, declared he would never be “outniggered” again.”
“A man of no real political ambitions early on, John Patterson was swept into office when members of the Phenix City mob gunned down his father, who had just been elected attorney general on the promise that he would shut down the “poor man’s Las Vegas” on the Chattahoochee. Bent on revenge, Patterson ran for and was elected attorney general in his father’s place. It was not until I saw this remarkable documentary of Patterson’s life and career that I began to appreciate the difficulties the man faced and how much he accomplished despite them.”
Harvey Jackson, Anniston Star, June 2007
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