Only one Alabamian – William Rufus DeVane King – has held one of the country's top two offices. (
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Three other Alabamians have made unsuccessful runs for an executive office. The first is Alabama's best-known politician, the second a long-time U.S Senator from North Alabama and the third, who served in the 1920s, now lends his name to a character on a popular internet show.
George Wallace
Wallace's name is synonymous with Alabama politics. Born in Clio, Wallace served four terms as Alabama's governor: 1962, 1970, 1974 and 1982. His support of segregation - including the infamous 1963 Stand in the Schoolhouse Door at the University of Alabama – propelled him into the national spotlight.
In 1964, Wallace decided to seek the Democratic nomination for president. He did well in early primaries but backed out of the race to start planning for 1968's election. In that race, he opted to run as an independent. He ended up carrying five Southern states, with almost 10 million popular votes and 46 electoral votes in a race eventually won by Richard Nixon.
In 1972, Wallace was making another run for the Democratic nomination when he was shot in a strip-mall parking lot during a campaign stop. The shooting left him paralyzed and unable to campaign but Wallace ended up finishing third in the popular primary vote behind Hubert Humphrey and eventual nominee George McGovern. Wallace made his fourth and final run for the presidency in 1976, garnering enough primary votes to land in third place behind eventual winner Jimmy Carter and California's Jerry Brown.
Stymied in his quest for the presidency, Wallace won his final gubernatorial race in 1982. Plagued by health problems from the would-be assassination, Wallace died in Sept. 13, 1998.
John Sparkman
Sen. John Sparkman
Another homegrown Alabamian, John Sparkman was born on a farm near Hartselle in Morgan County. He was first elected to the U.S. House in 1936 and then to the Senate in 1946 to fill a seat vacated by the death of Sen. John H. Bankhead. He was elected to his first full Senate term in 1948 then reelected to four terms.
Seen as a rate Southern centrist in an increasingly divided Senate, Sparkman was nominated in 1952 to serve as the Democratic running mate to Illinois Governor and presidential hopeful Adlai Stevenson. He and Stevenson were soundly defeated by the Republican ticket of Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon. Stevenson and Sparkman captured all the Southern states except Tennessee, Florida and Virginia.
Sparkman retired to Huntsville in 1979 and died on Nov. 16, 1985. His name can be found on buildings and schools throughout Alabama.
Oscar W. Underwood
Oscar Underwood
Alabama's third entry into the presidential hunt wasn't born in the state. Oscar Wilder Underwood hailed from Louisville, Ky. He studied law and took his practice to Birmingham, where he was elected to Congress in 1896.
In 1912, Underwood was nominated for president at the Democratic National Convention, where he received support of the Southern states. The nomination was won by Woodrow Wilson, who offered Underwood the vice-presidential nomination but he declined. Wilson went on to capture the presidency with Underwood serving as Majority Leader in the House.
In 1914, Underwood was elected to the U.S. Senate, where he became Minority Leader, the first person to serve in that capacity in both the House and Senate. Ten years later, the Alabama legislature called for Underwood to be nominated as the Democratic contender for the presidency but his campaign failed to garner widespread support. The Democrats eventually turned to John Davis of West Virginia as their candidate but only after a marathon convention session with 103 ballots.
The presidential race was eventually won by Republican challenger Calvin Coolidge.
Underwood left the Senate in 1926 and died in Virginia Jan. 25, 1929. According to his wishes, his body was brought back to Alabama and he was buried in Montgomery's Elmwood Cemetery.
Underwood was an outspoken critic of the Ku Klux Klan during his time in the Senate. That opposition – which played a role in his failure to capture the 1924 Democratic presidential nomination - earned him a mention in future President John F. Kennedy's book, "Profiles in Courage."
While not widely remembered today, Underwood's name has recently shown up in an unlikely place. Netflix's web-only series "House of Cards," about a ruthless South Carolina politician, has Underwood's name back in the spotlight. The show's creators said the main character's name, Francis Underwood, comes from the Alabama Senator.