[1] At this time in his career, Wallace was an ardent segregationist, and as governor he challenged the attempts of the federal government to enforce laws prohibiting racial segregation in Alabama's public schools and other institutions.

However, the growing Civil Rights Movement, especially the Montgomery bus boycott three years earlier, had left white Alabamians feeling "under siege",[2] and Patterson won the race for governor by a large margin.

After this defeat, Wallace determined that in order to be elected governor, he would have to change his position on racial issues, and told one of his campaign officials "I was out-niggered by John Patterson.

"[2] Wallace's new stance on racial issues became apparent in 1959, when he was the only local circuit court judge who refused to turn over voting records to a federal commission investigating discrimination against black voters.

[3] Threatened with jail,[citation needed] Wallace eventually complied and released the registration documents; however, his defiance earned him notoriety and signaled his new political position.

Carter spent several weeks writing the inaugural address, and on January 14, 1963, after taking the oath of office, Wallace delivered it from the portico of the Alabama State Capitol.

During his term as governor, Wallace would receive national attention as he continued to frame segregation as a states' rights issue, and integration as something imposed upon the South by the federal government.

Although popular with his supporters, the sentiments expressed in Wallace's inaugural address drew criticism from proponents of civil rights as well as those who viewed direct opposition to the federal government as a strategy that was unlikely to be successful.

[22]King's vision of a positive future was a sharp contrast to Wallace's demand to prolong the discrimination that had long prevented many Americans from exercising their civil rights.

[24]Regardless of his feelings at the time, the sentiments expressed in his inaugural address were blamed for creating "a climate that allowed for violent reprisals against those seeking to end racial discrimination".

[17] Wallace's defiant endorsement of segregation proved to be his most memorable piece of political rhetoric[25] and demonstrated the fierce opposition facing the Civil Rights Movement.