Benefiting from Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater winning Alabama, Dickinson defeated 13-term incumbent Democrat George M. Grant with nearly 62 percent of the vote.

Dickinson was reelected by 9% in 1966, when Democratic gubernatorial nominee Lurleen Burns Wallace (running as a stand-in for her husband) led her party's slate to statewide victory by easily defeating Martin.

For instance, in 1974, when Republicans suffered heavy losses nationwide due to voter anger at the Watergate scandal, Dickinson was reelected with 66 percent of the vote.

"[6] Dickinson concluded that it was part of a vast communist conspiracy: "... years ago a systematic plan was started by the Communists to divide the Deep South from the rest of the Nation by the very tactics they are now using"[6] and characterized the participants as only posturing with a "facade of righteousness, smugness and respectability erroneously attributed to them, which allowed them to invade my home town and my State like a swarm of rats leaving an overturned hayrick.

Ryan noted the deliberate attempt to smear the marchers: "I am sure that the gentleman from Alabama remembered the old legal adage: When you do not have the facts on your side, try the opposition.

[8] Religious leaders present at the marches denied the charges, and local and national journalists were unable to substantiate his accounts.

Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach stated that "Communists' have been remarkably unsuccessful in influencing any decisions and certainly have not capture any of the leadership [of organized civil rights groups].

[9] In 1982, Dickinson was re-elected by only 0.8% over Alabama Public Service Commission President Billy Joe Camp, his first competitive contest since his initial run in 1964.