 |
Bill Baxley | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 24th Lieutenant Governor of Alabama | |
| In office January 17, 1983 – January 19, 1987 | |
| Governor | George Wallace |
| Preceded by | George McMillan |
| Succeeded by | Jim Folsom, Jr. |
| 41st Attorney General of Alabama | |
| In office January 18, 1971 – January 15, 1979 | |
| Governor | George Wallace |
| Preceded by | MacDonald Gallion |
| Succeeded by | Charles Graddick |
| District Attorney Houston County | |
| In office 1969–1971 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | William Joseph Baxley II June 27, 1941 Dothan, Alabama, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 5 |
| Residence | Birmingham, Alabama |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch/service | United States Army Alabama Army National Guard |
| Years of service | 1962–2001 |
| Rank |  Colonel |
William Joseph Baxley II (born June 27, 1941), is an American Democratic politician and attorney from Dothan, Alabama.
In 1964, Baxley graduated from the University of Alabama School of Law in Tuscaloosa. Having previously served as district attorney in Houston County, he was elected to the first of two consecutive terms as Attorney General of Alabama in 1970, and 1974 respectively, holding the post from 1971 to 1979. At the age of twenty-eight, he won the Democratic nomination for attorney general in 1970, in an upset over incumbent McDonald Gallion. Baxley, incorrectly, was perceived as the candidate closer politically to George Wallace, an impression he did not dispute throughout the election contest. At the time of his swearing-in, he was the youngest person in U.S. history to hold a state attorney generalship. At the end of his attorney generalship, he lost the 1978 Democratic primary for governor in an upset contest. Although widely expected to seek the post again in 1982, after former governor George C. Wallace entered the contest, Baxley said he would not run against him and sought the office of lieutenant governor, to which he was elected. From 1983 to 1987, he served a single term as the 24th lieutenant governor of Alabama. He ran unsuccessfully in the primary for governor in 1986. During his time as state attorney general, Baxley aggressively prosecuted industrial polluters, strip miners, and corrupt elected officials. He appointed the state's first African-American assistant attorney general, Myron Thompson, who later became a U.S. District Judge.
Baxley reopened the cold case of the 1963 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. In a letter, the Ku Klux Klan threatened him, comparing him to John F. Kennedy, and called him an "honorary nigger." Baxley responded, on official state letterhead: "My response to your letter of February 19, 1976, is—kiss my ass."[1][2][3]
- ^ "Kiss my ass". Letters of Note. 26 November 2012. Retrieved 2012-11-26.
(image of Baxley's actual letter)
- ^ Sikora, Frank (1991). Until justice rolls down: the Birmingham church bombing case. U of Alabama P. p. 48. ISBN 978-0-8173-0520-8.
- ^ Sims, Patsy (1996). The Klan. Lexington: UP of Kentucky. p. 128. ISBN 978-0-8131-0887-2.
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