Former Alabama governor John Patterson recounts the period in 1954 when his father, Albert Patterson, ran for Alabama attorney general, intent on wielding the power of the office to clean up Phenix City. Soon after he won the hotly contested election, Patterson was assassinated. This drew a decisive response from the governor’s office, as National Guardsmen swept into the city arresting hundreds of gangsters, as well as the conspirators in the assassination.
This video was produced by the University of Alabama Center for Public Television.
