Governor George Wallace of Alabama was a promising presidential candidate on May 15, 1972, when he gave a speech to about a thousand people from a grandstand set up in the parking lot at Laurel Shopping Center. After his speech, he shook hands with the crowd. It was then that Arthur Bremer, 21 years old, looking to make a name for himself, pushed forward from the crowd and shot Wallace in the stomach. Wallace survived, but was permanently paralyzed from the waist down. Three other people were unintentionally shot and wounded, a Secret Service agent, an Alabama state trooper and a campaign volunteer.
Governor Wallace, one of America’s most controversial politicians, was known as an ardent segregationist. The shooting was a catalyst that helped to change his politics dramatically. While he was Governor of Alabama in the 1980’s, he left a legacy of support for the Civil Rights movement and made more African American political appointments than any other figure in Alabama history.
A 113-page section of Arthur Bremer’s diary, from April 4, 1972, up to the day before he shot Wallace was published in book form under the title An Assassin’s Diary. This book inspired the Peter Gabriel song, "Family Snapshot."