Everything Is Pickrick

In 1966 Maddox ran for Governor and won the democratic nomination over Ellis Arnall, Jimmy Carter, Garland T. Byrd, James Gray, and Hoke OKelley. Maddox defeated an overconfident Arnall in a runoff two weeks later. He then ran against Howard "Bo" Callaway, the republican candidate, for the top executive office in the state. While Callaway had more popular votes, a third candidateEllis Arnall, a write-in candidategathered enough votes to keep either Maddox or Callaway from getting a majority, sending the final vote to the General Assembly, where Maddox was elected governor.

Many expected the Maddox administration to be a complete catastrophe. But in Bob Shorts revealing biography, it is shown howcontrary to expectationin the words of Bill Shipp, "he made excellent judicial appointments, instituted the most far-reaching prison reforms ever tried in Georgia, brought black officials into the government for the first time and generally showed himself to be a compassionate governor with a certain amount of wisdom concealed below that zany veneer."