1971 campaign and election In 1971, Waller mounted
another campaign for gubernatorial office, facing
Lieutenant Governor Charles L. Sullivan,
Jimmy Swan, and four others in the Democratic primary. While Swan resorted to racist appeals and declared his opposition to integration, Waller and Sullivan focused on other matters, though they both affirmed their support for "
law and order" and
segregation academies, and opposed
desegregation busing. They also pledged to appoint blacks to state offices. Waller stated that he was running against the "Capitol Street Gang", establishment industry leaders and lawyers in Jackson he said had acted as a
political machine and captured control of state government, preventing Mississippi from economically developing. He declared his support for raising teacher salaries and investing more funds in state highways. He hired
Deloss Walker of
Memphis, Tennessee, as a campaign consultant, beginning a trend of gubernatorial candidates using out-of-state advertising agencies which lasted into the 1980s. The primary went into a runoff between Waller and Sullivan, Waller garnered the endorsements of U.S. Senator
James Eastland and former governor Barnett, and relied on a network of Eastland supporters to organize grassroots backing for himself. He attacked Sullivan as an "establishment" figure and won the runoff with 54 percent of the vote, taking 389,952 votes to Sullivan's 329,236. In the general election Waller faced two independents, civil rights activist
Charles Evers (the brother of Medgar) and segregationist judge
Tom P. Brady. Evers was the other major candidate and, despite the fears of public observers, the campaign was largely devoid of racism and both him and Waller avoided negative tactics. Waller won with 601,222 votes to Evers' 172,762 and Brady's 6,653. He was inaugurated as Governor of Mississippi on January 18, 1972.
Executive action and appointments As governor, Waller began hosting weekly press conferences. He was
ex officio a member of
Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission and responsible for appointing several other of its members. The sovereignty commission was responsible for upholding segregation in the state, though by the time Waller took office it had little business to conduct. He delayed in naming his appointees to the body and sent a representative to its meetings in lieu of his attendance. In 1973 he vetoed the commission's funding bill, leading it to shut down in June before being formally abolished in 1977. Despite some criticism in the press over costs, he directed the purchase of the state's first jet to serve as official transportation for state officials. He undertook several trips to Europe, Asia, and South America to secure business deals for the state. Waller appointed several blacks to positions in state government and his staff, the first time this had been done since the
Reconstruction era, but most had no history of political activity. His first black appointee was Jim Rundles as a special assistant. Rundles was known as a mild-mannered man who had refused to take part in civil rights demonstrations. He also appointed the first black woman to a state board in Mississippi's history and integrated the
Mississippi Highway Patrol. On the whole, his administration was overwhelmingly staffed by whites. He created a Minority Advisory Committee and an Office of Minority Business Enterprise. In August 1972, he became the first Mississippi governor to visit the territory of the
Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians when he spoke at the opening of the Choctaw Indian Fair. At the onset of his term, Waller and his family decided not to move into the
Mississippi Governor's Mansion, which had fallen into disrepair. Waller's wife led a campaign to restore the house, and the family eventually occupied it in May 1975. Unlike his predecessors and successors, Waller refused to use convicts as servants in the mansion. In 1972, he authorized the
work release of Charles Wilson, one of the men convicted of murdering civil rights activist
Vernon Dahmer. Waller had served as legal counsel for the convicted murderer prior to his election, and his action drew scrutiny from blacks. Waller responded to criticism by saying that Wilson, who made artificial limbs, was needed for his skills in
Laurel, Mississippi, and by releasing Hal C. Zachary, a black college graduate who had murdered a segregationist, under the same program. The following week, Waller declared that Medgar Evers Day would be celebrated on the tenth anniversary of the civil rights leader's death, but then did not attended the formal ceremony marking the date. Some observers saw this declaration as an attempt to deflect from the release authorization.
Legislative action By the time Waller took office, the position of governor in Mississippi had long been subordinated in policy matters to the legislature. Waller announced large annual legislative proposals, but made little effort to build relationships with legislative leaders, including Lieutenant Governor
William F. Winter and Speaker of the House of Representatives
John R. Junkin. Waller rarely informed Winter when he was leaving the state, meaning the latter often discovered that he was to be acting governor from newspaper stories. Waller disregard Junkin's advice to leave most matters of public importance to the legislature, and came into frequent conflict with the body, vetoing 32 bills during his tenure. His relationship with legislators was poor on an individual level, and he would seek support for his ideas from the public rather than them. The legislature overrode some of his vetoes, the first time it had done so to a governor in 44 years. Waller proposed several reform measures which were opposed by older and more rural legislators. He supported efforts to create public kindergartens and reenact a compulsory education law, but these measures all died in the Senate. He appointed a blue ribbon committee to make recommendations on higher education, but the board of trustees of the University of Mississippi refused to cooperate with it or accept its criticisms of the university system. He supported the legislature's creation of new schools at
Mississippi State University. In February 1974, he vetoed a special appropriation bill for university libraries construction, arguing that the university system did not require additional capital outlays. He also backed an unsuccessful bill to set limits on campaign spending. The legislature ignored his proposals to redraft the
state constitution and permit gubernatorial succession. Waller endorsed the funding of a $600 million highway program, but the proposal had been devised during his predecessor's tenure and declining government revenues led it to be later suspended. He initially backed a reform of the state's tax structure and the raising of the oil and gas
severance tax, but later backed away from these efforts due to opposition from legislators and lobbyists. He successfully secured funding for a new Mississippi Highway Patrol headquarters and enhancements to the state crime laboratory. He also convinced the legislature to remove tax collection responsibilities from the duties of
county sheriffs.
Political affairs Waller associated himself with the
New South governors, his moderate contemporaries in other Southern states, and distanced himself from Alabama's staunchly segregationist governor,
George Wallace. At the time he took office, the
Mississippi Democratic Party was split into two factions: the Regulars, composed of white segregationists, and the Loyalists, composed of black members of the
Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party and moderate whites. In anticipation of the
1972 Democratic National Convention, Waller encouraged the Regular and Loyalist factions to re-unify, fearing that the convention would exclude the Regulars otherwise. Waller initially rejected a meeting with Loyalist leader
Aaron Henry to reach a compromise, but later offered to give the Loyalists 40% representation in a mixed convention delegation. The offer was rebuffed and the convention ultimately seated the Loyalist faction's own delegation. Negotiations between the two groups continued throughout Waller's tenure. As part of this, Waller signed a law which permitted the Loyalist faction to choose between electing delegates in presidential primaries or nominating them at district conventions. He supported former mayor and district attorney
Maurice Dantin in the
1975 Mississippi gubernatorial election. He was succeeded by
Cliff Finch on January 20, 1976. == Later political career ==