Wallace pledged to sign on as Lurleen’s “adviser” at $1 a year: “I’m gonna draw the water, tote in the wood, wind the clock, and put out the cat.” For anyone who dared critique the ruse, he affected disgust at the attack on the honor of Southern womanhood. Lurleen’s candidacy was announced mere days after she underwent surgery for the cancer that would kill her two years later. Behind the scenes, an acquaintance reported, Wallace treated her like a “whipped dog.”
