All of the Republican state legislative candidates lost in 1966 , when James D. Martin of Gadsden and John Grenier of Birmingham at the top of the Republican ticket , were handily defeated for governor and U.S. senator , respectively , by the Democrats Lurleen Wallace and John Sparkman . In 1967 , Goldthwaite became the Alabama Republican state party chairman . He attended the 1968 Republican National Convention , which met in Miami Beach , Florida , to nominate the Nixon-Agnew slate . Goldthwaite was part of a group of Deep South Republicans , including Howard Callaway of Georgia , Clarke Reed of Mississippi , Charlton Lyons of Louisiana , and Harry S. Dent , Sr. , of South Carolina , who followed what is called the Southern Strategy to guarantee Nixon 's nomination over a last-minute convention bid launched by then Governor Ronald W. Reagan
1968 Republican National Convention
1968 Republican National Convention
Alfred Goldthwaite