Peter Zack Geer (August 24, 1928 – January 5, 1997) was an American

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solici ...

and a

Democratic Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

from the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

. Geer was born in Colquitt in Miller County in southwestern Georgia. In 1951 he graduated from the Walter F. George School of Law at

Mercer University Mercer University is a private research university with its main campus in Macon, Georgia. Founded in 1833 as Mercer Institute and gaining university status in 1837, it is the oldest private university in the state and enrolls more than 9,00 ...

in Macon and became a prominent attorney. After service as a member of the

Georgia House of Representatives The Georgia House of Representatives is the lower house of the Georgia General Assembly (the state legislature) of the U.S. state of Georgia. There are currently 180 elected members. Republicans have had a majority in the chamber since 2005. ...

, Geer was the fifth Lieutenant Governor of Georgia from 1963 to 1967 under his fellow Democrat,

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Carl Sanders Carl Edward Sanders Sr. (May 15, 1925 – November 16, 2014) was an American attorney and politician who served as the 74th Governor of the state of Georgia from 1963 to 1967. Early life and education Carl Sanders was born on May 15, 1925 in ...

. To win the lieutenant governorship, Geer defeated in the 1962

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runoff Runoff, run-off or RUNOFF may refer to: * RUNOFF, the first computer text-formatting program * Runoff or run-off, another name for bleed, printing that lies beyond the edges to which a printed sheet is trimmed * Runoff or run-off, a stock market ...

his fellow

segregationist Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into racial or other ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crime against humanity under the Statute of the Interna ...

and later Governor

Lester Maddox Lester Garfield Maddox Sr. (September 30, 1915 – June 25, 2003) was an American politician who served as the 75th governor of the U.S. state of Georgia from 1967 to 1971. A populist Democrat, Maddox came to prominence as a staunch segregati ...

, a restaurateur from

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...

, by a margin of 55 to 45 percent. In his last act in office in January 1967, Geer presided over the legislative vote in the deadlocked

gubernatorial A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...

race between Democrat Maddox and Republican U.S. Representative

Howard Callaway Howard Hollis Callaway (April 2, 1927 – March 15, 2014) was an American businessman and politician. He served as a Republican member for the 3rd district of Georgia of the United States House of Representatives. He also served as the 11th Un ...

. The impasse resulted because former Governor

Ellis Arnall Ellis Gibbs Arnall (March 20, 1907December 13, 1992) was an American politician who served as the 69th Governor of Georgia from 1943 to 1947. A liberal Democrat, he helped lead efforts to abolish the poll tax and to reduce Georgia's voting age ...

, an Atlanta lawyer, polled more than 52,000 ballots as a write-in candidate. Under the 1824 Georgia State Constitution, the legislature was required to choose between Callaway and Maddox as the top two candidates. Though Geer supported Maddox and ordered all legislators to vote, eleven lawmakers, including the

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

Representative

Julian Bond Horace Julian Bond (January 14, 1940 – August 15, 2015) was an American social activist, leader of the civil rights movement, politician, professor, and writer. While he was a student at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, during the e ...

, refused to do so. The heavily Democratic assembly nevertheless voted 182 to 66 for Maddox. As Maddox took office,

George Thornewell Smith George Thornewell Smith (October 15, 1916 – August 23, 2010) was an American Democratic Party politician and jurist from the state of Georgia. The sixth Lieutenant Governor, state legislator, Speaker of the State House of Representatives, wa ...

succeeded Geer as lieutenant governor. Geer then returned to the

practice of law In its most general sense, the practice of law involves giving legal advice to clients, drafting legal documents for clients, and representing clients in legal negotiations and court proceedings such as lawsuits, and is applied to the profess ...

. In 1973, Geer prosecuted four men accused of slaying six Alday family members in Seminole County, Georgia. Geer obtained convictions and death sentences for the three principal defendants, although the convictions were later overturned because of pre-trial publicity which was held to have unduly prejudiced the jury. Later U.S. President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 19 ...

, then the governor of Georgia, called the mass murder "the most heinous in Georgia history". Geer died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal bl ...

and was buried in the city cemetery in his native Colquitt.

References

External links

Brief Political Graveyard profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Geer, Peter Zack 1928 births 1997 deaths People from Colquitt, Georgia Oglethorpe University alumni Mercer University alumni Democratic Party members of the Georgia House of Representatives Lieutenant Governors of Georgia (U.S. state) Deaths from cancer in Georgia (U.S. state) 20th-century American politicians