FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE CZECH REPUBLIC (2004-2006), William Jelks Cabaniss, Jr., is a native of Alabama. The businessman and former Alabama House Representative (1978-1982) and Alabama State Senator (1982-1990), Cabaniss achieved success in his legislative career for the people of Alabama. His first election (and that of three other Republicans) in 1978, in the view of the author, was the genesis of the slow, but steady rise of the Alabama Republican Party which, after 136 years of Democratic dominance, won majorities in both Alabama Houses. Book contains a bibliography, endnotes, pictures, and an index.