Malcolm Buie Seawell | |
|---|---|
 Seawell circa 1959 | |
| 41st Attorney General of North Carolina | |
| In office April 15, 1958 – February 29, 1960 | |
| Governor | Luther H. Hodges |
| Preceded by | George B. Patton |
| Succeeded by | T. Wade Bruton |
| Personal details | |
| Born | December 18, 1909 Jonesboro, Lee County, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Died | January 19, 1977 (aged 67) Lumberton, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Frances Poole |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University of North Carolina School of Law |
Malcolm Buie Seawell (December 18, 1909 – January 19, 1977) was an American lawyer and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as North Carolina Attorney General from 1958 to 1960. Seawell was raised in Lee County, North Carolina. After law school, he moved to Lumberton and joined a law firm. From 1942 to 1945 he worked for the U.S. Department of War in Washington, D.C. He then returned to Lumberton and successfully ran for the office of mayor in 1947. He held the post until the following year when he was appointed 9th Solicitorial District Solicitor. While working as solicitor Seawell gained state-wide prominence for his aggressive efforts to prosecute the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), and was credited for ultimately pushing the organization out of Robeson County. Governor Luther H. Hodges later made him a judge before appointing him Attorney General of North Carolina in 1958 to fill a vacancy.
As attorney general, Seawell felt that the decision of the United States Supreme Court, which he begrudgingly accepted, to desegregate schools in Brown v. Board of Education had to be respected and supported token integration efforts. His stance on Brown was controversial and cost him the support of conservative whites. He also opposed labor union activism and criticized the sit-in movement. In February 1960 Seawell resigned from the Attorney's General office to seek the Democratic nomination to become Governor of North Carolina. Though he had the quiet backing of Hodges and the support of many North Carolina businessmen, his moderate stance on racial issues deprived him of wide popular support as racial liberals supported Terry Sanford and racial conservatives supported I. Beverly Lake. He placed third in the Democratic primary election and subsequently withdrew his candidacy.
In 1965 Governor Dan K. Moore appointed Seawell Chairman of the State Board of Elections. The following year Moore made him chair of a Committee on Law and Order, tasked with investigating the activities of the KKK. Seawell resigned in protest after accusing the State Bureau of Investigation of withholding documents evidencing criminal activity that would allow North Carolina to revoke the KKK's state charter. He shortly thereafter resigned from the State Board of Elections and withdrew from politics. Seawell later served as an executive for the Leaf Tobacco Exporter's Association and Tobacco Association of the United States in Chapel Hill. He retired in April 1976 and moved back to Lumberton, where he died in 1977.