Did you know that Strom Thurmond was a progressive who was congratulated by the NAACP and ACLU for his stances on racial justice?

The one I find fascinating is George Wallace. He very much is a story about 20th century America- he's most famous for his "segregation forever" speech, but in the 70s he became a born again Christian, and apparently actually meant it since he renounced racism, became rather progressive on racial issues, and ended up winning his last elections with a majority share of the black vote in his district.

I kind of like stories of people legitimately trying to become better people, since in general individuals don't change, and the born again Christian movement did devolve into megachurch peepee root pastors groofting retirees, but some of the adherents in the early stages of Christian revival in the 60s/70s really did seem like they tried to live in a Christ-like manner.