List of governors of South Carolina
Governor of South Carolina | |
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![]() Seal of the Governor | |
![]() Henry McMaster since January 24, 2017 | |
Style | His Excellency |
Term length | Four years, renewable once consecutively |
History of South Carolina | ||||||||||||||
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Timeline | ||||||||||||||
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This is a list of South Carolina governors. The current governor of South Carolina is Henry McMaster who has been in office since January 24, 2017. South Carolina governors are counted only once; therefore, Joseph West, for instance, a colonial governor who served three non-consecutive terms, is considered the 2nd Governor of South Carolina, not the 2nd, 4th, and 7th.
Colonial period (1670–1775)[]
Statehood period (1776–present)[]
Presidents under the Articles of Confederation[]
The General Assembly chose the president for a term of two years.
- Parties
No party (2)
# | President | Took Office | Left Office | Vice President | Party | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
31 | ![]() |
John Rutledge | March 26, 1776 | March 5, 1778 | Henry Laurens | No party | 1st time, Resigned[a] |
32 | ![]() |
Rawlins Lowndes | March 6, 1778 | January 9, 1779 | James Parsons | No party | British prisoner during Revolutionary War |
Governors under the Articles of Confederation[]
The General Assembly chose the governor for a term of two years.
- Parties
Independent (4) Federalist (2)
No. | Governor | Party | Term in office | Lieutenant Governor | Notes | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
- | ![]() |
John Rutledge | Independent | January 9, 1779 – January 31, 1782 |
Thomas Bee | 2nd time | ||
Christopher Gadsden | ||||||||
33 | ![]() |
John Mathews | Independent | January 31, 1782 – February 4, 1783 |
Richard Hutson | |||
34 | ![]() |
Benjamin Guerard | Independent | February 4, 1783 – February 11, 1785 |
Richard Beresford | |||
Vacant | ||||||||
William Moultrie | ||||||||
35 | ![]() |
William Moultrie | Independent | February 11, 1785 – February 20, 1787 |
Charles Drayton | 1st time | ||
36 | ![]() |
Thomas Pinckney | Federalist | February 20, 1787 – January 26, 1789 |
Thomas Gadsden | |||
37 | ![]() |
Charles Pinckney | Federalist | January 26, 1789 – December 5, 1792 |
Alexander Gillon | 1st time |
Governors under the Constitution of 1790[]
The General Assembly chose the governor for a term of two years.
- Parties
Federalist (3) Democratic-Republican (15) Nullifier (Democratic) (3) Democratic (14) Confederate Democrat (3) Unionist Democrat (1)
No. | Governor | Party | Term in office | Lieutenant Governor | Notes | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
- | ![]() |
William Moultrie | Federalist | December 5, 1792 – December 17, 1794 |
James Ladson | 2nd time | ||
38 | ![]() |
Arnoldus Vanderhorst | Federalist | December 17, 1794 – December 8, 1796 |
Lewis Morris | |||
- | ![]() |
Charles Pinckney | Democratic-Republican | December 8, 1796 – December 18, 1798 |
Robert Anderson | 2nd time | ||
39 | ![]() |
Edward Rutledge | Federalist | December 18, 1798 – January 23, 1800 |
John Drayton | Died in office | ||
40 | John Drayton | Democratic-Republican | January 23, 1800 – December 8, 1802 |
Vacant | 1st time | |||
Richard Winn | ||||||||
41 | ![]() |
James Burchill Richardson | Democratic-Republican | December 8, 1802 – December 7, 1804 |
Ezekiel Pickens | |||
42 | ![]() |
Paul Hamilton | Democratic-Republican | December 7, 1804 – December 9, 1806 |
Thomas Sumter, Jr. | |||
- | ![]() |
Charles Pinckney | Democratic-Republican | December 9, 1806 – December 10, 1808 |
John Hopkins | 3rd time | ||
- | John Drayton | Democratic-Republican | December 10, 1808 – December 8, 1810 |
Frederick Nance | 2nd time | |||
43 | ![]() |
Henry Middleton | Democratic-Republican | December 8, 1810 – December 10, 1812 |
Samuel Farrow | |||
44 | ![]() |
Joseph Alston | Democratic-Republican | December 10, 1812 – December 10, 1814 |
Eldred Simkins | |||
45 | ![]() |
David Rogerson Williams | Democratic-Republican | December 10, 1814 – December 5, 1816 |
Robert Creswell | |||
46 | ![]() |
Andrew Pickens | Democratic-Republican | December 5, 1816 – December 8, 1818 |
John A. Cuthbert | |||
47 | ![]() |
John Geddes | Democratic-Republican | December 8, 1818 – December 7, 1820 |
William Youngblood | |||
48 | Thomas Bennett, Jr. | Democratic-Republican | December 7, 1820 – December 7, 1822 |
William Pinckney | ||||
49 | ![]() |
John Lyde Wilson | Democratic-Republican | December 7, 1822 – December 3, 1824 |
Henry Bradley | |||
50 | ![]() |
Richard Irvine Manning I | Democratic-Republican | December 3, 1824 – December 9, 1826 |
William Bull | |||
51 | ![]() |
John Taylor | Democratic-Republican | December 9, 1826 – December 6, 1828 |
James Witherspoon | |||
52 | ![]() |
Stephen Decatur Miller | Nullifier (Democratic) | December 6, 1828 – December 9, 1830 |
Thomas Williams | |||
53 | ![]() |
James Hamilton, Jr. | Nullifier (Democratic) | December 9, 1830 – December 10, 1832 |
Patrick Noble | |||
54 | ![]() |
Robert Young Hayne | Nullifier (Democratic) | December 10, 1832 – December 9, 1834 |
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney | |||
55 | ![]() |
George McDuffie | Democratic | December 9, 1834 – December 10, 1836 |
Whitemarsh Benjamin Seabrook | |||
56 | ![]() |
Pierce Mason Butler | Democratic | December 10, 1836 – December 7, 1838 |
William DuBose | |||
57 | ![]() |
Patrick Noble | Democratic | December 7, 1838 – April 7, 1840 |
Barnabas Kelet Henagan | Died in office | ||
58 | ![]() |
Barnabas Kelet Henagan | Democratic | April 7, 1840 – December 9, 1840 |
Vacant | Not elected | ||
59 | ![]() |
John Peter Richardson II | Democratic | December 9, 1840 – December 8, 1842 |
William K. Clowney | |||
60 | ![]() |
James Henry Hammond | Democratic | December 8, 1842 – December 7, 1844 |
Isaac D. Witherspoon | |||
61 | ![]() |
William Aiken, Jr. | Democratic | December 7, 1844 – December 8, 1846 |
J.F. Ervin | |||
62 | ![]() |
David Johnson | Democratic | December 8, 1846 – December 12, 1848 |
William Cain | |||
63 | ![]() |
Whitemarsh B. Seabrook | Democratic | December 12, 1848 – December 13, 1850 |
William Henry Gist | |||
64 | John Hugh Means | Democratic | December 13, 1850 – December 9, 1852 |
Joshua John Ward | ||||
65 | ![]() |
John Lawrence Manning | Democratic | December 9, 1852 – December 11, 1854 |
James Irby | |||
66 | ![]() |
James Hopkins Adams | Democratic | December 11, 1854 – December 9, 1856 |
Richard de Treville | |||
67 | ![]() |
Robert F.W. Allston | Democratic | December 9, 1856 – December 10, 1858 |
Gabriel Cannon | |||
68 | ![]() |
William Henry Gist | Democratic | December 10, 1858 – December 14, 1860 |
M. E. Carn | |||
69 | ![]() |
Francis Wilkinson Pickens | Confederate Democrat | December 14, 1860 – December 17, 1862 |
W.W. Harllee | |||
70 | ![]() |
Milledge Luke Bonham | Confederate Democrat | December 17, 1862 – December 18, 1864 |
Plowden Weston | |||
Vacant | ||||||||
71 | ![]() |
Andrew Gordon Magrath | Confederate Democrat | December 18, 1864 – May 25, 1865 |
Robert McCaw | Overthrown and imprisoned by the Union Army | ||
Vacant | May 25, 1865 – June 30, 1865 |
State government dissolved until reestablished by United States federal government | ||||||
72 | ![]() |
Benjamin Franklin Perry | Unionist Democrat | June 30, 1865 – November 29, 1865 |
Office of Lieutenant Governor temporarily abolished | Not elected; appointed by President Andrew Johnson |
Post-Civil War Governors through the present[]
Governors are elected at-large
- 2-year term, renewable once: 1868-1927
- 4-year term, not renewable consecutively: 1927-1982
- 4-year term, renewable once consecutively: 1982–present
- Parties
Democratic (35) Republican (9) No party (1)
No. | Governor | Party | Term in office | Election | Lieutenant Governor | Notes | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
73 | ![]() |
James Lawrence Orr | No Party | November 26, 1865 – July 6, 1868 |
1865 | W.D. Porter | First popularly elected governor | ||
74 | ![]() |
Robert Kingston Scott | Republican | July 6, 1868 – December 7, 1872 |
1868 | Lemuel Boozer | |||
1870 | Alonzo J. Ransier | ||||||||
75 | ![]() |
Franklin J. Moses, Jr. | Republican | December 7, 1872 – December 1, 1874 |
1872 | Richard Howell Gleaves | |||
76 | ![]() |
Daniel Henry Chamberlain | Republican | December 1, 1874 – December 14, 1876 |
1874 | Lost reelection in 1876 election, but refused to leave office | |||
- | Disputed | December 14, 1876 – April 11, 1877 |
Disputed between Chamberlain and Wade Hampton III. Two governments were formed during this time. | ||||||
77 | ![]() |
Wade Hampton III | Democratic | April 11, 1877 – September 26, 1879 |
1876 | William Dunlap Simpson | Declared sole governor four months after taking office Resigned[b] | ||
1878 | |||||||||
78 | ![]() |
William Dunlap Simpson | Democratic | February 26, 1879 – September 1, 1880 |
Vacant | Not elected Resigned[c] | |||
79 | ![]() |
Thomas Bothwell Jeter | Democratic | September 1, 1880 – November 30, 1880 |
Not elected | ||||
80 | ![]() |
Johnson Hagood | Democratic | November 30, 1880 – December 1, 1882 |
1880 | John D. Kennedy | |||
81 | ![]() |
Hugh Smith Thompson | Democratic | December 1, 1882 – July 10, 1886 |
1882 | John Calhoun Sheppard | Resigned[d] | ||
1884 | |||||||||
82 | ![]() |
John Calhoun Sheppard | Democratic | July 10, 1886 – November 30, 1886 |
Vacant | Not elected | |||
83 | ![]() |
John Peter Richardson III | Democratic | November 30, 1886 – December 4, 1890 |
1886 | William Mauldin | |||
1888 | |||||||||
84 | ![]() |
Benjamin Ryan Tillman | Democratic | December 4, 1890 – December 4, 1894 |
1890 | Eugene Gary | |||
1892 | W.H. Timmerman | ||||||||
85 | ![]() |
John Gary Evans | Democratic | December 4, 1894 – January 18, 1897 |
1894 | ||||
86 | ![]() |
William Haselden Ellerbe | Democratic | January 18, 1897 – June 2, 1899 |
1896 | Miles Benjamin McSweeney | Died in office | ||
1898 | |||||||||
87 | ![]() |
Miles Benjamin McSweeney | Democratic | June 2, 1899 – January 20, 1903 |
Robert B. Scarborough | ||||
1900 | |||||||||
88 | ![]() |
Duncan Clinch Heyward | Democratic | January 20, 1903 – January 15, 1907 |
1902 | James Tillman | |||
1904 | John Sloan | ||||||||
89 | ![]() |
Martin Frederick Ansel | Democratic | January 15, 1907 – January 17, 1911 |
1906 | Thomas Gordon McLeod | |||
1908 | |||||||||
90 | ![]() |
Coleman Livingston Blease | Democratic | January 17, 1911 – January 14, 1915 |
1910 | Charles Aurelius Smith | Resigned[e] | ||
1912 | |||||||||
91 | ![]() |
Charles Aurelius Smith | Democratic | January 14, 1915 – January 19, 1915 |
Vacant | Shortest term Not elected | |||
92 | ![]() |
Richard Irvine Manning III | Democratic | January 19, 1915 – January 21, 1919 |
1914 | Andrew Bethea | |||
1916 | |||||||||
93 | ![]() |
Robert Archer Cooper | Democratic | January 21, 1919 – May 20, 1922 |
1918 | J.T. Lyles | Resigned[f] | ||
1920 | Wilson Godfrey Harvey | ||||||||
94 | ![]() |
Wilson Godfrey Harvey | Democratic | May 20, 1922 – January 16, 1923 |
Vacant | Not elected | |||
95 | ![]() |
Thomas Gordon McLeod | Democratic | January 16, 1923 – January 18, 1927 |
1922 | E.B. Jackson | |||
1924 | |||||||||
96 | ![]() |
John Gardiner Richards, Jr. | Democratic | January 18, 1927 – January 20, 1931 |
1926 | Thomas Bothwell Butler | First elected to four-year term[g] | ||
97 | ![]() |
Ibra Charles Blackwood | Democratic | January 20, 1931 – January 15, 1935 |
1930 | James Sheppard | |||
98 | ![]() |
Olin D. Johnston | Democratic | January 15, 1935 – January 17, 1939 |
1934 | Joseph Emile Harley | 1st time | ||
99 | ![]() |
Burnet R. Maybank | Democratic | January 17, 1939 – November 4, 1941 |
1938 | Resigned[h] | |||
100 | ![]() |
Joseph Emile Harley | Democratic | November 4, 1941 – February 27, 1942 |
Vacant | Not elected Died in office | |||
Vacant | February 27, 1942 – March 2, 1942 |
||||||||
101 | ![]() |
Richard Manning Jefferies | Democratic | March 2, 1942 – January 19, 1943 |
Not elected | ||||
98 | ![]() |
Olin D. Johnston | Democratic | January 19, 1943 – January 2, 1945 |
1942 | Ransome Judson Williams | 2nd time Resigned[i] | ||
102 | ![]() |
Ransome Judson Williams | Democratic | January 2, 1945 – January 21, 1947 |
Vacant | Not elected | |||
103 | ![]() |
Strom Thurmond | Democratic | January 21, 1947 – January 16, 1951 |
1946 | George Bell Timmerman, Jr. | |||
104 | ![]() |
James Francis Byrnes | Democratic | January 16, 1951 – January 18, 1955 |
1950 | ||||
105 | ![]() |
George Bell Timmerman, Jr. | Democratic | January 18, 1955 – January 15, 1959 |
1954 | Ernest Hollings | |||
106 | ![]() |
Ernest Hollings | Democratic | January 20, 1959 – January 15, 1963 |
1958 | Burnet R. Maybank Jr. | |||
107 | ![]() |
Donald Stuart Russell | Democratic | January 15, 1963 – April 22, 1965 |
1962 | Robert Evander McNair | Resigned[j] | ||
108 | ![]() |
Robert Evander McNair | Democratic | April 22, 1965 – January 19, 1971 |
Vacant | ||||
1966 | John C. West | ||||||||
109 | ![]() |
John C. West | Democratic | January 19, 1971 – January 21, 1975 |
1970 | Earle Morris, Jr. | |||
110 | ![]() |
James B. Edwards | Republican | January 21, 1975 – January 10, 1979 |
1974 | W. Brantley Harvey, Jr. | |||
111 | ![]() |
Richard Riley | Democratic | January 10, 1979 – January 14, 1987 |
1978 | Nancy Stevenson | First elected to two consecutive 4-year terms | ||
1982 | Michael R. Daniel | ||||||||
112 | ![]() |
Carroll A. Campbell, Jr. | Republican | January 14, 1987 – January 11, 1995 |
1986 | Nick Theodore | |||
1990 | |||||||||
113 | David Beasley | Republican | January 11, 1995 – January 13, 1999 |
1994 | Bob Peeler | Lost reelection | |||
114 | ![]() |
Jim Hodges | Democratic | January 13, 1999 – January 15, 2003 |
1998 | Lost reelection | |||
115 | ![]() |
Mark Sanford | Republican | January 15, 2003 – January 12, 2011 |
2002 | André Bauer | |||
2006 | |||||||||
116 | ![]() |
Nikki Haley | Republican | January 12, 2011 – January 24, 2017 |
2010 | Ken Ard | First female governor First minority governor | ||
Glenn F. McConnell | |||||||||
2014 | J. Yancey McGill | ||||||||
Henry McMaster | |||||||||
117 | ![]() |
Henry McMaster | Republican | January 24, 2017 – Present |
Kevin L. Bryant | ||||
2018 | Pamela Evette |
Timeline of recent party control[]
The timeline below depicts the party control of the governorship since 1970.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/timeline/cf3bdf78ba92c538c6a8fa21991b4bcd.png)
Party affiliation[]
Party | Governors |
---|---|
Democratic | 49 |
Democratic-Republican | 13 |
Republican | 9 |
Independent | 6 |
Federalist | 5 |
Nullifier | 3 |
Confederate Democrat | 3 |
Unionist Democrat[m] | 1 |
Other high offices held[]
This is a table of congressional seats, other federal offices, other governorships, and other high offices held by governors after leaving office. All representatives and senators mentioned represented South Carolina except where noted. *denotes those offices which the governor resigned to take.
Governor | Gubernatorial term | U.S. Congress | Other offices held | |
---|---|---|---|---|
House | Senate | |||
John Rutledge | 1776–1778 1779–1782 |
Delegate to Philadelphia Convention and signer of the United States Constitution; Associate and Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court | ||
Thomas Pinckney | 1787–1789 | H | United States Minister to Great Britain | |
Charles Pinckney | 1789–1792 1796–1798 1806–1808 |
H | S | Delegate to Philadelphia Convention and signer of the United States Constitution; United States Minister to Spain |
Paul Hamilton | 1804–1806 | United States Secretary of the Navy | ||
Henry Middleton | 1810–1812 | H | United States Minister to Russia | |
David Rogerson Williams | 1814–1816 | H | ||
Richard Irvine Manning I | 1824–1826 | H | ||
John Taylor | 1826–1828 | H | S | |
Stephen Decatur Miller | 1828–1830 | H | S | |
James Hamilton, Jr. | 1830–1832 | H | ||
Robert Y. Hayne | 1832–1834 | S | ||
George McDuffie | 1834–1836 | H | S | |
John Peter Richardson II | 1840–1842 | H | ||
James Henry Hammond | 1842–1844 | H | S | |
William Aiken, Jr. | 1844–1846 | H | ||
Francis Wilkinson Pickens | 1860–1862 | H | United States Minister to Russia | |
Milledge Luke Bonham | 1862–1864 | H | Confederate Representative | |
James Lawrence Orr | 1865–1868 | H | Confederate Senator; United States Minister to Russia; Speaker of the United States House of Representatives | |
Wade Hampton III | 1877–1879 | S* | United States Railroad Commissioner | |
William Dunlap Simpson | 1879–1880 | Chief Justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court | ||
Hugh Smith Thompson | 1882–1886 | United States Assistant Secretary of the Treasury*; United States Civil Service Commissioner | ||
Benjamin Tillman | 1890–1894 | S | ||
Coleman Livingston Blease | 1911–1915 | S | ||
Olin D. Johnston | 1935–1939 1943–1945 |
S* | ||
Burnet R. Maybank | 1939–1941 | S* | ||
Strom Thurmond | 1947–1951 | S | ||
James F. Byrnes | 1951–1955 | H | S | Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court; United States Secretary of State |
Ernest Hollings | 1959–1963 | S | ||
Donald S. Russell | 1963–1965 | S* | ||
John C. West | 1971–1975 | United States Ambassador to Saudi Arabia | ||
James B. Edwards | 1975–1979 | United States Secretary of Energy | ||
Richard Riley | 1979–1987 | United States Secretary of Education | ||
Carroll A. Campbell, Jr. | 1987–1995 | H | ||
David Beasley | 1995-1999 | Executive Director of the World Food Programme[1] | ||
Mark Sanford | 2003–2011 | H | ||
Nikki Haley | 2011–2017 | United States Ambassador to the United Nations* |
Living former governors of South Carolina[]
As of August 2021, there are five former governors currently living, the oldest being Richard Riley (served 1979–1987, born 1933). The most recent governor to die was Ernest F. Hollings (served 1959–1963, born 1922), on April 6, 2019.[2] The most recently serving governor to die was Carroll A. Campbell Jr. (served 1987–1995, born 1940) on December 7, 2005.
Governor | Party | Gubernatorial term | Birth |
---|---|---|---|
Richard Riley | Democratic | 1979–1987 | January 2, 1933 |
David Beasley | Republican | 1995–1999 | February 26, 1957 |
Jim Hodges | Democratic | 1999–2003 | November 19, 1956 |
Mark Sanford | Republican | 2003–2011 | May 28, 1960 |
Nikki Haley | Republican | 2011–2017 | January 20, 1972 |
Notes[]
- ^ The South Carolina legislature proposed a new constitution in 1778. Rutledge vetoed it, stating that it moved the state dangerously close to a direct democracy, which Rutledge believed was only a step away from total anarchy. When the legislature overrode his veto, Rutledge resigned.
- ^ Resigned to become United States Senator
- ^ Resigned to become Chief Justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court
- ^ Resigned to become Assistant Secretary of the Treasury under the Grover Cleveland administration.
- ^ Resigned to avoid attending the gubernatorial innaguration of Richard Manning
- ^ Resigned to accept position on the Federal Farm Loan Board
- ^ Beginning with the election of 1926, governors were elected to a four year term. Governors were unable to serve more than one consecutive term until the election of 1978.
- ^ Resigned to become United States Senator
- ^ Resigned to become United States Senator
- ^ Resigned to become United States Senator
- ^ Resigned to become United States Ambassador to the United Nations
- ^ This table begins in 1776 with John Rutledge, the 31st governor. This table does not include governors from the colonial period from 1670-1776 when there were no organized parties in South Carolina. This table does not count governors twice; for example, Olin Johnson, who served two non-consecutive terms, is counted as one Democrat.
- ^ Not elected; appointed by President Andrew Johnson after the Civil War.
See also[]
- Governor of South Carolina
- South Carolina gubernatorial elections
- List of lieutenant governors of South Carolina
- List of United States senators from South Carolina
- List of United States representatives from South Carolina
- Timeline of South Carolina
References[]
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on May 1, 2017. Retrieved May 10, 2017.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- ^ "Former SC Governor, U.S. Senator Ernest F. 'Fritz' Hollings dies at 97". Retrieved April 6, 2019.
External links[]
- Governors of South Carolina
- History of South Carolina
- Lists of South Carolina politicians
- Lists of state governors of the United States