Governor of South Carolina | |
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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 second Governor of South Carolina, not the second, fourth, and seventh. The first Governor was William Moultrie.
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 | Time in office | Lieutenant Governor | Notes | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
- | ![]() |
John Rutledge | Independent | January 9, 1779 – January 31, 1782 (Term limited) |
3 years | Thomas Bee | 2nd time | ||
Christopher Gadsden | |||||||||
33 | ![]() |
John Mathews | Independent | January 31, 1782 – February 4, 1783 (Not a candidate for reelection) |
1 year | Richard Hutson | |||
34 | ![]() |
Benjamin Guerard | Independent | February 4, 1783 – February 11, 1785 (Not a candidate for reelection) |
2 years | Richard Beresford | |||
Vacant | |||||||||
William Moultrie | |||||||||
35 | ![]() |
William Moultrie | Independent | February 11, 1785 – February 20, 1787 (Not a candidate for reelection) |
2 years | Charles Drayton | 1st time | ||
36 | ![]() |
Thomas Pinckney | Federalist | February 20, 1787 – January 26, 1789 (Not a candidate for reelection) |
2 years | Thomas Gadsden | |||
37 | ![]() |
Charles Pinckney | Federalist | January 26, 1789 – December 5, 1792 (Term limited) |
4 years | 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 (17) Unionist Democrat (1)
No. | Governor | Party | Term in office | Time in office | Lieutenant Governor | Notes | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
- | ![]() |
William Moultrie | Federalist | December 5, 1792 – December 17, 1794 (Term limited) |
2 years | James Ladson | 2nd time | ||
38 | ![]() |
Arnoldus Vanderhorst | Federalist | December 17, 1794 – December 8, 1796 (Term limited) |
2 years | Lewis Morris | |||
- | ![]() |
Charles Pinckney | Democratic-Republican | December 8, 1796 – December 18, 1798 (Term limited) |
2 years | Robert Anderson | 2nd time | ||
39 | ![]() |
Edward Rutledge | Federalist | December 18, 1798 – January 23, 1800 (Died) |
1 year | John Drayton | |||
40 | John Drayton | Democratic-Republican | January 23, 1800 – December 8, 1802 (Term limited) |
3 years | Vacant | 1st time | |||
Richard Winn | |||||||||
41 | ![]() |
James Burchill Richardson | Democratic-Republican | December 8, 1802 – December 7, 1804 (Term limited) |
2 years | Ezekiel Pickens | |||
42 | ![]() |
Paul Hamilton | Democratic-Republican | December 7, 1804 – December 9, 1806 (Term limited) |
2 years | Thomas Sumter, Jr. | |||
- | ![]() |
Charles Pinckney | Democratic-Republican | December 9, 1806 – December 10, 1808 (Term limited) |
2 years | John Hopkins | 3rd time | ||
- | John Drayton | Democratic-Republican | December 10, 1808 – December 8, 1810 (Term limited) |
2 years | Frederick Nance | 2nd time | |||
43 | ![]() |
Henry Middleton | Democratic-Republican | December 8, 1810 – December 10, 1812 (Term limited) |
2 years | Samuel Farrow | |||
44 | ![]() |
Joseph Alston | Democratic-Republican | December 10, 1812 – December 10, 1814 (Term limited) |
2 years | Eldred Simkins | |||
45 | ![]() |
David Rogerson Williams | Democratic-Republican | December 10, 1814 – December 5, 1816 (Term limited) |
2 years | Robert Creswell | |||
46 | ![]() |
Andrew Pickens | Democratic-Republican | December 5, 1816 – December 8, 1818 (Term limited) |
2 years | John A. Cuthbert | |||
47 | ![]() |
John Geddes | Democratic-Republican | December 8, 1818 – December 7, 1820 (Term limited) |
2 years | William Youngblood | |||
48 | Thomas Bennett, Jr. | Democratic-Republican | December 7, 1820 – December 7, 1822 (Term limited) |
2 years | William Pinckney | ||||
49 | ![]() |
John Lyde Wilson | Democratic-Republican | December 7, 1822 – December 3, 1824 (Term limited) |
2 years | Henry Bradley | |||
50 | ![]() |
Richard Irvine Manning I | Democratic-Republican | December 3, 1824 – December 9, 1826 (Term limited) |
2 years | William Bull | |||
51 | ![]() |
John Taylor | Democratic-Republican | December 9, 1826 – December 6, 1828 (Term limited) |
2 years | James Witherspoon | |||
52 | ![]() |
Stephen Decatur Miller | Nullifier (Democratic) | December 6, 1828 – December 9, 1830 (Term limited) |
2 years | Thomas Williams | |||
53 | ![]() |
James Hamilton, Jr. | Nullifier (Democratic) | December 9, 1830 – December 10, 1832 (Term limited) |
2 years | Patrick Noble | |||
54 | ![]() |
Robert Young Hayne | Nullifier (Democratic) | December 10, 1832 – December 9, 1834 (Term limited) |
2 years | Charles Cotesworth Pinckney | |||
55 | ![]() |
George McDuffie | Democratic | December 9, 1834 – December 10, 1836 (Term limited) |
2 years | Whitemarsh Benjamin Seabrook | |||
56 | ![]() |
Pierce Mason Butler | Democratic | December 10, 1836 – December 7, 1838 (Term limited) |
2 years | William DuBose | |||
57 | ![]() |
Patrick Noble | Democratic | December 7, 1838 – April 7, 1840 (Died) |
1.5 years | Barnabas Kelet Henagan | |||
58 | ![]() |
Barnabas Kelet Henagan | Democratic | April 7, 1840 – December 9, 1840 (Not a candidate for election) |
8 months | Vacant | Not elected | ||
59 | ![]() |
John Peter Richardson II | Democratic | December 9, 1840 – December 8, 1842 (Term limited) |
2 years | William K. Clowney | |||
60 | ![]() |
James Henry Hammond | Democratic | December 8, 1842 – December 7, 1844 (Term limited) |
2 years | Isaac D. Witherspoon | |||
61 | ![]() |
William Aiken, Jr. | Democratic | December 7, 1844 – December 8, 1846 (Term limited) |
2 years | J.F. Ervin | |||
62 | ![]() |
David Johnson | Democratic | December 8, 1846 – December 12, 1848 (Term limited) |
2 years | William Cain | |||
63 | ![]() |
Whitemarsh B. Seabrook | Democratic | December 12, 1848 – December 13, 1850 (Term limited) |
2 years | William Henry Gist | |||
64 | John Hugh Means | Democratic | December 13, 1850 – December 9, 1852 (Term limited) |
2 years | Joshua John Ward | ||||
65 | ![]() |
John Lawrence Manning | Democratic | December 9, 1852 – December 11, 1854 (Term limited) |
2 years | James Irby | |||
66 | ![]() |
James Hopkins Adams | Democratic | December 11, 1854 – December 9, 1856 (Term limited) |
2 years | Richard de Treville | |||
67 | ![]() |
Robert F.W. Allston | Democratic | December 9, 1856 – December 10, 1858 (Term limited) |
2 years | Gabriel Cannon | |||
68 | ![]() |
William Henry Gist | Democratic | December 10, 1858 – December 14, 1860 (Term limited) |
2 years | M. E. Carn | |||
69 | ![]() |
Francis Wilkinson Pickens | Confederate Democrat | December 14, 1860 – December 17, 1862 (Term limited) |
2 years | W.W. Harllee | |||
70 | ![]() |
Milledge Luke Bonham | Confederate Democrat | December 17, 1862 – December 18, 1864 (Term limited) |
2 years | Plowden Weston
(Died) |
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Vacant | |||||||||
71 | ![]() |
Andrew Gordon Magrath | Confederate Democrat | December 18, 1864 – May 25, 1865 (Overthrown) |
6 months | Robert McCaw | Imprisoned by the Union Army | ||
- | Second Military District (Military Government) | May 25, 1865 – June 30, 1865 |
- | State government dissolved | |||||
72 | ![]() |
Benjamin Franklin Perry | Unionist Democrat | June 30, 1865 – November 29, 1865 (Served until state government reestablished) |
5 months | 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[b] | Time in Office | Election | Lieutenant Governor | Notes | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
73 | ![]() |
James Lawrence Orr | No Party | November 26, 1865 – July 6, 1868 (Not candidate for election) |
2.5 years | 1865 | W.D. Porter | First popularly elected governor | ||
74 | ![]() |
Robert Kingston Scott | Republican | July 6, 1868 – December 7, 1872 (Term limited) |
4.5 years | 1868 | Lemuel Boozer | |||
1870 | Alonzo J. Ransier | |||||||||
75 | ![]() |
Franklin J. Moses, Jr. | Republican | December 7, 1872 – December 1, 1874 (Lost renomination) |
2 years | 1872 | Richard Howell Gleaves | |||
76 | ![]() |
Daniel Henry Chamberlain | Republican | December 1, 1874 – December 14, 1876 (Lost reelection) |
2 years | 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 (Resigned)[c] |
2.5 years | 1876 | William Dunlap Simpson | Declared sole governor four months after taking office | ||
1878 | ||||||||||
78 | ![]() |
William Dunlap Simpson | Democratic | February 26, 1879 – September 1, 1880 (Resigned)[d] |
1.5 years | Vacant | Not elected | |||
79 | ![]() |
Thomas Bothwell Jeter | Democratic | September 1, 1880 – November 30, 1880 (Not a candidate for election) |
3 months | Not elected | ||||
80 | ![]() |
Johnson Hagood | Democratic | November 30, 1880 – December 1, 1882 (Not a candidate for reelection) |
2 years | 1880 | John D. Kennedy | |||
81 | ![]() |
Hugh Smith Thompson | Democratic | December 1, 1882 – July 10, 1886 (Resigned)[e] |
3.5 years | 1882 | John Calhoun Sheppard | |||
1884 | ||||||||||
82 | ![]() |
John Calhoun Sheppard | Democratic | July 10, 1886 – November 30, 1886 (Not a candidate for election) |
5 months | Vacant | Not elected | |||
83 | ![]() |
John Peter Richardson III | Democratic | November 30, 1886 – December 4, 1890 (Term limited) |
4 years | 1886 | William Mauldin | |||
1888 | ||||||||||
84 | ![]() |
Benjamin Ryan Tillman | Democratic | December 4, 1890 – December 4, 1894 (Term limited) |
4 years | 1890 | Eugene Gary | |||
1892 | Washington Hodges Timmerman | |||||||||
85 | ![]() |
John Gary Evans | Democratic | December 4, 1894 – January 18, 1897 (Not a candidate for reelection) |
2 years | 1894 | ||||
86 | ![]() |
William Haselden Ellerbe | Democratic | January 18, 1897 – June 2, 1899 (Died) |
2.5 years | 1896 | Miles Benjamin McSweeney | |||
1898 | ||||||||||
87 | ![]() |
Miles Benjamin McSweeney | Democratic | June 2, 1899 – January 20, 1903 (Not a candidate for reelection) |
3.5 years | Robert B. Scarborough | ||||
1900 | ||||||||||
88 | ![]() |
Duncan Clinch Heyward | Democratic | January 20, 1903 – January 15, 1907 (Term limited) |
4 years | 1902 | James Tillman | |||
1904 | John Sloan | |||||||||
89 | ![]() |
Martin Frederick Ansel | Democratic | January 15, 1907 – January 17, 1911 (Term limited) |
4 years | 1906 | Thomas Gordon McLeod | |||
1908 | ||||||||||
90 | ![]() |
Coleman Livingston Blease | Democratic | January 17, 1911 – January 14, 1915 (Resigned)[f] |
4 years | 1910 | Charles Aurelius Smith | |||
1912 | ||||||||||
91 | ![]() |
Charles Aurelius Smith | Democratic | January 14, 1915 – January 19, 1915 (Not a candidate for election) |
5 days | Vacant | Shortest term Not elected | |||
92 | ![]() |
Richard Irvine Manning III | Democratic | January 19, 1915 – January 21, 1919 (Term limited) |
4 years | 1914 | Andrew Bethea | |||
1916 | ||||||||||
93 | ![]() |
Robert Archer Cooper | Democratic | January 21, 1919 – May 20, 1922 (Resigned)[g] |
3.25 years | 1918 | J.T. Lyles | |||
1920 | Wilson Godfrey Harvey | |||||||||
94 | ![]() |
Wilson Godfrey Harvey | Democratic | May 20, 1922 – January 16, 1923 (Not a candidate for election) |
1.75 years | Vacant | Not elected | |||
95 | ![]() |
Thomas Gordon McLeod | Democratic | January 16, 1923 – January 18, 1927 (Term limited) |
4 years | 1922 | E.B. Jackson | |||
1924 | ||||||||||
96 | ![]() |
John Gardiner Richards, Jr. | Democratic | January 18, 1927 – January 20, 1931 (Term limited) |
4 years | 1926 | Thomas Bothwell Butler | First elected to four-year term[h] | ||
97 | ![]() |
Ibra Charles Blackwood | Democratic | January 20, 1931 – January 15, 1935 (Term limited) |
4 years | 1930 | James Sheppard | |||
98 | ![]() |
Olin D. Johnston | Democratic | January 15, 1935 – January 17, 1939 (Term limited) |
4 years | 1934 | Joseph Emile Harley | 1st time | ||
99 | ![]() |
Burnet R. Maybank | Democratic | January 17, 1939 – November 4, 1941 (Resigned)[i] |
2.5 years | 1938 | ||||
100 | ![]() |
Joseph Emile Harley | Democratic | November 4, 1941 – February 27, 1942 (Died) |
4 months | Vacant | Not elected | |||
Vacant | February 27, 1942 – March 2, 1942 |
- | ||||||||
101 | ![]() |
Richard Manning Jefferies | Democratic | March 2, 1942 – January 19, 1943 (Not a candidate for election) |
8 months | Not elected | ||||
98 | ![]() |
Olin D. Johnston | Democratic | January 19, 1943 – January 2, 1945 (Resigned)[j] |
2 years
(6 years total) |
1942 | Ransome Judson Williams | 2nd time | ||
102 | ![]() |
Ransome Judson Williams | Democratic | January 2, 1945 – January 21, 1947 (Not a candidate for election) |
2 years | Vacant | Not elected | |||
103 | ![]() |
Strom Thurmond | Democratic | January 21, 1947 – January 16, 1951 (Term limited) |
4 years | 1946 | George Bell Timmerman, Jr. | |||
104 | ![]() |
James Francis Byrnes | Democratic | January 16, 1951 – January 18, 1955 (Term limited) |
4 years | 1950 | ||||
105 | ![]() |
George Bell Timmerman, Jr. | Democratic | January 18, 1955 – January 15, 1959 (Term limited) |
4 years | 1954 | Ernest F. Hollings | |||
106 | ![]() |
Ernest F. Hollings | Democratic | January 20, 1959 – January 15, 1963 (Term limited) |
4 years | 1958 | Burnet R. Maybank Jr. | |||
107 | ![]() |
Donald Stuart Russell | Democratic | January 15, 1963 – April 22, 1965 (Resigned)[k] |
1.5 years | 1962 | Robert Evander McNair | |||
108 | ![]() |
Robert Evander McNair | Democratic | April 22, 1965 – January 19, 1971 (Term limited) |
5.5 years | Vacant | ||||
1966 | John C. West | |||||||||
109 | ![]() |
John C. West | Democratic | January 19, 1971 – January 21, 1975 (Term limited) |
4 years | 1970 | Earle Morris, Jr. | |||
110 | ![]() |
James B. Edwards | Republican | January 21, 1975 – January 10, 1979 (Term limited) |
4 years | 1974 | W. Brantley Harvey, Jr. | |||
111 | ![]() |
Richard Riley | Democratic | January 10, 1979 – January 14, 1987 (Term limited) |
8 years | 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 (Term limited) |
8 years | 1986 | Nick Theodore | |||
1990 | ||||||||||
113 | David Beasley | Republican | January 11, 1995 – January 13, 1999 (Lost reelection) |
4 years | 1994 | Bob Peeler | ||||
114 | ![]() |
Jim Hodges | Democratic | January 13, 1999 – January 15, 2003 (Lost reelection) |
4 years | 1998 | ||||
115 | ![]() |
Mark Sanford | Republican | January 15, 2003 – January 12, 2011 (Term Limited) |
8 years | 2002 | André Bauer | |||
2006 | ||||||||||
116 | ![]() |
Nikki Haley | Republican | January 12, 2011 – January 24, 2017 (Resigned)[l] |
6 years | 2010 | Ken Ard | First female governor First minority governor | ||
Glenn F. McConnell | ||||||||||
J. Yancey McGill | ||||||||||
2014 | Henry McMaster | |||||||||
117 | ![]() |
Henry McMaster | Republican | January 24, 2017 – Incumbent[m] |
5 years, 174 days[n] | Kevin L. Bryant | ||||
2018 | Pamela Evette |
Timeline of recent party control
The timeline below depicts the party control of the governorship since 1970.
![](https://web.archive.org/web/20220717044815im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/timeline/l4ysedvqyv8gb69vnfn1kct1fxl1fek.png)
Party affiliation
Party | Governors |
---|---|
Democratic | 52 |
Democratic-Republican | 13 |
Republican | 9 |
Independent | 6 |
Federalist | 5 |
Nullifier | 3 |
Unionist Democrat[p] | 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.
Living former governors of South Carolina
As of March 2022, 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. 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.
- ^ Years are rounded
- ^ 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 inaguration 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
- ^ McMaster's first full term began on January 9, 2019, and will expire on January 11, 2023.
- ^ As of July 17, 2022
- ^ 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.
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: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)