List of governors of South Carolina

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.

Governor of South Carolina
Seal of the Governor
Incumbent Henry McMaster since January 24, 2017
Style	His Excellency
Term length	Four years, renewable once consecutively

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[lower-alpha 1]
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)

Governors of the State of South Carolina (1779 to 1792)

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)

Governors of the State of South Carolina (1790 to 1865)

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)

Governors of the State of South Carolina (1865 to present)

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[lower-alpha 2]
						1878
78			William Dunlap Simpson	Democratic	February 26, 1879 – September 1, 1880			Vacant	Not elected Resigned[lower-alpha 3]
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[lower-alpha 4]
						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[lower-alpha 5]
						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[lower-alpha 6]
						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[lower-alpha 7]
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[lower-alpha 8]
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[lower-alpha 9]
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[lower-alpha 10]
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 Resigned[lower-alpha 11]
								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.

Party affiliation

Number of governors of South Carolina by party affiliation[lower-alpha 12]

Party	Governors
Democratic	49
Democratic-Republican	13
Republican	9
Independent	6
Federalist	5
Nullifier	3
Confederate Democrat	3
Unionist Democrat[lower-alpha 13]	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 April 2019, there are five former governors currently living, the oldest being Richard Riley (served 1979–1987, born 1933). The most recent governor to die was Fritz 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

1. 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.
2. Resigned to become United States Senator
3. Resigned to become Chief Justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court
4. Resigned to become Assistant Secretary of the Treasury under the Grover Cleveland administration.
5. Resigned to avoid attending the gubernatorial innaguration of Richard Manning
6. Resigned to accept position on the Federal Farm Loan Board
7. 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.
8. Resigned to become United States Senator
9. Resigned to become United States Senator
10. Resigned to become United States Senator
11. Resigned to become United States Ambassador to the United Nations
12. 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.
13. 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

1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on May 1, 2017. Retrieved May 10, 2017.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
2. "Former SC Governor, U.S. Senator Ernest F. 'Fritz' Hollings dies at 97". Retrieved April 6, 2019.

External links

• SCIway List of South Carolina Governors in Chronological Order
• National Governors Association List of South Carolina Governors
• “South Carolina’s Colonial Governors” Preservation Society Halsey Map