List of Governors of South Carolina

Governor of South Carolina
Incumbent Nikki Haley since January 12, 2011
Term length	Four years, renewable once

This is a list of South Carolina Governors. The current governor of South Carolina is Nikki Haley, and has been since 12 January 2011.

Colonial Period (1670–1775)

Further information: List of colonial governors of South Carolina

Statehood Period (1776 to Present)

Presidents under the Articles of Confederation

The General Assembly chose the President for a term of two years.

#	Name	Took Office	Left Office	Party	Notes
31	John Rutledge	March 26, 1776	March 5, 1778	No party	1st time, Resigned
32	Rawlins Lowndes	March 6, 1778	January 9, 1779	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.

#	Name	Took Office	Left Office	Party	Notes
	John Rutledge	January 9, 1779	January 31, 1782	No party	2nd time
33	John Mathews	January 31, 1782	February 4, 1783	No party
34	Benjamin Guerard	February 4, 1783	February 11, 1785	No party
35	William Moultrie	February 11, 1785	February 20, 1787	No party	1st time
36	Thomas Pinckney	February 20, 1787	January 26, 1789	Federalist
37	Charles Pinckney	January 26, 1789	December 5, 1792	Federalist	1st time

Governors under the Constitution of 1790

The General Assembly chose the Governor for a term of two years.

#	Name	Took Office	Left Office	Party	Notes
	William Moultrie	December 5, 1792	December 17, 1794	Federalist	2nd time
38	Arnoldus Vanderhorst	December 17, 1794	December 8, 1796	Federalist
	Charles Pinckney	December 8, 1796	December 18, 1798	Democratic-Republican	2nd time
39	Edward Rutledge	December 18, 1798	January 23, 1800	Federalist	Died in office
40	John Drayton	January 23, 1800	December 8, 1802	Democratic-Republican	1st time
41	James Burchill Richardson	December 8, 1802	December 7, 1804	Democratic-Republican
42	Paul Hamilton	December 7, 1804	December 9, 1806	Democratic-Republican
	Charles Pinckney	December 9, 1806	December 10, 1808	Democratic-Republican	3rd time
	John Drayton	December 10, 1808	December 8, 1810	Democratic-Republican	2nd time
43	Henry Middleton	December 8, 1810	December 10, 1812	Democratic-Republican
44	Joseph Alston	December 10, 1812	December 10, 1814	Democratic-Republican
45	David Rogerson Williams	December 10, 1814	December 5, 1816	Democratic-Republican
46	Andrew Pickens	December 5, 1816	December 8, 1818	Democratic-Republican
47	John Geddes	December 8, 1818	December 7, 1820	Democratic-Republican
48	Thomas Bennett, Jr.	December 7, 1820	December 7, 1822	Democratic-Republican
49	John Lyde Wilson	December 7, 1822	December 3, 1824	Democratic-Republican
50	Richard Irvine Manning I	December 3, 1824	December 9, 1826	Democratic-Republican
51	John Taylor	December 9, 1826	December 10, 1828	Democratic-Republican
52	Stephen Decatur Miller	December 10, 1828	December 9, 1830	Democratic (Nullifier)
53	James Hamilton, Jr.	December 9, 1830	December 10, 1832	Democratic (Nullifier)
54	Robert Young Hayne	December 10, 1832	December 9, 1834	Democratic (Nullifier)
55	George McDuffie	December 9, 1834	December 10, 1836	Democratic
56	Pierce Mason Butler	December 10, 1836	December 7, 1838	Democratic
57	Patrick Noble	December 7, 1838	April 7, 1840	Democratic	Died in office
58	Barnabas Kelet Henagan	April 7, 1840	December 9, 1840	Democratic	Not elected
59	John Peter Richardson II	December 9, 1840	December 8, 1842	Democratic
60	James Henry Hammond	December 8, 1842	December 7, 1844	Democratic
61	William Aiken, Jr.	December 7, 1844	December 8, 1846	Democratic
62	David Johnson	December 8, 1846	December 12, 1848	Democratic
63	Whitemarsh B. Seabrook	December 12, 1848	December 13, 1850	Democratic
64	John Hugh Means	December 13, 1850	December 9, 1852	Democratic
65	John Lawrence Manning	December 9, 1852	December 11, 1854	Democratic
66	James Hopkins Adams	December 11, 1854	December 9, 1856	Democratic
67	Robert F.W. Allston	December 9, 1856	December 10, 1858	Democratic
68	William Henry Gist	December 10, 1858	December 14, 1860	Democratic
69	Francis Wilkinson Pickens	December 14, 1860	December 17, 1862	Democratic
70	Milledge Luke Bonham	December 17, 1862	December 18, 1864	Democratic
71	Andrew Gordon Magrath	December 18, 1864	May 25, 1865	Democratic	Deposed by the Union Army
72	Benjamin Franklin Perry	June 30, 1865	November 29, 1865	Unionist Democrat	Appointed by President Andrew Johnson

Governors under the Constitution of 1865

First Constitution of South Carolina to provide for the direct election of the Governor.

#	Name	Took Office	Left Office	Party	Notes
73	James Lawrence Orr	November 29, 1865	July 6, 1868	No party	1st elected Governor

Governors under the Constitution of 1868

#	Name	Took Office	Left Office	Party	Notes
74	Robert Kingston Scott	July 6, 1868	December 7, 1872	Republican
75	Franklin I. Moses, Jr.	December 7, 1872	December 1, 1874	Republican
76	Daniel Henry Chamberlain	December 1, 1874	December 14, 1876	Republican	Claimed Governorship after 1876 election
77	Wade Hampton III	December 14, 1876	February 26, 1879	Democratic	Resigned
78	William Dunlap Simpson	February 26, 1879	September 1, 1880	Democratic	Not elected
79	Thomas Bothwell Jeter	September 1, 1880	November 30, 1880	Democratic
80	Johnson Hagood	November 30, 1880	December 1, 1882	Democratic
81	Hugh Smith Thompson	December 1, 1882	July 10, 1886	Democratic	Resigned
82	John Calhoun Sheppard	July 10, 1886	November 30, 1886	Democratic	Not elected
83	John Peter Richardson III	November 30, 1886	December 4, 1890	Democratic
84	Benjamin Ryan Tillman	December 4, 1890	December 4, 1894	Democratic
85	John Gary Evans	December 4, 1894	January 18, 1897	Democratic

Governors under the Constitution of 1895

#	Name	Took Office	Left Office	Party	Notes
86	William Haselden Ellerbe	January 18, 1897	June 2, 1899	Democratic	Died in office
87	Miles Benjamin McSweeney	June 2, 1899	January 20, 1903	Democratic
88	Duncan Clinch Heyward	January 20, 1903	January 15, 1907	Democratic
89	Martin Frederick Ansel	January 15, 1907	January 17, 1911	Democratic
90	Coleman Livingston Blease	January 17, 1911	January 14, 1915	Democratic	Resigned
91	Charles Aurelius Smith	January 14, 1915	January 19, 1915	Democratic	Not elected
92	Richard Irvine Manning III	January 19, 1915	January 21, 1919	Democratic
93	Robert Archer Cooper	January 21, 1919	May 20, 1922	Democratic	Resigned
94	Wilson Godfrey Harvey	May 20, 1922	January 16, 1923	Democratic	Not elected
95	Thomas Gordon McLeod	January 16, 1923	January 18, 1927	Democratic
96	John Gardiner Richards, Jr.	January 18, 1927	January 20, 1931	Democratic	1st to be elected to a four-year term
97	Ibra Charles Blackwood	January 20, 1931	January 15, 1935	Democratic
98	Olin D. Johnston	January 15, 1935	January 17, 1939	Democratic	1st time
99	Burnet R. Maybank	January 17, 1939	November 4, 1941	Democratic	Resigned
100	Joseph Emile Harley	November 4, 1941	February 27, 1942	Democratic	Not elected, Died in office
101	Richard Manning Jefferies	February 27, 1942	January 19, 1943	Democratic	Not elected
	Olin D. Johnston	January 19, 1943	January 2, 1945	Democratic	2nd time, Resigned
102	Ransome Judson Williams	January 2, 1945	January 21, 1947	Democratic	Not elected
103	Strom Thurmond	January 21, 1947	January 16, 1951	Democratic
104	James Francis Byrnes	January 16, 1951	January 18, 1955	Democratic
105	George Bell Timmerman, Jr.	January 18, 1955	January 20, 1959	Democratic
106	Ernest "Fritz" Hollings	January 20, 1959	January 15, 1963	Democratic
107	Donald Stuart Russell	January 15, 1963	April 22, 1965	Democratic	Resigned
108	Robert Evander McNair	April 22, 1965	January 19, 1971	Democratic
109	John C. West	January 19, 1971	January 21, 1975	Democratic
110	James Burrows Edwards	January 21, 1975	January 10, 1979	Republican
111	Richard Wilson Riley	January 10, 1979	January 14, 1987	Democratic
112	Carroll A. Campbell, Jr.	January 14, 1987	January 11, 1995	Republican
113	David Muldrow Beasley	January 11, 1995	January 13, 1999	Republican
114	James Hovis Hodges	January 13, 1999	January 15, 2003	Democratic
115	Mark Sanford	January 15, 2003	January 12, 2011	Republican
116	Nikki Haley	January 12, 2011	Present	Republican	1st female and non-caucasian Governor

Other high offices held

This is a table of congressional seats, other federal offices, and other governorships held by governors. All representatives and senators mentioned represented South Carolina except where noted. * denotes those offices which the governor resigned to take.

Name	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
Wade Hampton III	1877-79		S*	United States Railroad Commissioner
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 "Fritz" 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
Mark Sanford	2003–2011	H

Living former governors

As of January 2011, six former governors were alive, the oldest being Ernest "Fritz" Hollings (1959–1963). The most recent governor to die was Robert Evander McNair (1965–1971), on November 17, 2007. The most recently-serving governor to die was Carroll A. Campbell, Jr. (1987–1995), on December 7, 2005.

Governor	Gubernatorial term	Date of birth
Ernest "Fritz" Hollings	1959–1963	(1922-01-01) January 1, 1922
James Burrows Edwards	1975–1979	(1927-06-24) June 24, 1927
Richard Wilson Riley	1979–1987	(1933-01-02) January 2, 1933
David Muldrow Beasley	1995–1999	(1957-02-26) February 26, 1957
James Hovis Hodges	1999–2003	(1956-11-19) November 19, 1956
Mark Sanford	2003–2011	(1960-05-28) May 28, 1960

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

External links

• SCIway List of South Carolina Governors in Chronological Order
• NNDB 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