SC People - Political and Government Leaders

Joseph Alston

(1779-1816) Born in All Saints Parish (Georgetown County), Joseph Alston was the governor of South Carolina from 1812-1814 and was also implicated in plots of his father-in-law Aaron Burr, who was accused of tryin

Bernard Baruch

(1870-1965) Born in Camden,SC, Bernard Baruch was an economic advisor to presidents Woodrow Wilson and Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Ben Bernanke

(1953- ) Ben Bernanke grew up in Dillon, SC. Bernanke was the Chairman of the Federal Reserve System from 2006-2014.

Preston Brooks

(1819-1857) Born in Roseland, SC (Edgefield County), Preston Brooks was a Democratic congressman from South Carolina who brutally beat Charles Sumner, a Senator from Massachusetts, in the US Senate chamber.

Edgar A. Brown

(1868-1975) Born in Aiken County, Edgar Allan Brown was a longtime Democratic legislator of South Carolina from Barnwell County who served South Carolina from 1922-1972.

Pierce Butler

(1744–1822) Pierce Butler was a Founding Father of the United States who represented South Carolina at the Continental Congress, the Constitutional Convention, and as a U.S. Senator.

James F. Byrnes

(1879-1972) Born in Charleston, SC, James F. Byrnes was a U.S. Secretary of State, Associate Justice U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Senator, and Governor of South Carolina from 1951-1955.

John C. Calhoun

(1782-1850) Born in McCormick County, John Calhoun was a U.S. Senator, Secretary of State, Secretary of War, and the 7th Vice-President of the United States.

Carroll A. Campbell, Jr.

(1940-2005) Born in Greenville, SC, Carroll A. Campbell, Jr. was a U.S. Congressman and Governor of South Carolina from 1987-1995.

Francis Cardozo

(1836–1903) Born in Charleston, SC, Francis Cardozo was a leading political figure in the Radical Reconstruction political environment and first African American to hold a statewide office in the United States.

Daniel Henry Chamberlain

(1835-1907) Daniel Henry Chamberlain was the governor of South Carolina from 1874-1876.

Thomas Green Clemson

(1807–1888) Thomas Green Clemson was a statesman, ambassador, US Superintendent of Agriculture, and founder of Clemson University.

Charles Craven

(1682-1745) Born in England, Charles Craven was the governor of the colony of South Carolina from 1711-1716 and held office during the end of the Tuscarora War and the beginning of the Yemassee War.

William Henry Drayton

(1742–1779) William Henry Drayton was a planter and lawyer from Charleston, SC, who served as a delegate for South Carolina to the Continental Congress.

Robert Brown Elliott

(1842-1884) Robert Elliott was an African American U.S. Representative from 1871-1874.

Edward C. Elmore

(1826- after 1864) Born in Columbia, SC, Edward C. Elmore was the treasurer of the Confederate States of America.

Christopher Gadsden

(1724-1805) Christopher Gadsden was a Charleston merchant who was a vocal advocate of American independence in South Carolina.

James Gadsden

(1788-1858) James Gadsden was the diplomat (known as minister) to Mexico where he negotiated for the Gadsden Purchase in 1853.

William Henry Gist

(1807-1874) William Henry Gist was the governor of South Carolina from 1858-1860 and a leader of the secession movement.

Johnson Hagood

(1829-1898) Born in Barnwell, SC, Johnson Hagood was a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army and governor of South Carolina from 1880-1882.