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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

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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.

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
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	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)

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

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)
							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)

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

No.	Governor			Party	Term in office	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		William Dennison 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. Main article: Disputed government of South Carolina of 1876-77
77			Wade Hampton III	Democratic	April 11, 1877 – September 26, 1879 (Resigned)	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)	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)	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	Succeeded from Lieutenant Governor		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	Succeeded from Lieutenant Governor		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)	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	Succeeded from Lieutenant Governor		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)	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)	8 months	Succeeded from Lieutenant Governor		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 (Died)	First elected to four-year term
								Vacant
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)	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)	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	Succeeded from Lieutenant Governor		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)	2.5 years	1962		Robert Evander McNair
108			Robert Evander McNair	Democratic	April 22, 1965 – January 19, 1971 (Term limited)	5.5 years	Succeeded from Lieutenant Governor			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)	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	7 years, 340 days	Succeeded from Lieutenant Governor		Kevin L. Bryant
							2018		Pamela Evette
							2022

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. Years are rounded
3. Resigned to become United States Senator
4. Resigned to become Chief Justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court
5. Resigned to become Assistant Secretary of the Treasury under the Grover Cleveland administration.
6. Resigned to avoid attending the gubernatorial inauguration of Richard Manning
7. Resigned to accept position on the Federal Farm Loan Board
8. 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.
9. Resigned to become United States Senator
10. Resigned to become United States Senator
11. Resigned to become United States Senator
12. Resigned to become United States Ambassador to the United Nations
13. McMaster's second full term began on January 11, 2023 and will expire January 13, 2027; he will be term-limited
14. As of December 29, 2024

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. "South Carolina Governors 1670 to Present". carolana.com. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
2. "National Governors Association". September 30, 2007. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007.
3. Presidential Proclamation No. 46, 30 June 1865, 13 Stat. 769, 770
4. Rubin III, Hyman S. (2007). "Election of 1876". University of South Carolina Publications. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
5. King, Ronald (2001). "Counting the Votes: South Carolina's Stolen Election of 1876". The Journal of Interdisciplinary History. 32 (2). Cambridge: MIT Press: 169–191. doi:10.1162/002219501750442369. JSTOR 3656976. S2CID 145297405.
6. "South Carolina Gubernatorial Election of 1876". The University of Richmond. n.d. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
7. "Olin DeWitt Talmadge Johnston" (PDF). October 17, 2011. Retrieved February 26, 2015.
8. "Russell, Donald Stuart (1906–1998)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved December 26, 2017.
9. "S. Carolina Incumbent in Unexpected Tussle". Washington Post. Archived from the original on August 16, 2000. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
10. Sheinin, Aaron (November 5, 2002). "Sanford defeats Hodges to become next S.C. governor". The State. Archived from the original on November 16, 2002.
11. "South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley wins easy confirmation as UN ambassador". NBC News. January 24, 2017. Archived from the original on April 14, 2021. Retrieved April 14, 2021.

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

v t e Governors of South Carolina
J. Rutledge Lowndes J. Rutledge Mathews Guerard Moultrie T. Pinckney C. Pinckney Moultrie Vanderhorst C. Pinckney E. Rutledge Drayton J. Richardson P. Hamilton C. Pinckney Drayton Middleton Alston D. Williams A. Pickens Geddes Bennett Wilson Manning I Taylor Miller J. Hamilton Hayne McDuffie Butler Noble Henagan Richardson II Hammond Aiken Johnson Seabrook Means J. Manning Adams Allston Gist F. Pickens Bonham Magrath Perry Orr Scott Moses Chamberlain Hampton Simpson Jeter Hagood Thompson Sheppard Richardson III Tillman Evans Ellerbe McSweeney Heyward Ansel Blease Smith Manning III Cooper Harvey McLeod Richards Blackwood Johnston Maybank Harley Jefferies Johnston R. Williams Thurmond Byrnes Timmerman Hollings Russell McNair West Edwards Riley Campbell Beasley Hodges Sanford Haley McMaster

v t e State of South Carolina
Columbia (capital)
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