James B. Edwards

James B. Edwards

James Burrows Edwards (born June 24, 1927 in Hawthorne , Florida , † December 26, 2014 in Mount Pleasant , South Carolina ) was an American dentist and politician. He was governor of South Carolina from 1975 to 1979.

Early years

Edwards served as an officer in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He then became a reservist in this branch of service. James Edward studied medicine at the College of Charleston and dentistry at the University of Louisville . Between 1958 and 1960 he worked as a dentist at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit . In 1960 he opened a dentist's office in Charleston. He subsequently took on several functions in the field of dentistry, for example in 1964 he became a consultant for the US health authority in Charleston. In 1966 he became vice president of a private school in Mount Pleasant and in 1968 he was employed as a dentist at the University of South Carolina .

Political rise

Politically, James Edwards supported the Republican Party . This party had not had much importance in South Carolina since the end of Reconstruction in the 1870s. At times she had not even put up candidates for gubernatorial elections. Since the end of World War II and the era of the civil rights movement, however, the balance of power in South Carolina had shifted in favor of the Republicans. In the gubernatorial elections of 1970, their candidate Albert Watson had over 45% of the vote and was only just beaten by John Carl West .

In 1972, James Edwards was elected to the South Carolina Senate. After he had prevailed against General William Westmoreland within his party , he was nominated for the gubernatorial election of 1974. The election took place on November 5th and Edwards received 50.9% of the vote, while his Democratic rival William Jennings Bryan Dorn got 47.6%. This made him the first Republican governor of the state since Daniel Henry Chamberlain was elected in 1874 .

Governor of south carolina

Governor Edwards' tenure began on January 15, 1975 and ended four years later on January 10, 1979. During this period, South Carolina reintroduced the suspended death penalty. The budget for education policy was redistributed in favor of the poorer school districts. Otherwise, his term of office passed without any particular incident.

Further career

After his tenure, Edwards held various positions. President Ronald Reagan named him Secretary of Energy in 1981 . He held this office until 1982. Then he was the medical director of the University of South Carolina for the next 17 years. Most recently, he appeared as a supporter of Mitt Romney , who tried unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for the 2008 presidential election.

marriage

He was married from 1951 until his death.

Web links

• James Edwards in the National Governors Association (English)
• South Carolina Information Highway (English)
• James B. Edwards at the University of Virginia Miller Center of Public Affairs (English)