John Gardiner Richards

John Gardiner Richards, Jr.

John Gardiner Richards, Jr. (born September 11, 1864 in Liberty Hill , South Carolina , † October 9, 1941 ) was an American politician and Governor of South Carolina from 1927 to 1931.

Early years and political advancement

John Richards was educated at the Bingham Military Institute in North Carolina . He subsequently served in the National Guard of South Carolina, where he made it to lieutenant colonel over time. Richards also served on the South Carolina Military Committee for four years. He also worked as a farmer and in the railroad business. Between 1898 and 1910, Richards was a member of the South Carolina state parliament before becoming the South Carolina State Railroad Commissioner. He held this office between 1910 and 1918 and again from 1922 to 1926. During World War I he was a member of the Defense Council and the Tax Commission of South Carolina.

Governor of south carolina

After three unsuccessful attempts to nominate his party for the office of governor, he succeeded in 1926 to assert himself within his party and to win the elections on November 4, 1926 unopposed. Richards was the first governor of his country to serve a four-year term. Until a constitutional amendment in 1926, the governors' term of office was limited to two years, but direct re-election was possible at that time. However, after the constitutional reform, direct re-election was no longer possible. Governor Richards was a strong advocate of Sunday rest. Therefore, the so-called "Blue Laws" were put into effect, which prohibited not only business, but also sporting events on Sundays. An attempt to ban the theory of evolution in schools failed because of the parliament's veto. Similar laws were enacted in other states at the time. In 1928, South Carolina was the first woman to be elected to the state's Senate. Richards increased the budget for road construction to accommodate the growing car and truck traffic. In May 1930, South Carolina's first radio station went on air in Charleston . Richards also worked to accelerate the electrification of the country, especially in rural areas. In 1929 riots and strikes broke out in the country's textile industry, the origins of which lay in poor management. The second half of Governor Richard's tenure was overshadowed by the aftermath of the New York stock market crash of October 24, 1929. The economic crisis that followed hit South Carolina as well. The weakening agriculture could no longer bring Richards under control during his tenure. When he left office on January 20, 1931, it had not even peaked. However, this statement holds true for almost all US states and leading industrial nations around the world and was not a specific problem for South Carolina.

Another résumé

After retiring from the office of governor, Richards was chairman of the commission for the exploration and management of the country's mineral resources. Otherwise he retired to his farm in Liberty Hill, where he died in 1941. He was married to Elizabeth Coats Workman, with whom he had eleven children.

literature

• Robert Sobel and John Raimo (Eds.): Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789–1978. Volume 4. Meckler Books, Westport, CT, 1978. 4 volumes.
• The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. Vol. 12. James T. White & Company, New York

Web links

• John Richards at the National Governors Association (English)
• South Carolina Information Highway (English)
• John Gardiner Richards in the database of Find a Grave (English)