Richard Irvine Manning III

Richard Irvine Manning III ( August 15, 1859 in Sumter County , South Carolina , † September 11, 1931 in Columbia , South Carolina) was an American politician and governor of South Carolina from 1915 to 1919.

Early years

Richard Manning came from a prominent South Carolina family of politicians who had established several governors, all of whom were named either Manning or Richardson. His grandfather of the same name was also governor of South Carolina from 1824 to 1826. Manning attended the University of Virginia between 1877 and 1879 . In the following years he made a business career. Among other things, he was a banker, cotton planter and president of the American export and import corporation. He was also the head of a telephone company and fire insurance. He was also a curator at the University of South Carolina and Clems College.

Political rise

From 1892 he was politically active. That year he was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives, where he remained until 1896. Between 1898 and 1906 he was in the Senate of his home state. In 1905 he was even president of this body. Manning was a member of the Democratic Party, which was unrivaled in South Carolina at the time, but which had internal party differences. Manning was one of the opponents of Governor Coleman Livingston Blease , whose policies were highly controversial. When the gubernatorial elections were due in November 1914, Manning was able to prevail in his party against the supporters of Blease and win the nomination and thus the election on November 3rd.

Governor of south carolina

Governor Blease resigned five days before the end of his term, among other things because he did not want to be present at the inauguration of his opponent Manning. Richard Manning, who was confirmed in office in 1916, served four years as governor. He was a representative of the progressive wing of his party. During his tenure, a State Welfare Committee and the Highway Department were created. With the latter, the emerging automobile traffic was taken into account. Governor Manning doubled the budget for education policy, which was greatly improved. In 1915, after a referendum, prohibition , i.e. a ban on the trade in alcoholic beverages, was introduced. A year later, the minimum age for child labor was raised to 14 years. In February 1917, the first NAACP South Carolina branch opened in Charleston, and in 1918 women were officially given the opportunity to practice law. At the end of 1918 the country was hit by a flu wave that killed 7,400 people. In addition to these domestic political events, the governor also had to deal with the consequences of America's entry into the First World War. He was responsible for mobilizing in South Carolina. A total of over 307,000 men were drafted at the time, but not all were actually drafted into military service. After the end of the war in November 1918, shortly before the end of his term of office, the administration and the economy of the country had to be converted back to the need for peace.

Further life

Due to a constitutional clause, Richard Manning was not allowed to run for a third consecutive term. Therefore, he resigned on January 21, 1919 from his office. As a result, he returned to his private business interests. He was also a member of the American Peace Committee. Richard Manning died in September 1931. He was married to Lelia Bernard Meredith, with whom he had six 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

• Richard Manning III in the National Governor Association (English)
• South Carolina Information Highway (English)
• Richard Irvine Manning III in the database of Find a Grave (English)