James Edwards | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 1981 | |
| 3rdUnited States Secretary of Energy | |
| In office January 23, 1981 – November 5, 1982 | |
| President | Ronald Reagan |
| Preceded by | Charles Duncan |
| Succeeded by | Donald Hodel |
| 110thGovernor of South Carolina | |
| In office January 21, 1975 – January 10, 1979 | |
| Lieutenant | Brantley Harvey |
| Preceded by | John West |
| Succeeded by | Richard Riley |
| Member of theSouth Carolina Senate fromCharleston County | |
| In office 1973–1975 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | James Burrows Edwards (1927-06-24)June 24, 1927 Hawthorne, Florida, U.S. |
| Died | December 26, 2014(2014-12-26) (aged 87) |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Ann Darlington (1951–2014) |
| Education | College of Charleston (BS) University of Louisville (DMD) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch/service | United States Navy |
| Unit | United States Maritime Service |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
James Burrows Edwards (June 24, 1927 – December 26, 2014) was an American politician and administrator fromSouth Carolina. He was the firstRepublican to be electedgovernor of South Carolina since the post-Civil WarReconstruction era in the 1870s. He later served as theU.S. secretary of energy underRonald Reagan.
Edwards was born inHawthorne, Florida, and was an officer in theU.S. Maritime Service during World War II. He continued his service in theU.S. Naval Reserve after the war. Edwards received a bachelor's degree in 1950 at theCollege of Charleston where he was a brother ofPi Kappa Phifraternity. He received aD.M.D. in 1955 from theUniversity of Louisville, and did a dental internship at theUniversity of Pennsylvania. Returning toCharleston, Edwards established adentistry practice in 1960 that specialized inoral surgery. He subsequently held a variety of positions associated with dentistry in the community.
In 1970, Edwards became chairman of the Republican Party ofSouth Carolina's 1st congressional district. As a supporter of Republican gubernatorial nomineeU.S. RepresentativeAlbert Watson ofSouth Carolina's 2nd congressional district, Edwards claimed that Watson's Democratic opponent,John C. West, worked covertly in 1969 against the nomination of South Carolina'sClement Haynsworth to theUnited States Supreme Court. TheNixon nominee failed in the U.S. Senate, 55 to 45, on grounds of alleged bias againstorganized labor and a lack of support forcivil rights. Edwards predicted that as governor West would install "an ultra-liberal, minority-dominated state government," citing West's political ties toHubert H. Humphrey and longtimeNAACP executive directorRoy Wilkins.[1]
Edwards first ran for office in 1971, in aspecial election to fill the vacancy in the Charleston-centered1st congressional district caused by the death of longtime DemocratL. Mendel Rivers. Edwards narrowly lost to one of Rivers's staffers,Mendel Jackson Davis,[2] but gained enough name recognition from his strong showing that he was elected to theSouth Carolina Senate as a Republican from white-majority Charleston County. Two years later, he entered thegovernor's race as a long-shot candidate. Edwards upsetGeneralWilliam Westmoreland in the Republican primary and defeatedDemocratic CongressmanWilliam Jennings Bryan Dorn ofSouth Carolina's 3rd congressional district in the general election. Dorn had become the Democratic nominee after the winner of the runoff election,Charles D. "Pug" Ravenel, was disqualified on residency grounds.
Edwards was elected the first Republican governor of the state sinceDaniel Henry Chamberlain in 1876. 1974 was otherwise a dismal year for Republicans nationally because of theWatergate scandal and lingering opposition to theVietnam War, both of which may have contributed to the primary defeat of Westmoreland, commander of U.S. forces during the late 1960s.
At that time South Carolina governors were not allowed to serve two terms in succession, so Edwards was unable to seek reelection in 1978. In 1981, U.S. presidentRonald Reagan appointed Edwardssecretary of energy. He resigned two years later to serve as the President of theMedical University of South Carolina, a post he held for 17 years. In 1997, Edwards was inducted into the South Carolina Hall of Fame. In 2008, he endorsedMitt Romney for his party's presidential nomination.[3]
As governor and thereafter, Edwards developed a close friendship with his Democratic predecessor,John C. West, whom he had earlier accused of undermining the Haynsworth nomination.
In 1994, the state legislature renamed a portion of theMark Clark Expressway that crosses theWando River theJames B. Edwards Bridge.[4] In 2010, the new MUSC dental building and the dental school was renamed the James B. Edwards College of Dental Medicine. Edwards died at his home inMount Pleasant on December 26, 2014, from complications from astroke. He was 87.[5][6]
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| Preceded by | Republican nominee forGovernor of South Carolina 1974 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Governor of South Carolina 1975–1979 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | United States Secretary of Energy 1981–1982 | Succeeded by |
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