Olin D. Johnston
Olin D. Johnston | |
---|---|
United States Senator from South Carolina | |
In office January 3, 1945 – April 18, 1965 | |
Preceded by | Wilton E. Hall |
Succeeded by | Donald S. Russell |
98th Governor of South Carolina | |
In office January 19, 1943 – January 2, 1945 | |
Lieutenant | Ransome J. Williams |
Preceded by | Richard M. Jefferies |
Succeeded by | Ransome J. Williams |
In office January 15, 1935 – January 17, 1939 | |
Lieutenant | Joseph E. Harley |
Preceded by | Ibra C. Blackwood |
Succeeded by | Burnet R. Maybank |
Member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from Spartanburg County | |
In office January 11, 1927 – January 13, 1931 | |
Member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from Anderson County | |
In office January 9, 1923 – January 13, 1925 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Olin DeWitt Talmadge Johnston November 18, 1896 Near Democratic |
Spouse |
Gladys Atkinson (m. 1924) |
Children | 3, including Sergeant |
Unit | 117th Engineer Unit |
Battles/wars | World War I |
Olin DeWitt Talmadge Johnston (November 9, 1896 – April 18, 1965) was an American politician from the US state of
Early life
Johnston was born near
Military involvement
Johnston enlisted in the Army National Guard in 1917 and served with the 117th Engineer unit, which was attached to the 42nd Division,[1] the Rainbow Division,[1] in France. He served eighteen months overseas and attained the rank of sergeant.[1] Following his discharge in June 1919,[1] he returned to Wofford where he received his bachelor's degree in 1921.[1] In the fall of 1921, Johnston entered the University of South Carolina where he earned both an M.A. in Political Science in 1923 and an LL.B. in 1924.[1] That same year established the law firm of Faucette and Johnston in Spartanburg, and in December, married Gladys Atkinson of Spartanburg.[1] She would serve throughout his career as his most trusted counselor.[1]
Politics
In 1922, while still attending college,
Johnston made his first campaign for governor in 1930, and led the slate of candidates in the primary, but lost by around 1,000 votes in the runoff election. Undeterred by the loss, he ran again and was elected Governor of South Carolina in 1934, serving for one term. In his inaugural address of 1935, Johnston stated--"This occasion marks the end of what is commonly known as 'ring rule' in South Carolina."[1] Among his achievements as governor were the repeal of the state's personal property tax;[1] the initiation in South Carolina of the country's first rural electrification program,[1] a pilot program personally authorized by President Roosevelt;[1] the $3.00 license plate;[1] and the establishment of the Industrial Commission, Labor Department, Planning and Development Board, and Ports Authority.[1]
On taking office, Johnston proposed a series of bills to aid the state's textile workers. An ardent
In 1935, Johnston passed the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law to regulate the sale of alcohol in the state following the end of national prohibition.[2] In 1937, he signed the South Carolina Public Welfare Act into law[2] and established a state system for social security,[3] worker's compensation[3] and unemployment compensation.[3] Where previous governors used the National Guard and martial law to crush strikes,[3] Johnston used both to protect strikers and seal off mill precincts from strikebreakers.[3] He often forced management to accept him as mediator and occasionally found state jobs for strikers whom mills refused to rehire.[3]
Unable to run for re-election in 1938, Johnston challenged
Following Roosevelt's re-election, Johnston drew more ire from the state's local businessmen when he showed his support for the President's new push for labor reform and outspokenly supported the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.
Johnston was elected Governor of South Carolina again in 1942.
Johnston had finally been elected to the Senate in 1944, defeating "Cotton Ed" Smith in a rematch of their 1938 race. He was subsequently re-elected three times and served in the Senate until his death in 1965.
Johnston was not as conservative as most other senators from the
While not a prominent figure nationally, Johnston was very well entrenched in his home state. He may be the only senator to have defeated two future senators. He retained his seat despite challenges from
Execution of George Stinney
Johnston denied clemency to George Stinney, a 14 year-old African American boy who was sentenced to execution by the electric chair in 1944.[11] Stinney had been wrongfully convicted for the murder of two girls aged 7 and 11 in his hometown of Alcolu, South Carolina. Johnston wrote in a response to one appeal for clemency that
It may be interesting for you to know that Stinney killed the smaller girl to rape the larger one. Then he killed the larger girl and raped her dead body. Twenty minutes later he returned and attempted to rape her again, but her body was too cold. All of this he admitted himself.
It is reported that these statements were merely rumors, and were contradicted at the time by the medical examination report on the girl's body.[12] In 2014, 70 years after the execution, Stinney's conviction was posthumously overturned. His case is remembered in the modern day as a wrongful execution and miscarriage of justice.
Death
Johnston died on April 18, 1965, following a long battle with cancer.[1] In eulogizing Johnston, his longtime associate, Senator George Aiken of Vermont, noted – "During his entire career in the Senate, he worked for those who needed his help most and whom it would have been easy to ignore and neglect." At the dedication of the Johnston Room at the South Caroliniana Library, Governor Robert McNair described Johnston as "a working man, and those who made his public life possible were working people....He was a man of conviction who arrived at a time when hard decisions had to be made."[1] Johnston was interred in a cemetery at Barkers Creek Baptist Church, where he attended Sunday services during his boyhood years,[13] near Honea Path, South Carolina.[13]
Johnston's daughter,
See also
- List of United States Congress members who died in office (1950–99)
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al "Olin DeWitt Talmadge Johnston" (PDF). October 17, 2011. Retrieved February 26, 2015.
- ^ a b c d "South Carolina SC - Olin Dewitt Talmadge Johnston - 1935-1939, 1943-1945". sciway.net. Retrieved February 26, 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f "Olin D. Johnston Memorial Boulevard Marker". hmdb.org. Retrieved February 26, 2015.
- ^ a b c d e "The Pittsburgh Press - Google News Archive Search". Retrieved February 26, 2015.
- ^ a b c d "Curtains for Cotton Ed". Time. August 7, 1944. Archived from the original on October 23, 2012. Retrieved May 10, 2012.
- ^ Bryant Simon, A fabric of defeat: the politics of South Carolina millhands, 1910–1948, p. 205
- ^ a b Bryant Simon, A fabric of defeat: the politics of South Carolina millhands, 1910–1948, p. 205-206
- ^ ISBN 9780807848388. Retrieved February 26, 2015.
- ^ a b c Bryant Simon, A fabric of defeat: the politics of South Carolina millhands, 1910–1948, p. 212
- ^ "POLITICAL NOTES: Southern Send-Off". Time. September 7, 1936. Archived from the original on December 15, 2008.
- ISBN 978-1-59629-395-3. Retrieved November 24, 2014.
- ^ McVeigh, Karen (March 22, 2014). "George Stinney was executed at 14. Can his family now clear his name?". The Observer. Archived from the original on March 19, 2016.
- ^ a b "Barkers Creek Baptist Church Marker". hmdb.org. Retrieved February 26, 2015.
External links
- Olin D. Johnston at Find a Grave
- Olin DeWitt Talmade Johnston Papers at South Carolina Political Collections at the University of South Carolina