Henry McMaster
Henry Dargan McMaster is an American politician and attorney serving since 2017 as the 117th governor of South Carolina. A member of the Republican Party, he served from 2003 to 2011 as the 50th attorney general of South Carolina and from 2015 to 2017 as the 91st lieutenant governor of South Carolina, under Governor Nikki Haley.
Born in Columbia, South Carolina, McMaster graduated from University of South Carolina with a Bachelor of Arts. After earning a Juris Doctor from University of South Carolina School of Law, he worked for U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond in private legal practice and as a federal prosecutor. Appointed United States attorney for the District of South Carolina by President Ronald Reagan in 1981, he gained attention for investigating South Carolina marijuana smugglers in Operation Jackpot.
After two unsuccessful campaigns for U.S. Senate in 1986 and lieutenant governor in 1990, McMaster chaired the South Carolina Republican Party from 1993 to 2002. He was elected attorney general in 2002 and reelected in 2006. He ran for governor in 2010 but lost to Haley in the Republican primary. In 2011, Haley appointed him to the South Carolina Ports Authority.
McMaster was elected lieutenant governor of South Carolina in 2014. He became governor in 2017 upon Haley's resignation to become U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. He was elected to full term in 2018 after narrowly winning a runoff for the Republican nomination. He was reelected in 2022.
On January 29, 2025, McMaster became South Carolina's longest-serving governor. He is also the third-longest serving incumbent governor in the United States. On April 17, 2025, President Trump appointed McMaster to the Homeland Security Advisory Council.
Early life
McMaster was born on May 27, 1947, in Columbia, South Carolina. He is the eldest son of John Gregg and Ida Dargan McMaster. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from the University of South Carolina in 1969, and was a member of the Kappa Alpha Order fraternity. In 1973, he received a Juris Doctor from the University of South Carolina School of Law, where he served on the editorial board of the South Carolina Law Review. Later that year, he was admitted to the Richland County Bar Association of the South Carolina Bar. He served in the United States Army Reserve, receiving an honorable discharge in 1975.Upon graduation from law school, McMaster worked as a legislative assistant to U.S. senator Strom Thurmond in Washington, D.C., until 1974, when he joined the firm of Tompkins and McMaster. McMaster practiced law for almost 29 years, both as a federal prosecutor and in private practice, representing clients in the state and federal courts, trial and appellate.
On April 13, 1993, Thurmond's 22-year-old daughter Nancy was killed by a drunk driver while jaywalking in Columbia, South Carolina. The driver, Corinne Koenig, immediately phoned McMaster, her attorney, and he was present at the scene as Nancy Thurmond was transported to the hospital. After learning the victim's identity, McMaster realized he had a conflict of interest and withdrew from the case.
Early political career
United States attorney
Upon Thurmond's recommendation, President Ronald Reagan nominated McMaster as United States attorney for the District of South Carolina in 1981—Reagan's first nomination for U.S. attorney. The Senate confirmed McMaster on May 21, 1981. He headed the South Carolina Law Enforcement Coordinating Committee from 1981 to 1985.During his tenure, McMaster created the federal drug task force Operation Jackpot to investigate South Carolina marijuana smugglers. Operation Jackpot ultimately arrested more than 100 people for crimes related to marijuana and hashish trafficking. McMaster held numerous press conferences during the operation and gained publicity through interviews and comments. His actions were criticized as political, with journalist Lee Bandy writing, "no one can recall any other U.S. attorney being so public-relations conscious" and noting that McMaster had held more press conferences and news releases than all his predecessors combined. McMaster completed his term as U.S. attorney on December 31, 1985.
Election bids and state appointments
In 1986, after considering races for South Carolina lieutenant governor and attorney general, McMaster won the spirited Republican primary for the United States Senate against Henry Jordan, 27,696 votes to 24,164. McMaster lost the general election in a landslide to four-term Democratic incumbent Fritz Hollings, 463,354 votes to 261,394. He only managed to carry Lexington County.In 1990, McMaster ran for lieutenant governor. He defeated Sherry Shealy Martschink in the Republican primary, 49,463 votes to 46,660, but again lost to the Democratic incumbent. He received 309,038 votes to Nick Theodore's 440,844.
In 1991, Governor Carroll A. Campbell Jr. appointed McMaster to the state's Commission on Higher Education, and the South Carolina Senate confirmed him. He also served on the board of directors of the nonprofit South Carolina Policy Council from 1991 to 2003, serving as board chairman from 1992 to 1993. McMaster left the Ports Authority in 2015.
South Carolina Republican Party chair
On May 8, 1993, McMaster was elected chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party. He was reelected by the State Republican Convention in 1996, 1998 and 2000. In this capacity, he also served as a member of the Republican National Committee from 1993 to 2002. Under McMaster's chairmanship, the Republican Party captured the governorship, several statewide offices and the State House of Representatives in 1994, and finally captured control of the powerful State Senate in 2000. Under McMaster, the South Carolina GOP also ran highly contentious and successful presidential primaries in 1996 and 2000. On March 28, 2002, McMaster announced his resignation as party chairman so that he could run for attorney general.Attorney General of South Carolina (2003-2011)
McMaster placed first in the Republican primary for attorney general, with 126,164 votes, ahead of State Senator and former judge Larry Richter and attorney Jon E. Ozmint. He defeated Richter in the runoff, 162,014 votes to 128,271. In the general election, McMaster defeated Democratic attorney and former director of the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services Stephen K. Benjamin, 601,931 votes to 482,560 in the 2002 South Carolina attorney general election. He was reelected in 2006, unopposed in both the Republican primary and the general election.Run for governor; Ports Authority
In 2010, McMaster ran for governor, but finished third in the Republican primary with 71,187 votes, ahead of Lieutenant Governor André Bauer's 52,324 but behind U.S. representative Gresham Barrett's 91,461 and state representative Nikki Haley's 205,360. He immediately endorsed Haley, who had been the front-runner throughout the race and defeated Barrett in the runoff by a landslide.In 2011, Haley appointed McMaster to the South Carolina Ports Authority, succeeding Harry Butler Jr. and was replaced by Kurt D. Grindstaff.
Campaign finance violation
On January 6, 2015, the Ethics Commission of South Carolina accused McMaster of accepting about $70,000 in donations to his 2010 campaign for governor, exceeding South Carolina's limit for donations by $51,850. The commission released documents stating that McMaster accepted these extra funds to help settle campaign debt. In September 2015, the commission refused to dismiss the complaint and McMaster's attorney indicated McMaster was likely to settle. In March 2016, the commission ordered McMaster "to repay $72,700 in excess campaign contributions from his 2010 run for governor and pay a $5,100 fine."Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina (2015-2017)
McMaster filed to run for lieutenant governor of South Carolina on March 27, 2014. He received 44% of the vote in a four-way Republican Party primary, forcing a runoff between him and Mike Campbell, son of former governor Carroll A. Campbell Jr. McMaster defeated Campbell with 63.6% of the vote and faced Democratic state representative Bakari Sellers in the general election. During the campaign, Sellers challenged McMaster to renounce his 30-year membership in Columbia's Forest Lake Country Club, a private country club alleged to exclude black members; in response, McMaster's campaign manager said that the club " no policies of racial discrimination" and that McMaster "would not be a member if it did." On November 4, 2014, McMaster was elected lieutenant governor with 58.8% of the vote. Upon his inauguration, he succeeded Democrat Yancey McGill.McMaster was elected on a separate ticket from Governor Haley, the last time a lieutenant governor was elected in this manner; as of 2018, candidates for governor and lieutenant governor run on the same ticket. During the 2016 presidential campaign, McMaster was an early and avid supporter of Donald Trump. He claimed to be the first elected politician in the United States to support Trump. After Trump won the Republican nomination, McMaster delivered the nominating speech at the Republican National Convention.
Governor of South Carolina (2017-present)
Appointment and elections
On November 23, 2016, President-elect Donald Trump announced his intention to nominate Haley as Ambassador to the United Nations. On January 24, 2017, the Senate confirmed Haley. Later that day, she resigned as governor and McMaster assumed the governorship. Inaugurated at the age of 69 years and 8 months, McMaster is the oldest person ever to assume the office of governor in South Carolina. During the 2024 Republican Party presidential primaries, Trump said he nominated Haley in order for McMaster to become governor. McMaster served the remainder of Haley's term, which expired in January 2019.McMaster placed first in the June 2018 Republican gubernatorial primary with 155,072 votes. But since he received 42.3% of the vote, less than a majority, he faced John Warren in a runoff. On June 26, McMaster won the runoff with over 53% of the vote. He chose businesswoman Pamela Evette as his running mate over incumbent lieutenant governor Kevin L. Bryant, who ran against McMaster for the gubernatorial nomination. Trump endorsed McMaster. McMaster defeated Democratic nominee James Smith in the general election with 54% of the vote.
McMaster ran for reelection in 2022 and secured the Republican nomination in the June 14 primary. He defeated the Democratic nominee, Joe Cunningham, in the general election.