Robert Evander McNair

Infobox Governor
name=Robert E. McNair

caption=
order=108^th
office=Governor of South Carolina
term_start=April 22 1965
term_end=January 19 1971
lieutenant=John C. West (1967-1971)
predecessor=Donald S. Russell
successor=John C. West
birth_date=December 14 1923
birth_place= Cades, South Carolina
death_date=November 17 2007
death_place=Columbia, South Carolina
spouse=Josephine Robinson
profession=Attorney
party=Democratic
religion=
footnotes=

Robert Evander McNair (December 14 1923ndash November 17 2007) was governor of the state of South Carolina from 1965 to 1971.

Biography

McNair was born in Cades, a town in Williamsburg County, South Carolina. He married Josephine Robinson of Allendale, South Carolina in 1944. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, being awarded a bronze star for his service. After the war he completed his bachelors degree in 1947 at the University of South Carolina, followed by a law degree at the same school in 1948. He practiced law in Moncks Corner, South Carolina and Allendale, South Carolina from which he was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1951. He was elected lieutenant governor in 1962, then succeeded Donald S. Russell in 1965 when Russell resigned with the understanding that McNair would appoint him to a then-vacant United States Senate seat, which McNair did. [Edgar, Walter, ed. "The South Carolina Encyclopedia", University of South Carolina Press, 2006, pp. 615-616, ISBN 1-57003-598-2]

McNair was a Democrat and a pro-education governor. After his term as governor, he began a law firm in Columbia. He was inducted into the South Carolina Hall of Fame, and awarded an honorary doctorate in 2005 by Francis Marion University, a school he signed into creation while governor in 1970.

McNair was governor during the Orangeburg Massacre in 1968, which he blamed on Black Power advocates, and called it a stain on the state's good record in civil rights. He said it was "one of the saddest days in the history of South Carolina." Following this, McNair became much more proactive in working to defuse tensions that were present during the Civil Rights era and the integration of the public schools.

McNair was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor during a checkup on September 28 2007, [ [http://www.campaigncarolinas.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=856 Former Gov. Robert McNair hospitalized with brain tumor] ] which he died from in Charleston on November 17. [ [http://www.charlotte.com/205/story/366990.html Former SC Gov. Robert McNair dies at 83] ]

The following week, the late Governor McNair's widow, former First Lady of South Carolina, Josephine Robinson McNair, died at age 84.

On or about December 21, 2007, about a month after her parents passed away, Claudia McNair Crawford, died at age 50, from cancer. She was from Jamestown, which is located in Berkeley County.

In February 2008, Robert McNair, Jr., of Columbia, died at age 83, following a 7-year battle with cancer.

References

External links

* [http://www.sciway.net/hist/governors/mcnair.html SC Governors – Robert Evander McNair, 1965-1971] from the "South Carolina Information Highway"

Persondata
NAME = McNair, Robert Evander
ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
SHORT DESCRIPTION = Governor of South Carolina
DATE OF BIRTH = December 14 1923
PLACE OF BIRTH = Williamsburg County, South Carolina
DATE OF DEATH = November 17 2007
PLACE OF DEATH = Columbia, South Carolina