Former South Carolina Gov. James Edwards dies at 87 years old
James B. “Jim” Edwards, the affable oral surgeon who swept into history when he become South Carolina’s first Republican governor since Reconstruction, died Friday, according of the S.C. GOP party. He was 87.
Edwards led the Medical University of South Carolina for 17 years as its president. While there, he was credited with raising the profile of the school through expanded research and massive construction of the physical facility.
Edwards also served a two-year stint in Washington as President Ronald Reagan’s secretary of energy. But it is 1974 gubernatorial election that earned him a place in the history books and in the hearts of southern Republicans.
That election laid the groundwork for the modern Republican takeover of the state, a conversion that was rooted in the turbulence of the 1960s and the Democratic Party’s embrace of civil rights and big government initiatives.
“As someone who appreciated the opportunities and challenges of this office, Gov. Edwards always offered kind words of support and encouragement — and we are forever grateful for his friendship,” Gov. Nikki Haley said in a statement released by her office.
Haley said she and her husband, Michael, “are deeply saddened by the passing of Gov. Edwards, whose love for South Carolina inspired him to serve until his last day, and we are praying for the Edwards family during this difficult time."
As governor, Edwards appealed to the natural conservatism of the Democratic lawmakers and employed his genial charm to get things done. He worked to help poor school districts, including winning passage of the Education Finance Act, expanded industrial development, established the S.C. Energy Research Institute and reorganized state government.
“Gov. Edwards made an incredible mark on South Carolina history,” the S.C. Republican Party said in a statement. “His legacy will live on through the countless lives he touched as governor, dentist and particularly as a man of faith.”
James Burrows Edwards was born on July 27, 1927 in Hawthorne, Fla., He served in the U.S. Maritime Service during World War II.
Following the war, he entered the College of Charleston, where he earned a bachelor of science degree in 1950. He earned his dentistry degree from the University of Louisville and completed post-graduate work at the University of Pennsylvania. He returned to the Charleston area and opened a practice in Mount Pleasant after a two-year residency in oral surgery at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.
On Sept 1, 1951, he married Anne Norris Darlington of Edgefield, who survives. The couple had two children, James B. Edwards Jr. and Katherine Edwards Wingate.
During their time in Columbia, Ann Edwards began enlisting the state’s historians to help in the renovation of the Governor’s Mansion and its surrounding homes and acreage, returning South Carolina antiques and furnishings to the public’s home.
Following his retirement, Edwards largely remained out of party politics. But when Republican Gov. David Beasley called for the Confederate battle flag to be removed from the Statehouse, Edwards joined former governors John West, Robert McNair and Carroll Campbell at Beasley’s side in a Statehouse press conference.
Funeral arrangements have not been announced.
Former Staff Writer Jim Hammond contributed.