An Uncommon Man

It was 130 years ago today that a man names James Byrnes was born in Charleston, S.C.

Modern readers may not be familiar with the name, but he had a fascinating career and an uncommonly long life for someone born in the 19th century. Byrnes lived into his 90s.

In his 30s, Byrnes was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and served there for 14 years. When he was in his 50s, Byrnes was elected to the U.S. Senate, then he was appointed to the Supreme Court by Franklin D. Roosevelt when he was in his 60s. A few years later, Harry Truman made him secretary of State.

Then, when he was in his 70s, Byrnes was elected governor of his home state, thus becoming a rarity in American public life — a public servant who served in the legislative, judicial and executive branches of the federal government, as well as holding office on the state level.

And few people in American life have taken part in as many historic events as Byrnes.

Byrnes' accomplishments are even more impressive when one considers his modest beginnings. He was raised by his widowed mother, a dressmaker, whose husband died not long after Byrnes was born. When he was 14, he left school to work in a law office. He never attended high school, college or law school, but he apprenticed to a lawyer and was admitted to the bar when he was in his 20s.

A Democrat most of his life, Byrnes nevertheless played an important role in encouraging a two–party system in the South, where Democrats had dominated since the end of Reconstruction.

Originally, Byrnes was viewed as a champion of black rights. He recognized that the policy of segregation could not be sustained, but he was concerned about Congress forcing sweeping changes on the region and tried to encourage internal change. He made efforts to put more money into black schools, and he tried to restrain the Ku Klux Klan by promoting a law that forbade adults from wearing masks except on Halloween. Byrnes knew that many Klansmen were concerned about being exposed and would not appear in public wearing their Klan robes if they could not wear their hoods as well.

In spite of Byrnes' efforts to increase funding for black schools in South Carolina, the NAACP sued the state to desegregate its schools. Byrnes sought a "friend of the court" statement from Kansas supporting his state's school segregation policy. Kansas also segregated its schools. The maneuver inspired the NAACP's lawyer, Thurgood Marshall, to sue Kansas instead of South Carolina, leading to the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision.

Later in his life, Byrnes, who had come to the conclusion that the Democratic Party had veered too far to the left and took the South for granted, encouraged the growth of the Republican Party, even though he remained a registered Democrat for most of his life. He endorsed the Republican nominees in the last five presidential elections of his life. He supported Strom Thurmond's decision to leave the Democratic Party in 1964.

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"Too many people are thinking of security instead of opportunity. They seem more afraid of life than death."

James Byrnes

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Nearly 40 years have passed since Byrnes' death, but he continues to influence the lives of people in his state. In 1948, Byrnes and his wife established the James F. Byrnes Foundation Scholarships, which have helped more than 1,000 young people in South Carolina pursue a college education.