Proprietary period Governors during the
proprietary period (1670–1719) were appointed by
Proprieters, and served no fixed term. Governors 1–19 served during this period.
Royal period Governors of the royal period were appointed by the
monarch in name but were selected by the British government under the control of the Board of Trade. Governors served as viceroy to the British monarch. The governor could appoint provincial officials or suspend their offices on his own authority, except those offices named above that were also appointed by the crown. Legislative bills required royal assent from the governor and could be rejected; he could prorogue or dissolve the Commons House of Assembly on his own authority. Governors served no fixed term, serving officially at
His Majesty's pleasure. Governors 20–30 served during this period.
Articles of Confederation From 1776 to 1779, the office of governor was titled President of South Carolina and he was chosen by the
General Assembly. Governors served no fixed term.
John Rutledge and
Rawlins Lowndes were the only two to hold the title of "President." From 1779 to 1792, governors retained the title of "Governor." Governors 31–37 served during this period.
Constitution of 1790 Governors during this period were chosen by the General Assembly and served a two-year term. Governors were ineligible to serve more than one term consecutively. This system ended after the
Civil War when the Union army overthrew and imprisoned Governor
Andrew Gordon Magrath; President
Andrew Johnson appointed his successor. Governors 37–72 served during this period.
Post Civil-War James Lawrence Orr was the first governor to be
popularly elected. Following the state's failure to adopt the
14th Amendment to the United States Constitution, the
US Congress eliminated all offices of state government. A temporary
military government headed by
Edward Canby was set up until new elections were held after the writing of the Constitution of 1868. All male citizens above the age of 21, regardless of race, were given the right to vote and the governor was allowed to be elected to two consecutive terms. The election of
Ben Tillman in 1890 to governor by the support of
agrarian reformers forced a new constitutional convention to be held. The constitution of 1895 instituted a
poll tax and also required voters to pass a
literacy test. These provisions were used to effectively deny the vote to blacks. The convention also increased the governor's powers by granting a
line-item veto on the budget. Initially, the United States Supreme Court upheld the validity of legislation requiring voters to pay a poll tax, and ruled that literacy tests were not necessarily unconstitutional. In 1964, the
Twenty-Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution made it unlawful for a state to require payment of a poll tax in order to vote in a federal election, and the Supreme Court, reversing the
Breedlove decision, then held that requiring the payment of a poll tax in any election was a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the
Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Elimination of the literacy test required federal legislation, the validity of which was upheld by the Supreme Court. Beginning in 1926 and ending in 1978, governors were elected to one four-year term, which could not be renewed for reelection consecutively. Since 1980, governors have been elected to a four-year term, which can be renewed for reelection once consecutively. Governors 72–117 have served during this period. ==Official residence==