Snapshots

From interviews, a selection of capsule assessments from Jack Bass and W. Scott Poole, authors of "The Palmetto State: The Making of Modern South Carolina":

Ben Tillman (Poole): "Tillman (as a governor and U.S. senator) plays a pivotal role in the book given that he shaped many of the governmental, social, and racial structures that endure far into the 20th century. His use of political cronyism limited everything from the development of infrastructure to the growth of local democracy. His use of racial demagoguery deeply perverted the electoral process."

Strom Thurmond (Bass): "Strom is the most enduring 20th century political figure in America, and left a real impact on American history by reshaping the Supreme Court. He is complicated. He started out as the liberal governor of South Carolina, then reversed his direction. His career as a senator began as the foremost opponent of civil rights, but he ended up voting for a 25-year extension of the Voting Rights Act in 1982. He adapted to the time. He had very keen political antennae."

Fritz Hollings (Bass): "I think he was a transformational figure (as governor and U.S. senator), socially and economically, if less so politically. He shifted the whole direction of the state from looking at the past to looking at the present and future. He was a critical figure in South Carolina in reacting to civil rights change with accommodation rather than confrontation, which became very important. Simultaneously, he set the state on a path of economic transformation. He leaves a real legacy as well of what he did for the state while he was in Washington."

"Cotton Ed" Smith (Poole): "One of our longest serving (as U.S. senator) and least effectual politicians (1906-1944) in our history. His reputation rested solely on his gaudy use of "cotton" symbolism and a viciously racist story he told again and again about his walking out of the 1936 Democratic convention after a African-American minister's invocation."

Harvey Gantt (Bass): "It was South Carolina's good fortune, in a sense, that Gantt applied on his own to enroll at Clemson and break the color line. It was South Carolina's good fortune that he had Matthew Perry as his lawyer, and it was the state's good fortune that Fritz Hollings was there and setting everything up for Clemson, and that Donald Russell succeeded him as governor. Gantt once said that if you can't appeal to the morals of a South Carolinian, you can always appeal to his manners."

Matthew Perry (Bass): "The importance of Perry would be hard to exaggerate. An absolutely first-rate lawyer who consistently won his cases, but always showed respect to those on the other side. He did it quietly, worked extremely hard, and did a great deal to help make those rulings of the federal courts acceptable to everyone."

Robert McNair (Poole): "A governor who sought to be progressive on economic development and on matters of race but whose commitment to 'law and order' showed the limits of that approach. The Orangeburg Massacre and the cover-up that followed will forever be connected with his administration."

Jim Clyburn (Poole): "Few realize the pivotal role he has played in the state's civil rights struggle, a role that prepared him to take his place on the national stage. Moreover, when he went to Congress in 1992, he became the first African-American to represent the state there since 1897."