Biography

U.S. Senator (R-SC) (January 3, 2003 - July 11, 2026).

Graduated from the University of South Carolina with a B.A. in Psychology in 1977 and from the University of South Carolina Law School with a J.D. in 1981. Upon graduating, was commissioned as an officer and judge advocate in the United States Air Force, placed on active duty and sent to Europe as a military prosecutor. Later, entered private practice as a lawyer.

When he was in college, both parents passed away a few months apart, and he took on the responsibility of raising his younger sister, who was 13 at the time.

Member, U.S. Senate Armed Services Committe, U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, and U.S. Senate Budget Committee.

U.S. Representative (R-SC) (January 3, 1995 - January 3, 2003).

[observation, 2015] If I'm President of the United States and you're thinking about joining al-Qaeda or ISIL, I'm not gonna call a judge. I'm gonna call a drone, and we will kill you.

[on President Trump's tweet on Mika Brzezinski's bleeding from a face-lift] Mr. President, your tweet was beneath the office and represents what is wrong with American politics, not the greatness of America.

[on President Trump] He can't collude with his own government. Why do you think he's colluding with the Russians?

I care about everybody. If you're a young African American, an immigrant, you can go anywhere in this state. You just need to be conservative, not liberal.

Do I believe that our cops are systemically racist? No. Do I believe that South Carolina is a racist state? No. To young people of color, to young immigrants, this is a great state. The one thing I can say without any doubt, you can be an African American and go to the Senate. You just have to share the values of our state