Robert Evander McNair (14 December 1923-17 November 2007) was the Democratic Governor of South Carolina from 22 April 1965 to 19 January 1971, succeeding Donald S. Russell and preceding John C. West.
Biography[]
Robert Evander McNair was born in Cades, South Carolina in 1923, and he served in the US Navy during World War II and was awarded the Bronze Star. He became a lawyer in Moncks Corner and Allendale in 1948 and served in the State House from 1951 to 1963, as Lieutenant Governor from 1963 to 1965, and as Governor from 1965 to 1971. He blamed the 1968 Orangeburg massacre on Black Power activists, but he later admitted responsibility in 2006, and he came to work towards defusing racial tensions amid the Civil Rights movement. He died in 2007.