Henry McMaster

Henry Dargan McMaster (born May 27, 1947) is an American politician and attorney serving since 2017 as the 117th governor of South Carolina. A member of the Republican Party, he served from 2003 to 2011 as the 50th attorney general of South Carolina and from 2015 to 2017 as the 91st lieutenant governor of South Carolina, under Governor Nikki Haley. Born in Columbia, South Carolina, McMaster graduated from the University of South Carolina with a Bachelor of Arts. After earning a Juris Doctor from the University of South Carolina School of Law, he worked for U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond in private legal practice and as a federal prosecutor. Appointed United States attorney for the District of South Carolina by President Ronald Reagan in 1981, he gained attention for investigating South Carolina marijuana smugglers in Operation Jackpot. After two unsuccessful statewide campaigns, for U.S. Senate in 1986 and lieutenant governor in 1990, McMaster chaired the South Carolina Republican Party from 1993 to 2002. He was elected attorney general in 2002 and reelected in 2006. He ran for governor in 2010 but lost to Haley in the Republican primary. In 2011, Haley appointed him to the South Carolina Ports Authority. McMaster was elected lieutenant governor of South Carolina in 2014. He became governor in 2017 upon Haley's resignation to become U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. He was elected to full term in 2018 after narrowly winning a runoff for the Republican nomination, and reelected in 2022. On January 29, 2025, McMaster became South Carolina's longest-serving governor. He is also the third-longest serving incumbent governor in the United States. On April 17, 2025, President Donald Trump appointed McMaster to the Homeland Security Advisory Council.