sentences:  Since 1776, eleven lieutenant governors have ascended to the governorship, the most recent of which was on January 24, 2017, when incumbent Governor Nikki Haley resigned to become the United States Ambassador to the United Nations; Lieutenant Governor Henry McMaster immediately became governor.Until 2019, the lieutenant governor served as the president of the South Carolina Senate.However, constitutional amendments that took effect in January 2019 require that the Senate choose its own president from among its body.