Henry McMaster  Henry Dargan McMaster (born May 27, 1947) is an American politician, attorney and member of the Republican Party, who is the 117th Governor of South Carolina, in office since January 24, 2017. Born in Columbia, South Carolina, McMaster graduated from the University of South Carolina with a bachelor's in history in 1969, and from the University of South Carolina School of Law with a Juris Doctor in 1973. President Ronald Reagan appointed McMaster in 1981 as the United States Attorney for the District of South Carolina, a position for which he had national attention after investigating South Carolina marijuana smugglers in Operation Jackpot. At the same time, McMaster also worked for U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond as a lawyer in the private sector. McMaster was the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate in 1986, losing to incumbent Democrat Fritz Hollings. He was then defeated for Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina by Democrat Nick Theodore in 1990. In 1991, McMaster was appointed to the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education and joined the Board of Directors of the non-profit South Carolina Policy Council. He chaired the South Carolina Republican Party from 1993 to 2002. McMaster resigned as Chairman in 2002 to successfully run for Attorney General of South Carolina. He was re-elected in 2006. McMaster did not seek a third term as attorney general to and ran for Governor of South Carolina in 2010, but was defeated by Nikki Haley in the Republican primary. In 2011, McMaster was appointed to the South Carolina Ports Authority by Governor Haley, a position from which he resigned after successfully being elected the 91st lieutenant governor of South Carolina in 2014. McMaster became the 117th Governor of South Carolina when Haley resigned to become the United States Ambassador to the United Nations. McMaster won a full four-year term in the 2018 gubernatorial election after winning a runoff for the Republican nomination and defeating Democratic nominee James Smith in the general election. McMaster was born on May 27, 1947, in Columbia, South Carolina. He is the eldest son of John Gregg and Ida Dargan (Pet) McMaster. He received a bachelor's degree in history from the University of South Carolina in 1969. As an undergraduate, he was a member of Kappa Alpha Order and the South Carolina Student Legislature. In 1973, he graduated from the University of South Carolina School of Law where he served on the Editorial Board of the "South Carolina Law Review". Later that year, he was admitted to the Richland County Bar Association of the South Carolina Bar. He served in the United States Army Reserves, receiving his honorable discharge in 1975.