Carroll Campbell Jr., 65; Former Governor of South Carolina

Former South Carolina Gov. Carroll Campbell Jr., who helped turn his state into a Republican stronghold and recruited big-name industries, died Wednesday. He was 65.

Campbell was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease more than four years ago and was admitted this summer to a residential facility, where he died after suffering a heart attack.

Campbell, who shepherded the state through the aftermath of Hurricane Hugo in 1989, was a four-term congressman. In 1987, he became only the second Republican governor in the state since Reconstruction and easily won reelection in 1990. Term limits kept him from running in 1994.

In 1996, Campbell was on Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole’s short list for vice president, but Jack Kemp ultimately got the nod.

Politicians credited Campbell, a former real estate developer, for working across party lines to get things done, especially spurring the economy.

Campbell’s two terms may be most remembered for his focus on economic development, capped by luring German automaker BMW to build its first North American manufacturing plant in South Carolina. He also helped recruit pharmaceutical company Hoffmann-La Roche and Fuji Photo Film Co.

In 1993, Campbell signed legislation that abolished many state agencies’ governing boards, giving the governor power to appoint some department heads. Legislators, who previously had elected those boards, relinquished that power reluctantly after several years of pressure from the governor.

“He was a tremendous pioneer in government restructuring and moving South Carolina forward in economic prosperity,” said Campbell’s successor, former Gov. David Beasley, who was in China on Wednesday.

After leaving office, Campbell headed the Washington-based American Council of Life Insurers.

He remained active in politics and was instrumental in helping George W. Bush win South Carolina’s 2000 Republican presidential primary, which saved Bush’s faltering campaign after a loss in New Hampshire.

Campbell is survived by his wife, Iris, and two sons.