Robert E. McNair, 83; former governor of South Carolina supported civil rights

Robert E. McNair, 83, a former Democratic governor of South Carolina who had a progressive record on civil rights issues during the 1960s, died Nov. 17 of brain cancer in Charleston.

Born in Cades, S.C., McNair served in the U.S. Naval Reserve during World War II and graduated from the University of South Carolina in 1947. He earned a law degree from the university the next year. He served in the state Legislature from 1951 to 1962, when he was elected lieutenant governor. In 1965, McNair succeeded Donald S. Russell as governor after Russell resigned to take the U.S. Senate seat made vacant by the death of Olin D. Johnston. McNair was elected to a full four-year term in 1966.

McNair appointed more blacks to state commissions and boards than any of his predecessors. During his time in office, the first black student enrolled at Furman University.

But he was criticized for his handling of what became known as the Orangeburg Massacre when three black students at historically black South Carolina State College, now a university, in Orangeburg were shot to death by state highway patrolmen during a protest in February 1968. More than 25 other protesters were wounded in the confrontation, which that started as a protest over the local bowling alley’s refusal to serve blacks.

According to his obituary in the New York Times, McNair’s declaration that “black power” influences had fueled the unrest severely hurt his standing in the black community and foiled any chances he had to join Vice President Hubert Humphrey’s bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1968.