Gov. Henry McMaster became South Carolina’s longest-serving governor in 2025, after assuming office in 2017 to finish the term of then-Gov. Nikki Haley, who resigned to become U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
Since then, McMaster has been elected to two full terms, and he will leave office in January 2027 after a long career in politics and public service.
On Monday, Oct. 19, 2026, McMaster was honored with the C. Dan Adams Lifetime Achievement Award at the South Carolina 50 Fastest Growing Companies recognition luncheon in Columbia.
Since McMaster’s ascension to the office of governor, the state has experienced extensive economic growth and expansion. Over his tenure, the state has announced more than $56 billion in capital investment and 103,000 projected jobs.
McMaster has prioritized economic development, tax reduction, workforce training, and rural investment. Last year alone, the state announced $9.12 billion in capital investment, with 46 percent directed toward rural communities.
McMaster’s career also includes eight years as South Carolina attorney general, a stint as U.S. attorney, and two years as lieutenant governor.
In accepting the award, McMaster praised the people of South Carolina, saying that they have persevered through hurricanes and wars to make the state successful.
“Every state’s got great people, and some states have more than their share of troublesome people. We don’t,” McMaster said.
He shared a theory about what makes South Carolinians different from their counterparts in other states.
“I have been told repeatedly by the leaders of these big companies the same thing that you know. They come here, and they see the people. The tax structure is great, the legislative attitude is superior, the natural resources are second to none in the world. … What makes these people is our history. You go back, and they came from all these different places in Europe and from West Africa. We had to depend on each other, and we had to work to survive. That didn’t happen everywhere.”
McMaster sees a direct line from those early settlers to modern South Carolinians who have helped bring in large corporations while nurturing other businesses.
He spoke of a business leader who called South Carolina “a handshake state,” where a person’s word means as much as, or possibly more, than a signed contract.
“We know how to work together,” McMaster said, “and we have put our money where it counts.”
In an email interview following the awards, McMaster shared his thoughts about his time as governor:
Q. What do you consider your biggest accomplishment as governor?
A. Years ago as U.S. Attorney, I learned in “Operation Jackpot” the value of a motivated team. With the teams and talent we have today all over South Carolina – from the “brain power” in academia, to the muscle and hustle of industry, to the beauty and glories of our fields, forests, and streams – no state can match us.
We are known as “the handshake state,” where your handshake and your word are more valued than a signed contract. Over time, starting in 1670, our people and places have produced a remarkable culture. My job as governor is like “show and tell” in elementary school. Once residents, investors, and visitors alike see what Mother Nature has given us and what we have built – with it and on it – they find South Carolina irresistible. Confidence grows and businesses boom.
My greatest accomplishment may have been simply reminding others of our great strengths and potential.
Q. This is a Lifetime Achievement Award; what other accomplishments would you like to cite?
A. Anything affecting our health, wealth, and safety is related to business. Locking up international drug smugglers in “Operation Jackpot” certainly had a positive impact. So did stopping North Carolina at the U.S. Supreme Court from taking our Catawba water; expanding the state grand jury to financial and environmental crimes; protecting our salt marsh islands from development and prosecuting internet crimes against children, all when I was attorney general. As lieutenant governor, my team protected our seniors from harm and helped them live happily at home. As governor, we lowered income taxes. Then, we cut them to zero on military retirement pay. We raised starting teacher pay from $30,113 to $50,500, put certified law officers in virtually every public school, prosecuted dog fighters, and froze college tuition. We expanded broadband statewide, opened the door to our nation’s “nuclear renaissance,” and protected our natural and cultural heritage. These successes and more, from the hands of many people, are some of those which have produced the record economic prosperity we are having today.
Q. What do you think is South Carolina's biggest challenge going forward?
A. Our biggest challenges are the burdensome influences of “Big Labor,” the disruption caused by haphazard growth and development, and our future demands for electric power. Big labor unions had a place in big, Northern cities years ago but fill no need in the sunny “right to work” Southeast today. Here, our innovative, thriving businesses offer ample compensation, generous on-site benefits, free training and re-training, individual flexibility, and wide paths to promotion, all supercharged by South Carolina’s multi-million dollar – world’s finest – technical college system. In contrast, the big labor union members – saddled with an outdated, hierarchical structure of conformity, rigidity, and inefficiency – can’t long compete with South Carolina’s economic freedom and opportunities.
As for haphazard growth, the economic pressures and lucrative rewards of speedy development can be disastrously short-sighted. The result: destruction of priceless wetlands, waters, and forests, overburdened public systems and the creation of infrastructural deadlock. Deliberate, farsighted consideration can avoid this.
Our greatest challenge will be securing adequate electric power. Our needs are growing dramatically, and we are hard at work. In South Carolina, we know how to spell success: Nuclear.
Q. What are your plans after you leave the Governor's Mansion in January?
A. That’s not the focus right now. As Kenny Rogers sang, “There’ll be time enough for counting when the dealing’s done.”
Q. What is your favorite thing about South Carolina – something that might not be as evident to the average person?
A. The beauty of the people and the places. As can be deeply appreciated by sitting on the porch on the creek at Pawleys Island with your friends and dogs, just watching the world flow by.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here