Olin Dewitt Talmadge Johnston, 1935-1939, 1943-1945

Biographical Overview

• Born: November 18, 1896 near Honea Path, South Carolina
  
• Died: April 18, 1965 in Columbia, South Carolina
  
• Buried: Barker's Creek Baptist Church Cemetery in Honea Path, South Carolina
  
• Religion: Baptist
• Political Party: Democrat
  

Education

• Textile Industrial Institute - Spartanburg, SC, graduated 1915
• Wofford College - A.B. - 1923
• University of South Carolina - M.A., LL.B. - 1924

Occupations

• Sergeant, United States Army
• Lawyer

Major Events and Accomplishments, 1st Term, 1935–1939

• May 14, 1935 – The General Assembly passed the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law to regulate the sale of alcohol in the state following the end of national prohibition
  
• October 28, 1935 – When highway commissioners appointed by past governors refused to leave their legally appointed posts, Governor Johnston declared martial law and mobilized the National Guard to occupy the offices of the Highway Department
  
• June 25, 1936 – US Senator Ellison D. "Cotton Ed" Smith walked out of the 1936 Democratic National Convention in protest when a black clergyman was called on to give an invocation
  
• May 13, 1937 – The General Assembly passed the South Carolina Public Welfare Act
  
• 1938 – Governor Johnston ran for the US Senate but was defeated by Ellison D. Smith in the Democratic Primary
  

Major Events and Accomplishments, 2nd Term, 1943–1945

• April 3, 1944 – The US Supreme Court ruled in Smith v. Allwright that all-white primaries were illegal
  
• April 14, 1944 – The General Assembly met in a special session, passing 147 laws in only six days in an effort to circumvent Smith v. Allwright by allowing political parties to operate as private organizations separate from state control and beyond the reach of the US Supreme Court
  
• January 3, 1945 – Governor Johnston resigned to become a US Senator
  

Other Government Positions

• South Carolina House of Representatives, 1923-1924, 1927-1930
  
• US Senate, 1945-1965
  

Other Accomplishments, Honors, Distinctions

• Johnston was the first battalion commander of Wofford's ROTC
• Johnston was defeated in the 1930 Democratic gubernatorial primary by Ibra Charles Blackwood
• Johnston served in the US Senate from the time he resigned as governor until his death - 1945-1965
  

Web Resources

• Biographical information - US Congress
  
• Listing of records available at SC Archives and History Center
  

Election Results