firm of Tompkins and McMaster. He was admitted to practice before the federal Court of Claims in 1974, before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in 1975, and upon Thurmond's motion, before the Supreme Court of the United States in 1978. McMaster practiced law for almost 29 years, both as a federal prosecutor and in private practice, representing clients in the state and federal courts, trial and appellate. On April 13, 1993, Thurmond's 22-year-old daughter Nancy was killed by a drunk driver while jaywalking in Columbia, South Carolina. The driver, Corinne Koenig, immediately phoned McMaster, her attorney, and he was present at the scene as Nancy Thurmond was transported to the hospital. After learning the victim's identity, McMaster realized he had a conflict of interest and withdrew from the case. Early political career United States attorney Upon Thurmond's recommendation, President Ronald Reagan nominated McMaster as United States Attorney for the District of South Carolina in 1981—Reagan's first nomination for U.S. attorney. The Senate confirmed McMaster on May 21, 1981. He headed the South Carolina Law Enforcement Coordinating Committee from 1981 to 1985. During his tenure, McMaster created the federal drug task force Operation Jackpot to investigate South Carolina marijuana smugglers. Operation Jackpot ultimately arrested more than 100 people for crimes related to marijuana and hashish trafficking. McMaster held numerous press conferences during the operation and gained publicity through interviews and comments. His actions were criticized as political, with journalist Lee Bandy writing, "no one can recall any other U.S. attorney being so public-relations conscious" and noting that McMaster had held more press conferences and news releases than all his predecessors combined. McMaster completed his term as U.S. attorney on December 31, 1985. Election bids and state appointments In 1986, after considering races for South Carolina lieutenant governor and attorney general, McMaster won the spirited Republican primary for the United States Senate against Henry Jordan, 27,696 votes (53.4%) to 24,164 (46.6%). McMaster lost the general election in a landslide to four-term Democratic incumbent Ernest Hollings, 463,354 votes (63.1%) to 261,394 (35.6%). He only managed to carry Lexington County. In 1990, McMaster ran for lieutenant governor. He defeated Sherry Shealy Martschink in the Republican primary, 49,463 votes (51.46%) to 46,660 (48.54%), but again lost to the Democratic incumbent. He received 309,038 votes (41.19%) to Nick Theodore's 440,844 (58.75%). In 1991, Governor Carroll A. Campbell Jr. appointed McMaster to the