Henry Dargan McMaster (born May 27, 1947) is an American politician and attorney serving as the 117th governor of South Carolina since 2017. He served as the 91st lieutenant governor of South Carolina from 2015 to 2017 under governor Nikki Haley and became governor upon Haley's resignation on January 24, 2017. He is a member of the Republican Party. McMaster worked for U.S. senator Strom Thurmond, both in private practice and as a federal prosecutor. Appointed United States attorney for the District of South Carolina by President Ronald Reagan in 1981, he gained attention for investigating South Carolina marijuana smugglers in Operation Jackpot. McMaster was the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in South Carolina in 1986, losing to incumbent Democrat Fritz Hollings. He was then defeated for lieutenant governor of South Carolina by Democrat Nick Theodore in 1990. McMaster chaired the South Carolina Republican Party from 1993 to 2002. He was elected attorney general of South Carolina in 2002 and reelected in 2006. In 2010, McMaster ran for governor but lost to Nikki Haley in the Republican primary. In 2011, Haley appointed him to the South Carolina Ports Authority. McMaster was then elected lieutenant governor of South Carolina under Haley's governorship in 2014. McMaster succeeded to the office of governor in 2017, when Haley resigned to become the United States ambassador to the United Nations. He won a full four-year term in the 2018 gubernatorial election after narrowly winning a runoff for the Republican nomination and defeating Democratic nominee James E. Smith Jr. in the general election. He won reelection against Democratic nominee Joe Cunningham in 2022. Early life McMaster was born on May 27, 1947, in Columbia, South Carolina. He is the eldest son of John Gregg and Ida Dargan (Pet) McMaster. He received a bachelor's degree in history from the University of South Carolina in 1969, and was a member of the Kappa Alpha Order fraternity. In 1973, he graduated from the University of South Carolina School of Law, where he served on the editorial board of the South Carolina Law Review. Later that year, he was admitted to the Richland County Bar Association of the South Carolina Bar. He served in the United States Army Reserves, receiving an honorable discharge in 1975. Upon graduation from law school, McMaster worked as a legislative assistant to U.S. senator Strom Thurmond in Washington, D.C., until 1974, when he joined the