Articles and Speeches
Education Was the Main Thing: Integrity, tenacity served Riley as S.C. governor and U.S. education chief
March 27, 2011
Reprinted with permission from The State
Richard Riley worked the levers of politics, government and education for more than a half-century by giving respect, taking advice, setting expectations, staying focused and never giving up.
Most of all, he never gave up.
As it turned out, Riley did it right. His career has been as successful as it has been tenacious.
Now 78 and living and working in his hometown of Greenville, Riley:
- Served two terms as U.S. education secretary during the Clinton administration, outlasting opponents who tried to dismantle the federal education agency.
- Was the first governor in South Carolina history to serve two consecutive terms, enjoying such popularity that the state constitution was changed to make a second term possible.
- Mobilized support to overwhelm anti-tax sentiment and pass a tax increase for public education in 1984, producing what Southern historian Walter Edgar called “one of the most important pieces of education legislation ever passed in South Carolina.”
