James E. Clyburn

Biography

CLYBURN, James Enos, a Representative from South Carolina; born in Sumter, Sumter County, S.C., July 21, 1940; graduated from Mather Academy, Camden, S.C., 1957; B.A., South Carolina State University, Orangeburg, S.C., 1961; teacher; newspaper publisher; employment counselor, South Carolina state employment security commission, 1965-1966; director, Charleston County, S.C., neighborhood youth corps and new careers projects, 1966-1968; executive director, South Carolina state commission for farm workers, 1968-1971; staff, Governor John C. West of South Carolina, 1971-1974; South Carolina human affairs commissioner, 1974-1992; elected as a Democrat to the One Hundred Third and to the sixteen succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1993-present); chair, House Democratic Caucus (One Hundred Ninth Congress); majority whip (One Hundred Tenth, One Hundred Eleventh, One Hundred Sixteenth, and One Hundred Seventeenth Congresses); assistant Democratic leader (One Hundred Twelfth through One Hundred Fifteenth Congresses, and One Hundred Eighteenth Congress); awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Joseph R. Biden Jr., 2024.