James Enos Clyburn (born July 21, 1940) is an American politician and retired educator serving as a
Democratic member of the
U.S. House of Representatives from
South Carolina
)''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no)
, anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind"
, Former = Province of South Carolina
, seat = Columbia
, LargestCity = Charleston
, LargestMetro = ...
. He has served as
House Majority Whip since 2019. He is a two-time majority whip, previously serving in the post from 2007 to 2011, and served as
House assistant minority leader from 2011 to 2019.
Currently in his 15th term, Clyburn has served as the
U.S. representative for since 1993. His congressional district includes most of the majority-black precincts in and around
Columbia
Columbia may refer to:
* Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America
Places North America Natural features
* Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region i ...
and
Charleston, as well as most of the majority-black areas outside
Beaufort Beaufort may refer to:
People and titles
* Beaufort (surname)
* House of Beaufort, English nobility
* Duke of Beaufort (England), a title in the peerage of England
* Duke of Beaufort (France), a title in the French nobility
Places Polar regions
* ...
and nearly all of South Carolina's share of the
Black Belt. Clyburn is the dean of
South Carolina's congressional delegation. Since
John Spratt
John McKee Spratt Jr. (born November 1, 1942) is an American politician who was the U.S. representative for from 1983 to 2011. The 5th Congressional District covers all or part of 14 counties in north-central South Carolina. The largest cities a ...
's departure in 2011, aside from the single term served by
Joe Cunningham, Clyburn has been the only Democrat in South Carolina’s congressional delegation.
Clyburn has been the third-ranking House Democrat, behind
Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Patricia Pelosi (; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who has served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2019 and previously from 2007 to 2011. She has represented in the United States House of ...
and
Steny Hoyer
Steny Hamilton Hoyer (born June 14, 1939) is an American politician and attorney serving as the U.S. representative for since 1981 and as House Majority Leader since 2019. A Democrat, Hoyer was first elected in a special election on May 19, 19 ...
, since 2007, serving as majority whip behind Pelosi and Hoyer during periods of Democratic House control, and as assistant minority leader behind Pelosi and Hoyer during periods of Republican control. After the Democrats took control of the House in the
2018 midterm elections, Clyburn was reelected majority whip in January 2019 at the opening of the
116th Congress, alongside the reelected Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Hoyer, marking the second time the trio has served in these roles together.
In the
2022 midterm elections, Republicans gained control of the House, and Pelosi announced her
retirement
Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload.
Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...
as leader of the House Democratic Caucus. On the same day, Hoyer announced he would not seek his leadership position. Clyburn announced that he would seek the House Assistant Democratic Leader position, rather than that of Democratic Whip.
Clyburn played a pivotal role in the
2020 presidential election
This national electoral calendar for 2020 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2020 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included.
January
*5 January:
** ...
by endorsing
Joe Biden three days before the
South Carolina Democratic primary. His endorsement came at a time when Biden's campaign had suffered three disappointing finishes in the
Iowa
Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...
and
Nevada caucuses and the
New Hampshire primary
The New Hampshire presidential primary is the first in a series of nationwide party primary elections and the second party contest (the first being the Iowa caucuses) held in the United States every four years as part of the process of choos ...
. Biden's South Carolina win three days before
Super Tuesday transformed his campaign; the momentum led him to capture the Democratic nomination and later the presidency.
Early life and education
Clyburn was born in
Sumter, South Carolina
Sumter ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Sumter County, South Carolina, United States. Known as the Sumter Metropolitan Statistical Area, the namesake county adjoins Clarendon and Lee to form the core of Sumter-Lee-Clarendon Tri-county (or ...
, the son of Enos Lloyd Clyburn, a
fundamentalist minister, and his wife, Almeta (née Dizzley), a beautician. A distant relative of his was
George W. Murray, an organizer for the
Colored Farmers Alliance (CFA), who was a
Republican South Carolina Congressman in the 53rd and 54th U.S. Congresses in the late 19th century. He and other black politicians strongly opposed the 1895 state constitution, which essentially
disenfranchised most African-American citizens, a situation the state maintained for more than half a century until federal civil rights legislation passed in the mid-1960s.
Clyburn graduated from Mather Academy (later named
Boylan-Haven-Mather Academy) in
Camden, South Carolina
Camden is the largest city and county seat of Kershaw County, South Carolina. The population was 7,764 in the 2020 census. It is part of the Columbia, South Carolina, Metropolitan Statistical Area. Camden is the oldest inland city in South Car ...
, then attended South Carolina State College (now
South Carolina State University), a
historically black college
Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. Mo ...
in
Orangeburg. He joined the
Omega Psi Phi
Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African-American fraternity. The fraternity was founded on November 17, 1911, by three Howard University juniors Edgar Amos Love, Oscar James Cooper and Frank Coleman, and their faculty a ...
fraternity and graduated with a
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to si ...
in history.
For his first full-time position after college, Clyburn taught at C.A. Brown High School in
Charleston.
Early political career
Clyburn became involved in politics during the
1969 Charleston hospital strike
The Charleston hospital strike was a two-month movement in Charleston, South Carolina that protested the unfair and unequal treatment of African American hospital workers. Protests began after twelve black employees were fired for voicing their co ...
. After assisting the settlement of the protests at the
Medical University of South Carolina, he became involved in
St. Julian Devine's campaign for a seat on the Charleston city council in 1969. Clyburn came up with the campaign's slogan, "Devine for Ward Nine". When Devine won the race, he became the first African American to hold a seat on the city council since
Reconstruction
Reconstruction may refer to:
Politics, history, and sociology
* Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company
*''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Unio ...
. Clyburn later credited that campaign as the reason he got into electoral politics.
After an unsuccessful run for the
South Carolina General Assembly
The South Carolina General Assembly, also called the South Carolina Legislature, is the state legislature of the U.S. state of South Carolina. The legislature is bicameral and consists of the lower South Carolina House of Representatives and ...
, Clyburn moved to
Columbia
Columbia may refer to:
* Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America
Places North America Natural features
* Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region i ...
to join the staff of
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
John C. West in 1971. West called Clyburn and offered him a job as his advisor after reading Clyburn's response to his loss in the newspaper. After West appointed Clyburn as his advisor, Clyburn became the first nonwhite advisor to a governor in South Carolina history.
In the aftermath of the 1968
Orangeburg massacre
The Orangeburg massacre refers to the shooting of protesters by South Carolina Highway Patrol officers in Orangeburg, South Carolina, on the South Carolina State University campus on the evening of February 8, 1968. About 200 protesters had prev ...
, when police killed three protesting students at South Carolina State, West appointed Clyburn as the state's human affairs commissioner. He served in this position until 1992, when he stepped down to run for Congress. The Orangeburg massacre and civil-rights protest predated the 1970 Kent State shootings and Jackson State killings, in which the National Guard at Kent State, and police and state highway patrol at Jackson State, killed student protesters demonstrating against the U.S. invasion of Cambodia during the Vietnam War.
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
After the 1990 census South Carolina's district lines were redrawn. Due to prior racial discrimination before the
Voting Rights Act of 1965
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson during the height of the civil rights m ...
, the
Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
required the 6th district, which had previously included the northeastern portion of the state, to be redrawn as a
black-majority district. The 6th was reconfigured to take in most of the majority-black areas near Columbia and Charleston, as well as most of the Black Belt. Five-term incumbent
Robin Tallon
Robert Mooneyhan "Robin" Tallon Jr. (born August 8, 1946) is an American businessman and politician who served as a United States representative from South Carolina. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
Early life and education
Born in Hem ...
's home in
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...
stayed in the district, but he chose to retire. Five candidates, all of whom were African American, ran for the Democratic nomination for the seat. Clyburn's campaign was led by NAACP activist
Isaac W. Williams.
Clyburn won 55% of the vote in the primary, eliminating the need for a runoff. As expected, he won the general
election in November handily, becoming the first Democrat to represent a significant portion of Columbia since 1965 and the first Democrat to represent a significant portion of Charleston since 1981. He was the first African-American to represent South Carolina in Congress since
George W. Murray in 1893. He has been reelected 15 times with no substantive
Republican opposition.
For his first 10 terms, Clyburn represented a district that stretched from the
Pee Dee
The Pee Dee is a region in the northeast corner of the U.S. state of South Carolina. It lies along the lower watershed of the Pee Dee River, which was named after the Pee Dee, a Native American tribe that historically inhabited the region.
Hi ...
through most of South Carolina's share of the Black Belt, but swept west to include most of the majority-black precincts in and around Columbia and south to include most of the majority-black precincts in and around Charleston. After the 2010 census, the district was pushed well to the south, losing its portion of the Pee Dee while picking up almost all of the majority-black precincts near Beaufort and
Hilton Head Island
Hilton Head Island, sometimes referred to as simply Hilton Head, is a Lowcountry resort town and barrier island in Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. It is northeast of Savannah, Georgia, and southwest of Charleston. The island is ...
(though not taking in any of Beaufort or Hilton Head themselves). The reconfigured 6th was no less Democratic than its predecessor. In all its incarnations as a black-majority district, it has been dominated by black voters in the Columbia and Charleston areas, and for much of that time has been the only safe Democratic district in the state.
In 2008, Clyburn defeated Nancy Harrelson, 68% to 32%. In 2010, he defeated Jim Pratt, 65% to 34%. In 2012, Clyburn defeated Anthony Culler, 73% to 25%.
Tenure
Party leadership
Clyburn was elected
vice-chairman of the House Democratic Caucus in 2003, the caucus's third-ranking post. He became chair of the House Democratic Caucus in early 2006 after caucus chair
Bob Menendez
Robert Menendez (; born January 1, 1954) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States senator from New Jersey, a seat he has held since 2006. Gale (publisher), Gale Biography I ...
was appointed to the
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
. After the Democrats won control of the House in the
2006 election, Clyburn was unanimously elected Majority Whip in the
110th Congress
The 110th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, between January 3, 2007, and January 3, 2009, during the last two years of the Presidency of George W. Bush. It was composed of ...
.
Clyburn would have faced a challenge from
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is the Democratic Hill committee for the United States House of Representatives, working to elect Democrats to that body. The DCCC recruits candidates, raises funds, and organizes races in ...
chair
Rahm Emanuel
Rahm Israel Emanuel (; born November 29, 1959) is an American politician and diplomat who is the current United States Ambassador to Japan. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served two terms as the 55th Mayor of Chicago from 2011 ...
, but Speaker-elect
Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Patricia Pelosi (; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who has served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2019 and previously from 2007 to 2011. She has represented in the United States House of ...
persuaded Emanuel to run for
Democratic Caucus chair. Clyburn was interviewed by
National Public Radio
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...
's ''Morning Edition'' on January 12, 2007, and acknowledged the difficulty of counting votes and rallying the fractious Democratic caucus while his party held the House majority.
In the
2010 elections, the Democrats lost their House majority. Pelosi ran for Minority Leader in order to remain the House party leader, while Clyburn announced that he would challenge
Steny Hoyer
Steny Hamilton Hoyer (born June 14, 1939) is an American politician and attorney serving as the U.S. representative for since 1981 and as House Majority Leader since 2019. A Democrat, Hoyer was first elected in a special election on May 19, 19 ...
, the second-ranking House Democrat and outgoing Majority Leader, for Minority Whip. Clyburn had the support of the
Congressional Black Caucus
The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) is a caucus made up of most African-American members of the United States Congress. Representative Karen Bass from California chaired the caucus from 2019 to 2021; she was succeeded by Representative Joyce B ...
, which wanted to keep an African-American in the House leadership, while Hoyer had 35 public endorsements, including three standing committee chairs. On November 13, Pelosi announced a deal whereby Hoyer would remain Minority Whip, while a "number three" leadership position styled ''Assistant Leader'' would be created for Clyburn. The exact responsibilities of Clyburn's assistant leader office were unclear, though it was said to replace the ''Assistant to the Leader'' post previously held by
Chris Van Hollen, who had attended all leadership meetings but was not in the leadership hierarchy.
On November 28, 2018, Clyburn was elected to serve his second stint as
House Majority Whip.
;Ideology
Clyburn is regarded as liberal in his political stances, actions and votes. In 2007 the ''
National Journal
''National Journal'' is an advisory services company based in Washington, D.C., offering services in government affairs, advocacy communications, stakeholder mapping, and policy brands research for government and business leaders. It publishes d ...
'' ranked him the 77th most liberal U.S. representative, with a score of 81, indicating that the conductors of this study found his voting record to be more liberal than 81% of other House members, based on their recent voting records.
Clyburn has established liberal stances on health care, education,
organized labor
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits (s ...
and environmental conservation issues, based on his legislative actions as well as evaluations and ratings by pertinent interest groups.
;Healthcare
In 2009, Clyburn introduced the Access for All Americans Act. The $26 billion sought by the Act would provide funding to quadruple the number of community health centers in the US that provide medical care to uninsured and low-income citizens.
The
American Public Health Association, the
American Academy of Family Physicians
The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) was founded in 1947 to promote and maintain high-quality standards for family medicine, an offshoot of the classical general practitioner. It is headquartered in Leawood, Kansas.
AAFP is one o ...
, The Children’s Health Fund, and other health care interest groups rate Clyburn highly based on his voting record on pertinent issues. Other groups in this field, such as the
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, gave Clyburn a rating of zero in 2014.
Despite his opposition to
partial-birth abortion, Clyburn is regarded as
pro-abortion rights, as shown by his high ratings from
Planned Parenthood
The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive health care in the United States and globally. It is a tax-exempt corporation under Internal Reve ...
and
NARAL Pro-Choice America
NARAL Pro-Choice America, commonly known as simply NARAL ( ), is a non-profit 501(c)(4) organization in the United States that engages in lobbying, political action, and advocacy efforts to oppose restrictions on abortion, to expand access t ...
and low rating from the
National Right to Life Committee. But at the height of national polarization after the
Supreme Court's intention to overturn ''
Roe v. Wade
''Roe v. Wade'', 410 U.S. 113 (1973),. was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States conferred the right to have an abortion. The decision struck down many federal and st ...
'' had been
leaked, Clyburn controversially campaigned on behalf of anti-abortion incumbent Representative
Henry Cuellar, who faced a pro-choice
primary
Primary or primaries may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels
* Primary (band), from Australia
* Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea
* Primary Music, Israeli record label
Works
...
challenger.
;Education
Clyburn has continuously sought new and additional funding for education. He has gained additional funding for special education and lower interest rates on federal student loans. In many sessions Clyburn has sought, sponsored and/or voted for improvements in
Pell Grant funding for college loans.
The
National Education Association and the National Association of Elementary School Principals rate Clyburn very highly, as do other education interest groups.
;Ports
Although he was criticized for a previous expenditure of 160 million dollars to expand South Carolina's ports, Clyburn said he would continue to make funding available for further expansions. The plan is to deepen the ports to allow for larger commercial ships to arrive from the Panama Canal, which is being expanded to allow for larger ships to pass through. This is primarily because of larger commercial ships from China, and China's extremely high demand for soybeans, which are produced in South Carolina but must be sent to larger ports for exporting. This measure will benefit South Carolina business and farmers and is thus heavily backed by these groups.
;Labor
Clyburn has consistently voted for increases in
minimum wage
A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. B ...
income and to restrict employer interference with labor union organization.
Many national labor unions, including the
AFL–CIO
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 12 million ac ...
, the
United Auto Workers
The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, better known as the United Auto Workers (UAW), is an American Labor unions in the United States, labor union that represents workers in the Un ...
, the Communication Workers Association, and the
International Brotherhood of Boilermakers
The International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers (IBB) is a trade union in the United States and Canada. It is for boilermakers and related occupations, and is affiliated with both the AFL–CIO ...
, give Clyburn outstanding ratings based on his voting record on issues that pertain to labor and employment.
;Environment
Clyburn has opposed legislation to increase
offshore drilling
Offshore drilling is a mechanical process where a wellbore is drilled below the seabed. It is typically carried out in order to explore for and subsequently extract petroleum that lies in rock formations beneath the seabed. Most commonly, the t ...
for
oil or natural gas. Instead, he has promoted use of
nuclear energy as an cheaper alternative to
fossil fuels
A fossil fuel is a hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the remains of dead plants and animals that is extracted and burned as a fuel. The main fossil fuels are coal, oil, and natural gas. Fossil fuels ma ...
than
wind
Wind is the natural movement of air or other gases relative to a planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting a few ...
and
solar energy
Solar energy is radiant light and heat from the Sun that is harnessed using a range of technologies such as solar power to generate electricity, solar thermal energy (including solar water heating), and solar architecture. It is an essen ...
. Members of the nuclear power industry have said that there is mutual respect between Clyburn and themselves.
Clyburn pushed for a 2010 contract to convert plutonium from old weapons into nuclear fuel.
Organizations such as the
League of Conservation Voters and
Defenders of Wildlife have viewed Clyburn favorably, but he angered environmentalists when he proposed building a $150 million bridge across a swampy area of Lake Marion in Calhoun County.
;Objection to the 2004 presidential election
Clyburn was one of 31 House Democrats who voted not to count Ohio's 20
electoral votes in the
2004 presidential election.
George W. Bush won Ohio by 118,457 votes. Without Ohio's electoral votes, the election would have been decided by the U.S. House of Representatives, with each state having one vote in accordance with the
Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
;War in Iraq
On July 31, 2007, Clyburn said in a broadcast interview that it would be a "real big problem" for the Democratic Party if General
David Petraeus
David Howell Petraeus (; born November 7, 1952) is a retired United States Army general and public official. He served as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency from September 6, 2011, until his resignation on November 9, 2012. Prior to ...
issued a positive report in September, as it would split the Democratic caucus on whether to continue to fund the
Iraq War
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish)
, partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...
. While this soundbite caused some controversy, the full quote was, in reference to the 47-member
Blue Dog caucus, "I think there would be enough support in that group to want to stay the course and if the
Republicans were to stay united as they have been, then it would be a problem for us."
;Bill Clinton comments
Clyburn was officially neutral during the 2008 primary battle between
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
and
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
, but former President
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...
blamed Clyburn for Hillary's 29-point defeat in the South Carolina primary and the two of them had a heated telephone conversation. Clyburn had voted for Obama, saying, "How could I ever look in the faces of our children and grandchildren had I not voted for Barack Obama?"
[https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2014/02/11/bill-clintons-2-am-phone-call-to-jim-clyburn ] He negatively viewed
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...
's remarks about Obama winning the South Carolina primary. Clinton had compared Obama's victory to
Jesse Jackson
Jesse Louis Jackson (né Burns; born October 8, 1941) is an American political activist, Baptist minister, and politician. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as a shadow U.S. senato ...
's win in the
1988 primary.
[Black Leader in House Denounces Bill Clinton’s Remarks]
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
April 24, 2008 "Black people are incensed all over this", Clyburn said. Clinton responded that the campaign "played the
race card on me", denying any racial tone in the comment. Speaking to the ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', Clyburn said such actions could lead to a longtime division between Clinton and his once most reliable constituency. "When he was going through his
impeachment problems, it was the black community that bellied up to the bar", Clyburn said. "I think black folks feel strongly that this is a strange way for President Clinton to show his appreciation."
[
;Impeachment of Donald Trump
On December 18, 2019, Clyburn voted for both articles of impeachment against President ]Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
.
Committee assignments
On April 2, 2020, Pelosi announced that Clyburn would chair the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis.
* Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (2011–2012)
Caucus memberships
* Congressional Black Caucus
The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) is a caucus made up of most African-American members of the United States Congress. Representative Karen Bass from California chaired the caucus from 2019 to 2021; she was succeeded by Representative Joyce B ...
* House Democratic Caucus
* United States Congressional International Conservation Caucus
* Congressional Arts Caucus
* Congressional Cement Caucus
Presidential endorsements
Clyburn is considered a power broker in South Carolina. For almost 30 years, he has hosted an annual fish fry "that every four years becomes a must-attend event for presidential hopefuls."
During the 2004 Democratic presidential primaries, Clyburn supported former House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt
Richard Andrew Gephardt (; born January 31, 1941) is an American attorney, lobbyist, and politician who served as a United States Representative from Missouri from 1977 to 2005. A member of the Democratic Party, he was House Majority Leader fro ...
until he dropped out of the race and then supported John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party, he ...
. Clyburn was one of the 31 who voted in the House not to count Ohio's electoral votes in the 2004 presidential election amid a dispute over irregularities.
Like other Democratic congressional leaders, Clyburn remained publicly uncommitted throughout most of the 2008 presidential primary elections. Despite being officially neutral, Clyburn voted for Obama in the South Carolina primary. Former President Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...
accused Clyburn of being responsible for Hillary's 29-point defeat in South Carolina, while Clyburn criticized Bill Clinton's comments on race comparing Obama's win to that of Jesse Jackson
Jesse Louis Jackson (né Burns; born October 8, 1941) is an American political activist, Baptist minister, and politician. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as a shadow U.S. senato ...
. Clyburn endorsed Obama on June 3, immediately before the Montana
Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...
and South Dakota
South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large po ...
primaries. By that time, Obama's lead in pledged delegates was substantial enough that those two primaries could not undo it.
Clyburn endorsed Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
in the 2016 presidential campaign.
Clyburn's endorsement of Joe Biden on February 26, 2020, three days before the South Carolina primary
The South Carolina presidential primary is an open primary election which has become one of several key early-state presidential primaries in the process of the Democratic and Republican Parties choosing their respective general election nominees ...
, was considered pivotal in the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries. Several analyses have determined the endorsement changed the trajectory of the race, due to Clyburn's influence over the state's African-Americans, who make up the majority of its Democratic electorate. Until Clyburn's endorsement, Biden had not won a single primary and had placed fourth, fifth, and a distant second in the Iowa
Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...
, New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
, and Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...
caucuses and primaries, respectively. Three days after the South Carolina primary, Biden took a delegate lead on Super Tuesday, and a month later he clinched the nomination. Biden went on to win the 2020 Presidential election
This national electoral calendar for 2020 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2020 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included.
January
*5 January:
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.
Political positions
Clyburn identifies as a progressive, but thinks the Democratic Party's more liberal wing should be "practical". Various progressives have called him "conservative" and "centrist".
Israel
In January 2017, Clyburn voted against a House resolution condemning the UN Security Council Resolution 2334, which called Israeli settlement building in the occupied Palestinian territories
The Palestinian territories are the two regions of the former British Mandate for Palestine that have been militarily occupied by Israel since the Six-Day War of 1967, namely: the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip. The ...
in the West Bank
The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
a "flagrant violation" of international law and a major obstacle to peace.
Homosexuality and same-sex marriage
In 1996, Clyburn voted in favor of the Defense of Marriage Act, which at the time passed with majority Democratic support and near-unanimous Republican support. The act restricted federal recognition of marriage to the union of a man and a woman, and explicitly granted states the power to ban same-sex marriage and refuse to acknowledge same-sex marriages granted under the laws of other states. The House Judiciary Committee
The U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, also called the House Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is charged with overseeing the administration of justice within the federal courts, ...
had explicitly said the act was meant to "express moral disapproval of homosexuality". The act passed by an 85-vote majority in the Senate and was signed into law by President Bill Clinton.
In 2012, after Obama's public endorsement of same-sex marriage, amid shifting public opinion of same-sex marriage, Clyburn said in an interview that he too supported marriage equality. In the interview, he said his former disapproval of same-sex marriage was rooted in his Christian faith, but that he had since "evolved". Clyburn called for nationwide legislation of marriage equality, opposing Obama's state-by-state approach, saying, "if you consider this to be a civil right—and I do—I don't think civil rights ought to be left up to a state-by-state approach".
During the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries, when considering an endorsement, Clyburn cited Pete Buttigieg
Peter Paul Montgomery Buttigieg ( ; ; Sometimes pronounced or , but not by Buttigieg himself. born January 19, 1982) is an American politician and former military officer who is currently serving as the United States secretary of transp ...
's sexual orientation as an issue, saying it was "no question" that his sexuality would hurt his popularity and that " eknew a lot of people isage that felt that way." Clyburn added, "I'm not going to sit here and tell you otherwise, because I think everybody knows that's an issue." In the wake of his comments, then-candidate Kamala Harris dismissed his comments as "nonsense" and "a trope" of the African American community, but the Benson Strategy Group reported that "being gay was a barrier for these voters, particularly for the men who seemed uncomfortable discussing it."
Personal life
Clyburn was married to librarian Emily England Clyburn from 1961 until her death in 2019. They had three daughters; their eldest, Mignon Clyburn
Mignon Letitia Clyburn (born March 22, 1962) is an American former government official who served as a member of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from 2009 to 2018.
In December 2017, Clyburn and fellow Democratic commissioner Jessica Ro ...
, was appointed to the Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdicti ...
by President Barack Obama, and their second daughter, Jennifer Clyburn Reed, was appointed as federal co-chair of the newly formed Southeast Crescent Regional Commission
The Southeast Crescent Regional Commission (SCRC) is one of seven federal regional commissions and authorities authorized by the United States Congress to address instances of major economic distress in certain defined socioeconomic regions.
Ori ...
.
See also
* List of African-American United States representatives
References
Further reading
* Thomas, Rhondda R. & Ashton, Susanna, eds. (2014)
''The South Carolina Roots of African American Thought.''
Columbia: University of South Carolina Press. "James E. Clyburn (b. 1940)," p. 273-278.
External links
Congressman James E. Clyburn
official U.S. House website
Office of the Majority Whip
official leadership website
Jim Clyburn for Congress
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by Jim Clyburn, September 24, 2010
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Clyburn, Jim
1940 births
20th-century Methodists
21st-century American politicians
African-American members of the United States House of Representatives
African-American Methodists
African-American people in South Carolina politics
African-American state cabinet secretaries
Methodists from South Carolina
Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from South Carolina
Living people
Politicians from Columbia, South Carolina
People from Sumter, South Carolina
People of the African Methodist Episcopal church
South Carolina State University alumni
State cabinet secretaries of South Carolina
Clyburn family