Butler Carson Derrick Jr. (September 30, 1936 – May 5, 2014) was an American politician and a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

Early life

Born in

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is the most populous city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, and its county seat. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ea ...

, he moved to his parents' home state of South Carolina in his youth and attended the public schools in Mayesville and

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

. He graduated from the

University of South Carolina The University of South Carolina (USC, SC, or Carolina) is a Public university, public research university in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1801 as South Carolina College, It is the flagship of the University of South Car ...

in 1958 and earned an LL.B. from the

University of Georgia Law School The University of Georgia School of Law (Georgia Law) is the law school of the University of Georgia, a public research university in Athens, Georgia. It was founded in 1859, making it one of the oldest American university law schools in continu ...

in 1965. He was admitted to the South Carolina bar in 1965 and commenced practice in Edgefield. He served in the

South Carolina House of Representatives The South Carolina House of Representatives is the lower house of the South Carolina General Assembly. It consists of 124 representatives elected to two-year terms at the same time as U.S. congressional elections. Unlike many legislatures, seatin ...

from 1969 to 1974, representing Edgefield County, and was a delegate to the South Carolina State Democratic conventions in 1972 and 1974.

Political career

Derrick was a delegate to the

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 18 ...

in 1974. That same year, he was elected to the House from , succeeding longtime congressman

William Jennings Bryan Dorn William Jennings Bryan Dorn (April 14, 1916 – August 13, 2005) was a United States politician from South Carolina who represented the western part of the state in the United States House of Representatives from 1947 to 1949 and from 1951 to 197 ...

. He was reelected nine times. Although he represented a district that had become increasingly friendly to Republicans at the national level, he himself only faced serious opposition in 1988. Derrick served on the House Rules and Budget Committees during his tenure, and spent his final term as a Chief Deputy Whip. Derrick did not run for reelection in 1994. As a measure of how Republican this district had become, one-term Republican state representative

Lindsey Graham Lindsey Olin Graham (; born July 9, 1955) is an American politician and attorney serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from South Carolina, a seat he has held since 2003. A membe ...

won the seat in a rout, taking 60 percent of the vote. By comparison, Derrick had won what would be his last election in 1992 with 61 percent of the vote. No Democrat has cleared the 40 percent barrier in the district since Derrick left office. This included 1996, when Graham defeated Debbie Dorn, William Jennings Bryan Dorn's daughter, with 60 percent of the vote to Dorn's 39 percent. After retirement from Congress, he was a partner of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP in

Washington, DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

. He was elected to the

Common Cause Common Cause is a watchdog group based in Washington, D.C., with chapters in 35 states. It was founded in 1970 by John W. Gardner, a Republican, who was the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare in the administration of President Lyndon ...

National Governing Board in 2009. After Congress, Derrick resided with his family in Charleston until a few years before his death, when he moved to Easley. Derrick died of cancer at his home in Easley on May 5, 2014.

References

External links

*
Butler Derrick Papers
at the University of South Carolina's South Carolina Political Collections 1936 births 2014 deaths Democratic Party members of the South Carolina House of Representatives University of Georgia School of Law alumni Politicians from Springfield, Massachusetts People from Easley, South Carolina University of South Carolina alumni South Carolina lawyers Lawyers from Washington, D.C. Deaths from cancer in South Carolina Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from South Carolina 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 20th-century members of the South Carolina General Assembly {{SouthCarolina-politician-stub