Fritz Hollings

Hollings was born in Charleston, South Carolina, the son of Wilhelmine Dorothea Meyer (1888–1982) and Adolph Gevert Hollings, Sr. (1882–1940).

He was of German descent.

Hollings was raised at 338 President St. in the Hampton Park Terrace neighborhood from age 10 until he enrolled in college.

Ernest Frederick "Fritz" Hollings (January 1, 1922 – April 6, 2019) was an American politician who served as a United States senator from South Carolina from 1966 to 2005.

Born in Charleston, South Carolina, Hollings graduated from The Citadel in 1942 and joined a law practice in Charleston after attending the University of South Carolina School of Law.

During World War II, he served as an artillery officer in campaigns in North Africa and Europe.

After the war, Hollings successively won election to the South Carolina House of Representatives, as lieutenant governor, and as governor.

Hollings graduated from The Citadel in 1942, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree.

Hollings served as an officer in the U.S. Army's 353rd and 457th Artillery units from 1942 to 1945, during World War II, and was awarded the Bronze Star for meritorious service in direct support of combat operations from December 13, 1944, to May 1, 1945, in France and Germany.

He received the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with five Bronze Service Stars for participation in the Tunisia, Southern France, Rome-Arno, and Central Europe Campaigns.

He had four children (Michael, Helen, Patricia Salley, and Ernest III ) with his first wife, Martha Patricia Salley Hollings, whom he married on March 30, 1946.

He was a Lutheran.

In addition, Fritz and Patricia had two sons who died.

He achieved an LL.B. in 1947 after 21 months at the University of South Carolina, and joined a law practice in Charleston.

Hollings was a member of the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity.

Hollings served three terms in the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1949 to 1954.

In 1950, following the notorious lynching of Willie Earle, Hollings authored a law that mandated the death penalty for lynching.

No lynchings occurred in South Carolina after that law was enacted.

After only one term, Hollings's colleagues elected him Speaker Pro Tempore in 1951 and 1953.

He was subsequently elected Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina in 1954, and Governor in 1958 at the age of 36.

As governor of South Carolina from January 20, 1959, to January 15, 1963, Hollings worked to improve the state's educational system, helping to bring more industry and employment opportunities to the state.

His term in office saw the establishment of the state's technical education system and its educational television network.

He also called for and achieved significant increases in teachers' salaries, bringing them closer to the regional average.

At the 1961 Governor's Conference on Business, Industry, Education and Agriculture in Columbia, South Carolina, he declared, "Today, in our complex society, education is the cornerstone upon which economic development must be built – and prosperity assured."

During Hollings's term as governor, the Confederate battle flag was flown above the South Carolina State House underneath the U.S. and state flags.

He sought election to the Senate in 1962 but was defeated by incumbent Olin D. Johnston.

The battle flag was placed over the dome in 1962 by a concurrent resolution of the state legislature during the commemoration of the Civil War centennial.

The resolution failed to designate a time for its removal.

In his last address to the General Assembly on January 9, 1963, ahead of the peaceful admission to Clemson University of its first black student, Harvey Gantt, Hollings declared: "As we meet, South Carolina is running out of courts... this General Assembly must make clear South Carolina's choice, a government of laws rather than a government of men... This should be done with dignity. It should be done with law and order."

Hollings oversaw the last executions in South Carolina before the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Furman v. Georgia, which temporarily banned capital punishment.

Johnston died in 1965, and the following year Hollings won a special election to serve the remainder of Johnston's term.

Hollings remained popular and continually won re-election, becoming one of the longest-serving Senators in U.S. history.

Hollings was married to Rita Liddy "Peatsy" Hollings from August 21, 1971, until her death in October 2012.

Hollings sought the Democratic nomination in the 1984 presidential election but dropped out of the race after the New Hampshire primary.

In 2000 the state legislature voted to move the flag from above the state house to a Confederate soldiers' monument in front of the building, where it remained until 2015, when Republican governor Nikki Haley ordered it removed following the murders of nine black churchgoers by a Confederate sympathizer in the state earlier that year.

He declined to seek re-election in 2004 and was succeeded by Republican Jim DeMint.

As of 2024, he is the last Democrat to serve in the US Senate from South Carolina.

A conservative Democrat, he was also the 106th governor of South Carolina, the 77th lieutenant governor of South Carolina, and a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives.

He served alongside Democrat-turned-Republican Senator Strom Thurmond for 36 years, making them the longest-serving duo in U.S. Senate history.

At the time of his death, he was the oldest living former U.S. senator.